In 1976 a retired UK teacher left $44,000 to Jesus. To claim the prize, Christ must return specifically "to reign on earth" and prove His identity to the government.

In Hamburg, John Lennon, out of his mind on booze and drugs, peed from a balcony onto some nuns in the street below.

In 2017, an old Brazilian woman learned that the figure she had been praying to for years was not Saint Anthony. It was an elf from The Lord of the Rings.

South Korean pastor Jeon Kwang-hoon was dubbed the "panty pastor" after he told female churchgoers they would become "children of God" if they took off their underwear.

In December 1963, a group of Catholic schoolchildren visiting Arlington National Cemetery accidentally extinguished JFK's "eternal flame" while blessing it with holy water.

The so-called Wicked Bible, published in 1631, accidentally rendered the Seventh Commandment as "Thou shalt commit adultery." Its publishers were fined £300 and lost their printing license.

In 2013, the Vatican announced that indulgences, which reduce the time spent in purgatory, would be granted to Catholics who follow the Pope on Twitter.

One day during the production of Jesus of Nazareth—a worldwide sensation—the cast visited a church in Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela. Robert Powell, who played Jesus, stayed in bed. "It's a good thing you didn't come," he was told later, "because behind the altar, the icon is you."

In 2010, Jennifer McCreight recruited 100,000 women to test an Iranian cleric's claim that racy clothing causes earthquakes. The quakes during their "Boobquake" were weaker than average. Maybe, said McCreight, God likes hot pants.

Elvis Presley wore a cross, a star of David, and the Hebrew letter chai. "I don't want to miss out on Heaven," he once explained, "due to a technicality."