Presidents who were elected with less than 50% of the popular vote (in the 1800's)

John Quincy Adams

The "election" of President John Q. Adams in 1824 is one of the most interesting elections in presidential history.

Besides not receiving the majority of the popular vote (he only got 30.9%) he also he didn't get the majority of the electoral votes either. In fact Andrew Jackson technically won the election, but because he didn't win the majority of the electoral votes either, the decision on who would become the was thrown to the House of Representatives, who ultimately voted for John Q. Adams.

This election was also the last one in which the Democratic-Republicans participated in due to infighting and the eventual splitting up of the party into the Democratic Party and the National Republican Party over the results.

James K. Polk

Despite beating Henry Clay with a clear majority of the electoral vote in the presidential election of 1844, James K. Polk actually only won 49.5% of the popular vote (Clay won 48.1%). The reason for this is because a third presidential candidate, a James G. Birney of the Liberty Party, won 2.3% of the popular vote, and might have cost Clay the presidency, because the Liberty Party was an abolitionist party, and the political party that Clay was running for president under, the Whig party, opposed the expansion of slavery (although not outlawing it).

Zachary Taylor

In 1848 Zachary Taylor became the second person of the Whig party to be elected President of the United States. He also did it after only wining 47.3% of the popular vote. Probably the only reason why he didn't actually get the majority of the popular vote was because of former president Martin Van Buren, who ran for president again under the Free Soil Party ticket (an anti-slavery expansion party).

James Buchanan

The election of 1856 was the first election in which the Republican party ran a candidate for president (that being John C. Fremont). Of course, Fremont did not win the election, James Buchanan did, but he only won 45.3% of the popular vote. The reason why neither candidate won the majority of the of popular vote is because of former president Millard Fillmore, who ran under the Know-Nothing party in that election and won 21.6% of the popular vote (although who actually would have won if the Know-Nothing party had not ran a candidate for president is unknown).

Abraham Lincoln

Despite being one of the most famous presidents in United States history, in the 1860 presidential election Abraham Lincoln only won 39.8% of the popular vote. In fact the only reason he won was because there were three other major presidential candidates running for president (including two Democrats).

Lincoln was also greatly hated in the south. He wasn't even on the ballot throughout most of the south, and his election was the tipping point for the start of the Civil War.

Rutherford B. Hayes

Not only did Rutherford B. Hayes win the presidential election of 1876 with only 47.9% of the popular vote, he's actually the only person to win a presidential election when someone else (Samuel J. Tilden) actually won the majority of the popular vote (that being 50.9%).

James A. Garfield

James A. Garfield barely beat Winfield S. Hancock in the presidential election of 1880, and he barely got more of the popular vote than Scott did. In fact Garfield only got 48.3% of the popular vote, while Hancock got 48.2% of the popular vote.

In fact it's even possible that Hancock may have lost due to James B. Weaver of the Greenback Party (who won 2.3% of the popular vote) winning votes that probably would have gone to Hancock.

Grover Cleveland

Grover Cleveland has had a very interesting presidential election history. Not only is he the only person to hold two non-consecutive terms as president, he also didn't win the majority of the popular vote in either of the elections he won (48.9% in 1884, and 46% in 1892)

Benjamin Harrison

In the presidential election of 1888 Benjamin Harrison, while he might have defeated President Grover Cleveland in the electoral college (and the election itself) he didn't win the popular vote. In fact he only won 47.8% of the popular vote, while Cleveland won 48.6%.

5 Things I've noticed about... the show "Ancient Aliens"

Ever watch the show "Ancient Aliens", the History Channel show that claims that humans were visited by aliens in the past? Well I have, and there are some things that I have noticed about that show.

So here are five things I've noticed about the show "Ancient Aliens".

5. Their answer for everything is "Aliens".

According to the "experts" on that show, almost everything we have built in the ancient world was built by aliens.

It doesn't matter if it is a giant structure like the Great Pyramid of Giza, or some mundane but interesting object like the Baghdad Battery, or even something that was proven to be made in modern times, such as the Crystal Skulls, according to the experts on the show, they were all either built by aliens, or their construction was guided by aliens.

Heck, even our own existence is, according to them, the result of aliens messing with our genes a long time ago.

4. The "experts" have a "pics, or it didn't happen" type mentality.

All of the "experts" on that show apparently want exact details about how a megalithic structure was built, and if they don't have those exact details, they assume that aliens built it, not humans (where as with most scientists or archaeologists, it's the other way around).

This is somewhat similar to the phrase "pics, or it didn't happen" where when someone makes a claim on the internet that they did something pretty awesome, if someone is skeptical of the claim they will sometimes say "pics, or it didn't happen". Although some might argue that this is more of a reverse of that...

3. They get their facts way wrong.

Many of the "facts" that are presented on that show are just down right wrong. A great example of this would be many of the claims they make about Pumapunku that simply aren't true.

According to the show Pumapunku is 14,000 years old, when in fact it's closer to 1,500 years old. Also, according to show, the stone blocks at the site are basalt and granite. In fact the site was constructed using andesite and red sandstone.

