Please see the discussion page for relevant issues.

Chronology

Believers in the "curse" generally cite the following events as evidence of the family's misfortunes.

• 1941 - Rosemary Kennedy is given a lobotomy to treat what may have been mild mental retardation or perhaps dyslexia. The results are disastrous, she remains in an institution until her death in 2005.

• 1944 - Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., the eldest son of the Kennedy patriarch Joseph Kennedy, is killed over the English Channel while flying a voluntary mission during World War II.

• 1948 - Kathleen Kennedy dies in another plane crash, this time in France.

• 1959 - Charles Kennedy Kirk is born with ginger hair.

• August 7, 1963 - Patrick Bouvier Kennedy , the second son of John and Jacqueline Kennedy, dies just after being born nearly six weeks premature.

• November 22, 1963 - President John F. Kennedy is assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas, Texas.

• 1964 - Senator Ted Kennedy, the youngest of the original Kennedy children, nearly dies in a plane crash which takes the life of an aide, Edward Moss .

• June 5, 1968 - Robert F. Kennedy, brother to both John and Ted, is assassinated by Sirhan Sirhan in Los Angeles immediately following his victory in the California Democratic presidential primary.

• 1969 - "Chappaquiddick Incident" - Ted Kennedy drives off a bridge on his way home from a beach party. Mary Jo Kopechne, an aide to Bobby Kennedy, dies in the accident.

• 1973 - Edward Kennedy, Jr. loses his right leg due to cancer.

• 1973 - Joseph P. Kennedy II, son of Robert and Ethel, is the driver in a Cape Cod car accident that leaves one passenger permanently paralyzed.

• 1979 - David Kennedy was robbed and beaten in Harlem while buying heroin.

• 1983 - Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. was arrested in South Dakota for heroin possession.

• 1984 - David A. Kennedy, another son of Robert, dies from a Demerol and cocaine overdose in a Palm Beach, Florida hotel room.

• 1986 - Patrick Kennedy, a son of Senator Ted Kennedy, begins treatment for cocaine addiction.

• 1988 - Christina Onassis, step-daughter of Jacqueline Kennedy, dies of drug abuse-related heart failure.

• 1991 - William Kennedy Smith , son of Jean Kennedy, is accused of raping a woman in Palm Beach, Florida. He is tried and acquitted.

• 1997 - Michael Kennedy, son of Robert, is killed in a skiing accident in Aspen, Colorado.

• 1999 - John F. Kennedy Jr., his wife Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, and Carolyn's sister Lauren Bessette, die when Kennedy's plane crashes into the ocean on a foggy afternoon en route from New York to Martha's Vineyard.