Nine apocalyptic dates that have come and gone:
2800 B.C.
The prophet: Mesopotamian scribe
According to the Web site “A Brief History of the Apocalypse,” ( http://www.abhota.info/end1.htm) the ancient Assyrians were the first people pretty sure the Earth was due for a good, apocalyptic cleansing. One ancient tablet reads, “Our earth is degenerate in these latter days. There are signs that the world is speedily coming to an end. Bribery and corruption are common.”
A.D. 793
The prophet: Beatus of Liebana
According to an account by Elipandus, bishop of Toledo, the Spanish monk Beatus told a crowd of people on Easter in 793 that the world was about to end. The crowd freaked and decided to fast throughout the night — perhaps to ward off the hand of God. It may have worked, because by dawn they were all still alive and quite hungry. One of the fasters said, “Let’s eat and drink, so that if we die at least we’ll be fed.”
1000
The prophet: N/A
The first big millennial scare happened in Y1K. Many Christians, according to www.ReligiousTolerance.org, believed the end was coming, and they tried to forcefully persuade their pagan neighbors to convert before it was too late.
Others sold their possessions to the Catholic Church in anticipation of the big day. According to some sources, one group apparently dug up the body of Charlemagne, as legend said he’d rise from the dead to fight the Antichrist. As it turns out, ignorance may have saved Western civilization from what could’ve been a very nasty scare: Most Europeans had no idea what year it was and didn’t know enough to be afraid.
1844
The prophet: William Miller
Miller was the head of a band of believers called the Millerites, who thought Christ’s second coming would happen sometime between March 21, 1843, and March 21, 1844. When those dates came and went, Miller announced there had been a miscalculation, and that Jesus’ official return ticket was stamped for Oct. 22, 1844. This was Miller time indeed, and thousands of people became quite giddy in anticipation. Some sold everything they owned in preparation for the big day. Oct. 22 came and went. The day became known as the Great Disappointment.
1910
Prophet: N/A
The impending arrival of Halley’s Comet, often seen as a harbinger of big change, had many folks in a tizzy. A few people believed the comet’s tail was poisonous, and some enterprising freelance pharmacists began selling “comet pills” to ward off death-by-noxious-comet. In Germany, it was possible to buy postcards that read “End of the World on May 18.”
1919
Prophet: Meteorologist Albert Porta
Porta was a well-respected guy in his day, according to the apocalyptic Web site “It’s the End of the World As We Know It ... Again.” ( http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Oracle/9941/index.html). The meteorologist put that respect on the line when he predicted that the Dec. 17, 1919, conjunction of six planets would “cause a magnetic current that would pierce the sun, cause great explosions of flaming gas and eventually engulf the Earth.” He lost all credibility after his prediction fell flat, and spent the rest of his professional life writing for a newspaper.
1936
Prophet: Edgar Cayce, Christian and New Age mystic
Cayce believed that the world would end through a reconfiguration of the continents — that Atlantis would pop up somewhere in the Bahamas, Japan and much of California would crumble into the sea and problems on the poles would cause volcanoes in the tropics. He later amended the prediction to 1998, which he didn’t live to see unfulfilled.
1967
Prophet: UFO aficionado George Van Tassel Van Tassel said 1967 was the beginning of the third woe of the apocalypse (the first and second weren’t apparently woe-inducing enough to merit much attention). He predicted that the southeastern part of the country would be destroyed by a nuclear attack. Van Tassel apparently claimed to have come by this knowledge through an alien named Ashtar.
1988
Prophet: Hal Lindsey In his book “The Late Great Planet Earth,” Lindsey predicted the rapture would occur in 1988 because it would be about 40 years after the modern state of Israel was created. He wasn’t alone. “Super-psychic” A.S. Narayana (his real name was Alfred Schmielewsky) said history’s biggest natural disaster would hit that year, and a movie about long dead prognosticator Nostradamus claimed that ol’ Nosty had predicted huge California earthquakes for 1988. Ironically, one of the year’s biggest hits was Bobby McFerrin’s song “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.”
And a few dates on the horizon:
2007
A handful of prognosticators, including televangelist Pat Robertson and Christian prognosticator Marilyn J. Agee, have suggested in the past that this year might hold big things for the world, in a massively destructive sort of way.
2012
A red-letter year for both the Hopi American Indians of the southwest and the ancient Maya of Central America.
The Hopi believe a blue star will make its appearance this year, signaling the return of Saquasohuh, aka the Blue Star Kachina, who will usher in the beginning of the Hopi’s fifth world. For the Maya, it’s simply the year in which their 2,000-year-old calendar ends. Maybe they just haven’t thought to order refills for their day planners.
2020
The late Jeane Dixon, the popular clairvoyant, wrote in her 1972 book “The Call to Glory” that the battle of Armageddon will take place this year.
One more pope
St. Malachy, born in 1094, is said to have received a vision outlining the 112 popes who would reign between his present day (the early 1100s) and the end of the world. Pope Benedict XVI is the 111th.
The last entry reads, “In the final persecution of the Holy Roman Church there will reign Peter the Roman, who will feed his flock amid many tribulations, after which the seven-hilled city will be destroyed and the dreadful Judge will judge the people. The End.”
SOURCE: www.geocities.com/alma-geddon;
www.abhota.info; www.religioustolerance.org;
“Armageddon Now: The End of the World A to Z”
(Original headline: It’s the end of the world as we know it, again! )