2. The regular "experts" on the show are not experts in science or archaeology.

The show has regular guests on that claim to be experts in the field of ancient alien or astronaut theory. The problem with this is that not only is this not a legitimate scientific field, the regular guests on the show have no degrees in either science or archaeology.

Giorgio Tsoukalos doesn't have a degree in science or archaeology. Erich von Däniken, the person whom's book Chariots of the Gods? which the show is basically base upon, doesn't have a degree in science or archaeology either (or anything for that matter).

1. The whole theory that the show is base upon is racist.

One of the biggest criticisms of the theory itself (besides being nothing more than pseudoscience) is that it is in a way, racist.

The reason why the whole theory itself is accused of being racist isn't just because it's primary focus is on none European peoples, it's also because it asserts that people who are not as advanced technologically as what we are today are not capable of constructing massive, megalithic structures, simply because we would have a hard time constructing such structures with our technology. Some people would say that's pretty racist...

10 People who never stood a chance at becoming President, Part 1: 1800 to 1900

10. Charles C. Pinckney

Charles C. Pinckney received the Federalist Party's nomination for president twice (first in 1804, and then again in 1808), and in both presidential elections he did terribly. In fact in the 1804 election he only got 27.2% of the popular vote and 14 electoral votes, and in the 1808 election, he only did a little bit better, getting 32.4% of the popular vote, and 47 electoral votes.






9. Rufus King

Rufus King is noted as being the last Federalist Party candidate to run for president. He also did horribly in the election of 1816, with only getting 30.9% of the popular vote, and 34 electoral votes. This election is also noted as basically being the death blow to the Federalist Party.







8. William H. Crawford

The election of 1824 was probably the strangest presidential election in United States history, mainly because the winner had to be decided by congress (because no one won the majority of the electoral votes, which a candidate is required to win in order to become president) and all four candidates were members of the Democratic-Republican Party.

Out of all four candidates, William H. Crawford did second to worst (Henry Clay did even worse then him). Crawford only got 11.2% of the popular vote (which is worst then what Clay did), and 41 electoral votes (which is better then what Clay did).


7. William Wirt

Back in the early to mid 1800's Freemasonry was strongly opposed (especially in New England states) and actually led to the creation of a single-issue party known as the Anti-Masonic Party in 1828.

In the election of 1832 the Anti-Masonic Party fielded it's first (and only) major candidate for the presidency, William Wirt. While he did manage to win the state of Vermont and it's seven electoral votes, in the election in general he did awful, only getting 7.1% of the popular vote.



6. Hugh L. White

The election on 1836 was another weird election. While the Democratic Party fielded one candidate, Martin Van Buren, the newly formed Whig Party had four candidates: William H. Harrison, Daniel Webster, Willie P. Mangum, and Hugh L. White.

Hugh L. White came in third in the election, winning only 9.7% of the popular vote, and 26 electoral votes. Of course that is better than what Webster and Mangum did, but worse then what Harrison and Van Buren did (who won that election).


5. John P. Hale

The Free Soil Party was formed in 1848 to oppose the expansion of slavery within the United States, and had even fielded two major candidates in two presidential elections. The first was former president Martin Van Buren in 1848, the second was John P. Hale in 1852.

Both candidates did terribly in both elections, and in Hale's case, he only got about 4.9% of the popular vote, and no electoral votes.




4. Stephen A. Douglas

The election of 1860 of another strange and complex one, fielding four major candidates, including two Democratic Party candidates.

While the main Democratic Party candidate, Stephen Douglas, with only 12 electoral votes, came in forth in terms of electoral votes (John C. Breckinridge, the other Democratic Party candidate came in second with 72 electoral votes, and John Bell, the Constitutional Union Party candidate, came in third with 39 electoral votes) he did come in second in the popular vote at 29.5%.



3. James B. Weaver

In the election of 1892, a new third party, most commonly known as the Populist Party, fielded a major presidential candidate, James B. Weaver.

While Weaver did manage to get 22 electoral votes, he only got 8.5% of the popular vote.

This is also the only presidential election that the Populist Party managed to get any electoral votes.


 
2. George B. McClellan

In the election of 1864, General George B. McClellan actually ran against his president and commander-and-chief, Abraham Lincoln, as the Democratic Party's candidate (it should be noted that he didn't resign from the army until the election day, November 8).

While General McClellan did win 45% of the popular vote, he only won 21 electoral votes.



 
1. Horace Greeley

The election of 1872 is the only election in history in which two Republicans ran for president: President Ulysses S. Grant, and Horace Greeley.

While Greenly got only 66 electoral votes and 43.8% of the popular vote, it wouldn't have mattered if he had won the election or not anyways, because he never would have become president. It wasn't that he never stood a chance of becoming president, it's that he died on November 29, 1872, before the Electoral College could even cast their votes.

7 people who some think lived beyond their date of death

John Wilkes Booth

Everyone knows that John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Lincoln, and that twelve days later on April 26, 1865 he himself was shot and killed by Union soldiers after he refused to leave the barn that he was in that the soldiers had set ablaze, but there are rumors that Booth was not killed that day, and that in fact a look alike had been shot and killed, and that Booth had actually lived even into the early 20th century.

