A conversation about secret societies would not be complete without also considering the Illuminati. History indicates that the underground organization was originally founded on May 1, 1776 during the Age of Bavarian Enlightenment. In more modern day times, when one speaks of Illuminati, it is often in reference to a collective of the world’s most powerful men and women who allegedly attempt to control world events in the hopes of one day dictating the New World Order. The secret society of the Illuminati is often closely associated with conspiracy theories believing that the clandestine group includes alumni such as Winston Churchill, David Rockefeller, and powerful families with surnames like Bush and Rothschild. In Dan Brown’s novels The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons, Galileo Galilee is depicted as the founder of the Illuminati movement as a way to revolt against the power of the Catholic Church.
