8 Real Secret Societies
Secret societies inspire equal parts suspicion and envy. Are these shadowy organizations controlling the world behind closed doors, or whiling away the hours with playing cards and silly rituals?
In this episode of The List Show, host Erin McCarthy looks at the real, verifiable facts behind some secret (and not-so-secret) organizations, from the Illuminati to the Bohemian Club.
In case you forgot, The List Show is a trivia-tastic, fact-filled show for curious people. Subscribe here for new Mental Floss episodes every Wednesday: / @mentalfloss
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Image Credits:
Wikimedia Commons
Public Domain
Bohemian Grove (Binksternet)
Grove 1909 (Gabriel Moulin)
Russell (MarmadukePercy)
Skull & Bones (BoolaBoola2)
Scroll & Key (BetacommandBot)
Wolf's Head (BoolaBoola2)
Book & Snake (BetacommandBot)
Elizabethan Club (BoolaBoola2)
Weisthaupt (Rettinghaus)
John Robinson (Thomas Gun)
Barruel (William C. Minor)
Stonemasons (PKM)
Order of the Eastern Star (SarekOfVulcan)
CC 3.0
Owl Shrine (Aarkwilde)
CC 4.0
Aerial Grove (Brianhama)
Explorer's Club (Jonathan S Knowles)
Explorer's club interior (Rhododendrites)
Getty:
Skeleton in closet (Johner Images)
Graverobber (Hulton Archive)
Debate (Heritage Images)
Jefferson (Print Collector)
Oxford (Print Collector)
King Edward VIII (Hulton Archive)
Queen Mary (Culture Club)
Evelyn Waugh (Hulton Deutsch)
Cameron (Bruno Vincent)
Bottle smashing quote
(Topical Press Agency)
Boris Johnson (Neville Elder)
Mason initiation (Heritage Images)
Masons2 (Heritage Images)
Washington (Fine Art)
Mozart (Hulton Archive)
FDR (Library of Congress)
Houdini (Hulton Archive)
Churchill (Evening Standard)
Count Basie (Heritage Images)
Medgar Evers (Hulton Archive)
Crockett (Barney Burstein)
Aldrin (Heritage Images)
Oscar Wilde (W. and D. Downey)
Lindbergh (Library of Congress)
Marshall (Historical)
Masonic ritual (Hulton Archive)
Halloween decorations (Juan Silva)