The year was 1776.
In Bavaria, new ideals of rationalism, religious freedom, and universal human rights competed with the Catholic church’s heavy influence over public affairs.
Across the Atlantic, a new nation staked its claim for independence on the basis of these ideas.
But back in Bavaria, law professor Adam Weishaupt’s attempts to teach secular philosophy continued to be frustrated.
Weishaupt decided to spread his ideas through a secret society that would shine a light on the shortcomings of the Church’s ideology.
He called his secret society the Illuminati.
Weishaupt modelled aspects of his secret society off a group called the Freemasons.
Originally an elite stoneworkers’ guild in the late Middle Ages, the Freemasons had gone from passing down the craft of masonry to more generally promoting ideals of knowledge and reason.
Over time, they had grown into a semi-secret, exclusive order that included many wealthy and influential individuals, with elaborate, secret initiation rituals.
Weishaupt created his parallel society while also joining the Freemasons and recruiting from their ranks.
He adopted the code name Spartacus for himself, after the famed leader of the Roman slave revolt.
Early members became the Illuminati’s ruling council, or Areopagus.
One of these members, Baron Adolph Knigge, was also a freemason, and became an influential recruiter.
With Knigge’s help, the Illuminati expanded their numbers, gained influence within several Masonic chapters, and incorporated Masonic rituals.
By 1784, there were over 600 members, including influential scholars and politicians.
As the Illuminati gained members, the American Revolution also gained momentum.
Thomas Jefferson would later cite Weishaupt as an inspiration.
European monarchs and clergy were fearful of similar revolts on their home soil.
Meanwhile, the existence of the Illuminati had become an open secret.
Both the Illuminati and the Freemasons drew exclusively from society’s wealthy elite, which meant they were constantly rubbing shoulders with members of the religious and political establishment.
Many in the government and church believed that both groups were determined to undermine the people’s religious faith.
But these groups didn’t necessarily oppose religion— they just believed it should be kept separate from governance.
Still, the suspicious Bavarian government started keeping records of alleged members of the Illuminati.
Just as Illuminati members begun to secure important positions in local governments and universities, a 1784 decree by Duke Karl Theodor of Bavaria banned all secret societies.
While a public ban on something ostensibly secret might seem difficult to enforce, in this case it worked.
Only nine years after its founding, the group dissolved, their records were seized, and Weishaupt forced into exile.
The Illuminati would become more notorious in their afterlife than they had ever been in their brief existence.
A decade later, in the aftermath of the French Revolution, conservative authors claimed the Illuminati had survived their banishment and orchestrated the overthrow of the monarchy.
In the United States, preacher Jedidiah Morse promoted similar ideas of an Illuminati conspiracy against the government.
But though the idea of a secret group orchestrating political upheaval is still alive and well today, there is no evidence that the Illuminati survived, reformed, or went underground.
Their brief tenure is well-documented in Bavarian government records, the still-active Freemasons’s records, and particularly the overlap between these two sources, without a whisper since.
In the spirit of rationalism the Illuminati embraced, one must conclude they no longer exist.
But the ideas that spurred Weishaupt to found the illuminati still spread, becoming the basis for many Western governments today.
These ideas didn’t start or end with the Illuminati— instead, it was one community that represented a wave of change that was already underway when it was founded and continued long after it ended.
We are going to talk today about the sequel of "Inconvenient Truth."
It's time again to talk about "Inconvenient Truth," a truth that everyone is concerned about, but nobody is willing to talk about.
Somebody has to take the lead, and I decided to do it.
If you are scared by global warming, wait until we learn about local warming.
We will talk today about local warming.
Important health message: blogging may be hazardous to your health, especially if you are a male.
This message is given as a public service.
Blogging affects your posture.
We start with the posture.
This is the posture of ladies who are not blogging; this is the posture of ladies who are blogging.
(Laughter) This is the natural posture of a man sitting, squatting for ventilation purposes.
(Laughter) And this is the natural posture of a standing man, and I think this picture inspired Chris to insert me into the lateral thinking session.
This is male blogging posture sitting, and the result is, "For greater comfort, men naturally sit with their legs farther apart than women, when working on laptop.
However, they will adopt a less natural posture in order to balance it on their laps, which resulted in a significant rise of body heat between their thighs."
This is the issue of local warming.
(Laughter) This is a very serious newspaper; it's Times of England -- very serious.
This is a very -- (Laughter) -- gentlemen and ladies, be serious.
This is a very serious research, that you should read the underline.
And be careful, your genes are in danger.
Will geeks become endangered species?
The fact: population growth in countries with high laptop -- (Laughter) I need Hans Rosling to give me a graph.
(Applause) Global warming fun.
(Laughter) But let's keep things in proportion.
How to take care in five easy steps: first of all, you can use natural ventilation.
You can use body breath.
You should stay cool with the appropriate clothing.
You should care about your posture -- this is not right.
Can you extract from Chris another minute and a half for me, because I have a video I have to show you.
(Applause) You are great.
This is the correct posture.
Another benefit of Wi-Fi, we learned yesterday about the benefits of Wi-Fi.
Wi-Fi enables you to avoid the processor.
And there are some enhanced protection measures, which I would like to share with you, and I would like, in a minute, to thank Philips for helping.
This is a research which was done in '86, but it's still valid.
Scrotal temperature reflects intratesticular temperature and is lowered by shaving.
By the way, I must admit, my English is not so good, I didn't know what is scrotal; I understand it's a scrotum.
I guess in plural it's scrotal, like medium and media.
Digital scrotum, digital media.
And only last year I recognized that I'm a proud scrotum owner.
(Laughter) And this research is being precipitated by the U.S. government, so you can see that your tax man is working for good causes.
Video: Man: The Philips Bodygroom has a sleek, ergonomic design for a safe and easy way to trim those scruffy underarm hairs, the untidy curls on and around your [bleep], as well as the hard to reach locks on the underside of your [bleep] and [bleep].
Once you use the Bodygroom, the world looks different.
And so does your [bleep].
These days, with a hair-free back, well-groomed shoulders and an extra optical inch on my [bleep], well, let's just say life has gotten pretty darn cozy.
Yossi Vardi: This is one of the most popular viral advertisement of last year, known as the optical inch by Philips.
Let's applaud Philips -- (Applause) -- for this gesture for humanity.
And this is how they are promoting the product.
This is -- I didn't touch it, this is original.
Laptop use to solve overpopulation.
And if everything failed, there are some secondary uses.
And then our next talk, our next TED if you invite me will be why you should not carry a cell phone in your pocket.
And this is what the young generation says.
(Applause) And I just want to show you that I'm not just preaching, but I also practice.
(Laughter) 4 am in the morning.
(Laughter) You cannot use this picture.
(Applause) Now, I have some mini TED Prizes, this is the Philips Bodygroom, one for our leader.
(Applause) Anybody feels threatened, anybody really need it?
(Laughter) Any lady, any lady?
Thank you very much.
(Applause)