There is of course no proof of this, but many authors and descendants of Booth have suggested that he did escape, and there have been several attempts by the family to exhume his body to be tested for DNA.



Jesse James

Probably one of the most famous outlaws of the Wild West, Jesse James and his gang robbed a number of banks, stagecoaches, and trains throughout his criminal career, until he was shot in the back of the head in his own house by fellow James Gang member Robert Ford on April 3, 1882 in and attempt to receive the reward on James's head.

Now despite the fact that he was positively identified, there have been rumors going around even from back then that he faked his death, and that he may have lived under an assumed identity even into the 20th century.




John Dillinger

On July 22, 1934 notorious American criminal John Dillinger was shot to death by FBI agents in an alley way in Chicago, but ever since then there have been rumors that he really wasn't shot to death, and that who really was killed was just someone who just looked like him (perhaps even a payed body double).

The reason behind this is because many people said that he really didn't look like he was suppose to. Of course there is a reason behind this: he had plastic surgery so that he wouldn't look like himself (he even tried to get rid of the famous dimple in his chin). The most likely reason behind this is of course so that he could to live as a free man until he died (which in a ironic way is what happened).



Adolf Hitler

Without a doubt the most evil person in history, on April 30, 1945 Adolf Hitler and his wife Eva Braun killed themselves in an underground bunker in Berlin, Germany. There bodies were removed by Nazi Party loyalist and set on fire so that the Soviet Army couldn't use them as propaganda pieces.

Despite the fact that the remains were found and that dental records confirm that the remains are that of the mad man, there are many people who believe that he did not commit suicide, and that he actually faked his death, and that he may have even lived past 100.

While most people believe that he escaped to either Spain or Argentina, some of the crazier claims are that he either escaped to Antarctica, or to the Moon, or to the inside of the Earth (which some Hollow Earth believers claim), and even another dimension or time period.

Elvis Presley

Probably one of the most widely believed to be still alive dead people, Elvis Presley died on August 16, 1977, but many still believe that he isn't actually dead (despite the fact that he was in very poor health and abused prescription drugs) and while various reasons have been given for why he is hiding, the most common is that he is actually hiding from the mafia.

While there have been numerous "Elvis sitings" over the years, these could be attributed to Elvis impersonators, or just people who look like him.

The belief that he is alive could simply be the result of fans who loved him so much that they don't want him to be dead.


Tupac Shakur

On September 7, 1996 rapper Tupac Shakur was shot multiple times in Las Vegas while he was sitting in a car with Suge Knight. Six days later, he died, but some people believe that he did not die, and that he actually survived the attack, and that he has been in hiding every since.

People who believe this point out that multiple albums with new songs by Shakur have been publish after his death, and while his family says that he recorded the songs before his death, many people still believe this not to be true, and that he is actually continuing to secretly make songs.



Osama Bin Laden

On May 2, 2011 in his secret mansion compound in Pakistan, Osama Bin Laden was shot and killed by members of SEAL team 6, and despite the fact that this was even confirmed by Al-Qaeda, because his death photos have not been released, and the fact that he was buried at sea, and the fact that many people unfortunately still believe that he was a government agent, many people believe that his death was faked for political proposes (of course the people who believe that he was a government agent also believe that the government caused the 9/11 attacks...)

His death is also unique in the fact that no only do some people believe that he is still alive, but that many other people believe he died years before his official death (either as a result of natural causes, or via military actions) and that his body has been kept on ice to be later dumped in the ocean for political proposes.
 
Notable mention: Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney gets a notable mention here not because he's dead and that many people think he's alive, but because he is alive and that many people think he is really dead, and that he actually did die in a 1966 car crash (which he had originally been reported to have died in) and that he was replaced by a CIA body double that would keep an eye on John Lennon (who was critical of the war in Vietnam and had political philosophical beliefs that many in the government object to).

While this is a pretty bizarre conspiracy theory, he isn't the only celebrity that is believed to be really a CIA body double, he just happens to be the most famous case.

Mermaids: Why they really are a myth Part 3: How they became a myth

In a previous blog article concerning the Discovery Networks Mermaids: The Body Found I discussed how highly improbable it would be for mermaids to remain hidden for so long, and in another previous blog article I discussed how it was highly improbable that such a creature could even evolve from humans (especially concerning the short frame of time the show gave for mermaids to have evolved from one of our ancient ancestors).

Now despite this, many of you are probably wondering why there are so many stories about mermaids around the world, yet such creatures can not exist?

The most likely reason behind why the mermaid myth even got created in the first place isn't because someone actually saw a real mermaid, it's because some one saw something they couldn't explain, and they told other people what they saw, and the myth spread, which is how I mentioned in another previous blog article about how myths get started in the first place

Most likely what happened was that someone from inland who isn't near any deep bodies of water traveled to either a lake, or a large river, or to the sea, and saw someone swimming. Now for us we would see someone swimming in the water and we would probably think "oh that person is swimming", but for a person that does not swim, and doesn't even know that people can swim, that person just might think "that person must have a fish tail" or "that person must be part fish". This person goes and tells their people what they saw, and thus the myth gets spread. This scenario probably happened all over the world as well, which is why the myth is so wide spread.

