DOOMSDAY SCENARIOS THAT NEVER HAPPENED - there have been many times in the past when the people of Earth were convinced that the end of the world was about to occur — and it actually scared the bejeezus out of them. Even in the years before Christ, there are records of people predicting the end of times. If by weather, sickness, or otherworldly means, the human race has always been fascinated by — and has taken quite a few guesses at — how the world will come to an end. Thankfully, they’ve all been wrong. Here are ten of the most famous guesses that (again, thankfully) did not come true: THE STÖFFLER FLOOD OF 1524 - Johannes Stöffler, a German mathematician and astronomer, predicted a world cataclysm on Feb. 20, 1524. JUDGEMENT DAY OF 1780 - ultra-conservative Shaker religion seized the opportunity recruited new members who were scared straight by the dark day. HALLEY’S COMET OF 1910 - In 1910, when Halley’s Comet was making its most recent appearance, as it does every 75 to 76 years, some people lost their collective minds. THE “CHRIST’S KINGDOM” PROPHESY OF 1914 - The year 1914 was a special one for the Jehovah’s Witness religion. HEAVEN’S GATE IN 1997. Heaven’s Gate was a cult founded by Marshall Applewhite, and they had some seriously out-there beliefs. At the center of their religion was the belief that aliens would come to our planet, riding in a UFO in the tail of the Hale-Bopp comet, which was set to pass Earth in 1997.

 

 

Doomsday Scenarios

10 DOOMSDAY SCENARIOS THAT NEVER HAPPENED

The human race has always been fascinated by—and has taken quite a few guesses at—how the world will come to an end.

RIPLEY’S BELIEVE IT OR NOT!

 

As the great alt-rock band R.E.M. sang, “It’s the end of the world as we know it…and I feel fine.”

Turns out, there have been many times in the past when the people of Earth were convinced that the end of the world was about to occur — and it actually scared the bejeezus out of them.

Even in the years before Christ, there are records of people predicting the end of times.

If by weather, sickness, or otherworldly means, the human race has always been fascinated by — and has taken quite a few guesses at — how the world will come to an end.

Thankfully, they’ve all been wrong.

Here are ten of the most famous guesses that (again, thankfully) did not come true:

1.        THE STÖFFLER FLOOD OF 1524

Johannes Stöffler, a German mathematician and astronomer, predicted a world cataclysm on Feb. 20, 1524.

How? He said a flood was going to engulf the world — and people freaked.

Boat businesses boomed as the most popular pamphlets carried Stöffler’s message.

When the day arrived, it began to drizzle, and in Germany, people rioted as they tried to board a three-story ark that had been built on the Rhine.

Hundreds were killed.

After the disaster, Stöffler reportedly called for a mulligan, saying his calculations were incorrect.

The correct end of the world, again due to a massive flood, would be 30 years later. But of course, he was wrong then, too.

2.        JUDGEMENT DAY OF 1780

A Harper’s Magazine story 100 years after the fact described it best: “Birds went to roost, cocks crowed at mid-day as at midnight, and the animals were plainly terrified.”

The people were scared, too. It was 9 a.m., May 19, 1780, and New England was plunged into darkness.

A strange mix of fog and forest fires caused dark clouds to blot out the sun — but the people of the day were convinced the end was drawing nigh.

Reportedly, people filled the streets with screams and cries. It lasted until midnight, when the clouds parted and the stars were visible again.

Nearby practitioners of the ultra-conservative Shaker religion (an offshoot of the Quakers) seized the opportunity and, for the next 26 months, recruited new members who were scared straight by the dark day.

3.        HALLEY’S COMET OF 1910

In 1910, when Halley’s Comet was making its most recent appearance, as it does every 75 to 76 years, some people lost their collective minds.

A few writers in the United Kingdom claimed it was a sign that Germany was about to invade, and scientists in Chicago announced they’d found a poisonous gas called cyanogen in the comet’s tail. 

