My mother-in-law grew up in Kimberley, South Africa. On a trip to Cape Town, we did a stop at Kimberley and did some of the local tourist things. In the middle of Kimberley there is this big hole in the ground that is aptly named the "Big Hole". It was once a diamond pipe and almost all of the diamonds were extracted in the 19th century. There is this tourist park near the Big Hole that's a bit like the mining town of Columbia, California or Knotts Berry Farm in the 1960s. The tourist park attempts to recreate life in the 19th century when Cecil Rhodes and company were digging up diamonds. The process started when an Afrikaaner farmer named De Beers found on his farm a pretty rock laying on the ground and thought it would be a nice plaything for his daughter. Later the pretty rock turned out to be a diamond. De Beers sold his farm for a nominal amount to a company that was managed by Cecil Rhodes. Cecil Rhodes later became filthy rich (Rhodesia was named after him). It's not clear what happen to De Beers or the pretty rock that he found for his daughter.

Gary

p.s. Many Afrikaaners would argue that diamonds and gold were South Africa's curse. The Afrikaaners had a good life as simple farmers. However after the gold and diamonds were found, South Africa attacted the interest of the English government with the Boer Wars as a result. Also the diamonds and gold were the motivation for the mass migration of Bantu workers from the Natal province into the Highveld where the Afrikaaners lived (the cooler climate of the Highveld is more comfortable for people of European descent). This started the whole dreary process of apartheid and the Afrikaaners losing what they had spent generations working to achieve. A sorry tale of greed and stupidity.