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The End of the World?. Craig Osborne Todd Stadnik. What We Are Doing. We will examine the some of the failed “end of the world” theories dating back to the early 16 th century. . Oct. 3 1533.
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The End of the World? Craig Osborne Todd Stadnik
What We Are Doing. We will examine the some of the failed “end of the world” theories dating back to the early 16th century.
Oct. 3 1533 Michael Stifel convinced people that the world was coming to an end. He told them he had used a mathematical equation and applied it to the Bible. Further more, he told people to sell their property. After he saw the world did not end, he was forced into exile at the local prison for his personal safety (Large Hadron Collider).
1794 • Charles Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church, predicted the world was going to end. The Shakers also believed the world was going to end in 1794. In 1836 Wesley’s brother also made an end of the world prediction (Frater, J.).
1843-1844 William Miller, a Baptist minister, based his prediction on the Book of Daniel. Miller beloved that in this time frame, Jesus would return to Earth and the Biblical apocalypse scenario would take place. His followers kept their faith in him that the world would soon end, as he predicted two other dates as the apocalypse (Frater, J.).
1910 • Halley’s Comet had passed Earth many times in the past, but in 1910, people thought that the poisonous gas from the comet would be a threat to humans. Although many apocalypse predictions in the past had been made based of religious beliefs, this was one of the first that involved science. However, the comet passed Earth on May 18, 1910 without harming anyone (Frater, J.).
1914 and Jehovah • Charles Taze Russell predicted that Jesus Christ would come to Earth in 1914 and end the world. He felt that World War One went along with the Biblical Apocalypse scenario. Since this failed theory and many others, the Jehovah’s witnesses have stopped predicting the end of the world (Frater, J.).
December 17, 1919 Albert Porta, a meteorologist, predicted that a conjunction of six planets on December 17, 1919, would “cause a magnetic current that would pierce the sun, cause great explosions of flaming gas and eventually engulf the Earth”. Mob violence and a few suicides resulted from his prediction, and it also caused him to lose his job as a “respected” meteorologist (Frater, J.).
1969 Charles Manson predicted that racial tensions in the US would cause an Apocalyptic race war, which would result in his band of criminals, the “Manson Family”, ruling the world. However, when no race war happened, his gang went on a killing spree to "show the blacks how to do it.” As a result he is serving life in prison for murder (Large Hadron Collider).
March 10, 1982 Two astrophysicists, John Gribben and Stephen Plagemann wrote the Jupiter Effect. They predicted that all nine planets would align on March 10, 1982, which would create a gravitational pull, causing sunspots, flares, and earthquakes. Even though Gribben said himself that it was only a theory, some people still believed it would occur (Frater, J.).
March 1997 The UFO cult “Heaven’s Gate” believed that the passing of the Hale-Bopp Comet meant that the Earth was headed for destruction. The members thought that the only way to “survive” the end of the world was to commit suicide, so that once the Earth was destroyed, their souls could board a spaceship travelling behind the comet. On March 26, the bodies of 38 members of the cult were found in a house in California. (Large Hadron Collider).
Y2K Many Christian cults predicted that the new millennium would coincide with the Second Coming of Christ, resulting in the end of the world. Besides these religious groups, many people believed that the Y2K computer bug would cause computer systems collapse, sending the world into chaos. However, no computer glitches occurred, and the world did not end (Large Hadron Collider).
Conclusions Obviously, all of these theories were not the end of the world. New theories have developed, which include the 2012 theory of the world ending because 2012 is the end of the Mayan calendar. In our opinion, the true end of the world will not come for a very long time, but people will continue to predict the end and we are sure some people will listen.
Bibliography Frater, J. "Top 10 Failed Apocalyptic Predictions." The List Universe. 18 Sept. 2008. 8 Dec. 2008 <http://listverse.com/miscellaneous/top-10-failed-apocalyptic-predictions/>. "Large Hadron Collider: 10 other dates when the world failed to end." Telegraph.co.uk. 10 Sept. 2008. Telegraph Media Group. 8 Dec. 2008 <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2778490/large-hadron-collider-10-other-dates-when-the-world-failed-to-end.html>.