# 04 Apocalypse!

There is a fine old tradition of predicting the end of the world. It's been happening for millennia, and I can't see it stopping for anything.

The term is from the Greek, is means "from cover," things exposed to view. The Bible translates that to "Revelation."

There seem to be long-range apocalypses, and short-range ones. The long-range apocalypse doesn't have a definite date, but on occasion someone will predict a particular day.

![](https://blog.kf7k.com/image.axd?picture=/images/theendisnear.gif)

The short-range apocalypse is always about 30 years away, but it moves forward as fast as the calendar advances.

Here is the Wikipedia list of apocalyptic predictions:

## <span class="mw-headline" id="bkmrk-past-predictions-1">Past predictions</span>

### <span class="mw-headline" id="bkmrk-first-millennium-ce--1">First millennium CE (11 predictions)</span>

<table class="wikitable" id="bkmrk-date-%28ce%29-claimant%28s"><tbody><tr><th scope="col">Date (CE)</th><th scope="col">Claimant(s)</th><th scope="col">Description</th></tr><tr><td>66–70</td><td>[Simon bar Giora](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_bar_Giora "Simon bar Giora"), [Jewish Essenes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essenes "Essenes")</td><td>The Jewish [Essene](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essenes "Essenes") sect of ascetics saw the [Jewish uprising](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Jewish%E2%80%93Roman_War "First Jewish–Roman War") against the [Romans](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Empire "Roman Empire") in 66–70 in Judea as the final end-time battle which would bring about the arrival of the [Messiah](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messiah "Messiah"). By the authority of Simon, coins were minted declaring the redemption of Israel.</td></tr><tr><td>365</td><td>[Hilary of Poitiers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilary_of_Poitiers "Hilary of Poitiers")</td><td>This early French bishop announced the end of the world would happen during this year.</td></tr><tr><td>375–400</td><td>[Martin of Tours](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_of_Tours "Martin of Tours")</td><td>This French bishop stated that the world would end before 400 AD, writing, "There is no doubt that the Antichrist has already been born. Firmly established already in his early years, he will, after reaching maturity, achieve supreme power."</td></tr><tr><td>27 May 482</td><td>[Hydatius](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydatius "Hydatius")</td><td>This bishop of [Aquae Flaviae](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquae_Flaviae "Aquae Flaviae") (modern [Chaves, Portugal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaves,_Portugal "Chaves, Portugal")) wrote his chronicle (c. 469) in his firm belief that humanity was living in the end times, marching towards its certain doom on this day, when Jesus would come back and the world would end.</td></tr><tr><td>500</td><td>[Hippolytus of Rome](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippolytus_of_Rome "Hippolytus of Rome"), [Sextus Julius Africanus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sextus_Julius_Africanus "Sextus Julius Africanus"), [Irenaeus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irenaeus "Irenaeus")</td><td>All three predicted Jesus would return in this year, with one of the predictions being based on the dimensions of [Noah's Ark](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noah%27s_Ark "Noah's Ark").</td></tr><tr><td>6 Apr 793</td><td>[Beatus of Liébana](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beatus_of_Li%C3%A9bana "Beatus of Liébana")</td><td>This Spanish monk prophesied the Second Coming of Christ and the end of the world on that day in front of a large crowd of people.</td></tr><tr><td>800</td><td>[Sextus Julius Africanus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sextus_Julius_Africanus "Sextus Julius Africanus")</td><td>This Christian historian revised his prediction from the year 500 to 800.</td></tr><tr><td>799–806</td><td>[Gregory of Tours](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregory_of_Tours "Gregory of Tours")</td><td>This French bishop calculated the end would occur between 799 and 806.</td></tr><tr><td>847</td><td>[Thiota](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thiota "Thiota")</td><td>This Christian declared in 847 that the world would end that year, though later confessed the prediction was fraudulent and was publicly [flogged](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flogged "Flogged").</td></tr><tr><td>992–995</td><td>Various Christians</td><td>[Good Friday](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Friday "Good Friday") coincided with the [Feast of the Annunciation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feast_of_the_Annunciation "Feast of the Annunciation"); this had long been believed to be the event that would bring forth the Antichrist, and thus the end-times, within three years.</td></tr><tr><td>1000</td><td>[Pope Sylvester II](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Sylvester_II "Pope Sylvester II") and others</td><td>According to several sources, various Christian clerics predicted this date as the [Millennium](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennialism "Millennialism"), including [Pope Sylvester II](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Sylvester_II "Pope Sylvester II"). As a result, riots are said to have occurred in Europe and pilgrims headed east to Jerusalem. Other historians, however, have disputed that any of these events ever took place.</td></tr></tbody></table>

### <span id="bkmrk--1"></span><span class="mw-headline" id="bkmrk-11th%E2%80%9315th-centuries--1">11th–15th centuries (7 Predictions, 18 so far)</span>

<table class="wikitable" id="bkmrk-date-%28ce%29-claimant%28s-1"><tbody><tr><th scope="col">Date (CE)</th><th scope="col">Claimant(s)</th><th scope="col">Description</th></tr><tr><td>1033</td><td>Various Christians</td><td>Following the failure of the prediction for 1 January 1000, some theorists proposed that the end would occur 1000 years after Jesus' death, instead of his birth.</td></tr><tr><td>1200–1260</td><td>[Joachim of Fiore](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joachim_of_Fiore "Joachim of Fiore")</td><td>This Italian mystic determined that the Millennium would begin between 1200 and 1260.</td></tr><tr><td>1284</td><td>[Pope Innocent III](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Innocent_III "Pope Innocent III")</td><td>Pope Innocent III (died 1216) predicted that the world would end [666](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_of_the_beast "Number of the beast") years after the [rise of Islam](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spread_of_Islam "Spread of Islam") in 618.</td></tr><tr><td>1290  
1335</td><td>[Joachimites](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joachimites "Joachimites")</td><td>After his 1260 prediction failed, the followers of Joachim of Fiore rescheduled the end of the world to 1290 and then again to 1335.</td></tr><tr><td>1346–1351</td><td>Various Europeans</td><td>The [Black Death](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Death "Black Death") spreading across Europe was interpreted by many as the sign of the end of times.</td></tr><tr><td>1368–1370</td><td>[Jean de Roquetaillade](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_de_Roquetaillade "Jean de Roquetaillade")</td><td>This French [alchemist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alchemist "Alchemist") predicted the Antichrist was to come in 1366 and the Millennium would begin either in 1368 or 1370.</td></tr><tr><td>1378</td><td>[Arnaldus de Villa Nova](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnaldus_de_Villa_Nova "Arnaldus de Villa Nova")</td><td>This [Joachite](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joachite "Joachite") wrote that the Antichrist was to come during this year.</td></tr></tbody></table>

