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There have been several predictions and theories on an imminent doomsday over the years. Some predicted the end of the world through floods and fires, others through comets. What remains known is that they predicted, and they failed as well. A doomsday prediction has been made for Sunday, June 21 where the infamous Mayan calendar predicts the end of the world. Meanwhile, here is the full list of failed doomsday predictions, as per Britannica.
10. Maya Apocalypse
A doomsday was predicted 8 years back in 2012. December 12, 2012, marked the end of the first "Great Cycle" of the Maya Long Count calendar. Britannica said many misinterpreted it to mean an absolute end to the calendar which tracked time continuously from a date 5,125 years earlier. The scenarios for the predicted end of the world included an imaginary planet called Nibiru, giant solar flares, a planet alignment that would cause massive tidal catastrophes, and a realignment of Earth's axis.
9. Harold Camping
Harold Camping publicly predicted the end of the world as many as 12 times based on his interpreations of biblical numerology. It was in 1992 when he published a book titled 1994?, which predicted the end of the world sometime around that year. The most high-profile prediction was for May 21, 2011, a date that he calculated to be exactly 7,000 years after the Biblical flood. When that date passed without any incident, he pushed back the end of the world to October 21, 2011.
8. True Way
Taiwanese religious leader Hon-Ming Chen established True Way, a religious movement. He preached that God would appear on U.S. television channel 18 on March 25, 1988, to announce that he would descend to earth the following week in physical form identical to Chen, Britannica mentioned. The next year, he prophesized, millions of devil spirits, together with massive flooding, would result in a "mass extinction" of the human population.
7. Halley's Comet Panic
Even though Halley's comet passes by the Earth approximately every 76 years, but the nearness of its approach in 1910 sparked fear of destruction of the planet, either by a celestial collision or through the poisonous gasses it was rumoured to contact. However, the Earth pass through the comet's tail with no apparent effect.
6. Millerism
Religious leader William Miller started preaching in 1831 that the end of the world would strike with the second coming of Jesus Christ in 1843. As many as 100,000 followers believed that they would be carried off to heaven when the date arrived. However, when the date passed without any incident, Miller recalculated and said the world would actually end in 1844.
5. Joanna Southcott
According to Briticannica, Joanna Southcott was 42-years-old when she started hearing voices that predicted future events, including crop failures and famines of 1799 and 1800. She published her own books, attracted 100,000 believers. It was in 1813 when she announced she would give birth to the second messiah, whose arrival would signal the last days of the Earth. However, she died before a baby could be born.
4. The Prophet Hen of Leeds
It was in 1806 when a domesticated hen in Leeds, England, appeared to lay eggs inscribed with the message "Christ is coming." People started visiting the hen in large numbers and began to despair of the coming Judgment Day. However it was later discovered that it was the owner who had been writing on the eggs.
3. Great Fire of London
Many in the 17th century Europe feared the end of the world in the year 1666. The Great London fire, which lasted from September 2 to September 5 of that year, destroyed much of the city. Many saw it as a fulfilment of the end of the world prophecy, Britannica said. There were 10 deaths in the fire. However, no end-of-the-world prediction came true.
2. The Great Flood
A german mathematician and astrologer, Johannes Stoffler, had predicted that a great flood would cover the world on February 25, 1524 when all known planets would be in alignment under Pisces, a water sign. However, there was only light rain on the day of predict and no floods.
1. Montanism
Montanism, a second century schismatic movement of Christianity, began in Phrygia (modern Turkey). Based on the visions of Montanus, who claimed to speak under the influence of the spirit, Montanists believed the second coming of Christ to be coming. Many Christian communities were abandoned as believers left their homes and migrated to a plain between two villagers where Montanus claimed the heavenly Jerusalem would descend to Earth, Britannica said.