This is somewhat similar to how the myth about the centaur got started as well. Someone back thousands of years ago saw someone riding on top of a horse, and because they didn't know that people could ride on horses, and had never seen something like that before, they jumped to the conclusion that the person was half man, half horse.

Now I know that it sounds silly today that a person would think that, but back thousands of years ago when these myths got started we weren't that rational, and we were prone to superstition, and when we saw something that didn't make sense to us, we would make stuff up and jump to a conclusion about what it was instead of trying to figure out just what we saw. Heck, we do that even today!

Now I won't say that this is actually got started in the first place, in fact there are probably a bunch of variables concerning how this myth got started, but the fact remains is that this is a myth that will live on in our hearts and our stories... and Disney movies.

Franklin and Sequoyah: Two states that never were

In either a few weeks, or perhaps several years from now, Puerto Rico is set to become the 51st state, but if history (and the heart of congress) had gone differently, Puerto Rico would not be on it's way to becoming the 51st state. It would actually be on it's way to becoming either the 52nd or 53rd state of the Union.

Now there have been multiple proposals for new states over the years that never came to be. There have been several proposals for a state of Jefferson and a state of Lincoln (both in various sites). There have been proposals for the Upper Michigan peninsula to become it's own state, and even Long Island (along with New York City) to become it's own state. There was even a proposal for a state of Absaroka (which would have taken land from Northern Wyoming, South Eastern Montana, and Western South Dakota to form), but the two places that almost became their own states were called the states of Franklin and Sequoyah.

Now Franklin (if you could not tell was to be named after Benjamin Franklin) is part of what is now North Eastern Tennessee, but back when it attempted to become it's own individual state in 1785, it was actually apart of the state of North Carolina, because until 1796 Tennessee was apart of North Carolina.

Back in April 1784 North Carolina ceded what is today Tennessee to the Federal Government in order to pay off debts the state had gained as a result of the War of Independence. The government was reluctant to accept this, and also many frontiersmen in that region were pretty upset about this to, and also feared that the territory might even be sold to a foreign power, so in August of 1784 several counties in what is to North Eastern Tennessee seceded from North Carolina, which resulted in the state of North Carolina to rescind  it's offer of cession, and even ordered judges to hold court in those counties, and send soldiers to the counties that wanted to secede. This of course did nothing to stop the growing secession movement, and on May 16, 1785 a delegation from the region submitted a petition to Congress for approval of statehood.

The State failed to receive the two-thirds majority of approval from the other states that is necessary in order to be admitted to the Union (only seven of the thirteen states at the time voted to admit Franklin to the Union) and couldn't even get the support of Benjamin Franklin himself.

In 1788 the region was finally disbanded and readmitted to North Carolina, and would later become part of Tennessee, but this would not be the last time the area would attempt to become it's own state, the most notable during the Civil War as a result of Eastern Tennessee disapproval of the rest of the state seceding from the union. While the region never did secede from the rest of Tennessee, there were many people there who proposed seceding from Tennessee and rejoining the Union (much like what West Virginia actually did when it seceded from Virginia and rejoined the Union in 1863).

Now as for the State of Sequoyah, which was to be named in honor of Sequoyah, a Cherokee silversmith who invented the Cherokee syllabary (or alphabet), the area which would have become it's own state was part of what is today Eastern Oklahoma, and was from 1890 until 1907 when it was merged with the Oklahoma Territory and became the State of Oklahoma, it's own individual territory known as the Indian Territory, which actually once included most of Oklahoma, but after 1890 a little over half the territory was ceded to white settlers to form it's own separate territory.

In 1905 the territory formed a constitutional convention, and voted to send a petition to the United States Congress for approval of statehood.

The delegation that arrived at Washington D.C. from the Indian Territories did not receive a warm reception, with many eastern politicians not wanting to admit two new western states. Even President Theodore Roosevelt proposed that the two territories be merged back again and become the State of Oklahoma (which is what happened in 1907). Still, all the hard work of the Sequoyah state constitutional convention was not lost as the Sequoyah constitution served as the basis for the Oklahoma constitution.

It should also be noted that if Sequoyah had ended up becoming a state, it would have been the first (and only) state where the majority of the people were Native Americans.

Who really was the first President?

If you were to ask a bunch of people who was the first President of the United States most of them would probably tell you that George Washington was the first President.

Those people would be wrong.

While it is true that George Washington was the first person to hold the title of "President of the United States of America" there were actually multiple people who were President of the United States before him, they just didn't hold the actual title of "President of the United States of America".

In fact the first Presidents of the United States actually held the title of "President of the Continental Congress" and they were not chosen by the people, but by the Continental Congress (which was the legislative body of the United States before the constitution basically dissolved the Continental Congress and split it into two with the creation the Senate and the House of Representatives) and in reality was closer to what we would consider to be the modern day Speaker of the House than President of the United States, and was more of an honorable title that held little authority. Still, the President of the Continental Congress was the Head of State for the United States, and therefore the Presidents of the Continental Congress were in fact the first Presidents of the United States.