### <span class="mw-headline" id="bkmrk-16th-century-%2814-pre-1">16th century (14 predictions, 32 so far)</span>

<table class="wikitable" id="bkmrk-date-%28ce%29-claimant%28s-2"><tbody><tr><th scope="col">Date (CE)</th><th scope="col">Claimant(s)</th><th scope="col">Description</th></tr><tr><td>1504</td><td>[Sandro Botticelli](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandro_Botticelli "Sandro Botticelli")</td><td>This painter believed he was living during the Tribulation, and that the Millennium would begin in three and a half years from 1500. He wrote into his painting *[The Mystical Nativity](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mystical_Nativity "The Mystical Nativity")* that the Devil was loose and would soon be chained.</td></tr><tr><td>1 Feb 1524</td><td>London astrologers</td><td>A group of astrologers in London predicted the world would end by a flood starting in London, based on calculations made the previous June. Twenty thousand Londoners left their homes and headed for higher ground in anticipation.</td></tr><tr><td>20 Feb 1524</td><td>[Johannes Stöffler](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_St%C3%B6ffler "Johannes Stöffler")</td><td>A planetary alignment in [Pisces](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pisces_(astrology) "Pisces (astrology)") was seen by this astrologer as a sign of the Millennium.</td></tr><tr><td>1525</td><td>[Thomas Müntzer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_M%C3%BCntzer "Thomas Müntzer")</td><td>1525 would mark the beginning of the Millennium, according to this [Anabaptist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anabaptism "Anabaptism"). His followers were killed by cannon fire in an uneven battle with government troops. He died under torture and was beheaded.</td></tr><tr><td>27 May 1528</td><td>[Hans Hut](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Hut "Hans Hut")</td><td>This German [Anabaptist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anabaptism "Anabaptism") predicted the end would occur on this date.</td></tr><tr><td>1528</td><td>[Johannes Stöffler](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_St%C3%B6ffler "Johannes Stöffler")</td><td>A revised date from Stöffler after his 1524 prediction failed to come true.</td></tr><tr><td>19 Oct 1533</td><td>[Michael Stifel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Stifel "Michael Stifel")</td><td>This mathematician calculated that Judgement Day would begin at 8:00 am on this day.</td></tr><tr><td>1533</td><td>[Melchior Hoffman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melchior_Hoffman "Melchior Hoffman")</td><td>This Anabaptist prophet predicted Christ's Second Coming to take place this year in [Strasbourg](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strasbourg "Strasbourg"). He claimed that [144,000](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/144,000 "144,000") people would be saved, while the rest of the world would be consumed by fire.</td></tr><tr><td>5 Apr 1534</td><td>[Jan Matthys](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Matthys "Jan Matthys")</td><td>During the [Münster rebellion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%BCnster_rebellion "Münster rebellion"), this Anabaptist leader declared that the apocalypse would take place on this day. When the day came he led a failed attack against [Franz von Waldeck](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_von_Waldeck "Franz von Waldeck") and was decapitated.</td></tr><tr><td>1555</td><td>[Pierre d'Ailly](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_d%27Ailly "Pierre d'Ailly")</td><td>Around 1400, this French theologian wrote that 6845 years of human history had already passed, and the end of the world would be in the 7000th year.</td></tr><tr><td>1585</td><td>[Michael Servetus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Servetus "Michael Servetus")</td><td>In his book *The Restoration of Christianity*, the Spanish born reformer claimed that the Devil's reign in this world had started in 325 AD, at the [Council of Nicea](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Council_of_Nicea "First Council of Nicea"), and would last for 1260 years, thus ending in 1585.</td></tr><tr><td>1588</td><td>[Regiomontanus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regiomontanus "Regiomontanus")</td><td>This mathematician and astronomer predicted the end of the world during this year.</td></tr><tr><td>1600</td><td>[Martin Luther](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther "Martin Luther")</td><td>Luther, a German priest and professor of theology known for starting the [Protestant Reformation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reformation "Reformation"), predicted the end of the world would occur no later than 1600.</td></tr></tbody></table>

### <span class="mw-headline" id="bkmrk-17th-century-%2819-pre-1">17th century (19 predictions, 51 so far)</span>

<table class="wikitable" id="bkmrk-date-%28ce%29-claimant%28s-3"><tbody><tr><th scope="col">Date (CE)</th><th scope="col">Claimant(s)</th><th scope="col">Description</th></tr><tr><td>1 Feb 1624</td><td>London astrologers</td><td>The same astrologers who predicted the deluge of 1 February 1524 recalculated the date to 100 years later after their first prophecy failed.</td></tr><tr><td>1648</td><td>[Sabbatai Zevi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabbatai_Zevi "Sabbatai Zevi")</td><td>Using the [kabbalah](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabbalah "Kabbalah") proclaimed that the Messiah would come during that year. Later claimed to be the Messiah in 1666-7</td></tr><tr><td>1651</td><td>Unknown author from [Lübeck](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%BCbeck "Lübeck"), [Germany](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germany "Germany")</td><td>The apocalypse maps tell of an Antichrist, the rise of Islam and other events following Judgement Day that was predicted to occur in 1651.</td></tr><tr><td>1654</td><td>[Helisaeus Roeslin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helisaeus_Roeslin "Helisaeus Roeslin")</td><td>This physician made a prediction that the world would end this year based on a [nova](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nova "Nova") that occurred in 1572.</td></tr><tr><td>1656</td><td>[Christopher Columbus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Columbus "Christopher Columbus")</td><td>In his *[Book of Prophecies](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Prophecies "Book of Prophecies")* (1501), Columbus predicted that the world would end during this year.</td></tr><tr><td>1655–1657</td><td>[Fifth Monarchists](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifth_Monarchists "Fifth Monarchists")</td><td>This group of radical Christians predicted that the final apocalyptic battle and the destruction of the Antichrist were to take place between 1655 and 1657.</td></tr><tr><td>1658</td><td>[Christopher Columbus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Columbus "Christopher Columbus")</td><td>Columbus claimed that the world was created in 5343 BCE, and would last 7000 years. Assuming no year zero, that means the end would come in 1658.</td></tr><tr><td>1660</td><td>[Joseph Mede](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Mede "Joseph Mede")</td><td>Mede claimed that the Antichrist had appeared in 456, and the end would come in 1660.</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="2">1666</td><td>[Sabbatai Zevi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabbatai_Zevi "Sabbatai Zevi")</td><td>Following his failed prediction of 1648, Zevi recalculated the end of the Earth for this year.</td></tr><tr><td>[Fifth Monarchists](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifth_Monarchists "Fifth Monarchists")</td><td>The presence of [666](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_of_the_beast "Number of the beast") in the date, the death of 100,000 Londoners to [bubonic plague](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubonic_plague "Bubonic plague"), and the [Great Fire of London](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Fire_of_London "Great Fire of London") led to superstitious fears of the end of the world from some Christians.</td></tr><tr><td>1673</td><td>[William Aspinwall](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Aspinwall "William Aspinwall")</td><td>This [Fifth Monarchist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifth_Monarchists "Fifth Monarchists") claimed the Millennium would begin by this year.</td></tr><tr><td>1688</td><td>[John Napier](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Napier "John Napier")</td><td>This mathematician calculated the end of the world would be this year based on calculations from the [Book of Revelation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Revelation "Book of Revelation").</td></tr><tr><td>1689</td><td>[Pierre Jurieu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Jurieu "Pierre Jurieu")</td><td>This prophet predicted that Judgement Day would occur this year.</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="3">1694</td><td>[John Mason](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Mason_(poet) "John Mason (poet)")</td><td>This [Anglican](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglicanism "Anglicanism") priest predicted the Millennium would begin by this year.</td></tr><tr><td>[Johann Heinrich Alsted](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Heinrich_Alsted "Johann Heinrich Alsted")</td><td>This [Calvinist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvinist "Calvinist") minister predicted the Millennium would begin by this year.</td></tr><tr><td>[Johann Jacob Zimmermann](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Jacob_Zimmermann "Johann Jacob Zimmermann")</td><td>Believed that Jesus would return and the world would end this year.</td></tr><tr><td>1697</td><td>[Cotton Mather](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotton_Mather "Cotton Mather")</td><td>This [Puritan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puritans "Puritans") minister predicted the world would end this year. After the prediction failed, he revised the date of the end two more times.</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="2">1700</td><td>[John Napier](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Napier "John Napier")</td><td>Following his 1688 prediction, Napier recalculated his end of the world prediction to 1700 in *A Plaine Discovery*, a book published in 1593.</td></tr><tr><td>[Henry Archer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Archer_(Fifth_Monarchist) "Henry Archer (Fifth Monarchist)")</td><td>In his 1642 work, *The Personall Reigne of Christ Upon Earth*, Archer predicted the Second Coming of Jesus would occur in approximately this year.</td></tr></tbody></table>

