Did you know that one of the previous Earls of Highclere, Lord Carnarvon, was not only the financial backer but present at the excavation of King Tut's tomb in the Valley of the Kings in 1922? The Lord died the following year after a mosquito bite on his face was infected with erysipelas and it spread and became pneumonia. Remember when Mrs. Crawely misdiagnosed her butler with erysipelas in the first season? I believe that was a nod to the late Earl!
The Earl's death led to the legend of the Curse of King Tut (the king must not have wanted to leave his "condo made of stone-a"), and some of our beloved cast have suffered accidents while on set.
Read more here: Downton Cursed?