Death by Clam

May 7, 1934 - It was on this day in the Phillipines that a diver named Etem got his hand stuck inside a giant clam and drowned.

When Etem's friends retrieved his body, they carried him and the mollusk to Panglima Pisi, a local chief.

After making an official declaration of death, the chief asked the men to take the dead guy back to his village. He also requested that they leave the giant clam behind.

The next day as the chief's servants were pulling meat out of the clam they discovered a massive pearl. The behemoth weighed 14 pounds making it the largest pearl ever found.

In the past 80 years the pearl has changed hands many times. It's known as the Pearl of Lao Tzu and it's currently valued at approximately $40,000,000.