### <span class="mw-headline" id="bkmrk-18th-century-%2812-pre-1">18th century (12 predictions, 63 so far)</span>

<table class="wikitable" id="bkmrk-date-%28ce%29-claimant%28s-4"><tbody><tr><th scope="col">Date (CE)</th><th scope="col">Claimant(s)</th><th scope="col">Description</th></tr><tr><td>1705–1708</td><td>[Camisards](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camisard "Camisard")</td><td>Camisard prophets predicted the end of the world would occur in either 1705, 1706 or 1708.</td></tr><tr><td>1716</td><td>[Cotton Mather](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotton_Mather "Cotton Mather")</td><td>Revised prediction from Mather after his 1697 prediction failed to come true.</td></tr><tr><td>5 Apr 1719</td><td>[Jacob Bernoulli](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Bernoulli "Jacob Bernoulli")</td><td>This mathematician predicted a comet would destroy the Earth on this day.</td></tr><tr><td>1700–1734</td><td>[Nicholas of Cusa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_of_Cusa "Nicholas of Cusa")</td><td>This cardinal predicted the end would occur between 1700 and 1734.</td></tr><tr><td>16 Oct 1736</td><td>[William Whiston](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Whiston "William Whiston")</td><td>This theologian predicted a [comet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet "Comet") colliding with the Earth this year.</td></tr><tr><td>1736</td><td>[Cotton Mather](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotton_Mather "Cotton Mather")</td><td>Mather's third and final prediction for the end of the world.</td></tr><tr><td>1757</td><td>[Emanuel Swedenborg](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emanuel_Swedenborg "Emanuel Swedenborg")</td><td>Swedenborg, a former Lutheran, claimed that the [Last Judgement](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_Judgement "Last Judgement") occurred in the spiritual world this year.</td></tr><tr><td>19 May 1780</td><td>[Connecticut General Assembly](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connecticut_General_Assembly "Connecticut General Assembly") members, [New Englanders](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Englanders "New Englanders")</td><td>The sky turning dark during the day was [interpreted as a sign of the end times](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_England%27s_Dark_Day "New England's Dark Day"). The primary cause of the event is believed to have been a combination of smoke from [forest fires](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wildfire "Wildfire"), a thick fog, and [cloud cover](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_cover "Cloud cover").</td></tr><tr><td>1789</td><td>[Pierre d'Ailly](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_d%27Ailly "Pierre d'Ailly")</td><td>The year 1789 would bring the coming of the Antichrist, according to this 14th-century cardinal.</td></tr><tr><td>1792  
1794</td><td>[Shakers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakers "Shakers")</td><td>The Shakers, a Christian sect founded in 18th century England, predicted the world would end in 1792 and then in 1794.</td></tr><tr><td>19 Nov 1795</td><td>[Nathaniel Brassey Halhed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathaniel_Brassey_Halhed "Nathaniel Brassey Halhed")</td><td>While campaigning for [Richard Brothers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Brothers "Richard Brothers")' release, Halhead proclaimed that the world would end on this day.</td></tr><tr><td>1793–1795</td><td>[Richard Brothers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Brothers "Richard Brothers")</td><td>This retired sailor stated the Millennium would begin between 1793 and 1795. He was eventually committed to an [insane asylum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunatic_asylum "Lunatic asylum").</td></tr></tbody></table>

### <span class="mw-headline" id="bkmrk-19th-century-%2817-pre-1">19th century (17 predictions, 80 so far)</span>

<table class="wikitable" id="bkmrk-date-%28ce%29-claimant%28s-5"><tbody><tr><th scope="col">Date (CE)</th><th scope="col">Claimant(s)</th><th scope="col">Description</th></tr><tr><td>1805</td><td>[Christopher Love](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Love "Christopher Love")</td><td>This [Presbyterian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presbyterianism "Presbyterianism") minister predicted the destruction of the world by [earthquake](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthquake "Earthquake") in 1805, followed by an age of everlasting peace when God would be known by all.</td></tr><tr><td>1806</td><td>[Mary Bateman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Bateman "Mary Bateman")</td><td>In [Leeds, England](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leeds,_England "Leeds, England"), in 1806 a hen began laying eggs on which the phrase "Christ is coming" was written. Eventually it was discovered to be a hoax. The owner, [Mary Bateman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Bateman "Mary Bateman"), had written on the eggs in a corrosive ink so as to etch the eggs, and reinserted the eggs back into the hen's [oviduct](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oviduct "Oviduct").</td></tr><tr><td>19 Oct 1814</td><td>[Joanna Southcott](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joanna_Southcott "Joanna Southcott")</td><td>This 64-year-old self-described prophet claimed she was pregnant with the Christ child, and that he would be born on October 19, 1814. She died later that year having not delivered a child, and an autopsy proved she had not been pregnant.</td></tr><tr><td>1836</td><td>[Johann Albrecht Bengel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Albrecht_Bengel "Johann Albrecht Bengel")</td><td>In the 1730s this Lutheran clergyman proclaimed that Judgment Day would come in 1836, with the pope as the anti-Christ and the [Freemasons](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freemasonry "Freemasonry") representing the "false prophet" of Revelations.</td></tr><tr><td>1836</td><td>[John Wesley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wesley "John Wesley")</td><td>Wesley, the founder of the [Methodist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methodist "Methodist") Church, foresaw the Millennium beginning this year. He wrote that Revelation 12:14 referred to 1058 to 1836, "when Christ should come".</td></tr><tr><td>28 Apr 1843  
31 Dec 1843</td><td>[Millerites](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millerism "Millerism")</td><td>Although it was not officially endorsed by their leadership, many Millerites expected the Second Coming to occur on April 28 or at the end of 1843.</td></tr><tr><td>1843</td><td>[Harriet Livermore](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harriet_Livermore "Harriet Livermore")</td><td>The first of two years this preacher predicted the world would end.</td></tr><tr><td>21 Mar 1844</td><td>[William Miller](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Miller_(preacher) "William Miller (preacher)")</td><td>Miller, a Baptist preacher, predicted Christ would return on this day.</td></tr><tr><td>22 Oct 1844</td><td>[Millerites](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millerism "Millerism")</td><td>After Christ did not return on 21 March 1844, the Millerites then revised William Miller's prediction to 22 October that year, claiming to have miscalculated Scripture. The realization that the predictions were incorrect resulted in the [Great Disappointment](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Disappointment "Great Disappointment").</td></tr><tr><td>7 Aug 1847</td><td>[George Rapp](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Rapp "George Rapp")</td><td>Rapp, the founder of the [Harmony Society](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmony_Society "Harmony Society"), preached that Jesus would return in his lifetime, even as he lay dying on August 7, 1847.</td></tr><tr><td>1847</td><td>[Harriet Livermore](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harriet_Livermore "Harriet Livermore")</td><td>The second prediction of the end of the world from this preacher.</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="2">1862</td><td>[John Cumming](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cumming_(clergyman) "John Cumming (clergyman)")</td><td>This Scottish clergyman stated it was 6000 years since creation in 1862, and that the world would end.</td></tr><tr><td>[Joseph Morris](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_the_Firstborn_(Morrisite) "Church of the Firstborn (Morrisite)")</td><td>Originally an English convert to [Mormonism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mormonism "Mormonism"), Morris had revelations to gather his followers and wait for the [Second Coming](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Coming "Second Coming"), through successive prophesied days.</td></tr><tr><td>1863</td><td>[John Wroe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wroe "John Wroe")</td><td>The founder of the [Christian Israelite Church](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Israelite_Church "Christian Israelite Church") calculated that the Millennium would begin this year.</td></tr><tr><td>1873–1874</td><td>[Jonas Wendell](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonas_Wendell "Jonas Wendell")</td><td>Wendell, along with other Adventist preachers, predicted the Second Coming of Christ would occur in 1873 or 1874. In 1870, Wendell published his views in the booklet entitled *The Present Truth, or Meat in Due Season* concluding that the [Second Advent](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Advent "Second Advent") was sure to occur in 1873. After the prediction did not bear out, [Nelson H. Bardour](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson_H._Barbour "Nelson H. Barbour") reinterpreted the prediction holding that Jesus had in fact returned in 1874 but in an invisible form.</td></tr><tr><td>1881</td><td>[Mother Shipton](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_Shipton "Mother Shipton") (attrib.)</td><td>This 15th-century prophet was quoted as saying "The world to an end shall come, In eighteen hundred and eighty one" in a book published in 1862. In 1873 it was revealed to be a forgery; however, this did not stop some people from expecting the end.</td></tr><tr><td>1890</td><td>[Wovoka](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wovoka "Wovoka")</td><td>The founder of the [Ghost Dance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_Dance "Ghost Dance") movement predicted in 1889 that the Millennium would occur in 1890.</td></tr></tbody></table>

