1Rosemary's Baby Film Curse
Rosemary's Baby, a film associated with the concept of an unborn antichrist and believed to be cursed, had rumors of a curse stemming from the murder of director Roman Polanski's wife, Sharon Tate, by the Manson family in 1969. The deaths of composers Krzysztof Komeda and John Lennon, along with tragic events for those involved behind the scenes, are often linked to the film's curse. Producer William Castle and novelist Ira Levin faced personal and mental health struggles, while producer Robert Evans dealt with legal issues and became connected to a high-profile murder, and director Roman Polanski's life took a tumultuous turn after his wife's murder, involving substance abuse and depravity.
2. The Stadium Sponsorship Curse claims that companies naming major North American sports venues faced financial setbacks. Several sponsors, like Conseco Inc., went bankrupt, contributing to a $321 billion market value loss for the Stadium Sponsor Stock Index. The curse was linked to corporate ego and poor financial performance in competitive industries.
3. Rosacea, also referred to as The Curse of the Celts and primarily affecting people of Northern European descent, is actually an evolutionary adaptation that ancient Celtic people developed to fight off bacteria during seasonal periods of low ultraviolet levels.
4. Robert Todd Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln's eldest son, was close to or directly present at all three presidential assassinations that happened during his lifetime. He swore off presidential events as a result, fearing his presence meant a president would die.
5. Due to a tense dispute with the nearby abbey over irrigation water, the town of Trasmoz in Spain is the only one that the Catholic Church has officially cursed and excommunicated. The excommunication has never been revoked.
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6Emperor Sutoku's Cursed Scriptures
Emperor Sutoku, the 12th-century ruler of Japan, abdicated and became a monk. He copied scriptures for the imperial court, but thinking they were cursed, the court refused to accept them. Feeling bitter, he cursed them upon his death, and his spirit was blamed for causing future unrest in the country.
7. In 2010, Romania's Senate rejected a proposed law that would have taxed witches and fortune tellers due to fears of being cursed for it.
8. In 2016, archaeologists discovered an ancient well near Liverpool that was believed to be cursed. A priory of 12 monks looked after the well, which had ties to the medieval cult of St. Anne and was associated with healing wells. In the 16th century, a dispute over well ownership led to a curse by the priory's Father Delwaney, resulting in his own sudden death, financial losses for the rival Hugh Darcy, and the latter's tragic demise at the bottom of the well a year and a day later.
9. The Kennedy Curse refers to a series of unfortunate events that have befallen the Kennedy family, leading some to attribute it to a curse. Notable incidents include the assassinations of brothers John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy while in office and John F. Kennedy, Jr.'s death in a 1999 plane crash. Other instances cited as evidence of the curse involve Rosemarie's lobotomy, Joseph's death in World War II, Edward Jr.'s leg amputation at age 12, and Michael's fatal skiing accident.
10. Chief Niwot's curse, placed on the lands around Boulder, Colorado, in the 19th century, revolves around the curse of love. Chief Niwot foresaw that people attracted to the beauty of the Boulder Valley would want to stay, leading to conflicts and the undoing of the land's beauty. The curse proved effective, as settlers decided to stay, bringing about more conflict and murder, and Chief Niwot himself died in the aftermath of a massacre. The curse persists today, with people still drawn to Boulder, capturing the hearts of visitors for better or worse.
11Ayer's Rock: Pieces of Misfortune
Tourists in Australia often try to take pieces of Ayer's Rock (Uluru) home with them, despite its cultural and spiritual significance to the Aboriginal people. However, those who do often experience misfortunes subsequently send the pieces back, with the administrators of the national park around Uluru receiving around one package a day containing returned fragments. The reported misfortunes range from illness to romantic breakups to death, creating a belief in a curse associated with taking pieces of Ayer's Rock.
12. Cobalt (as in cobalt blue) is named after the German word for goblin, Kobold. It got the name because cobalt hinders the extraction of silver and emits toxic fumes when burned, leading to the deaths of several miners. Mine-dwelling goblins were blamed for leaving behind these 'cursed' rocks.
13. Macbeth superstition states that if anyone says the name "Macbeth" outside of rehearsals or a performance in a theater, the production of the play will be cursed.
14. The heavy metal band Black Sabbath originally started wearing crosses to ward off a curse. After denying an offer to play at Stonehenge, the Satanists hosting the event claimed to have cast a curse on the band.
