16 Nonbelievers in Damned Surprising Places

Yeah, We All Know It’s You, Shelley

While an Oxford student in 1811, the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote a pamphlet titled “The Necessity of Atheism” and quietly scattered copies around the Oxford grounds.

This violated the blasphemy laws, so he left his name off. No one was fooled; between the mastery of language and the sheer nerve, every finger pointed right at the 19-year-old poet. He was suspended and sent home, furious.