### <span class="mw-headline" id="bkmrk-20th-century-%2875-pre-1">20th century (75 predictions, 155 so far)</span>

<table class="wikitable" id="bkmrk-date-%28ce%29-claimant%28s-6"><tbody><tr><th scope="col">Date (CE)</th><th scope="col">Claimant(s)</th><th scope="col">Description</th></tr><tr><td>1901</td><td>[Catholic Apostolic Church](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_Apostolic_Church "Catholic Apostolic Church")</td><td>This church, founded in 1831, claimed that Jesus would return by the time the last of its 12 founding members died. The last member died in 1901.</td></tr><tr><td>1910</td><td>[Camille Flammarion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camille_Flammarion "Camille Flammarion")</td><td>Flammarion predicted that the [1910 appearance of Halley's Comet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halley%27s_Comet#1910 "Halley's Comet") "would impregnate that atmosphere and possibly snuff out all life on the planet", but not the planet itself. "Comet pills" were sold to protect against toxic gases.</td></tr><tr><td>1892–1911</td><td>[Charles Piazzi Smyth](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Piazzi_Smyth "Charles Piazzi Smyth")</td><td>This [pyramidologist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyramidology "Pyramidology") concluded from his research on the dimensions of the [Great Pyramid of Giza](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pyramid_of_Giza "Great Pyramid of Giza") that the Second Coming would occur somewhere between 1892 and 1911.</td></tr><tr><td>1914</td><td>[Charles Taze Russell](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Taze_Russell "Charles Taze Russell")</td><td>Russell, who founded the [Bible Student movement](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bible_Student_movement "Bible Student movement"), said "...the battle of the great day of God Almighty... The date of the close of that 'battle' is definitely marked in Scripture as October 1914. It is already in progress, its beginning dating from October, 1874."</td></tr><tr><td>1915</td><td>[John Chilembwe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Chilembwe "John Chilembwe")</td><td>This [Baptist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baptists "Baptists") educator and leader of a rebellion in the [British protectorate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_protectorate "British protectorate") of [Nyasaland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nyasaland "Nyasaland") predicted the Millennium would begin this year.</td></tr><tr><td>1918</td><td>[International Bible Students Association](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Bible_Students_Association "International Bible Students Association")</td><td>"[Christendom](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christendom "Christendom") shall be cut off and glorification of the Little Flock (The Church) in the Spring of 1918 A. D."</td></tr><tr><td>1920</td><td>[International Bible Students Association](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Bible_Students_Association "International Bible Students Association")</td><td>In 1918, Christendom would go down as a system to oblivion and be succeeded by revolutionary governments. God would "destroy the churches wholesale and the church members by the millions." Church members would "perish by the sword of war, [revolution](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolution "Revolution") and [anarchy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarchy "Anarchy")." The dead would lie unburied. In 1920 all earthly governments would disappear, with worldwide anarchy prevailing.</td></tr><tr><td>13 Feb 1925</td><td>[Margaret Rowen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prophecy_in_the_Seventh-day_Adventist_Church#Margaret_Rowen "Prophecy in the Seventh-day Adventist Church")</td><td>According to this [Seventh-Day Adventist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seventh-day_Adventist_Church "Seventh-day Adventist Church"), the angel [Gabriel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriel "Gabriel") appeared before her in a vision and told her that the world would end at midnight on this date.</td></tr><tr><td>1926</td><td>[Spencer Perceval](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spencer_Perceval_(junior) "Spencer Perceval (junior)")</td><td>This British MP, who was one of the 12 apostles of the [Catholic Apostolic Church](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_Apostolic_Church "Catholic Apostolic Church"), believed that the world was growing nearer to the Apocalypse due to what he viewed as the rampant immorality of the times in Europe.</td></tr><tr><td>1934</td><td>[Walter Marks](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Marks_(politician) "Walter Marks (politician)")</td><td>Marks, an Australian MP, told the [House of Representatives](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_House_of_Representatives "Australian House of Representatives") that Armageddon would occur in 1934 and culminate with the [Royal Navy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Navy "Royal Navy") bringing Christ's chosen people to Jerusalem.</td></tr><tr><td>Sep 1935</td><td>[Wilbur Glenn Voliva](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilbur_Glenn_Voliva "Wilbur Glenn Voliva")</td><td>This evangelist announced that "the world is going to go 'puff' and disappear" in September 1935.</td></tr><tr><td>1936</td><td>[Herbert W. Armstrong](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_W._Armstrong "Herbert W. Armstrong")</td><td>The founder of the [Worldwide Church of God](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worldwide_Church_Of_God "Worldwide Church Of God") told members of his church that the rapture was to take place in 1936, and that only they would be saved. After the prophecy failed, he changed the date three more times.</td></tr><tr><td>1941</td><td>[Jehovah's Witnesses](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jehovah%27s_Witnesses "Jehovah's Witnesses")</td><td>A prediction of the end from the Jehovah's Witnesses, a group which branched from the [Bible Student movement](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bible_Student_movement "Bible Student movement").</td></tr><tr><td>1943</td><td>Herbert W. Armstrong</td><td>The first of three revised dates from Armstrong after his 1936 prediction failed to come true.</td></tr><tr><td>1947</td><td>[John Ballou Newbrough](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oahspe:_A_New_Bible "Oahspe: A New Bible")</td><td>The author of *[Oahspe: A New Bible](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oahspe:_A_New_Bible "Oahspe: A New Bible")* predicted the destruction of all nations and the beginning of post-apocalyptic anarchy in this year.</td></tr><tr><td>21 Dec 1954</td><td>[Dorothy Martin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_Prophecy_Fails "When Prophecy Fails")</td><td>The world was to be destroyed by terrible flooding on this date, claimed this leader of a UFO cult called *Brotherhood of the Seven Rays*. The fallout of the group after the prediction failed was the basis for the 1956 book *[When Prophecy Fails](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_Prophecy_Fails "When Prophecy Fails")*.</td></tr><tr><td>22 Apr 1959</td><td>Florence Houteff</td><td>The leader of the [Branch Davidians](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Branch_Davidians "Branch Davidians") predicted the apocalypse foretold in the [Book of Revelation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Revelation "Book of Revelation") would proceed on this date. The failure of the prophecy led to the split of the sect into several subsects, the most prominent led by Benjamin and Lois Roden.</td></tr><tr><td>1951–1960</td><td>[Johann Gottfried Bischoff](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Gottfried_Bischoff "Johann Gottfried Bischoff")</td><td>On December 25, 1951, Bischoff stated the [Second Coming](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Coming "Second Coming") would occur before he died. He died on July 6, 1960.</td></tr><tr><td>4 Feb 1962</td><td>[Jeane Dixon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeane_Dixon "Jeane Dixon"), various Indian astrologers</td><td>Dixon predicted a planetary alignment on this day was to bring destruction to the world. Mass prayer meetings were held in India.</td></tr><tr><td>20 Aug 1967</td><td>[George Van Tassel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Van_Tassel "George Van Tassel")</td><td>This day would mark the beginning of the third woe of the Apocalypse, during which the [southeastern US](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southeastern_United_States "Southeastern United States") would be destroyed by a Soviet nuclear attack, according to this UFO prophet, who claimed to have channeled an alien named [Ashtar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashtar_(extraterrestrial_being) "Ashtar (extraterrestrial being)").</td></tr><tr><td>1967</td><td>[Jim Jones](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Jones "Jim Jones")</td><td>The founder of the [People's Temple](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peoples_Temple "Peoples Temple") stated he had visions that a nuclear holocaust was to take place in 1967.</td></tr><tr><td>9 Aug 1969</td><td>[George Williams](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_the_Firstborn_(Morrisite) "Church of the Firstborn (Morrisite)")</td><td>The founder of the [Church of the Firstborn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_the_Firstborn_(Morrisite) "Church of the Firstborn (Morrisite)") predicted the Second Coming of Christ would occur on this day.