Cursed

Curses. They've been around for centuries. But are they really real or can the be explained away?

1. King Tut’s Curse. King Tut’s final resting place was discovered in February 1923. Some claim that there was an inscription at the entrance that read, “Death comes on wings to he who enters the tomb of a pharaoh.” Just two months later, the team’s sponsor died from a bacterial infection. Others connected to the expedition died through the years as well. However, there are some reasonable explanations. The sponsor isn’t the only one who died from something bacterial. There was evidence of different fungus, molds, and other things that can cause illness in the tomb. There were some who also died in unrelated events - cancer, car accidents, things like that.
2. Polish King’s Tomb. 1973 came with another cursed tomb. A group of archaeologists found Polish king Casimir IV Jagiellon in Krakow. With King Tut’s discovery just 50 years prior with the finding of many other Egyptian tombs, curses were still in the forefront of their minds. So the archaeologists had joked that they would be cursed upon opening the tomb. Soon after the opening, people connected to the excavation started dying. Many said it was due to a curse, but much like King Tut, there is a reasonable explanation. Upon further investigation, there was evidence of a deadly fungus that can cause lung cancer when breathed in.
3. The Curse of Tippecanoe. AKA the 20 Year Curse or even Tecumseh’s Curse. This one affected US presidents, specifically all presidents between William Henry Harrison and John F. Kennedy (including those two). Each president from Harrison to Kennedy had died somehow, someway while in office every 20 years. I do want to acknowledge that the only president to not fall into this pattern was Zachary Taylor, who was elected in 1848 and died in 1850. Harrison was the first to fall victim. After all, he was the president when the US army went into battle against the Shawnee tribe. The chief at the time of the Battle of Tippecanoe was Chief Temcumseh. Harrison died of pneumonia. Abraham Lincoln (elected in 1860 and 1864) was the next, who was assassinated while watching a play. Then came James Garfield (elected in 1880), who was assassinated while he was on his way to a Williams College reunion. William McKinley (elected in 1900) was shot twice at point-blank while in line at the Pan-American Exposition. After that was Warren G. Harding (elected in 1920) who got sick while on a cross country tour. It’s said that he died of a heart attack, but no autopsy was conducted. Franklin D. Roosevelt (elected in 1932, 1936, 1940, and 1944) had suffered from a massive cerebral hemorrhage. And finally, the last official victim of the curse was JFK (elected in 1960) who was assassinated. There are arguably two others who some people count as victims: Ronald Reagan (elected in 1980) and George W. Bush (elected in 2000). They both had assassination attempts, but neither died while in office. In fact, Bush is still alive and kicking. All of them can be explained away in some fashion. For example, Abe Lincoln was president during the American Civil War, so of course there would be people who didn't like how he was handling it, and anybody could suffer from a hemorrhage like FDR.
4. The Little Bastard. Famous actor James Dean had a silver Porsche 550 Spyder that he named the “Little Bastard.” It was well known that he absolutely loved that vehicle. Dean was driving in the car on September 30, 1955 when he was stuck by an oncoming vehicle. This accident caused his death. George Barris, a hot rod designer, ended up purchasing the Little Bastard with the plan of fixing it. When he was doing a tune up, the car fell and broke both of his legs. It seems as though George came out of the whole instance otherwise unscathed. From here, the reports of those affected by this alleged curse get a little… iffy. Two doctors apparently bought the engine and transmission. They were then in car accidents that then killed or seriously injured them, but there’s no proof that these instances happened in the car that had Little Bastard’s parts. Another person had purchased the tires, which ended up blowing simultaneously and sent the person to the hospital. All of these freak accidents can be dismissed as just that -- freak accidents.
5. Kennedy Curse. I feel like it wouldn’t be right if I was telling you about curses and didn’t bring this one up. Which means, yes, JFK is a part of two curses. While the most reasonable and logical explanation when it comes to this curse is just the fact that the family is tragically unlucky, with the amount of deaths people see the family as being cursed. It started with JFK’s brother and sister, Joseph Jr and Kathleen. They both died in two separate plane crashes in 1944 and 1948 respectively. The next person is JFK, himself, when (like mentioned earlier) he was assassinated in 1963. Robert followed just five years later and was assassinated. Ted Kennedy was the lucky one, you could say. He survived two different accidents. The first was a plane crash in 1964. Then in 1969, Ted was driving with his partner Mary Jo Kopechne when the car went off the cliff. Mary Jo unfortunately did not survive the crash. Robert sadly lost both of his sons. David died of a drug overdose in 1984 and Michael lost his life in 1997 in a skiing accident. While this isn’t all, it gets the point across.
6. St. Anne’s Well. In 2016, archaeologists uncovered a well in Liverpool that was said to be cursed. St. Anne was also Virgin Mary’s mother and was often associated with healing wells. There was even a cult surrounding this saint. According to the story, it is said that Anne bathed in the well that was uncovered. This well was known for treating eye and skin diseases. During the 16th century, there was a dispute over the ownership of the well between Father Delwaney and Hugh Darcy. Both said they had ownership of the well. Delwaney was in charge of the priory who tended to the well while Darcy owned land. Darcy claimed that Delwaney would not have access to the well for much longer, and he was right. King Henry VIII’s men seized both the priory and the well. Just before he fell over dead, Delwaney cursed Darcy. Within the next three months, Darcy’s son came down with a mysterious illness and died while Darcy himself suffered from financial loss. A year and a day later Hugh Darcy was found dead at the bottom of the well with his head crushed in. Much like the Kennedy family, this can be explained as just a tragic family story. When it comes to the financial loss and Darcy's own death, it can also just be someone who let a curse get to their head and that lead to what happened.

So what do you think? Are these the outcomes of curses or just tragic coincidences?