$1000 proof
apparently some church has offered a $1000 reward for proof that the sun is the center of the solar system. their money's quite safe. in the 1500's copernicus discovered that a heliocentric model predicted the positions of the planets in the sky a hell of a lot more easily than a geocentric model. around 1600 the idea started to take hold that this theory was more than just a mathematical curiosity and that the sun is in fact the center of the solar system. the inquisition took offense and ordered giordano bruno to recant. he was a bit of an asshole and refused. so they burned him at the stake. the inquisition then turned to galileo. he recanted and avoided a death sentence. later popes really wanted to know when the planets would be where so they knew when to schedule easter. vatican astronomers quietly used the heliocentric model. in 1905 einstein rocked the scene with his theory of relativity which states in part that all reference frames are equally valid. so now putting the earth at the center of the universe is just as good as putting the sun there. go figure. relativity's just full of these fun little paradoxes. anywho, this story closes in 1983 when the church finally admits that maybe, just maybe, galileo was right.