Now Peyton Randolph was the first President of the Continental Congress, but he is not the first President of the United States, and for two very good reasons: One, he was president before the United States declared independence, and two, he actually died before the United States declared independence from Great Britain.

Now John Hanson first President of the Continental Congress to be elected under the Articles of Confederation, but Samuel Huntington was the President of the Continental Congress when the Articles of Confederation was ratified, and therefore many people consider him to be the first President of the United States.

Now of course Elias Boudinot could also be considered the first President of the United States because he was President of the Continental Congress when Great Britain officially recognized our independence on September 3, 1783, and he signed the Treaty of Paris, but the United States government doesn't recognize that date to be the date this country's independence. Instead the government officially considers July 4, 1776, the day the Continental Congress adopted and signed the Declaration of Independence, as the date of this country's independence.

So who was really the true first President of the United States?

It was John Hancock.

The Continental Congress, and the title of President of the Continental Congress was created before the Revolutionary War even began, and when the Declaration of Independence was adopted and signed, John Hancock was President of the Continental Congress (and of course one of the document's most famous signatories) and was actually President of the Continental Congress for almost 16 months after the Declaration of Independence was adopted and signed. Therefore since Hancock was President of the Continental Congress during and after signing of the Declaration of Independence, he is really the first President of the United States.

Of course there are others who will say otherwise...

An Historic Election

While most elections are in their own way historic, the election of 2012 may be a truly historic election (and one that will get it's own chapter in our history books, and not just a page or two) and regardless of what you may feel about the outcomes, there are several reasons why this election will most likely be considered historic.

Here are several reasons why I believe that this election will be considered in the future to be a truly historic one:

Three Presidents, six terms

For only the second time in this nation's history has there been three presidents in a row that have held two consecutive terms. The only other time this has happened was from 1801 to 1825 during the presidencies of Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe.

Minority Run

For the first time in our nation's history two candidates from two different minority groups (Barack Obama being African American, and Mitt Romney being a Mormon, a minority religion) have run for president under the two major political parties.

Light them up

Washington and Colorado became the first two states in the nation to legalize small amounts of marijuana for recreational use by adults. Of course this doesn't mean that it is completely legal (it is still illegal under federal law, and federal law enforcement agents can still arrest you if you have any pot on you) but it does mean that the local and state law enforcement in those two states can not arrest you if they find a bag of weed on you, or catch you smoking a joint.

The 51st State

For the first time in the island territory's history the people of Puerto Rico voted to become a state. Of course it doesn't mean that it will automatically become a state, as congress must vote on whether or not to approve statehood for the island. This could merely be a formality and could come as early as December, or this could be years from now.

If it does happen this year it will be the first time in 53 years that a new state has joined the United States.

Women in the Senate

There are now more women in the Senate then there have been at any other time in our history. There are now 20 women who are in the United States Senate, or 1/5 of the Senate.

LGBT Rights

For the first time in our history voters in several states approved legalizing same-sex marriage. In the states of Washington, Maryland, and Maine voters approved of a state laws that would legalize same-sex marriage (note: this is also significant because in 2009 it had been rejected in Maine), and in Minnesota voters rejected a state constitutional amendment that would outlaw same-sex marriage (mind you their state laws still outlaws it). Also, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin became the first homosexual to be elected to the Senate.

Can a tie happen?

Many of you may know that it takes the overwhelming majority of all of the electoral votes in order to become President of the United States. While the amount these votes have varied at times in our history, ever since 1961 we have had 538 electoral votes, so currently it takes at least 270 electoral votes in order to win the presidency. Also, the electoral votes are actually cast by individuals called Electors who are suppose vote for the candidate who wins the majority of the popular votes in the state in which the electors are in (although this isn't always the case).

Now there is a problem with this.

What happens when no one wins the overwhelming majority?

Well, we already know the answer, because this has already happened before.

In the election of 1824 there were four major presidential candidates, all of whom won electoral votes.

Now, Andrew Jackson actually won the most electoral votes, but he didn't have the overwhelming majority of the electoral votes. Due to our laws the election was resolved this the United States Congress. The House of Representatives voted on who would become President (mind you they only got one vote per state, rather then one vote per Representative), and the Senate voted on who would become Vice President (in this case each Senator gets one vote).

In the end John Quincy Adams was elected by the House of Representative to become the President, while John C. Calhoun was vote in by the Senate to become the Vice President.

So back to the question at hand, is it still possible that only two candidates who win all of the electoral votes between that neither one of them still not win the election?

Yes, it is possible.

As you can clearly see the electoral votes are even, and if a candidate was to win the ten states with the highest number electoral votes plus either Virginia, or any combination of states that make up 13 electoral votes, then that candidate will have only 269 electoral vote (as will the other candidate).

Of course this combination isn't actually need, this is just the fastest one I came up with. There are probably dozens of different combinations that can cause this. Plus there is what is called a Faithless Elector who chooses to vote for the candidate other then the one that the other Electors in that state have pledged to vote for (or not vote for anyone if they choose to) and thus you end up getting a tie that way, or neither candidates having enough votes that way.