</td></tr><tr><td>1969</td><td>[Charles Manson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Manson "Charles Manson")</td><td>Manson predicted that [Helter skelter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helter_Skelter_(Manson_scenario) "Helter Skelter (Manson scenario)"), an apocalyptic race war, would occur in 1969.</td></tr><tr><td>1972</td><td>[Herbert W. Armstrong](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_W._Armstrong "Herbert W. Armstrong")</td><td>The second of three revised dates from Armstrong after his 1936 and 1943 predictions failed to come true.</td></tr><tr><td>Jan 1974</td><td>[David Berg](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Berg "David Berg")</td><td>Berg, the leader of [Children of God](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_International "Family International"), predicted that there would be a colossal doomsday event heralded by [Comet Kohoutek](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_Kohoutek "Comet Kohoutek").</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="2">1975</td><td>Herbert W. Armstrong</td><td>Armstrong's fourth and final prediction.</td></tr><tr><td>[Jehovah's Witnesses](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jehovah%27s_Witnesses "Jehovah's Witnesses")</td><td>From 1966 on, Jehovah's Witnesses published articles which stated that [the fall of 1975 would be 6000 years since man's creation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unfulfilled_Watch_Tower_Society_predictions#1975:_The_worldwide_jubilee "Unfulfilled Watch Tower Society predictions"), and suggested that Armageddon could be finished by then.</td></tr><tr><td>1976</td><td>[Brahma Kumaris](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahma_Kumaris "Brahma Kumaris")</td><td>The Brahma Kumaris founder, [Lekhraj Kirpalani](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lekhraj_Kirpalani "Lekhraj Kirpalani"), has made a number of predictions of a global Armageddon which the religion believes it will inspire, internally calling it "Destruction". During Destruction, Brahma Kumari leaders teach the world will be purified, all of the rest of humanity killed by nuclear or civil wars and natural disasters which will include the sinking of all other continents except [India](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India "India").</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="2">1977</td><td>[John Wroe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wroe "John Wroe")</td><td>The founder of the [Christian Israelite Church](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Israelite_Church "Christian Israelite Church") predicted this year for Armageddon to occur.</td></tr><tr><td>[William M. Branham](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_M._Branham "William M. Branham")</td><td>This Christian minister predicted the rapture would occur no later than 1977.</td></tr><tr><td>17 Feb 1979</td><td>[Roch Thériault](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roch_Th%C3%A9riault "Roch Thériault")</td><td>Thériault, who called himself Moïse ([Moses](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moses "Moses")), led a commune in the wilderness of eastern [Quebec](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quebec "Quebec") in the late seventies. Formerly a [Seventh-Day Adventist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seventh-day_Adventist_Church "Seventh-day Adventist Church"), he told his group they would form the center of a new society during God's 1000 year reign following Armageddon.</td></tr><tr><td>1980</td><td>[Leland Jensen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leland_Jensen "Leland Jensen")</td><td>In 1978 Jensen predicted that there would be a [nuclear disaster](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_and_radiation_accidents_and_incidents "Nuclear and radiation accidents and incidents") in 1980, followed by two decades of conflict, culminating in [God's Kingdom](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingship_and_kingdom_of_God "Kingship and kingdom of God") being established on Earth.</td></tr><tr><td>1981</td><td>[Chuck Smith](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Smith_(pastor) "Chuck Smith (pastor)")</td><td>The founder of [Calvary Chapel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvary_Chapel "Calvary Chapel") predicted the generation of 1948 would be the last generation and that the world would end by 1981 at the latest. Smith identified that he "could be wrong" but continued to say in the same sentence that his prediction was "a deep conviction in my heart, and all my plans are predicated upon that belief."</td></tr><tr><td>10 Mar 1982</td><td>[John Gribbin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Gribbin "John Gribbin"), Stephen Plagemann</td><td>Gribbin, an [astrophysicist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrophysics "Astrophysics"), co-authored the 1974 book *The [Jupiter Effect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jupiter_Effect "Jupiter Effect")* which predicted that combined [gravitational forces](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity "Gravity") of aligned planets would create a number of catastrophes, including a great earthquake on the [San Andreas Fault](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Andreas_Fault "San Andreas Fault").</td></tr><tr><td>21 Jun 1982</td><td>[Benjamin Creme](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Creme "Benjamin Creme")</td><td>Creme took out an ad in the *[Los Angeles Times](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_Times "Los Angeles Times")* stating that the Second Coming would occur in June 1982 with the [Maitreya](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maitreya_(Benjamin_Creme) "Maitreya (Benjamin Creme)") announcing it on worldwide television.</td></tr><tr><td>1982</td><td>[Pat Robertson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_Robertson "Pat Robertson")</td><td>In late 1976 on his *[700 Club](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_700_Club "The 700 Club")* TV programme, Robertson predicted that the end of the world would come in this year.</td></tr><tr><td>1985</td><td>[Lester Sumrall](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_Sumrall "Lester Sumrall")</td><td>This minister predicted the end in this year, even writing a book about it entitled *I Predict 1985*.</td></tr><tr><td>29 Apr 1986</td><td>[Leland Jensen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leland_Jensen "Leland Jensen")</td><td>Jensen predicted that [Halley's Comet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halley%27s_Comet "Halley's Comet") would be pulled into [Earth's orbit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth%27s_orbit "Earth's orbit") on this day, causing widespread destruction.</td></tr><tr><td>17 Aug 1987</td><td>[José Argüelles](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Arg%C3%BCelles "José Argüelles")</td><td>Argüelles claimed that Armageddon would take place unless 144,000 people gathered in certain places across the world in order to "[resonate in harmony](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmonic_Convergence "Harmonic Convergence")" on this day.</td></tr><tr><td>11–13 Sep 1988  
3 Oct 1988</td><td>[Edgar C. Whisenant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_C._Whisenant "Edgar C. Whisenant")</td><td>Whisenant predicted in his book *88 Reasons Why the Rapture Could Be in 1988* that the rapture of the Christian Church would occur between September 11 and 13, 1988. After his September predictions failed to come true, Whisenant revised his prediction date to October 3.</td></tr><tr><td>30 Sep 1989</td><td>Edgar C. Whisenant</td><td>After all his 1988 predictions failed to come true, Whisenant revised his prediction date to this day.</td></tr><tr><td>23 Apr 1990</td><td>[Elizabeth Clare Prophet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Clare_Prophet "Elizabeth Clare Prophet")</td><td>Prophet predicted a [nuclear war](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_warfare "Nuclear warfare") would start on this day, with the world ending 12 years later, leading her followers to stockpile a [shelter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallout_shelter "Fallout shelter") with supplies and weapons. Later, after Prophet's prediction did not come to pass, she was diagnosed with [epilepsy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epilepsy "Epilepsy") and [Alzheimer's disease](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alzheimer%27s_disease "Alzheimer's disease").</td></tr><tr><td>9 Sep 1991</td><td>[Menachem Mendel Schneerson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menachem_Mendel_Schneerson "Menachem Mendel Schneerson")</td><td>This Russian-born rabbi called for the Messiah to come by the start of the [Jewish New Year](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_New_Year "Jewish New Year").</td></tr><tr><td>1991</td><td>[Louis Farrakhan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Farrakhan "Louis Farrakhan")</td><td>The leader of the [Nation of Islam](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nation_of_Islam "Nation of Islam") declared that the [Gulf War](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_War "Gulf War") would be the "War of Armageddon which is the final war."</td></tr><tr><td>28 Sep 1992</td><td>[Rollen Stewart](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rollen_Stewart "Rollen Stewart")</td><td>This born-again Christian predicted the rapture would take place on this day.</td></tr><tr><td>28 Oct 1992</td><td>Lee Jang Rim</td><td>Lee, the leader of the [Dami Mission](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dami_Mission "Dami Mission") church, predicted the rapture would occur on this day.</td></tr><tr><td>1993</td><td>[David Berg](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Berg "David Berg")</td><td>Berg predicted the [tribulation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Tribulation "Great Tribulation") would start in 1989 and that the Second Coming would take place in 1993.</td></tr><tr><td>2 May 1994</td><td>[Neal Chase](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bah%C3%A1%27%C3%ADs_Under_the_Provisions_of_the_Covenant#Neal_Chase "Bahá'ís Under the Provisions of the Covenant")</td><td>This [Bahá'í sect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bah%C3%A1%27%C3%AD_divisions "Bahá'í divisions") leader predicted that New York City would be destroyed by a nuclear bomb on March 23, 1994, and the Battle of Armageddon would take place 40 days later.</td></tr><tr><td>6 Sep 1994  
