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Benedict XVI may not be the only controversial figure to walk the Vatican planks. As controversy swirls around the Catholic Church and noted atheists such as Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins call for Pope Benedict XVI’s arrest for “crimes against humanity.” There were worse Popes than the one we currently have. In fact, the following top 10 Popes not only shook this world, but they also rocked it upside down with their heinous crimes.

1. Pope Pius XII

One horrible Pius wasn’t enough for this world to handle. Pope Pius XII came into power, ruling the Vatican not long after his predecessor Pius IX, the pope who supplied the orders to execute Lincoln.

It is important to study the era during which Pius XII held the Chair of Peter – it was between 1939 and 1958. If anyone was curious enough to know where exactly Hitler got the notion that Jews were to be exterminated by the millions between 1939 – 1945, they need to look no further than Pius XII. Pope Pope Pius XII personally Hitler detailed instructions on how to methodically exterminate non-Catholic minorities across all of Europe and how death camps were to be constructed for the sole purpose of their murder.

2. Pope Julius III

Julius was one of the rare duly elected popes of the 1500s, having gained power through intrigue and murder. At the time, being pope was only accessible to the richest and most powerful families of Italy much like being President of the United States is today. Compared to these families, Julius III was like the war hero of cardinals.

Decades before becoming pope, Julius was traded as a hostage by the dumb and pusillanimous Pope Clement VII to Emperor Charles V during the sacking of Rome. Julius would have been killed, if it were not for a complicated twist, Cardinal Pompeo Colonna, an enemy of Clement VII and rogue commando cardinal. Cardinal Pompeo Colonna rescued the hostages, including Julius III, from the clutches of the Emperor.

Once he was elected pope, Julius III sacked the papal coffers to refurbish his mansion in Rome. The Villa Giula became the full-time residence of Julius III and the pope personally oversaw the construction. He hired only the best (including Michelangelo) and had little interest in the affairs of being a pope.

In addition to the extensive looting of the Catholic treasury so that he could flip his house, Julius III was known to have a crush on younger men. Yes it’s true, he liked to have sex with kids and was infamous for it.

3. Pope Innocent III

This pope reportedly helped plan the murder of well over one million people during his papacy between 1198-1216. He rallied military support in favor of the Inquisition after excommunicating Philip II of France and had put both France and England under an injunction, which was the Pope’s granted power of punishment.

Innocent called the Fourth Crusade, which was preoccupied with Constantinople. The pope excommunicated the Crusaders who attacked Christian cities, but he made no move to halt or topple their actions because he felt that the Latin presence would bring about a understanding between the Eastern and Western Churches. Innocent also ordered a crusade against the Albigenses, which successfully subdued the Cathar heresy in France but at a great cost in life and blood.

4. Pope Alexander VI

Pope Alexander VI had a special place reserved in Hell. On Halloween night of 1501, he was said to have prearranged and participated in the worst orgy in the history of Vatican  While sex with promiscuous women while unwed and sworn to celibacy and a life devoted to God may be forgivable in certain circles, his other most appalling conducts would be scowled upon by just about any member of our contemporary civilized society. Alexander VI would also regularly have sex with his two sisters and his daughter. For the crime of incest, Alexander VI is surely one of the most evil popes to live this planet.

5. Pope Pius IX

Let it first be known that Pius IX resided in the Vatican as Pope for the longest time: 33 years. Let it alsoc be known that there was a direct correlation between his constant scheming and the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. Both funding for and the mission plan itself had made its way from the papal office to the hands of John Wilkes Booth who shot Lincoln dead on April 15th, 1865 at the Ford Theater in Washington D.C. Yes, despite criticisms, Lincoln died as per the orders given by the Roman Catholic Church.
Why assassinate Lincoln? Pope Pius iX begged to disagree with Lincoln over the issue of slavery. He believed that it was not against diine law for a slave to be sold, bought or exchanged.