15. Grigori Rasputin, a Siberian peasant, gained influence in the Romanov palace by claiming to heal the Tsarina's hemophiliac son. After surviving multiple assassination attempts, Rasputin allegedly sent a prophetic letter to the tsar, warning of dire consequences if he were killed. Less than a year later, the Romanovs, including the tsar, his wife, and their children, were brutally murdered, sparking speculation of a curse attributed to Rasputin.
16Kassam Stadium: Oxford's Hex
When the Kassam Stadium in Oxford was built, the soccer team lost 13 of their first 17 matches, leading to people claiming the stadium was cursed, and the bishop of Oxford had to perform an exorcism to lift the curse.
17. Within 13 years of the 1991 discovery of the 5,000-year-old Iceman in the Alps, seven mysterious deaths of those involved occurred as a result of fatal car accidents, avalanches, and other non-natural causes. Some deaths occurred while individuals were discussing or researching the artifact, adding an eerie coincidence to the sequence of fatalities. The circumstances surrounding these deaths have fueled speculation and intrigue in connection with the ancient find.
18. In ancient times and still in modern Ireland, a woman lifting her skirts held a powerful curse, highlighting the enduring significance of this superstition.
19. The superstition known as "The Superman Curse" asserts that anyone associated with the franchise is jinxed. George Reeve's suicide, Christopher Reeve's paralysis, and the creators of Superman not gaining any profits have all been attributed to the curse.
20. In the 12th century AD, the Knights Templar, a powerful organization in Europe, amassed wealth during the Crusades and were rumored to have found King Solomon's lost treasure. Jacques de Molay, who became the order's leader in 1292, faced betrayal by King Philip IV of France, leading to the Templars' downfall. Before his execution in 1314, de Molay cursed his enemies, prophesying the deaths of Pope Clement V and King Philip IV within a year and the erasure of Philip's line, which unfolded with the deaths of both leaders and their descendants by 1328.
21Kennedy Curse and its Transfer
The notion of a curse transferring from one family to another is based on the belief that the Kennedy Curse followed Jackie Kennedy when she married Aristotle Onassis in 1968. According to this theory, the curse led to the untimely death of Onassis' son Alexander in a plane crash in 1973, and subsequent misfortunes befell the Onassis family. This included Aristotle's first wife's suicide, his own death, and the financial decline of the Onassis empire. While the remnants went to Christina's daughter Athina, she has, so far, avoided the infamous curse, living in relative obscurity in Brazil.
22. The Hapsburgs, once a powerful family, were believed to be cursed by ravens due to their ancestors' massacre of the birds at their castle. Supernatural ravens, known as Turnfalken, were said to appear before or during the family members' deaths, including Marie Antoinette's execution. After Francis Joseph, a Hapsburg king, executed his son for taking part in a failed Hungarian uprising, Countess Karolyi allegedly cast another curse against him. Tragedies during Francis Joseph's reign included the deaths of his wife and son, as well as the murder of his nephew, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, which resulted in the Hapsburgs' downfall.
23. William Shakespeare's self-penned epitaph serves as a curse against grave robbers, warning of consequences for disturbing his resting place. The inscription reads, "Good friend for Jesus sake forbeare, To dig the dust enclosed here. Blessed be the man that spares these stones, And cursed be he that moves my bones."
24. Alamelamma's threefold curse on Raja Wodeyar of the Mysore Kingdom (in India) unfolded as a consequence of his actions. After her husband's army's defeat, she fled with precious jewels to Talakad, which the Raja sought to confiscate. To avoid capture, Alamelamma committed suicide and, during her death, pronounced a three-part curse: Talakad would become a desert, Malangi would turn into a whirlpool area, and the Wodeyars would face issues with offspring. Skeptics attribute the first two curses to environmental changes, while the peculiar pattern of male-only children in every other generation among the Wodeyars over the past 400 years remains unexplained.
25. The "Guinness Curse" haunting the illustrious brewing family traces back to founder Arthur Guinness, who lost 10 of his 21 children while building the empire. The misfortunes extended to family members facing poverty, insanity, and alcoholism. Two family members died during World War II-one by Jewish terrorists and the other in combat-intensifying the curse, which resulted in a post-war period that was full of suicides, car accidents, and strange incidents.