29 Sep 1994  
2 Oct 1994</td><td>[Harold Camping](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Camping "Harold Camping")</td><td>Camping predicted the rapture would occur on 6 September 1994. When it failed to occur he revised the date to the 29th of September and then to the 2nd October.</td></tr><tr><td>31 Mar 1995</td><td>Harold Camping</td><td>Camping's fourth predicted date for the end. This would be Camping's last prediction until 2011.</td></tr><tr><td>26 Mar 1997</td><td>[Marshall Applewhite](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_Applewhite "Marshall Applewhite")</td><td>Applewhite, leader of the [Heaven's Gate cult](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heaven%27s_Gate_(religious_group) "Heaven's Gate (religious group)"), claimed that a [spacecraft](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spacecraft "Spacecraft") was trailing the [Comet Hale-Bopp](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_Hale%E2%80%93Bopp "Comet Hale–Bopp") and argued that suicide was "the only way to evacuate this Earth" so that the cult members' souls could board the supposed craft and be taken to another "level of existence above human". Applewhite and 38 of his followers committed mass suicide.</td></tr><tr><td>10 Aug 1997</td><td>[Aggai](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aggai_(bishop) "Aggai (bishop)")</td><td>The 1st-century bishop of [Edessa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edessa "Edessa") predicted this date to be the birth date of the Antichrist and the end of the universe.</td></tr><tr><td>23 Oct 1997</td><td>[James Ussher](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Ussher "James Ussher")</td><td>This 17th-century Irish archbishop predicted this date to be 6000 years since creation, and therefore the end of the world.</td></tr><tr><td>31 Mar 1998</td><td>Hon-Ming Chen</td><td>Chen, leader of the Taiwanese cult [Chen Tao](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chen_Tao_(%22True_Way%22) "Chen Tao ("True Way")") – "The True Way" – claimed that God would come to Earth in a flying saucer at 10:00 am on this date.</td></tr><tr><td>Jul 1999</td><td>[Nostradamus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nostradamus "Nostradamus")</td><td>A [quatrain](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quatrain "Quatrain") by Nostradamus which stated the "King of Terror" would come from the sky in "1999 and seven months" was frequently interpreted as a prediction of doomsday in July 1999.</td></tr><tr><td>18 Aug 1999</td><td>[The Amazing Criswell](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Amazing_Criswell "The Amazing Criswell")</td><td>The predicted date of the end of the world, according to this psychic well known for predictions.</td></tr><tr><td>11 Sep 1999</td><td>[Philip Berg](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Berg "Philip Berg")</td><td>Berg, dean of the worldwide [Kabbalah Centre](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabbalah_Centre "Kabbalah Centre"), stated that on this date "a ball of fire will descend, destroying almost all of mankind, all vegetation, all forms of life."</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="5">1999</td><td>[Charles Berlitz](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Berlitz "Charles Berlitz")</td><td>This linguist predicted the end would occur in this year. He did not predict how it would occur, stating that it might involve nuclear devastation, [asteroid impact](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impact_event "Impact event"), [pole shift](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cataclysmic_pole_shift_hypothesis "Cataclysmic pole shift hypothesis") or other Earth changes.</td></tr><tr><td>Hon-Ming Chen</td><td>The leader of the cult Chen Tao preached that a nuclear holocaust would destroy Europe and Asia in 1999.</td></tr><tr><td>[James Gordon Lindsay](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Gordon_Lindsay "James Gordon Lindsay")</td><td>This preacher predicted the great tribulation would begin before 2000.</td></tr><tr><td>[Timothy Dwight IV](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_Dwight_IV "Timothy Dwight IV")</td><td>This 19th century president of [Yale University](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yale_University "Yale University") predicted Christ's Millennium would start by 2000.</td></tr><tr><td>[Nazim Al-Haqqani](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazim_Al-Haqqani "Nazim Al-Haqqani")</td><td>This [Sufi Muslim](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sufi_Muslim "Sufi Muslim") sheikh predicted that the [Last Judgment](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_Judgment "Last Judgment") would occur before 2000.</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="4">1 Jan 2000</td><td>[Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Movement_for_the_Restoration_of_the_Ten_Commandments_of_God "Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God")</td><td>An estimated 778 followers of this Ugandan religious movement perished in a devastating fire and a series of poisonings and killings that were either a [group suicide](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_suicide "Group suicide") or an orchestrated [mass murder](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_murder "Mass murder") by group leaders after their predictions of the apocalypse failed to come about.</td></tr><tr><td>[Jerry Falwell](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Falwell "Jerry Falwell")</td><td>Falwell predicted God making judgement on the world on this day.</td></tr><tr><td>[Tim LaHaye](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_LaHaye "Tim LaHaye"), [Jerry B. Jenkins](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_B._Jenkins "Jerry B. Jenkins")</td><td>These Christian authors stated that the [Y2K bug](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_2000_problem "Year 2000 problem") would trigger global economic chaos, which the Antichrist would use to rise to power. As the date approached, however, they changed their minds.</td></tr><tr><td>[Various](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_2000_problem "Year 2000 problem")</td><td>During and before 1999 there was widespread predictions of a Y2K computer bug that would crash many computers on midnight of January 1, 2000 and cause malfunctions leading to major catastrophes worldwide, and that society would cease to function.</td></tr><tr><td>6 Apr 2000</td><td>James Harmston</td><td>The leader of the [True and Living Church of Jesus Christ of Saints of the Last Days](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/True_and_Living_Church_of_Jesus_Christ_of_Saints_of_the_Last_Days "True and Living Church of Jesus Christ of Saints of the Last Days") predicted the Second Coming of Christ would occur on this day.</td></tr><tr><td>5 May 2000</td><td>[Nuwaubian Nation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuwaubian_Nation "Nuwaubian Nation")</td><td>This movement claimed that the planetary lineup would cause a "star holocaust", pulling the planets toward the Sun on this day.</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="7">2000</td><td>[Peter Olivi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Olivi "Peter Olivi")</td><td>This 13th-century theologian wrote that the Antichrist would come to power between 1300 and 1340, and the Last Judgement would take place around 2000.</td></tr><tr><td>[Ruth Montgomery](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_Montgomery "Ruth Montgomery")</td><td>This self-described Christian psychic predicted the Earth's axis would shift and the Antichrist would reveal himself in this year.</td></tr><tr><td>[Edgar Cayce](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Cayce "Edgar Cayce")</td><td>This psychic predicted the Second Coming would occur this year.</td></tr><tr><td>[Sun Myung Moon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Myung_Moon "Sun Myung Moon")</td><td>The founder of the [Unification Church](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unification_Church "Unification Church") predicted the Kingdom of Heaven would be established in this year.</td></tr><tr><td>[Ed Dobson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Dobson "Ed Dobson")</td><td>This pastor predicted the end would occur in his book *The End: Why Jesus Could Return by A.D. 2000*.</td></tr><tr><td>[Lester Sumrall](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_Sumrall "Lester Sumrall")</td><td>This minister predicted the end in his book *I Predict 2000*.</td></tr><tr><td>[Jonathan Edwards](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Edwards_(theologian) "Jonathan Edwards (theologian)")</td><td>This 18th-century preacher predicted that Christ's thousand-year reign would begin in this year.</td></tr></tbody></table>