Then there is of course the possibility of a third candidate (or more) capturing enough electoral votes that it causes the two top candidates to not get enough electoral votes to win.

So in theory it is possible for two major candidates to get a tie in an election (or neither get enough electoral votes) and so what would happen is that for the second time in our history is that our Congress would choose who would become President and Vice President of the United States.

Scary thought, isn't it?

The current Electoral Map of the United States

The Ten closest U.S. Presidential elections

10. 1844

While Whig Party candidate Henry Clay may have lost to Democratic Party candidate James K. Polk by 65 electoral votes, in popular votes he only lost by 1.4%.

This wouldn't be the first time Henry Clay has lost a presidential election too. In fact he has made five serious runs for the presidency, and three times as a major party's candidate, and he lost every time. He has even run for president under three different political parties: The Democratic-Republican Party, the National Republican Party, and the Whig Party.

It should also be noted that Polk also lost his home state (North Carolina) and his state of residence (Tennessee) in this election, and still won, making him the only person to do this.

Polk also only ran for one term.

9. 1968

While Democratic Party candidate Hubert Humphrey may have lost to Republican Party candidate Richard Nixon by 110 electoral votes, he only lost the popular vote by 0.7%.

Some people might believe that George Wallace, the American Independent Party candidate who had won 46 electoral votes, and 13.5% of the popular vote, may have acted as a spoiler for Humphrey, but at that time in our history the south (where Wallace had won all of his votes) was going over from the Democrats to the Republicans. In fact Nixon had won 6 states in what was once the Confederate States, while Humphrey only won Texas.

8. 1884

While Republican Party candidate James G. Blaine may have lost to Democratic Party candidate Grover Cleveland by 37 electoral votes, he only lost the popular vote by 0.3%

This election ultimately came down to New York, Cleveland's home state, which he won by only 1,047 votes out of 1,171,312 votes casts, narrowly securing him the election.

This is also the first time since the Civil War that a Democrat had won a presidential election.

7. 1960

While Republican Party candidate Richard Nixon may have lost to Democratic Party candidate John F. Kennedy by 84 electoral votes, he only lost the popular vote by 0.2%.

This election also had several controversies with it.

The margin of Kennedy's victories in several states was very narrow, even to the point where many on Nixon's campaign staff urged him to demand a recount in those states. Also there were allegations of voter fraud in several places, most notably the city of Chicago and the state of Texas.

Also in this election Virginia Senator Harry Byrd, a Democrat who opposed racial desegregation, won 15 electoral votes, even though he wasn't an announced candidate, and didn't even seek out any votes.

6. 1880

While Democratic Party candidate Winfield Scott Hancock may have lost to Republican Party candidate James A. Garfield by 59 electoral votes, he only lost the popular vote by 0.1%.

This is the smallest popular vote victory in United States history. In fact Garfield only won the popular votes by less than 1,900 votes.

5. 1796

In this election Federalist Party candidate John Adams may have defeated Democratic-Republican Party candidate Thomas Jefferson by 6.8% of the popular vote, he only won the election by three electoral votes.

This election was also a tad bit strange. Because of the way our election laws were at the time the person who came in second place in the election could become Vice President. So instead of John Adams's running mate, Thomas Pinckney, becoming Vice President, Thomas Jefferson became Vice President.

4. 1888

While President Grover Cleveland lost the 1888 presidential election by 65 electoral to Benjamin Harrison, he actually won the popular vote by 0.8%, making this the third time in United States history where a person who didn't win the popular vote won a presidential election.

Despite his loss, President Cleveland did make a come back, and defeated President Harris in the 1892 election by 132 electoral votes, making him the only president to win two non-consecutive terms.

It should be noted that James B. Weaver, the presidential candidate for the Populist Party may have cost President Harris the election as it could be argued that many of the people who voted for Weaver would have voted for President Harris, who only lost the popular vote by 3%, while Weaver managed to win 8.5% of the popular vote (and 22 electoral votes).

3. 2000

This is one of the closest elections in United States history, and one of the most controversial too.

While Democratic Party candidate Al Gore only lost the election by five electoral votes, he actually won the popular vote against Republican Party candidate George W. Bush by 0.5%.

Ultimately the election came down to Florida, where after several recounts in several counties, the Florida Supreme Count awarded Bush the state, and the presidency. This ruling is still controversial even to this day, with many critics stating that if a full state wide recount had been done, Gore might have won the state, and the election.

It should also be noted that many people consider Ralph Nader, who ran as the presidential candidate for the Green Party, may have also cost Gore the election, as he had gotten about 2.7% of the popular vote, which most likely would have gone to Gore if he had not run.

2. 1876

Democratic Party candidate Samuel J. Tilden may have won the popular vote by 3.1%, but he still lost the election to Republican Party candidate Rutherford B. Hayes by one electoral vote.

This is the closest election in United States history, and is the only one where a candidate received the absolute majority in the popular vote (51% in fact) and still didn't win.

The election was also very controversial too, with 20 electoral votes that were disputed, all of which were ultimately awarded Hayes.