The New York Times even said that a French astronomer named Camille Flammarion predicted the gas “would impregnate that atmosphere and possibly snuff out all life on the planet.”

People rushed to buy gas masks and build safe rooms.

Others, unconcerned about the predictions, held roof parties. And of course, when the comet passed, no one was harmed.

4.        THE “CHRIST’S KINGDOM” PROPHESY OF 1914

The year 1914 was a special one for the Jehovah’s Witness religion.

The Christian offshoot was founded in the 1870s and had always predicted that 1914 would be the fateful year that Christ and his Kingdom would return to Earth.

Of course, that also meant the world would come to an end.

Door-to-door went the Witness faithful, warning that a “bloody end” was imminent.

And, as all of these stories do, 1914 came and went with no apocalypse.

However, Archduke Ferdinand was assassinated, which led to the start of World War I… so there’s that.

5.        HEAVEN’S GATE IN 1997

Heaven’s Gate was a cult founded by Marshall Applewhite, and they had some seriously out-there beliefs.

At the center of their religion was the belief that aliens would come to our planet, riding in a UFO in the tail of the Hale-Bopp comet, which was set to pass Earth in 1997.

They felt these aliens would “wipe” our planet clean and transport their souls to the next life.

Tragically, they made their own prediction come true: 39 of the cult members took part in one of the worst mass suicides in U.S. history, as the comet passed by without further incident.

6.        ANYTIME PAT ROBERTSON PREDICTED ANYTHING (1982, 2006 AND 2010)

“I guarantee by the end of 1982 there is going to be a judgment on this world.”

That’s what TV evangelist and former Republican presidential candidate Pat Robertson said in 1980 on his show “The 700 Club.”

Um, it didn’t happen. Again, in 2006 he predicted a similar calamity, saying God told him the world would be devastated by giant tsunamis.

Nope. And again in 2008, he said that by 2010, society would experience a stock market crash and worldwide violence.

Well, if he keeps going, he’s bound to nail it some time, right?

7.        Y2K IN 2000

As far back as 1984, tech geeks predicted that because of a computer coding error, on Jan. 1, 2000, all technology worldwide would come to a halt, sending us all back to a version of the Stone Age.

See, in those days, computers were tracking dates in two digits–1998 was “98,” 1984 was “84,” etc.

When 2000 rolled around, they were all going to think it was 1900, not 2000, and apparently this would cause mass chaos. (The movie Office Space explains it very well.)

As the year 2000 loomed, people flipped out more and more.

Religious followers supposed this could be the Rapture or some version of the Apocalypse.

People stocked up on food, water, and gasoline. Then, the ball dropped on Times Square like normal, nothing happened and everyone went about their everyday lives.

8.        THE BIG BANG OF 2009

If you’ve ever watched an episode of The Big Bang Theory, you may have heard of CERN in Geneva, Switzerland (one character on the show went to study there for a while).

There in Geneva, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, or CERN, created the Large Hadron Collider, a particle accelerator that would allow scientists to study the smallest-known particles.

However, the process of colliding these particles, also known as “hadrons,” frightened people around the world.

Some thought this process could create a black hole that would open over Switzerland and swallow up the entire world.

In 2008, one group of independent scientists even tried to sue to stop this experiment from happening.

It didn’t work, and in 2009, the colliding went forward. They’ve been doing it ever since, and no black holes have formed — yet.

9.        HAROLD CAMPING’S RAPTURE IN 2011

Harold Camping, a radio preacher, had it all figured out.

Using numerology and readings of the Bible, he’d interpreted that the Rapture would occur on May 21, 2011.

Then 89 years old, Camping was so confident he announced the prediction across his airwaves and instructed his disciples to spread the word worldwide.

Once again, God did not spirit those worthy followers to Heaven, assuming most people just decided to make plans to go to the lake to celebrate Memorial Day 2011.

Then, Camping announced the Rapture would instead be Oct. 21. That was strike two. And people just went on making plans for Halloween.

