It is recounted that while George Washington’s mother was still pregnant with him, she invited dinner guests over to her house. What bizarre natural event occurred that the family interpreted as a bad sign for the boy?

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A lightning bolt struck and killed one of them through a chimney. http://www.quazen.com/Reference/Biography/Seven-Facts-You-Never-Knew-About-George-Washington.49748 When she was pregnant with George Washington, she experienced a shock that may have shaped her relationship with the large child taking shape in her womb. One summer Sunday afternoon, while the family was having dinner with guests from church, a thunderstorm rolled in. A bolt of lightning struck the house and traveled down the chimney and hit a young girl who was visiting the Washingtons for Sunday dinner. The electric current was so strong it fused the knife and fork she was using to cut her meat. She died instantly. The lightning hit with such force that it severely jolted the pregnant Mary Washington, who was sitting only a few feet away. From that time on, Mary Ball Washington cringed and tried to hide whenever lightning passed overhead, burying her face in her hands. For the moment, she recovered, but she became increasingly fearful over the years. She was so happy a few months later when a strong, sound baby was born that she traveled around the Tidewater showing off George Washington to all his cousins for an entire month, before she even had him baptized. http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/r/randall-washington.html Apr 22 08, 6:16 AM