This election also led to the creation of the temporary Electoral Commission and the Compromise of 1877.

1. 1824

While the election of 1876 is the closest in United States history, the election of of 1824 is probably one of the strangest in United States history.

Besides the fact that it had four candidates that all won electoral votes, all four candidates were from the same political party, the Democratic-Republican Party.

This election gets even stranger, as the person that won both the electoral and popular votes, Andrew Jackson, still didn't win the election. The reason for this is because he did not win enough electoral votes to be legally declared the winner, so it was up to Congress to decide who would be winner.

Ultimately Congress gave the victory to John Q. Adams, who was second in both electoral votes and the popular votes.

This is the only time in United States history where a person who won neither the popular vote, nor the electoral vote, still won the presidential election.

Ancient Aliens Debunked (The Movie)!

Ancient Aliens is one of the most popular shows on the History Channel. It is also one of the most controversial television shows as well, not only for the fact that it is accused of promoting pseudoscience and pseudo-history, and that many of the claims made are the result poor research and false assumptions, and it has even been called deceptive.

In this the new online documentary about the show, internet talk show and podcast host Chris White shows how many of the claims made on "Ancient Aliens" are not true, and are either the result of not doing proper scientific and archeological research, or are outright false:

Also, please feel free to go to the Ancient Aliens Debunked website and find out more information.

Also, for further reading, please go to the Ancient Aliens Debunked page on Illuminutti.com.

25 interesting facts about the Vice Presidents of the United States

25. John Tyler is the shortest serving Vice President of the United States, having been in the office for only 31 days before becoming President of the United States upon President William Henry Harrison's death.

24. William R. King is the shortest serving Vice President to have also died in office.

23. Daniel D. Tompkins, Thomas R. Marshall, Richard Nixon, George H. W. Bush, Al Gore, and Dick Cheney are the longest serving Vice Presidents, having served two full terms in office.

22. Andrew Johnson is the last person to be elected Vice President of the United States that ran neither as a Democrat, nor a Republican, but, along with President Abraham Lincoln, ran as a candidate for the National Union Party

21. A person must be a natural-born citizen, be at least 35 years old, and must have been a permanent resident of the United States 14 years in order to be eligible to run for Vice President, same as President.

20. Unlike with the President of the United States, there are no term limits for the Vice President.

19. There has been more Vice Presidents of the United States then Presidents of the United States. 47 Vice Presidents to be exact, while there has been only 43 Presidents.

18. John C. Calhoun is the only Vice President to be Vice President under two different political parties: The Democratic-Republicans, and the Democrats.

17. John Tyler and John C. Breckinridge are the only two former Vice Presidents to side with the Confederate States during the Civil War. Breckinridge even fought for the Confederate States as a Major General.

16. Alben W. Barkley is the oldest Vice President. He was 71 when he assumed the office, and 75 when he left.

15. John C. Breckinridge, at the age of 36, became the youngest person to become Vice President.

14.  The longest living Vice President was John Nance Garner, who was almost 99 years old when he died.

13. The shortest lived Vice President was Daniel D. Tompkins, who was almost 51 years old when he died.

12. Presidents Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, Grover Cleveland, William McKinley, and Richard Nixon all had two Vice Presidents.

11. President Franklin D. Roosevelt had three Vice Presidents, and thus more Vice Presidents then any other President.

10. Presidents John Tyler, Millard Filmore, Andrew Johnson, and Chester A. Arthur never had a Vice President.

9. No Vice President has ever been assassinated.

8. George Clinton and John C. Calhoun are the only two Vice Presidents to serve under two different Presidents.

7. The Presidential election of 1800 is the only election where the current Vice President ran against the current President.

6. The elections of 1789, 1792, and 1796 are the only ones which a Vice President was elected that was of a different party then the President.

5. Martin Van Buren and George H. W. Bush are the only Vice Presidents to be elected President of the United States and after the terms of the presidents they served under, Andrew Johnson and Ronald Reagan, ended. Ironically, both only served one term, while their predecessors served two terms.

4. Theodore Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge, Harry S. Truman, and Lyndon B. Johnson, are the only four Vice Presidents to become president after the previous president died, and then win a presidential election on their own.

3. John Tyler, Millard Filmore, Andrew Johnson, Chester A. Arthur, and Gerald Ford are the only five Vice Presidents who later became President of the United States, but was never elected president, and only became president after the previous presidents died or resigned.

2. John C. Calhoun and Spiro Agnew are the only two Vice Presidents to resign from office. Calhoun resigned to take a seat in the United States Senate. Agnew resigned due to criminal charges, which he later pleaded no contest to.

1. George Clinton, Elbridge Gerry, William R. King, Henry Wilson, Thomas A. Hendricks, Garret Hobart, and James S. Sherman are the only Vice Presidents to die in office.

10 People who could have become President of the United States

So far there have been a total 43 people who have become President of the United States, but there are also several other people who could have become president, but didn't, either because of a matter of a few votes, or a matter of fate.