Times have changed. Women are increasingly finding top jobs in fortune 500 companies. Many of them are changing the IT world and influencing our future. This article is dedicated to 10 of them that pave the way.

1. Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook

She is the COO of Facebook. She monetizes the largest social networking site and manages Facebook`s sales, marketing and business development, human resources, public policy and communication. WOW!

2. Mitchell Baker, Mozilla

Winifred Mitchell Baker is the Chairperson of the Mozilla Foundation and the former CEO of the same corporation. She was trained as a lawyer and now coordinates business and policy issues for the Mozilla Foundation. She was included in Time Magazine`s list of 100 most influential people in the world in 2005.

3. Meg Whitman, HP

In September of 2011, Hewlett-Packard replaced its CEO with former eBay CEO Meg Whitman. The move came with the company`s bid to garner new leadership. The incumbent, Leo Apotheker was highly criticized for how he handled a major strategy shift in 2011.

4. Sue Gardner, Wikimedia

Gardner is the director of the Wikimedia foundation. She turned the online encyclopedia into the first reference point for all who look for information. She is a Canadian born.

5. Ursula M. Burns, Xerox Corporation

Burns is the Madam Chairman and CEO of Xerox. She is the first African American to head a Fortune 500 company. She was rated the 14th most powerful woman in the world.

During the reformation era, many leaders who went against the Catholic Church were deemed heretics and were excommunicated. Others were burned at the stake. One particular scientist was put on trial and sentenced to house arrest for going against the church. Who are the people that stood up to the ‘tyrants’ of that time? Let’s name a few.

1. Martin Luther:

He posted the 95 Theses on the door of the Church of Wittenberg. He was strongly against the indulgences that the Catholic Church imposed. He also believed that church was corrupt, noting the many problems of the Priests. Salvation for him was not also earned by good deeds, but by gift of God.

2. John Wynthrop:

He believed in God having a divine purpose for the colony of Massachusetts. He even wrote a sermen called “A Model of Christian Charity.” He was known for his radical reformation thought and was quite successful in transitioning from the Old to the New World.

3. Galileo Galilei:

The debate surrounded a conflict between Copernican science and Aristotelian science of heliocentricism vs. geocentricism. Galileo articulated his scientific views backing up Copernicus in a 1615 letter to the Grand Duchess of Tuscany. The catholic church used this letter as the basis of the first Church trial and censure against him. His hope to reconcile faith and science was cut short when he was put on trial; twice. After trial, he was ordered to serve house arrest for his “crimes”. John Paul II, in the late 1990s, finally recognized Gailei and his work, so he did not die in vain.

4. John Calvin:

Calvin is only a year apart in his reformation methods as Martin Luther. Calvin was successful at creating many churches from French Hugenots to the English Puritans to Scottish Presbyterians. He was a fundamental believer in predestination.

5. Henry VIII:

This British king and monarch decided to rid his country of the Catholic Church when they refused to grant him divorce from his first wife. He eventually did so, remarried Ann Boleyn and put himself as head of the Anglican church.

The deaths of these 10 leaders has remained a mystery to this day.  If you look back the last 200 years,, you will find no less than 150 leaders and politicians have died under the most mysterious circumstances. 200 might seem like “not that many” but for the international community it`s way to many.

We never take the deaths of famous people lightly,  but these 10 deaths are worth mentioning because they were so unexpected and tragic.

1. Nelson Rockefeller:

What or shall I say who was this vice president doing when he died? Megan Marshak, Rockefeller’s mistress, would probably know. Marshak did not call 911 when Rockefeller had a heart attack. She called her friend who did the dirty work for her.

2. John F. Kennedy:

No one to this day knows who killed J.F.K. in 1963. Lee Harvey Oswald, the person held in connection to the shooting, was fatally wounded before he could present any evidence. Conspiracy theories also link Oswald to all groups who wanted to see J.F.K dead. In the three-years after Lee Harvey Oswald and JFK mysterious deaths, 18 material witnesses died .  6 of them died by gunfire, 3 were involved in motor accidents, 2 committed suicide, 1 died from a cut throat, another died from from a karate chop to the neck, 3 had died from heart attacks and 2 from natural causes.

