12 Major Tragedies That Befell the Kennedys

President John F. Kennedy's older brother was 29 when he passed away. Joseph was a lieutenant in the Navy during World War II. In 1944, he was testing a drone that was loaded with 20,000 pounds of explosives. The aircraft exploded over the English Channel.

It's been reported that JFK's sister Kathleen defied her parents' wishes by marrying the man she loved, William "Billy" Cavendish. They were only married for one month when Billy was shot by a German sniper. In 1948, the 28-year-old widow died in a plane crash along with her 37-year-old British lover, Peter Fitzwilliams — who was married.

The date Nov. 22, 1963, automatically rings a bell for many, as it was the day President JFK was killed in Dallas. Lee Harvey Oswald opened fire on the president as he rode in an open convertible next to his wife, Jackie.

The senator lived to tell the tale when his plane went down on the way to Massachusetts in June 1964. His brother, President JFK, had just been assassinated seven months before. The plane took a dive after heading into murky weather. Ted survived but suffered a broken back that kept him in the hospital for five months.

. . . and he cheated death, again. Mary Jo Kopechne, on the other hand, wasn't so lucky. She died in that Chappaquiddick Island accident in 1969. Ted was planning to run for the presidency, but this controversial accident ended those dreams.

In June 1968, JFK's younger brother, Robert, was campaigning for the Democratic Party in Los Angeles. He was just 43 years old when Sirhan Sirhan killed him. Sirhan remains in a California prison and has been denied parole 15 times.

In 1984, one of RFK's sons, David, died from a drug overdose in a Palm Beach hotel. He was just 28 years old. It was reported that he had cocaine and other drugs in his system.

Michael, one of RFK's grandchildren, passed away in a skiing accident in 1997. Before that, he allegedly had an affair with his kids' babysitter — who was 14 years old.

Tragedy stroke again on July 16, 1999. JFK Jr. and his wife, Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, were on a plane along with Carolyn's sister. As they were traveling off the coast of Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts, the plane crashed.

The senator suffered from a seizure and, three days later, he revealed his malignant brain tumor diagnosis on May 20, 2008. He died in August 2009. His and President JFK's sister, Eunice Kennedy, founder of the Special Olympics, had passed away two weeks before he did from a series of strokes.

In September 2011, the daughter of Senator Edward M. "Ted" Kennedy had just finished working out at a health club when she had a heart attack and died.

Mary filed for divorce from Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in 2010. On May 16, 2012, she hung herself at the age of 52. It was reported that she had alcohol and drug abuse problems, as well as psychiatric issues.