### <span class="mw-headline" id="bkmrk-21st-century-%2820-pre-1">21st century (20 predictions, 175 so far)</span>

<table class="wikitable" id="bkmrk-date-%28ce%29-claimant%28s-7"><tbody><tr><th scope="col">Date (CE)</th><th scope="col">Claimant(s)</th><th scope="col">Description</th></tr><tr><td>2001</td><td>[Tynnetta Muhammad](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tynnetta_Muhammad "Tynnetta Muhammad")</td><td>This columnist for the Nation of Islam predicted the end would occur in this year.</td></tr><tr><td>27 May 2003</td><td>Nancy Lieder</td><td>Lieder proposed the [Nibiru cataclysm](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nibiru_cataclysm "Nibiru cataclysm"), which was predicted to occur on this day. She claimed aliens in the [Zeta Reticuli](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeta_Reticuli "Zeta Reticuli") star system told her a planet would enter the solar system and cause a pole shift on Earth that would destroy most of humanity.</td></tr><tr><td>30 Oct–Nov 29 2003</td><td>[Aum Shinrikyo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aum_Shinrikyo "Aum Shinrikyo")</td><td>This Japanese cult, which carried out the [Tokyo subway sarin attack](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo_subway_sarin_attack "Tokyo subway sarin attack") in 1995, predicted the world would be destroyed by a nuclear war between 30 October and 29 November 2003.</td></tr><tr><td>12 Sep 2006</td><td>[House of Yahweh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Yahweh "House of Yahweh")</td><td>Yisrayl Hawkins, pastor and overseer of The House of Yahweh, predicted in his February 2006 newsletter that a nuclear war would begin on September 12, 2006.</td></tr><tr><td>29 Apr 2007</td><td>[Pat Robertson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_Robertson "Pat Robertson")</td><td>In his 1990 book *The New Millennium*, Robertson suggests this date as the day of Earth's destruction.</td></tr><tr><td>May 2008</td><td>[Pyotr Kuznetsov](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyotr_Kuznetsov "Pyotr Kuznetsov")</td><td>Followers of Kuznetsov, 31 adults and 4 children (one 18 months old), went into a cave in Russia in November 2007 thinking they would be safe from an apocalypse occurring in the spring. Kuzentsov did not join them, was later [committed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Involuntary_commitment "Involuntary commitment") and attempted suicide when some had left the cave in the spring. By the time all the followers had left the cave in the spring, two adults had died.</td></tr><tr><td>2010</td><td>[Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermetic_Order_of_the_Golden_Dawn "Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn")</td><td>This [magical organization](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magical_organization "Magical organization"), which existed from 1887 to 1903, predicted the world would end during this year.</td></tr><tr><td>21 May 2011</td><td>[Harold Camping](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Camping "Harold Camping")</td><td>After several unsuccessful predictions in 1994 and 1995, Camping predicted that the rapture and devastating earthquakes [would occur on 21 May 2011](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_end_times_prediction "2011 end times prediction"), with God taking approximately 3% of the world's population into Heaven, and that the end of the world would occur five months later on October 21.</td></tr><tr><td>29 Sep 2011</td><td>[Ronald Weinland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_God_Preparing_for_the_Kingdom_of_God "Church of God Preparing for the Kingdom of God")</td><td>Weinland, the founder of the [Church of God Preparing for the Kingdom of God](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_God_Preparing_for_the_Kingdom_of_God "Church of God Preparing for the Kingdom of God"), stated Jesus would return on this day. After his prophecy failed to come true he changed the date to 27 May 2012.</td></tr><tr><td>21 Oct 2011</td><td>Harold Camping</td><td>When his original prediction failed to come about, Camping revised his prediction and said that on May 21, a "Spiritual Judgment" took place and that both the physical rapture and the end of the world would occur on 21 October 2011.</td></tr><tr><td>Aug–Oct 2011</td><td>[Various](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C/2010_X1 "C/2010 X1")</td><td>There were fears amongst the public that [Comet Elenin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C/2010_X1 "C/2010 X1") travelling almost directly between Earth and the Sun would cause disturbances to the [Earth's crust](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth%27s_crust "Earth's crust"), causing massive earthquakes and tidal waves. Others predicted that Elenin would collide with Earth on October 16. Scientists tried to calm fears by stating that none of these events were possible.</td></tr><tr><td>27 May 2012</td><td>Ronald Weinland</td><td>Weinland's revised date for the return of Jesus following the failure of his 2011 prediction.</td></tr><tr><td>30 Jun 2012</td><td>[José Luis de Jesús](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Luis_de_Jes%C3%BAs "José Luis de Jesús")</td><td>This cult leader predicted that the world's governments and economies would fail on this day, and that he and his followers would undergo a transformation that would allow them to fly and walk through walls.</td></tr><tr><td>21 Dec 2012</td><td>[Various](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_phenomenon "2012 phenomenon")</td><td>The [2012 phenomenon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_phenomenon "2012 phenomenon") predicted the world would end at the end of the [13th b'ak'tun](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/13th_b%27ak%27tun "13th b'ak'tun"). The Earth would be destroyed by an asteroid, Nibiru, or some other interplanetary object; an [alien invasion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_invasion "Alien invasion"); or a [supernova](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supernova "Supernova"). Mayanist scholars stated that no extant [classic Maya accounts](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_codices "Maya codices") forecasted impending doom, and that the idea that the Long Count calendar ends in 2012 misrepresented [Maya history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_civilization#History "Maya civilization") and culture. Scientists from [NASA](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA "NASA"), along with expert archaeologists, stated that none of those events were possible.</td></tr><tr><td>23 Aug 2013</td><td>[Grigori Rasputin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grigori_Rasputin "Grigori Rasputin")</td><td>Rasputin, a Russian mystic who died in 1916, prophesied a storm would take place on this day where fire would destroy most life on land and Jesus would come back to Earth to comfort those in distress.</td></tr><tr><td>Apr 2014–Sep 2015</td><td>[John Hagee](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hagee "John Hagee"), [Mark Biltz](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Biltz "Mark Biltz")</td><td>The so-called [blood moon prophecy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_moon_prophecy "Blood moon prophecy"), first predicted by [Mark Biltz](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Biltz "Mark Biltz") in 2008 and then by [John Hagee](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hagee "John Hagee") in 2014. These Christian ministers claim that the [tetrad](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetrad_(astronomy) "Tetrad (astronomy)") in 2014 and 2015 may represent the beginning of the [Messianic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messianic_Age "Messianic Age") [end times](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/End_times "End times"). Some [Mormons](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mormons "Mormons") in Utah combined the September 2015 blood moon with other signs, causing a large increase in sales of [preppers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preppers "Preppers") survival supplies.</td></tr><tr><td>23 Sep–15 Oct 2017</td><td>[David Meade](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Meade_(author) "David Meade (author)")</td><td>Conspiracy theorist David Meade predicted that [Nibiru](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nibiru_cataclysm "Nibiru cataclysm") would become visible in the sky and would "soon" destroy the Earth.</td></tr><tr><td>23 Apr 2018</td><td>David Meade</td><td>After his 2017 prediction failed, Meade predicted the rapture would take place and that the world would end on this date.</td></tr><tr><td>9 Jun 2019</td><td>[Ronald Weinland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_God_Preparing_for_the_Kingdom_of_God "Church of God Preparing for the Kingdom of God")</td><td>Weinland, who previously predicted the world would end in 2011, 2012, and then 2013, predicted in 2018 that Jesus would return on June 9, 2019. Prior to the date occurring he began to express some doubts regarding his own prediction.</td></tr><tr><td>2020</td><td>[Jeane Dixon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeane_Dixon "Jeane Dixon")</td><td>Dixon predicted that Armageddon would take place in 2020. She previously predicted the world would end on February 4, 1962.</td></tr></tbody></table>

## <span class="mw-headline" id="bkmrk-future-predictions-1">Future predictions</span>

### <span class="mw-headline" id="bkmrk-21st-century-1">21st century</span>

<table class="wikitable" id="bkmrk-date-%28ce%29-claimant%28s-8"><tbody><tr><th scope="col">Date (CE)</th><th scope="col">Claimant(s)</th><th scope="col">Description</th></tr><tr><td>2021</td><td>[F. Kenton Beshore](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariners_Church#Kenton_Beshore "Mariners Church")</td><td>This American pastor bases his prediction on the prior suggestion that Jesus would return in 1988, i.e., within one biblical generation (40 years) of the founding of Israel in 1948. Beshore argues that the prediction was correct, but that the definition of a biblical generation was incorrect and was actually 70–80 years, placing the second coming of Jesus between 2018 and 2028, and the rapture during 2021 at the latest.</td></tr><tr><td>2026</td><td>[Messiah Foundation International](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messiah_Foundation_International "Messiah Foundation International")</td><td>This spiritual organization predicts that the world will end in 2026, when an asteroid collides with Earth in accordance with [Riaz Ahmed Gohar Shahi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riaz_Ahmed_Gohar_Shahi "Riaz Ahmed Gohar Shahi")'s predictions in his book *The Religion of God*.</td></tr><tr><td>2028</td><td>[Kent Hovind](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kent_Hovind "Kent Hovind")</td><td>While clarifying there is no way to be certain, this [Christian fundamentalist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_fundamentalism "Christian fundamentalism") evangelist speculated in 2015 that 2028 was the "most likely" date for the rapture.</td></tr></tbody></table>

### <span id="bkmrk--2"></span><span class="mw-headline" id="bkmrk-22nd%E2%80%9323rd-centuries-1">22nd–23rd centuries</span>