3. Felix Faure:

Faure was the President of France from 1895 up until his death in 1899. He was engaging in oral sex with a mistress in his office when suffered apoplexy. Marguerite Steinheil became known as the funeral pomp or the funeral pump to the French. The sexual activity (oral sex) is something that the French hypothesize; there are no true or reliable facts.

4. Shikhali Gurbanov:

Can you really trust your dentist? This statesman and writer got killed while at his dentists. Cyanide acid was injected into him. The dentist was never found. This all happened shortly before Gurbanov was to be elected First Secretary of Azerbaijan Communist Party.

5. Atilla the Hun:

This man was the ruler of the Huns right up until his death. He was able to cross the Danube and defeat the Baltics. Although he was a great military warrior in history books, he was no combatant when it came to the bedroom. He died while engaging in sexual activity with his partner on their wedding night. What caused this great leader to die so quickly? Mystery was never unraveled.

Populism is an ideology that compares the people to the elite. According to Populism, the power should lie in the hands of the common people (common sense of the common people). As the rights of the people are constrained by the power of the elite, populism furthermore calls for a change in the political system. Direct Democracy and Referenda are two practices the populists regard. This list is dedicated to 10 leaders who followed this belief.

1. Jack Layton:

This former opposition leader and the head of the New Democratic Party of Canada was a left wing populist. He believed in talking to the people, as opposed to talking at them. The man was charismatic until his dying day. He was loved for his good heart and his caring personality. He put his people and their rights first.

2. Preston Manning;

This leader of the Reform Party of Canada was a right-wing populist. He advocated for an elected senate, radical budget and tax cuts and desired to replace existing social welfare programs by private charities. Additionally, he defended traditional family values and was against the constitutional “distinct society” status for Québec.

3. Theodore Roosevelt:

This United States President revived the populist platform in the early 20th century with his anti-big business policies. He amended the constitution to allow for the direct election of the senate. He also supported farmers and called for employment on public works. Roosevelt was elected because he was confident; he looked to satisfy the people and was strong in his policies.

4. Ross Perot:

This United States presidential candidate used his personal wealth to communicate with his voters. He held infomercials with extensive charts and was liked because he was self-financed. Throughout his campaign, he focused on deficit cutting, reducing spending and increasing taxes on social security, gas and tobacco. He was charismatic and blurred the lines of charisma and authoritarianism.

5. Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador

This former Mexico City mayor ran for President in 2006 and represented the Coalition for the Good for All. He promised to increase monthly salaries to the poor and elder. He also promised to re-negotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement to, again, protect the Mexican poor. However, the ruling party portrayed him as a risk to economic stability and stipulated that Obrador would not keep his promises.

Women have been at the helm of the affairs of their countries for many generations, but in the 20th Century the number of well known women leaders increased manifold. The 10 women listed below led their countries through times of turbulence and peace.

1. Indira Gandhi  – Prime Minister of India
Born into India’s politically influential  Nehru family, she was India’s first woman Prime Minister. A hard nosed pragmatic, she ruled the country with firmness and determination, taking hard and tough decisions when needed. She was assassinated by two of her own guards in 1984.

2. Margaret Thatcher – Prime Minister of United Kingdom
Nicknamed “Iron Lady” due to her tough stance against the erstwhile Soviet Union, she led her country through recession and high unemployment into a period of relative prosperity, and a rise in its stature among fellow nations. She was the first woman to lead a major political party in the United Kingdom.

3. Benazir Bhutto  – Prime Minister of Pakistan
The daughter Pakistan’s Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, she ruled her country from 1988-1990, and 1993-1996. She was assassinated in 2007, during election campaigning. It was widely expected that she would go on to become Prime Minister for a record third term.

