7. The Curse of the Roebling Family
John Roebling designed the Brooklyn Bridge but never got to see it to fruition. While taking compass readings in preparation for the bridge, his foot got stuck and crushed between a ferry and the dock. Doctors amputated his toes but Roebling slipped into a coma and died ultimately of tetanus. His son, Washington Roebling, took over responsibilities but suffered two attacks of caisson disease (aka the bends) as a result of ascending too quickly in the compressed air chambers used to lay the foundations underwater. Suffering from paralysis, deafness, and partial blindness, Washington Roebling turned the responsibilities over to his wife, Emily Warren Roebling. The misfortunes led some to speculate that the Roebling family was cursed.
Luckily, Emily was able to escape the supposed curse and she was the first person to cross the entire span of the bridge when it was completed in 1883. The construction of the Brooklyn Bridge was an overall debilitating affair for more than the Roebling family — at least twenty people died during the construction of the bridge and more than 100 suffered from caisson disease.