<table class="wikitable" id="bkmrk-date-%28ce%29-claimant%28s-9"><tbody><tr><th scope="col">Date (CE)</th><th scope="col">Claimant(s)</th><th scope="col">Description</th></tr><tr><td>31 Dec 2129</td><td>[Said Nursî](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Said_Nurs%C3%AE "Said Nursî")</td><td>This [Sunni Muslim](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunni_Islam "Sunni Islam") theologian, author of the [Risale-i Nur](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risale-i_Nur "Risale-i Nur") and founder of the [Nur movement](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nur_movement "Nur movement"), wrote in a letter to one of his students (the 21st in the so-called Kastamonu Appendix) that by applying numerology to a [hadith](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadith "Hadith") he had arrived at a date of 1545 for the arrival of doomsday. 1545 in the [Hijri calendar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hijri_calendar "Hijri calendar") would be 2122; in the [Rumi calendar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumi_calendar "Rumi calendar") it would be 2129. Nursî added that this was not a definite prediction, as "nobody knows the time of doom in a strict manner".</td></tr><tr><td>30 Sep 2239</td><td>[Talmud](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talmud "Talmud"), [Orthodox Judaism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthodox_Judaism "Orthodox Judaism")</td><td>According to the [Talmud](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talmud "Talmud") in mainstream [Orthodox Judaism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthodox_Judaism "Orthodox Judaism"), the Messiah will come within [6000 years](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_6000 "Year 6000") of the creation of [Adam](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam "Adam"), and the world may be destroyed 1000 years later. This would put the beginning of the period of desolation in 2239 and the end of the period of desolation in 3239.</td></tr><tr><td>2280</td><td>[Rashad Khalifa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashad_Khalifa "Rashad Khalifa")</td><td>According to this Egyptian-American biochemist's research on the Qu'ran, the world will end during that year.</td></tr></tbody></table>

## <span class="mw-headline" id="bkmrk-far-future-predictio-1">Far future predictions</span>

<div class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable" id="bkmrk-see-also%3A%C2%A0timeline-o">See also: [Timeline of the far future](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_far_future "Timeline of the far future") and [Global catastrophic risk](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_catastrophic_risk "Global catastrophic risk")</div><table class="wikitable" id="bkmrk-estimated-timeframe-"><tbody><tr><th scope="col">Estimated timeframe (years)</th><th scope="col">Claimant(s)</th><th scope="col">Description</th></tr><tr><td>300,000</td><td>Peter Tuthill</td><td>In approximately 300,000 years, [WR 104](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WR_104 "WR 104"), a [triple star](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_star "Triple star"), is expected to explode in a [supernova](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supernova "Supernova"). It has been suggested that it may produce a [gamma ray burst](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamma_ray_burst "Gamma ray burst") that could pose a threat to life on Earth should its poles be aligned 12° or lower towards Earth. However, spectroscopic observations now strongly suggest that it is tilted at an angle of 30°-40° and so any gamma ray burst should not hit Earth.</td></tr><tr><td>1 million</td><td>[The Geological Society](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Geological_Society "The Geological Society")</td><td>Within the next 1 million years, Earth will likely have undergone a [supervolcanic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supervolcanic "Supervolcanic") eruption large enough to erupt 3,200 km<sup>3</sup> of [magma](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magma "Magma"), an event comparable to the [Toba supereruption](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toba_supereruption "Toba supereruption") 75,000 years ago.</td></tr><tr><td>100 million</td><td>Stephen A. Nelson</td><td>It is estimated that every 100 million years, Earth is hit by an asteroid about 10–15 km in diameter, comparable in size to the one that triggered the [K–Pg extinction](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cretaceous%E2%80%93Paleogene_extinction_event "Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event") which killed non-avian dinosaurs 66 million years ago.</td></tr><tr><td>500–600 million</td><td>Anne Minard</td><td>A [gamma ray burst](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamma_ray_burst "Gamma ray burst") or a massive, hyperenergetic supernova, would have occurred within 6,500 light-years of Earth, close enough for its rays to affect Earth's [ozone layer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozone_layer "Ozone layer") and potentially trigger a [mass extinction](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_extinction "Mass extinction"), assuming that the hypothesis of a previous such explosion triggering the [Ordovician–Silurian extinction event](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ordovician%E2%80%93Silurian_extinction_event "Ordovician–Silurian extinction event") is correct. However, the supernova would have to be precisely oriented relative to Earth to have any negative effect.</td></tr><tr><td>600–800 million</td><td>Various</td><td>The [Sun](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun "Sun")'s increasing brightness causes the rate of [weathering](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weathering "Weathering") of the planet's [crust](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crust_(geology) "Crust (geology)") to increase. This will cause the level of [carbon dioxide](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_dioxide "Carbon dioxide") in the [atmosphere](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmosphere "Atmosphere") to drop dramatically, making [photosynthesis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photosynthesis "Photosynthesis") in [plants](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plants "Plants") impossible. This will very likely cause a mega [mass extinction](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_extinction "Mass extinction") of the Earth's [vegetation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegetation "Vegetation"). The lack of [oxygen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxygen "Oxygen")-producing plants will cause [oxygen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxygen "Oxygen") in the atmosphere to disappear as well as the [ozone layer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozone_layer "Ozone layer"), making [animal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal "Animal") life impossible. Even if photosynthesis were still possible, rising surface temperatures from the brighter sun will make complex life (plants and animals) impossible.</td></tr><tr><td>1–5 billion</td><td>Various</td><td>The estimated end of the [Sun](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun "Sun")'s current phase of development, after which it will swell into a [red giant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_giant "Red giant"), either scorching or swallowing Earth, will occur around five billion years from now. However, as the Sun grows gradually hotter (over millions of years), Earth may become too hot for life as early as one billion years from now.</td></tr><tr><td>1.6 billion</td><td>Various</td><td>It is estimated that all [eukaryotic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eukaryotic "Eukaryotic") life will die out due to carbon dioxide starvation, with only [prokaryotes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prokaryotes "Prokaryotes") remaining.</td></tr><tr><td>7.59 billion</td><td>David Powell</td><td>The Earth and the Moon will most likely be destroyed by falling into the Sun, just before the Sun reaches the largest of its [red giant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_giant "Red giant") phase when it will be 256 times larger than its current size. Before the final collision, the Moon will possibly spiral below Earth's [Roche limit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roche_limit "Roche limit"), breaking into a ring of debris, most of which would fall to Earth's surface.</td></tr><tr><td>22 billion</td><td>Various</td><td>This is the end of the Universe in the [Big Rip](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Rip "Big Rip") scenario, assuming a model of [dark energy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_energy "Dark energy") with [*w* = −1.5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equation_of_state_(cosmology) "Equation of state (cosmology)"). Observations of [galaxy cluster](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galaxy_cluster "Galaxy cluster") speeds by the [Chandra X-ray Observatory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chandra_X-ray_Observatory "Chandra X-ray Observatory") suggest that the true value of *w* is approximately −0.991, indicating the Big Rip would not occur.</td></tr><tr><td>[10<sup>100</sup>](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Googol "Googol")</td><td>Various</td><td>The time estimated for the [heat death of the universe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_death_of_the_universe "Heat death of the universe"), a hypothetical event in which the universe would diminish to a state of no [thermodynamic free energy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermodynamic_free_energy "Thermodynamic free energy"), becoming no longer able to sustain directed motion or life.</td></tr></tbody></table>

Missing from this very estimable list is the constantly-advancing climate disaster, which since the 1970s is always 10 to 30 years away. Hot controlled fusion is also always 30 years away and has been since the 1970s, and that comes with an apocalyptic prediction of a world-destroying black hole.

The tally so far: 175 predictions, none of which happened. The one apocalyptic event that might be on the list is Noah's flood, but nobody predicted that. So 175 predictions, 0 delivered. Zero for 175. Not a betting proposition.

How do these keep going? Maybe one driver of these is folks responding to the titillation of coming destruction. Maybe one is a short memory; if you can't remember the weather last year every storm is a new apocalypse. Whatever the reason, we are suckers for global-scale disaster.

> To all appearances, we were normal Midwestern Americans, we wore clean clothes, spoke proper English, took small bites and chewed with our mouths shut, mowed our lawn, played softball and Monopoly and shot baskets, read the paper, were polite to strangers, but in our hearts we anticipated the end of the world.
> 
> Garrison Keillor, [*That Time of Life: A Minnesota Yea*r, Ch. 1](https://www.garrisonkeillor.com/that-time-of-chapter-one/)