Marilyn's 'Birthday' Dress Sells for 400 Times Its Original Cost

It might be the most famous birthday serenade in history, and a new auction only underscores the point. The silk dress worn by Marilyn Monroe when she sang "Happy Birthday" to President Kennedy at Madison Square Garden in 1962 has just sold for $4.8 million, reports CNN.

The buyer is the Ripley's Believe It or Not museum, which made the winning bid via Julien's Auctions. The snug dress (CNN notes that as the story goes, Monroe had to be sewn into it), decked out with sequins and rhinestones, originally cost $12,000. One sad footnote: The Los Angeles Times points out that the 36-year-old Monroe was found dead of a drug overdose about three months later. (More Marilyn Monroe stories.)