Since the beginning of time, man has always claimed to know when doomsday is going to arrive, depending on which religious group or cultural tribe he belonged to. These guys really claim to know what is to come, to the extent that some people outside of these cultures believe them as well. However, we’re all human and prone to mistakes, so these are 10 failed doomsday predictions:
2012
On December 21, 2012, it was predicted that the “Great Cycle” of the Maya Long Count calendar would come to an end. Many misinterpreted this ending to mean an absolute end to the calendar, and from there, doomsday predictions emerged and were constantly being rumored and made up.
Harold Camping
One of the most prolific modern predictors of end times was Harold Camping, who has publicly predicted the end of the world around 12 times based his interpretations of biblical numerology. In 1992, he came out with a book titled 1994?, which claimed to predict the end of the world sometime around the same year.
True Way
Taiwanese religious leader Hon-Ming Chen established Chen Tao, otherwise known as True Way, which is a religious movement that blended elements of Christianity, Buddhism, UFO conspiracy theories, and Taiwanese folk religion. Chen said that God would appear on U.S. television channel 18 on March 25, 1988, to announce his earthy descent which never happened.
Halley’s Comet
Halley’s comet is a comet that passes by the Earth roughly once every 76 years, but the proximity of its approach in 1910 generated fear that it would destroy the planet, either by a celestial accident or through the poisonous gasses.
Millerism
There was a religious leader by the name of William Miller who began preaching in 1831 that the end of the world would happen with the second coming of Jesus Christ in 1843. He attracted around 100,000 followers who truly believed that they would be sent to heaven when the date came.
Joanna Southcott
Joanna Southcott began reporting that she was hearing voices that predicted future events at published her own books and eventually developed a following of some 100,000 believers her actually bought into her predictions.
Prophet Hen
A domesticated hen in Leeds, England, seemed to lay eggs inscribed with the message “Christ is coming” in 1806. Many people reportedly visited the hen and became sad for the coming of Judgment Day. It was soon discovered, however, that the eggs were not actually prophetic messages, and that the owner had been writing on the eggs and inserted them into her body.
London’s Great Fire
The Bible refers to 666 as the number of the Beast, and many Christians in 17th-century Europe feared the end of the world in the year 1666. The Great London Fire lasted from September 2 to September 5 of that same year, and destroyed a majority of the city, including 87 parish churches and roughly 13,000 houses.
Great Flood
Johannes Stöffler was a German mathematician and astrologer who predicted that a great flood would cover the world on February 25, 1524, when all of the known planets would be in alignment under Pisces, which is a water sign. Hundreds of announcements stated that the coming flood was coming, generating panic among the people.
Montanism
Montanism was a 2nd century schismatic movement of Christianity that began in Phrygia (modern Turkey). Based on the visions of Montanus, who claimed to speak under the influence of god, Montanists believed the second coming of Christ was near, and that everyone needed to prepare for his arrival.
