In the Wenceslas Chapel of Prague's St. Vitus Cathedral sits the Czech Royal Crown and it's said that anyone who wears the crown but is not worthy of it will be cursed.
During World War II the Germans occupied the modern day Czech Republic and Reinhard Heydrich was the Nazi in command. He ruled the region from Prague and set up his base of operations in Prague Castle. From there he viciously suppressed the local people and became known as "The Butcher of Prague". The story goes that one night during his command he entered the Wenceslas Chapel and tried on the Royal Crown. Not a good idea.
During the early 1940s the exiled members of the Czechoslovak government were taking refuge in England. It was there, in concert with the English government, that they hatched a plan to assassinate Heydrich. They trained small teams of Czech soldiers in England and sent them to Prague in May of 1942 to carry out the deed.
On May 27th the Czech soldiers lay in ambush waiting for Heydrich's car to appear. Once the car arrived one of the soldiers, Sgt Josef Gabchik, aimed his previously hidden gun and shot at Heydrich, it jammed. His partner, Sgt Jan Kubis, noticed the misfire and threw an anti-tank grenade at the car. It exploded causing extensive damage to the car and serious injuries to Heydrich.
A dramatic gun chase ensued as the Czech soldiers fled from the scene. Eventually they escaped and hid themselves in the crypt of Prague's Orthodox cathedral of Saints Cyril and Methodius. One of their number was captured by the Nazis and was eventually forced into giving up his compatriots' whereabouts.
The Nazis surrounded the hiding place of the soldiers and attacked. The soldiers held them off for fourteen hours. The Nazis eventually tried flooding the crypt to flush the Czechs out. Instead of surrendering the Czechs shot themselves.
Heydrich was left with ruptured internal organs and an infected bloodstream. He was taken to a German hospital for treatment and after ten days of excruciating pain and unsuccessful surgery he died.
Maybe he should have tried on a fedora instead.