Y2K
Those three letters struck fear into many around the world in the final throes of the 20th century, otherwise known as the year 1999. Theories were abound that computers would shut down on January 1, 2000 because the machines would not read 00 – the two digits it assesses as the calendar year – as 2000. Computers were programmed to understand the four digit calendar years as two digits (98 = 1998). People stocked up on gas-powered generators, canned food, and water in preparation for the biggest bust of a New Year’s party ever, which actually turned out to be quite awesome.
Jesus ‘birth’
Joanna Southcott was a 64-year-old British virgin from Devon, England that had never heard of menopause and claimed to be the woman in Revelation 12:1-6 that would give birth to the Christ child. She claimed the second coming would be born on Christmas Day of 1814, immediately ushering in judgment day. Southcott had close to 10,000 people convinced – most of whom were disappointed when she died instead of giving birth. An autopsy revealed she was not even pregnant. Oops!
The Great Disappointment
What happens when an American Baptist preacher is wrong about the second coming of Jesus in the 1840s? You start a new religion, of course. Based on his reading of the prophecy of Daniel, William Miller claimed the second coming of Jesus would take place on October 22, 1844. With over 100,000 followers, many of whom sold all their belongings in anticipation for the day, it was an understatement to call the next morning The Great Disappointment. The event forced the Millerites to regroup in the face of humiliation and harassment as they eventually went on to form the Seventh Day Adventists.
Harold Camping
The king of end of times predictions is California-based radio show host Harold Camping who has been wrong on four different occasions. Camping first predicted the world would end sometime between September and October 1994. When it did not come, he predicted the rapture would happen on March 31, 1995. In defiance, Camping once again predicted the world would end on May 21, 2011. After being wrong three different times, he claimed those predictions actually ushered in a new ‘spiritual judgment’ and then foretold the rapture would come on October 21, 2011. Um, nope.
Pisces flood
As a priest, mathematician, astronomer, and astrologer it would not be a stretch to believe in the erroneous prophecy of German-born university professor Johannes Stoffler in the 1500s. Stoffler noticed in 1499 that the known six planets would be in the constellation of Pisces in February of 1524 at the same time. Since Pisces is a fish, he predicted that the world would end due to flooding – leading to a fire-sale of beachfront property along the coastlines of Europe. 1524 went on to become one of the driest years in recorded history.