The Illuminati A bunch of free thinkers, the most radical offshoot of The Enlightenment, got the name Illuminati (but called themselves “Perfectibilists”) when Jesuit-taught Adam Weishaupt founded them on May 1, 1776 in Ingolstadt (Upper Bavaria). Now known as the Bavarian Illuminati. It wasn’t legal but had influential intellectuals and politicians as members. Some Freemasons joined, but it wasn’t a Masonic thing. Their atheism made them hot with atheists, and the humanist slant led to the belief they wanted to topple organized religion. Internal chaos over a new leader and government crackdowns killed it off in the late 1700s. But conspiracy theorists like David Icke and Was Penre say it survived, maybe even today, though there’s scant evidence. Some even think the Skull and Bones is an American branch. Many believe the Illuminati still runs the world, aiming for a humanist, atheist “one world government”.