10.  THE MAYAN CALENDAR PREDICTION OF 2012

Based on the supposed end (or “resetting”) of the Mayan Calendar, many thought the world would also end in 2012 — specifically on Dec. 21, 2012.

In 2009, a movie depicted the idea. And as early as one year before that, news services started running stories about the supposed end of the world.

Where did the idea even come from?

In the 1960s, a stone tablet was found that said a Mayan God would return at the end of the final, or 13^th period (called a Baktun) of their calendar.

Other archaeologists cited a second reference to the Dec. 21, 2012 date, found on a brick in other ruins.

That’s all it took. Bloggers, religious zealots, conspiracy theorists, and amateur sleuths spread the word: The world was ending in 2012.

Instead, Mexico’s tourism industry spiked, as did interest in Mayan culture. And that 2012 movie? John Cuzack aside, it’s pretty ridiculous.

By Ryan Clark, contributor for Ripleys.com and Host of Ripley’s Believe It or Notcast

https://www.ripleys.com/weird-news/doomsday-scenarios/?ref=prevpost

You might also like:

Dangers of End Time “Date Setters”

CLICK HERE . . . to view . . . 

https://puricarechronicles.blogspot.com/2020/07/dangers-of-end-time-date-setters-if.html

...........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Failed Doomsday Predictions

CLICK HERE . . . to view . . . 

https://puricarechronicles.blogspot.com/2018/05/failed-doomsday-predictions-most.html

...........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Accuracy of Nostradamus Predictions

CLICK HERE . . . to view . . . 

https://puricarechronicles.blogspot.com/2018/08/accuracy-of-nostradamus-predictions.html

............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Don't Believe End Time Theories

CLICK HERE . . . to view . . . 

https://puricarechronicles.blogspot.com/2020/05/dont-believe-end-time-theories-no-human.html

...........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Nibiru or Planet X

CLICK HERE . . . to view . . . 

https://puricare.blogspot.com/2020/02/nibiru-or-planet-x-scientists-have-time.html

............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Edgar Cayce: The Psychic that Taught Sunday School

CLICK HERE . . . to view . . . 

https://puricarechronicles.blogspot.com/2020/07/edgar-cayce-psychic-that-taught-sunday.html

...........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Doomsday 

Predictions

CLICK HERE . . . to view . . . 

https://puricarechronicles.blogspot.com/2018/07/end-times-doomsday-predictions-this.html

............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Did Nostradamus Predict the End of the World?

CLICK HERE . . . to view . . . 

https://puricarechronicles.blogspot.com/2018/05/nostradamus-many-people-are-asking-did.html

https://www.ripleys.com/weird-news/doomsday-scenarios/?ref=prevpost

https://www.google.com/search?sxsrf=ALeKk00C4AVH7rV-dKJTymzFNZbH9f_50Q:1609053563026&source=univ&tbm=isch&q=DOOMSDAY+SCENARIOS++IMAGES&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjotLHQz-3tAhXP3mEKHWjQAs0QjJkEegQIAxAB&biw=1517&bih=724

ANCIENT MAYAN ASTRONOMY - Among the Planets, Venus Held Particular Importance - The ancient Maya were avid astronomers, recording and interpreting every aspect of the sky. They believed that the will and actions of the gods could be read in the stars, moon, and planets, so they dedicated time to doing so, and many of their most important buildings were built with astronomy in mind. The sun, moon, and planets — Venus, in particular were studied by the Maya. The Maya believed that the Earth was the center of all things, fixed and immovable. The stars, moons, sun, and planets were gods; their movements were interpreted as gods traveling between the Earth, the underworld, and other celestial destinations. These gods were greatly involved in human affairs, and so their movements were watched closely. Many events in Maya life were planned to coincide with certain celestial moments. For example, a war might be delayed until the gods were in place, or a ruler might ascend to the throne of a Mayan city-state only when a certain planet was visible in the night sky. The sun was of utmost importance to the ancient Maya. The moon was nearly as important as the sun to the ancient Maya. Mayan astronomers analyzed and predicted the moon’s movements with great accuracy. As with the sun and planets, Mayan dynasties often claimed to be descended from the moon. The Maya were aware of the planets in the solar system and tracked their movements. The most important planet by far to the Maya was Venus, which they associated with war. Battles and wars would be arranged to coincide with the movements of Venus.

