2012 – the end of the Mayan calendar
December 21, 2012 was supposedly the day the world was going to end. This was due to the apparent ending of the Mayan calendar, spanning from 3114 BC to 2012. Conspiracy theorists ran wild with the conjecture, claiming that the Earth was heading towards its Doomsday – gaining so much traction it even spawned the hit movie, 2012. Thankfully, we’re still here to tell the tale.
The Y2K bug
The Millennium Bug supposedly heralded the beginning of the end. Millions of people believed that the change from 1999 to 2000 would cause the internet to crash and society to crumble, bringing in an age of disaster and despair. Obviously, no such event occurred, and the only loud bangs that echoed across the world were caused by champagne bottles and fireworks.
6/6/6
June 6th, 2006 signified the Devil’s number, a day on which some people believed that the Antichrist would rise up from Hell. After making headlines across the world, the day came and went without much fuss, with no glimpse of the Antichrist to be found (although a remake of demonic horror movie The Omen opened in cinemas that day).
Halley’s comet
Halley’s comet appears in Earth’s view once every 76 years, burning across our skies. In 1910, both religious fanatics and respected news sources feared that the comet would crash into Earth, ending all life across the globe. Anti-comet pills, gas masks, and comet-protecting umbrellas were flogged to the gullible masses, though they ultimately weren’t needed.
The 2016 polar flip
The cheerily-named group End Times Prophecies predicted that the Earth’s magnetic field would flip back in 2016, with the planet’s two poles swapping places, leading to cataclysmic consequences. Citing Bible verses to back up their ludicrous claims, the date came and went without any fanfare, and the Earth’s poles remained very much in place.
Particle collider doom
When scientists went to use the Large Hadron Collider back in 2008, fears swept across the world that the particle accelerating device would accidentally create a black hole, swallowing the Earth into an endless oblivion. The device managed to work without triggering a premature apocalypse, and is still being used to this day.
2011’s Judgment Day
Christian Radio host Harold Camping claimed that Judgment Day would arrive in 2011, spending $300,000 to spread his doomsayer message. After his prior end-of-the-world prediction failed to come to pass in 1994, Camping upped his efforts the second time around, claiming that God would destroy the entire universe. He later admitted that trying to pinpoint the date of the apocalypse was “sinful”.
Planet X’s arrival
Armageddon was supposed to arrive back in 2018, when the hidden Planet X – otherwise known as Niburu – was due to smash into Earth, wiping out humanity. Conspiracy theorist David Meade incorrectly predicted the end of times four times, causing NASA to state: “The planet in question, Niburu, doesn’t exist so there will be no collision.”
The Great Fire of London
With the number 666 signifying the Beast in the Bible, many Christians feared that the world would come to an end in 1666. While the end of times didn’t arrive, The Great Fire of London wreaked havoc across England’s capital that very year, killing eight people and making thousands homeless. Despite the tragedy, the world continued to turn.
The Second Coming of Christ
The Second Coming of Christ has been predicted countless times over centuries past, though the Rapture is yet to take place. Most recently, pastor Kenton Beshore predicted that the Rapture would occur by 2021 “at the latest”, with the Second Coming of Christ arriving somewhere between 2018 and 2028, after a failed prediction back in 1988.