The question of when the world will end has been the subject of fierce debate among scholars, scientists and religious leaders throughout the centuries. Some people have even claimed to know the exact date of the world’s demise only to be disappointed (or relieved) when the day came to pass and the world still remained intact. Many of these claims of when the world will end have been based on Bible prophecies, acts of intentional deceit and events occurring in the cosmos.
Here are 10 times in history when the world was predicted to end (but thankfully didn’t).
1. February 25, 1524
A great flood of biblical proportions was expected to cover the earth on this day by German mathematician and astrologer Johannes Stöffler. The prediction arose from the belief that the planets would align under the Pisces water sign, which would trigger the flood. Many other people believed that the prediction would come true and became overwhelmed by mass hysteria after reading pamphlets that had been distributed. A German nobleman by the name of Count von Iggleheim believed Stöffler’s prediction so much that he commissioned the construction of a three-story ark that was similar to the one used by Noah during the Great Flood.
2. September 2-6, 1666
The old English Puritan sect known as the Fifth Monarchists predicted that the world would end on a few separate occasions, but 1666 was the most notable year because of the number 666 that was contained in the year, which is considered to be the number of the beast in the New Testament’s Book of Revelation. Many Londoners believed that the world’s end was in the process of occurring in September of that year when the Great Fire of London ravaged the city. In actuality, the fire was accidentally started at a local bakery and didn’t end up consuming the entire world.
3. 1806
During the spring of 1806 in Leeds, England, a woman named Mary Bateman claimed that her hen laid eggs with words on them announcing the coming of Jesus Christ. As news of the event spread around town, locals began to believe that the message on the eggs signified an impending Doomsday that would soon occur. The hen that laid the eggs was soon dubbed the “Prophet Hen of Leeds,” and local townspeople flocked to Mary’s farm to see the hen. For the price of a penny, Mary guaranteed that a person could be spared from Doomsday. However, it was all a hoax, and Mary inscribed the messages on the eggs herself and was soon discovered to be a fraud. Even though the people of Leeds were spared from the supposed forthcoming Doomsday, Mary wasn’t so lucky herself when she was executed the following year after being found guilty of poisoning a couple.
4. October 22, 1844
Shortly after the Millerite Christian movement was established, a pastor within the movement named Samuel S. Snow told congregants that the end of the world would occur on this date because of a prophecy that he believed was written in the Old Testament’s Book of Daniel, which stated that the earth would be cleansed in 2,300 days. Pastor Snow came up with his prediction by converting the days into years and using the Karaite Jewish calendar to determine the exact day and year when the world was supposed to end. Pastor Snow’s predicted date eventually came to be known as “The Great Disappointment” after the day passed with no end to the world.
5. May 19, 1910
French astronomer Nicolas Camille Flammarion predicted bad things for the world’s inhabitants on this date when the planet was expected to pass through the tail of Halley’s Comet. Flammarion claimed that poisonous gases in the tail would not necessarily destroy the planet itself but would possibly end all human life. The pandemonium that the news created among many people inspired some unscrupulous entrepreneurs to create and sell “comet pills” that were supposed to protect people from the comet’s gases. Earth did in fact pass through the tail of Halley’s Comet on this date, but thankfully there were no poisonous gases that killed anyone.
6. December 21, 1954
One of the wackiest predictions of the world’s end was made by Dorothy Martin, a housewife from Chicago who also went by the name Marion Keech. She believed that a massive flood would envelop the world on this day, and a flying saucer from outer space would come to rescue the people on Earth who believed the prophecy. Some of Dorothy Martin’s followers were so convinced that they left their jobs and severed family bonds to join her when the UFO came to make its rescue. The news of the prophecy caught the attention of a group of social psychologists, who attended meetings of the follower and published some of the earliest works on cognitive dissidence.
7. 1975
Beginning in 1966, some Jehovah’s Witnesses started to believe that the end of the world as we know it would come sometime in the year 1975. The belief was that this year would mark the 6,000-year period since the creation of Adam. Biblical passages from Genesis, Matthew and other books of the Old and New Testaments were used to support this claim. Believers of the prophecy thought that the battle of Armageddon would end as the year 1975 began and that a new judgment period lasting 1,000 years would dominate the world. This was just one of several failed prophecies that have been promoted by some followers of the Jehovah’s Witness faith.
8. May 21, 2011
Harold Camping, a Christian radio host who was sometimes referred to as the “Doomsday Prophet,” had first predicted that the world would come to an end with the Second Coming of Christ on three separate occasions in 1994. His prediction for 2011 would be his last and likely most widespread prediction. His followers began displaying signs that announced the date of the supposed impending Doomsday to try to gain more believers of the prophecy. After Doomsday failed to materialize on the predicted date, he admitted that his prediction was timed incorrectly and suffered a series of health problems before his death in 2013.
9. December 21, 2012
There is a widespread belief that the Mayans predicted the end of the world to occur on this date, but recent research has shown that the prophecy is nothing more than a popular legend that was based on a mistranslation of an ancient Mayan tablet. Some believe that the prophecy stems from the fact that the end of the Mayan’s calendar cycle was scheduled to end on December 21, 2012. There is also a belief that the calendar has been misinterpreted and is really supposed to close in 2020 and prompt the end of the world.
10. September 2015
Some scientists believed that an asteroid would strike Earth sometime between the 22nd and 28th of the month and bring an end to the planet. Some Christians also believed that the Last Judgment would occur during this period. The belief that the world would end sometime during this period was fueled further by Reverend Efrain Rodriguez, a self-proclaimed prophet. Astronomers at NASA began looking more at asteroid patterns in outer space and discovered that no asteroid or comet was on a collision course with Earth.
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