The 'curse of Tutankhamun' spared the man most to blame.

1922 · 1939 · 1980 · apart: 58 years

Howard Carter, who opened the tomb in 1922, died only in 1939, aged 64, and Lord Carnarvon's daughter, among the first inside, lived until 1980.

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The event

• Discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb1922 · Valley of the Kings, Luxor. On 4 November 1922 Howard Carter's workmen cleared a step leading to a sealed tomb in the Valley of the Kings. Three weeks later Carter peered in by candlelight and, asked by Lord Carnarvon whether he could see anything, replied: 'Yes, wonderful things.' The tomb held more than 5,000 objects, including a gold mask of about 10 kg. The find set off worldwide Egyptomania.

20th century

More amazing facts

• 1919 Boston was flooded with molasses the day before the US adopted Prohibition.
• 1922 In November 1922 Howard Carter peered into Tutankhamun's tomb; just over a month later the USSR was founded.
• 1922 · 1923 Vegemite, Australia's national spread, is made from brewing leftovers.
• 1922 Under Mussolini the trains did not really run on time.
• 1923 · 1955 The insulin patent was sold for one dollar, and the polio vaccine was never patented.
• 1923 · 1949 The Hollywood Sign began as an ad for a housing estate and read HOLLYWOODLAND.

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