..................................................................................................................................................................

Ancient Mayan Astronomy

Among the Planets, Venus Held Particular Importance

By Christopher Minster

The ancient Maya were avid astronomers, recording and interpreting every aspect of the sky.

They believed that the will and actions of the gods could be read in the stars, moon, and planets, so they dedicated time to doing so, and many of their most important buildings were built with astronomy in mind.

The sun, moon, and planets — Venus, in particular —ere studied by the Maya.

The heyday of Maya astronomy was in the 8th century CE, and Maya daykeepers published astronomical tables tracking the movements of celestial bodies on the walls of a special structure at Xultun, Guatemala in the early 9th century.

The tables are also found in the Dresden Codex, a bark-paper book written about the 15th century CE.

Although the Maya calendar was largely based on the ancient Mesoamerican calendar created at least as early as 1500 BCE, Maya calendars were corrected and maintained by specialist astronomical observers.

Archaeologist Prudence Rice has argued that the Maya even structured their governments based in part on the requirements of tracking astronomy.

The Maya and the Sky

The Maya believed that the Earth was the center of all things, fixed and immovable.

The stars, moons, sun, and planets were gods; their movements were interpreted as gods traveling between the Earth, the underworld, and other celestial destinations.

These gods were greatly involved in human affairs, and so their movements were watched closely. Many events in Maya life were planned to coincide with certain celestial moments.

For example, a war might be delayed until the gods were in place, or a ruler might ascend to the throne of a Mayan city-state only when a certain planet was visible in the night sky.

Sun God Kinich Ahau

The sun was of utmost importance to the ancient Maya.

The Mayan sun god was Kinich Ahau. He was one of the more powerful gods of the Mayan pantheon, considered an aspect of Itzamna, one of the Mayan creator gods.

Kinich Ahau would shine in the sky all day before transforming himself into a jaguar at night to pass through Xibalba, the Mayan underworld.

In a story in the Quiche Maya council book called the Popol Vuh, the hero twins Hunaphu and Xbalanque transform themselves into the sun and the moon.

Some Mayan dynasties claimed to be descended from the sun.

The Maya were expert at predicting solar phenomena such as eclipses, solstices, and equinoxes, as well as determining when the sun reached its apex.

The Moon in Maya Mythology

The moon was nearly as important as the sun to the ancient Maya.

Mayan astronomers analyzed and predicted the moon’s movements with great accuracy.

As with the sun and planets, Mayan dynasties often claimed to be descended from the moon.

Mayan mythology generally associated the moon with a maiden, an old woman, and/or a rabbit.

The primary Maya moon goddess was Ix Chel, a powerful goddess who battled with the sun and made him descend into the underworld every night.

Although she was a fearsome goddess, she was also the patroness of childbirth and fertility.

Ix Ch’up was another moon goddess described in some of the codices; she was young and beautiful and may have been Ix Chel in her youth or in another form.

A lunar observatory on the island of Cozumel appears to mark the occurrence of the lunar standstill, the varying movement of the moon through the skies.

Venus and the Planets

The Maya were aware of the planets in the solar system — Venus, Mars, Saturn, and Jupiter — and tracked their movements.

The most important planet by far to the Maya was Venus, which they associated with war.

Battles and wars would be arranged to coincide with the movements of Venus, and captured warriors and leaders would likewise be sacrificed according to the position of Venus in the night sky.

The Maya painstakingly recorded the movements of Venus and determined that its year, relative to Earth, not the sun, was 584 days long, closely approximating the 583.92 days that modern science has determined.

The Maya and the Stars

Like the planets, the stars move across the heavens, but unlike the planets, they stay in position relative to one another.

To the Maya, the stars were less important to their mythos than the sun, moon, Venus and other planets.

