A cousin of Jesus Christ who might be described as the last Old Testament prophet, though he doesn't appear until the Gospels of the New Testament. Before the beginning of Jesus' ministry, John went around baptising Jews (at one point he baptised Jesus, kicking off the ministry) and urging all to repent, since the Messiah was on the way. He was later imprisoned by King Herod (a puppet of the Romans who didn't want any sort of trouble from rabble-rousing dissidents), and beheaded.

The John The Baptist knock-knock joke (requires the joker to have some water on his/her fingers, or a water gun, etc.)

Joker: Knock knock.
Jokee: Who's there?
Joker: John...
Jokee: John who?
Joker (spraying water on Jokee): JOHN THE BAPTIST!
May I also add how and why John the Baptist was beheaded?... Whatever, I will anyway.

John had been in prison for quite a while before he was beheaded. This due, in part, to the fact that he had openly criticized Herod for taking for himself Herodias, the wife of his half brother, and also his niece.
Herodias wasn't very happy with him for saying this and influenced Herod's decision to imprison him.

On his birthday, after John had been imprisoned, Herod threw a party at which Herodias' daughter Salome, fathered by her rightful husband, danced. This entertainment pleased Herod and his guests so much that he offered her anything that was in his power to give.
The silly girl, of course, couldn't decide what she wanted so she asked her mother to decide for her. Hence, John the Baptist was beheaded by orders of Herod, tetrarch of Galilee, after it was requested by his wife's daughter at his wife's urging.

For more information on this and other stories, try reading the Bible. It's got some interesting stuff.

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Disclaimer: even though the tone of this node may sound irreverent to some people, I have much respect for John the Baptist and think that the happenings described above were disturbing and quite unfortunate.

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