10. John F. Kennedy
The assassination of John F. Kennedy has been shrouded in conspiracy theories ever since that fateful day in Dallas in 1963. Lee Harvey Oswald was later identified as JFK’s assassin but some have questioned whether Oswald acted alone or whether there was a second gunman located in the grassy knoll. Other more outlandish conspiracy theorists claim that Oswald was framed for JFK’s murder and point to other possible suspects, such as the mafia, the Russian KGB, the CIA, and even his successor Lyndon B. Johnson – alleging that Johnson had everything to gain by having JFK assassinated. Unsurprisingly, there is no concrete evidence for any of these crazy conspiracy theories.
What fueled the flames of these conspiracy theories was the killing of Lee Harvey Oswald just two days after he had allegedly assassinated JFK. Oswald was killed by Jack Ruby, a nightclub owner who had connections to organized criminals. The Chief Justice of the United States, Earl Warren, headed a presidential commission to investigate both JFK’s assassination and Oswald’s murder. The Warren Commission concluded that neither Oswald nor Ruby were part of any conspiracy to assassinate the president, but that Oswald had acted alone. However, the Warren Commission could not satisfactorily answer all questions which arose as a result of JFK’s assassination and thus the conspiracy theories continued to be believed.