However, the stars shift seasonally and were used by Mayan astronomers to predict when the seasons would come and go, which was critical for agricultural planning.

For example, the rise of the Pleiades in the night sky occurs at about the same time that the rains come to the Mayan regions of Central America and southern Mexico.

The stars, therefore, were of more practical use than many other aspects of Mayan astronomy.

Architecture and Astronomy

Many important Mayan buildings, such as temples, pyramids, palaces, observatories, and ball courts, were laid out in accordance with astronomy.

Temples and pyramids, in particular, were designed in such a way that the sun, moon, stars, and planets would be visible from the top or through certain windows at important times of the year.

One example is the observatory at Xochicalco, which, although not considered an exclusively Mayan city, certainly had Mayan influence.

The observatory is an underground chamber with a hole in the ceiling. The sun shines through this hole for most of the summer but is directly overhead on May 15 and July 29.

On these days the sun would directly illuminate an illustration of the sun on the floor, and these days were held importance for Mayan priests.

Other possible observatories have been identified at the archaeological sites of Edzna and Chichen Itza.

Mayan Astronomy and the Calendar

The Mayan calendar was linked to astronomy.

The Maya basically used two calendars: the Calendar Round and the Long Count.

The Mayan Long Count calendar was divided into different units of time that used the Haab, or solar year (365 days), as a base.

The Calendar Round consisted of two separate calendars; the first was the 365-day solar year, the second was the 260-day Tzolkin cycle.

These cycles align every 52 years.

Christopher Minster

Professor of History and Literature

Education

Ph.D., Spanish, Ohio State University

M.A., Spanish, University of Montana

B.A., Spanish, Penn State University

Introduction

Professor at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito in Equador

Specialist in Latin American literature and history with a Ph.D. in Spanish from Ohio State University

Former head writer at VIVA Travel Guides, who co-authored and edited numerous travel guidebooks

Experience

Christopher W. Minster, Ph.D., is a former ThoughtCo writer who contributed articles about Latin American history and culture for eight years. He is a professor at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito in Equador.

Christopher was the head writer at VIVA Travel Guides, where he co-authored and edited numerous travel books, including "VIVA Travel Guides Ecuador and Galapagos Islands Guidebook," 7th Edition (2014), and ​"VIVA Travel Guides Lima, Peru," 3rd Edition (2010), as well as a collection of travel stories from different writers around the world, called "​The Viva List Latin America: 333 Places and Experiences People Love" (2007).​

A specialist in Latin American literature and history, Christopher wrote his Ph.D. dissertation about the colonial era in the Americas. He also worked as a teaching assistant for six years at Ohio State University, where he earned his Ph.D. in Spanish in 2005. Christopher served two years in the U.S. Peace Corps in Guatemala, working in rural youth development in Huehuetenango.

Education

Christopher earned his Bachelor's (B.A.) in Spanish from Penn State University and Master's (M.A.) in Spanish from the University of Montana. He received his Ph.D. in Spanish from Ohio State University.

Awards and Publications

"​VIVA Travel Guides Ecuador and Galapagos Islands Guidebook," 7th Edition (2014)

"​VIVA Travel Guides Lima, Peru," 3rd Edition (2010)

"​The Viva List Latin America: 333 Places and Experiences People Love" (2007)

ThoughtCo and Dotdash

ThoughtCo is a premier reference site focusing on expert-created education content. We are one of the top-10 information sites in the world as rated by comScore, a leading Internet measurement company. Every month, more than 13 million readers seek answers to their questions on ThoughtCo.

For more than 20 years, Dotdash brands have been helping people find answers, solve problems, and get inspired. We are one of the top-20 largest content publishers on the Internet according to comScore, and reach more than 30% of the U.S. population monthly. Our brands collectively have won more than 20 industry awards in the last year alone, and recently Dotdash was named Publisher of the Year by Digiday, a leading industry publication.

https://www.thoughtco.com/ancient-maya-astronomy-2136314