4. Corazon Aquino – President of Phillipines
Asia’s first female President, she was a novice when she was elected President sometime after her husband’s assassination. She was a strong advocate of women’s rights and of democracy as opposed to Ferdinand Marcos’s dictatorial rule.

5. Sonia Gandhi  -  Leader of India’s Congress Party
Believed by many to be the power behind the throne, she holds no political office, yet rules the country. An Italian by birth, she adopted India as her country after marrying Rajiv Gandhi. She has been nominated as the third most powerful woman in the world.

An assassination is usually the murder of a famous personality and results in immense reverberations surrounding it. The reasons may range from political to religious to just plain enmity, but the murder affects the lives of all the citizens of that country.

1. Julius Caesar
He was assassinated on 15 March 44 (BC) by a group of senators – almost 60 of them, while he was in Pompey. A powerful military and political personage, he was responsible for raising the Roman Empire to new heights. His death triggered the end of the Roman Republic.

2. Abraham Lincoln
Assassinated in 1865 by John Wilkes Booth, Abraham Lincoln’s death was the aftermath of a divisive civil war in the United States. Ranked among the greatest Presidents of the United States, he staked his career on the abolition of slavery, and on preventing the United States from breaking up into two.

3. Franz Ferdinand
His murder on June 28th, 1914 was the spark for the beginning of World War 1. He was the Archduke of Austria and he was assassinated by a bunch of Serbian zealots. Two months later Austria and Hungary declared war on Serbia leading to a conflict that lasted 4 years and engulfed most of Europe.

4. Mahatma Gandhi
Soon after India gained its independence from England, the main architect of its struggle for independence, M.K.Gandhi was killed by a Hindu fanatic, Nathuram Godse in 1948. In his death, India lost a leader who had the ability to lead its teeming masses, without raising his voice or advocating drastic measures.

5. John F. Kennedy
When Jon F. Kennedy was assassinated allegedly by Lee Harvey Oswald in 1961, in Dallas, Texas, it was witnessed on nationwide television. He was a charismatic personality and many believed that he had the potential and ability to be a great President.

If we are to pull from ignominy the worst military commanders in history, then we can come up with our list of top 10 worst military tacticians which is an interesting reading. This article is our A-list, if there is ever one, of the military idiots and incompetents who have etched their names in history for the utter shame of defeat that they have experienced from the hands of their enemies.

1. Publius Quinctilius Varus

Varus misfortunes and misjudgment started when he easily fell for the deception laid out by the Germanic prince Arminius. Responding to the call for succor by Arminius, Varus led three Roman legions into a totally compromised position which resulted to the shameful annihilation of all three Roman legions by the barbaric Germanic fighters.

2. Darius III of Persia

Darius III, last king of the Persian Achaemenid Empire, is well remembered for his botched defense of this empire against the advancing forces of Alexander The Great. He totally underestimated the might of the army of Alexander the Great and this has led to his defeat in their very first encounter in the Battle of Granicus. Despite outnumbering his enemies to the ratio of 2 is to 1, Darius still failed miserably in his second encounter, the Battle of Issus.

3. Antonio Lopez de Santa. Anna

Antonio Lopez de Santa. Anna, the self-proclaimed Napoleon of the Western World, is in reality an anti-thesis of his military idol. He is well remembered not for his bravery and military genius but by his audacity and recklessness in battle. He is well remembered for his struggle in defeating an army of 250 Texas natives with his 2,500-strong army.

4. Pavel Grachev

Grachev was one of the Russian military commanders who were involved in the campaign to restore order in Chechnya by using military force to crush the emerging separatist movement. So confident was Grachev of the vaunted might of his forces that he promised to crush the rebellion in a matter of hours. Unfortunately, this was not the case, as the Russian forces suffered humiliating defeat in the hands of the Chechen separatist military forces.

5. Arthur Percival

Arthur Percival is well remembered as the military commander of the Allied Forces credited for the biggest surrender of British forces to enemies in modern history. Historians estimate that the 138,708 Percival-led Allied Forces swiftly surrendered to some 30,000 Japanese soldiers.


