Pope Leo X, despite having an awesome rap star name, is immortalized in time as the Pope to get 95 bitch slaps from Martin Luther. Luther was excommunicated and had to go into hiding, but spawned The Reformation nonetheless. Not bad for one piece of paper nailed to a door.

Are there documents as vital and world-changing out there today? Probably, but I would be surprised if they are immediately recognizable as such. Afterall, it was 13 years between the 95 Theses and the founding of the Lutheran Church (though Marty was condemned after only 4).

My favorite of the original 95 Theses, posted in the crisp October of 1517, would have to be good old #86:

86. Why does not the pope, whose wealth is today greater than the riches of the richest, build just this one church of St. Peter with his own money, rather than with the money of poor believers?

And since we're on the subject of Theseses, I might as well mention my other two favorite collections (always in flocks of 95).

The Cluetrain Manifesto (have I mentioned that I love manifestos?), was written back in 1999 and did much to foretell both the fall of the Dot Coms (clueless money-making schemes) and the subsequent rise of Web 2.0 (still largely clueless money-making schemes, but who have at least figured out the power of community). My highlight from these Theses?

57. Smart companies will get out of the way and help the inevitable to happen sooner.

Finally, I recently discovered the 95 Theses of Geek Activism, posted just a few days ago. It's slightly different from these other two in that it's, pardon the clergy-related pun, preaching to the choir. Still, whereas the others are meant to stir up conflict in hopes that a good resolution will come of it, these Theses actually provide some good advice on how to make change. The most confrontational:

73. We do not lock the door to our bedrooms or bathrooms because we have something to hide. We do not secure our networks, conversations, emails and files because we have something to hide.