Mayday - May 1, 1776 - According to Encyclopedia Britannica, 1939 edition, Vol. 12, p. 100, the Order of the Illuminati was founded on May 1st, 1776, by Dr. Adam Weishaupt, Professor of Cannon Law at the University of Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany.  The name implies that those individuals who are members of the Illuminati are the only members of the human race who are truly enlightened and know how to govern.  Weishaupt and his followers considered themselves to be the cream of the intelligentsia - the ONLY people with the mental capacity, the knowledge, the insight and understanding necessary to govern the world and bring it to peace.  Their AVOWED purpose and goal was the establishment of a "Novus Ordo Seclorum" - a New World Order, or One World Government.  The name Illuminati is derived from the word Lucifer, which means "Bearer of Light."  In the Mystery Schools, "Light" is synonymous with "Illumination or Knowledge."  The Illuminati (a group of illumined ones, plural) was founded by Adam Weishaupt.  They were not the creation of the Illuminati, nor the end of the Illuminati.  They were the first publicly known group to use the name Illuminati.  Although that group has now faded into history, one of the tenants created by this group were to never go by the same name, to cloak under many names, and to never draw attention to themselves as was the case in the past.  Today, the term Illuminati refers to the collective body of "illumined" individuals, regardless of affiliation or organization, that practice the Mystery School Religion and pursue the "Great Work." 1777 - Weishaupt joins Munich Lodge of the Order of Good Council.  1777 - Weishaupt's wife dies.  Illuminati begins rapid growth.  Johann Adam Weishaupt born Feb. 6, 1748 - died Nov. 18, 1830.  Organized the Order of the Illuminati May 1, 1776 (Mayday). 

John Andre (May 2, 1750 - Oct 10, 1780), British agent, captured with secret documents from traitor Benedict Arnold; Arnold escapes to join British; Andre hanged as spy.  1778 - Ben Franklin assists with the Masonic Initiation of Voltaire into the Lodge while US Minister to France.  1778 - Masonic Convention in Lyons organizes the Knights of Beneficence.  1780 - First use of the term "Odd Fellows."  1780 -Masonic Order of the Brotherhood of Asia, Rosicrucian off-shoot, founded.  1782 - Casanova retires as a secret agent.  1777 -George Washington has his mystical vision of the future of the United States while at Valley Forge (Washington's Dream or Vision).  The account was originally published by Wesley Bradshaw.  Copied from a reprint in the National Tribune.  Vol. 4, No. 12, December 1880.  Although, it has since been classified as most likely a hoax, yet it cannot be confirmed either way with absolute certainty.  1782 - John Hanson, third President of the US in Congress Assembled, commissions the "Eye in the Pyramid" Great Seal.  June 22, 1784 - Bavarian Monarch Carl Theodore outlaws secret societies.  1784 - Cagliostro moves to Lyons from Bordeaux to found the Mother Lodge of Egyptian Masonry.  July 16, 1782 - The Merging of the Illuminati and Freemasonry on the 16th of July, 1782, at the Congress of Wilhelmsbad, an alliance between Illuminism and Freemasonry was finally sealed.  This pact joined together ALL the leading secret societies of the day and united "not less than three million members all over the world."  The actual effect of this merger on the history of the world has never been understood by historians.  "What passed at this terrible Congress will never be known to the outside world, for even those men who had been drawn unwittingly into the movement, and heard for the first time the real designs of the leaders, were under OATH to reveal nothing. 

One honest Freemason, the Comte de Virieu, ... when questioned on the 'tragic secrets' he had brought back with him, replied: 'I will NOT confide them to you.  I can only tell you that all this is very much more serious than you think.  The CONSPIRACY which has been woven is so well thought out that it will be, so to speak, IMPOSSIBLE for the Monarchy and the [Catholic] Church to ESCAPE from it.'  From that time on, says his biographer, M. Costa de Beauregard, 'the Comte de Virieu could only speak of Freemasonry with HORROR.'"  (Source: World Revolution, by Nesta Webster, London, 1921, p. 18)  It was decided to move the headquarters of the illuminized Freemasonry to Frankfurt, Germany, which was the stronghold of Jewish finance.  Dissension broke out in the higher ranks and some left the Order.  People became intensely interested in the activities of the Illuminati as a result of information leaking out regarding their diabolical plans.