Six times the world was 'supposed to end' – and spoiler alert, it didn't

Every so often, a conspiracy will circulate online with outlandish claims of a pending doomsday. And even though we're aware that there's more chance of pigs flying, apocalypse theories remain the centre of public fascination and pop culture.

Some of the theories gained worldwide traction – take 2012, for instance when the world was supposed to end according to the Mayan calendar (they even made a movie about it) but absolutely nothing happened.

Indy100 revisited all the times the world was supposed to end.

Spoiler alert: We're still here.

29th July 2016

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The End Times Prophecies once predicted the extinction of humanity in 2016 as a result of a "polar flip."

The hypothesis suggests there have been geologically rapid shifts in the locations of the poles and the axis of rotation of Earth, causing calamities such as floods and tectonic events.

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The group believed that on 29th July, the atmosphere would come crumbling to the ground.

The day came and went.

Not only was their theory proven to be false, but so did their idea that Barack Obama would reveal himself as the Antichrist.

7th October 2015

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In 2015, the eBible Fellowship made their second failed prediction of the apocalypse.

The Philadelphia-based Christian website run by Chris McCann claimed the cause would correlate with the blood moon.

"According to what the Bible is presenting, it does appear that 7th October will be the day that God has spoken of: in which, the world will pass away," McCann told The Guardian. "It'll be gone forever. Annihilated."

Awkward.

15th April 2014

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The blood moon was a focal point for most doomsday predictions because it marked the beginning of a tetrad — four consecutive and complete lunar eclipses occurring at six-month intervals. Some people viewed this as a prophecy.

Texas televangelist John Hagee claimed the blood moon would prompt a "world-shaking event" that begins to fulfil End Times prophecy, aka the second coming of Christ.

21st December 2012

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This was probably one of the more famous "the world's going to end" moments in history – with no thanks to the fictional film: 2012.

The ancient Mayans, who ruled through Mexico and Central America until around 900 AD, used three calendars. One supposedly ended on 21st December 2021 after 5,125 years – and conspiracies went rife.

Celebrities even turned to Twitter to jump on the apocalyptic bandwagon.

Comedian Ricky Gervais joked: "I'm watching that movie "The Day after tomorrow" at the moment. Strangely reassuring," while singer Kris Allen humoured: "Maybe let's just stay up all night and see if the Mayans were right."

The whole thing was a misconception from the very beginning," Dr John Carlson, director of NASA's Center for Archaeoastronomy, said. "The Maya calendar did not end on 21st December 2012, and there were no Maya prophecies foretelling the end of the world on that date."

21st May 2011

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Former president of the Family Radio Network, Harold Camping, declared that earthquakes would rapture the world at approximately 6 pm. According to VICE, he was so convinced that he allegedly spent over $100 million to get the message out.

He predicted that as a result of this "judgement day", only three per cent of people would survive.

The day of judgement did not come.

1st January 2000

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People transcended into apocalyptic chaos with claims that computers wouldn't handle an extra digit.

The widespread fear that everything containing a chip would crash prompted Y2K emergency kits with nonperishable food. People even stockpiled tins in their basement for the so-called inevitable.

When the year 2000 hit, there was nothing more than a few minor glitches. On the plus side, better computer systems were born.

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