So here now is a list of 10 people who could have become President of the United States:

10. Robert F. Kennedy

Senator of New York, US Attorney General, and brother of President John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy announced on March 16, 1968 that he was running for President the United States. Unfortunately, on June 5, 1968, he was assassinated. Many people to this day speculate about whether or not he would have been elected president if he had not been assassinated.

9. John McCain

Senator John McCain of Arizona has run for president twice. In 2008 he was defeated soundly Barack Obama, and back when he ran in 2000, he didn't even receive the Republican nomination, but many people have speculated that if he had won the Republican nomination in 2000, he would have defeated Al Gore, and by a much wider margin then what George W. Bush did.

8. Thomas E. Dewey

While it's true that New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey didn't actually come close to becoming president, many in the media at the time had speculated during the voting returns that he was going to defeat President Truman. One newspaper, the Chicago Daily Tribune, was so convinced that Governor Dewey was going to win, that they published in their headlines that Dewey had defeated Truman, which lead to this iconic photo:

7. Hillary Clinton

In 2008 the former first lady and New York senator ran for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States. She barely lost the nomination to Barack Obama, and due to the fact that the Republicans were so unpopular at the time, if she had won the nomination, she could very well have become the first female President of the United States.

6. Henry A. Wallace

Basically this is a matter of fate. If Franklin D. Roosevelt had chosen to keep his Vice President of his third term, Henry Wallace, and had not chosen Harry Truman to be his Vice President, Henry Wallace would have become the 33rd President of the United States after President Roosevelt died.

5. Hannibal Hamlin

Once again, this is a matter of fate. Hannibal Hamlin was Abraham Lincoln's first Vice President, and if President Lincoln had decided to run with Hamlin again instead of Andrew Johnson, he would have become the 17th President of the United States after President Lincoln had been assassinated.

4. Winfield Scott Hancock

While General Winfield Scott Hancock may have been solidly defeated by James A. Garfield in the 1880 presidential election, in terms of electoral votes, he only lost the popular vote by less than 2,000 votes. It is entirely plausible that if General Hancock had received a few more thousand votes, he might have become the 20th president of the United States.

3. Al Gore

Vice President Al Gore barely lost to George W. Bush in the 2000 presidential election. In fact he had only lost by five electoral votes, and had actually won the popular vote. He had also only lost the state of Florida, the state that ultimately resulted in him losing the election, by 537 votes. Even to this day some people still won't acknowledge George W. Bush's victory in that election, and continue to blame the Supreme Court and Ralph Nader (who many consider to be a spoiler in that election) for Al Gore's lose.

2. Samuel J. Tilden

New York Governor Samuel Tilden almost defeated Rutherford B. Hayes in the 1876 presidential election. He actually did win the popular vote, but lost the electoral vote by one vote. In fact, 20 of the electoral votes in three states were disputed, but were eventually awarded to Rutherford B. Hayes. This is perhaps the closest that any one has come to being elected president, and still never becoming President of the United States.

1. Benjamin Wade

Senator Benjamin Wade was President Pro Tempore of the US Senate at the time of President Andrew Johnson's impeachment trial, and at that time in our country, our laws stated that the President Pro Tempore of the US Senate was second in line of presidential succession. If only one vote had gone against President Johnson, then Benjamin Wade would have become the 18th President of the United States.

ECT Follow up: Ancient Aliens Cover-up: How Myths are Created

On a previous blog post I wrote about Ancient Alien theorists believe that not only have aliens visited us in the past, but that they also believe that information that would prove this to be true is being covered up.

Besides the fact that you really couldn't cover up something, the stories that are told by ancient peoples you really can't take at face value and say that it's entirely true.

Ancient alien theorists tend take myths way to literally, and that ancient humans were basically trying to best make sense of what they saw, and in a sense, this is true. The problem is that ancient alien theorist believe that these myths are maybe only two or three hundred years older then when they were first written down. In  reality these myths are probably several thousands of years older then when they were first written down. The simple matter of fact is that we have no idea just how old these myths really are. Even if those myths were only a couple of hundred years old before they were written down, it still doesn't mean that the details didn't get messed up along the way.

The most likely reason that these myths started in the first place was that they were a way to explain natural events in a way that makes sense to prehistoric man. Because back thousands, or tens of thousands of years ago, we didn't have the science or knowledge or technology to find out just how nature really did work, so people started to make up stuff, but in a way that makes sense to them and fits their reality.

These stories, or explanations, whichever you wish to call them, gets told to other people, and they go out and they tell other people, and then those people go out and tell other people, and so on and so on.

The problem with passing down stories from mouth to mouth back then is the same as it is now, and that details get forgotten, and so a person adds their own details. By the time the myth actually gets written down,  it's nothing like the original. Even when it is written down, one person might write it down one way, and another person might write it down differently. Just take a look at the story of Medusa for an example of that.

Another reason some of these myths were created was that they were an ancient form of propaganda.

Ancient people would sometimes create these stories about how their enemies were tyrants who feed people to monsters, and/or they no morals. The story of the Minotaur is a prime example of this.

It seems to me that ancient alien theorists are doing exactly what prehistoric man did, and that is that they are seeing things that they can't explain, so they're just making up stuff that in their minds makes sense to them, and fits their reality.