 

Top 10 List has no position about whether or not these are really greatest or most influential religious leaders of the 20th/21st Century List. If you have an alternative list of religious leaders which you would like included here, please feel free to comment below.

1. Dalai Lama

He is the spiritual head of over 80,000 Tibetans living in exile, but he has influenced many more people all over the world. He spreads a message of non-violence, peaceful co-existence and humility based on his religion. His renowned charisma and oratorical skills have made him one of the world’s best known religious heads.

2. Mother Teresa

Though she cannot really be termed as a religious leader but her iconic image of a nun working for the poorest of the poor, has done more for the Catholic Church than anyone else. Her simplicity and hard work and firm belief in her role as a missionary of Jesus made her into a reluctant world-wide religious figure.

3. Pope John Paul II

His was the second-longest pontificate, and one of the most influential. He strengthened ties with Judaism, Anglican Communion, and with the Eastern Orthodox Church. He also beatified 1340 people from all over the world and was the most traveled Pope of all times.

4. Billy Graham

America’s greatest revivalist, Billy Graham has preached to over 2.2 billion people. Anointed as “America’s Pastor”, he has influenced Presidents and common citizens alike. His sincerity and integrity are unquestionable and he is one of the most admired men of America.

5. Mary Baker Eddy

Best known as the founder of the Christian Science Movement, her legacy continue 100 years after her death in the writings and in the magazine “Christian Science Monitor”. A spiritual teacher and a healer, she is believed to have influenced the social and religious movements of the early 20th century.

With today’s economy nesting on shaking grounds, the question on everyone’s mind is “How much country leaders make?” The answer might come on a surprising note for those countries that seem to struggle the most in this downfall of the economy ladder.

1. Lee Hsien Loong

He is the current Prime Minister of Singapore. Not only is this man married to Ho Ching, who happens to be the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of Singapore, but his annual salary consists of US$ 2,856,930, making him the highest paid head of a government today. The numbers comes as a surprise considering that the gross domestic product of Republic of Singapore was only 181,939 million USD for 2008. Now talk about keeping it in the family…

2. Sir Donald Tsang Yam-Kuen

Current Chief Executive and Head of Hong Kong Government. He is also a member of the Tung’s inner cabinet of Executive Council, which is also the highest policy-making body in Hong Kong. Sir Donald’s salary is equivalent to $513,245 USD. With the gross domestic product of Hong Kong at 206,706 million USD, Sir Donald should be considering the investments into his home economy.

3. Raila Odinga

As an East African country, Kenya is doing quite well. It is home to Lake Victoria, the second largest fresh water lake in the world. The country is also run by a president, vice-president, prime minister and two deputies. Compared to other countries in East and Central Africa, its economy is by far the largest in terms of its GDP coming in at $31.41 Billion USD in 2010.

Odinga is currently the Prime Minister of Kenya. He was elected and assumed office in April of 2008. In 2011, his reported annual salary was $427, 886 USD.

4. Barack Obama

Current president of the United States – does not have any reason to complain over his personal budget. The first ever-elected black president brings home $400,000 USD annually. Compared to the gross domestic product of United States of America at 14,264,600 million USD for 2008, Obama’s salary seems to be a fair share.

5. Nicolas Sarkozy

France is considered one of the most developed countries in the world, home to a unitary semi-presidential republic. For the last 500 years, France has been a major power with strong cultural, economic, military and political influences.

The country is significant for a number of reasons. It possesses the fifth largest economy based on its GDP. Furthermore it is the ninth largest economy which is measured by its purchasing power parity. In comparison to other countries in Europe, it is the wealthiest in terms of aggregate household wealth.

Sarkozy is the 23rd President of the French Republic and ex officio co-Prince of Andorra, who was recently ousted in May 2012 elections. Since coming to power, he’s employed a strong foreign policy, strengthening entente cordiale with the U.K. and has increased co-operation with the United States. His income comes in 5th on the list at $318, 000 USD.