Joseph Smith, founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint and ex presidential candidate of the United States, is murdered by an angry crowd on June 27, 1844 while being imprisoned in Carthage (Illinois) for hindering the freedom of the press. He had actually closed a newspaper completely opposed to his theories regarding polygamy.
The Mormons doctrine is based on the divine apparition and revelation Smith said he received in 1823 through a messenger called Moroni. According to Smith, the messenger gave him two golden plaques covered with hieroglyphs and the code to decipher them which allowed him to transcribe the Book of Mormon that recounted the arrival of four biblical civilizations to America during the second millennium before Christ. Unfortunately, it is not possible to corroborate the authenticity of Smith’s testimony because when he finished the transcription God took the golden plaques and no archeologist have ever found the slightest sign of such civilizations.
Joseph Smith’s church affirms to currently have 11 million followers and it practically owns Salt Lake City.