# Failed prophecies of the end of the world - 1200-1966 1200-1260 - The Calabrian monk Joachim of Fiore was inspired Easter Sunday in 1183 to write his massive Exposition on Revelation. Near the end of his life, he summarized his prophetic knowledge in the Book of Figures. His writings influenced a wide range of medieval events. - The Franciscan order was founded on the basis that they would be the spiritual elite described in Joachim's "Age of the Spirit," a future time when God would send revelation directly to believers. - Using Joachim's hints, writers concluded that the "Age of Grace" would end and the "Age of the Spirit" would begin in A.D. 1260. This prophecy, mixed with German social unrest, created a myth surrounding Frederick II. Having ruled from 1220 to 1250, many believed that Frederick was the "Emperor of the Last Days" who would usher in the new Millennium. The myth gained force when Frederick seized Jerusalem in 1229. When he died in 1250, a new myth started that Frederick would return from the dead. Two pseudo-Fredericks were burned at the stake by his successor to the throne. 1284 - Pope Innocent III predicted that the world would end 666 years after the rise of Islam. 1290-1335 - Followers of Joachim of Fiore rescheduled the End to 1290 and then 1335 when the 1260 prophecy failed. 1346-1351 - The Black Plague spreading across Europe was considered a sign of the Apocalypse. 1366 - Jean de Roquetaillade predicted that the Antichrist was coming in 1366 and the end of the world was coming in either 1368 or 1370. 1378 - Arnaldus de Villa Nova, a Joachite, predicted that the end of the world was coming that year. 1420 - The Taborites of Czechoslovakia, founded in 1415, also looked back to Joachim for their prophetic beliefs. They predicted every city would be annihilated by fire and that only five mountain strongholds would be saved, and they believed that once their persecutors were defeated Christ would return and rule the world from Mount Tabor, a mountain they had renamed south of Prague. Their communal activities eventually turned bloody, but after a crushing defeat at the hands of the German army, the group quickly disbanded. 1504 - Sandro Botticelli in 1500 believed that he was living during the Tribulation and that the end of the world was coming in three and a half years. 1524 - A group of astrologers in London predicted the world would end by a flood starting in London on February 1, 1524, based on calculations made the previous June. 20,000 Londoners left their homes and headed for higher ground in anticipation. - Johannes Stöffler saw the planetary alignment of Pisces as a sign of the Millennium starting February 20, 1524. 1524-1526 - Thomas Müntzer, a leader of German peasants, announced that the return of Christ would come after he and his men destroyed the high and mighty. This belief led to an uneven battle with government troops, where he was strategically out-numbered. Muntzer claimed to have a vision from God where the Lord promised that He would catch the cannonballs of the enemy in the sleeves of His cloak, but the vision turned out to be false when they were all mowed down by cannon fire. 1528 - Hans Hut predicted the end of the world would come on May 27, 1528. - Johannes Stöffler revised his date when his prediction failed to come true. 1533 - Beginning of the Millennium, according to the Anabaptists. - Michael Stiefel predicted Christ's coming and judgment at 8:00 AM, October 19, 1533. - Melchior Hoffman predicted the end of the world preceded by 3-1/2 years of apocalyptic tribulation, and that Strasbourg was the New Jerusalem. He claimed that the world would be destroyed by fire except for 144,000 people who would be saved. 1534 - A repeat of the Muntzer affair occurred a few years later. This time, Jan Matthys took over the city of Munster, which was to be the only one spared destruction. The inhabitants of Munster, chased out by Matthys and his men, regrouped and laid siege to the city. Within a year, everyone in the city was dead. - Jan Matthys replaced an imprisoned Melchior Hoffman and claimed Christ's return on Easter Sunday, April 5, 1534. He said that Munster and not Strasbourg was the New Jerusalem. This was again later changed to Amsterdam. 1555 - Around the year 1400, Pierre d'Ailly wrote that 6845 years of human history had passed, and that the end of the world would be on the 7000th year. 1572 - Benedictus Aretius of Berne calculated that 1260 years added to the year Constantine made Christianity the official religion (312+1260=1572) would be the end of the world. 1585 - In his book The Restoration of Christianity, the Spanish-born reformer claimed that the Devil's reign in this world began in 325 at the Council of Nicaea and will last for 1260 years, thus ending in 1585. 1588 - Regiomontanus predicted the end of the world this year. 1600 - Martin Luther predicted the end of the world would occur no later than 1600. 1621 - In 1621 Sir Henry Finch published a book, The World's Great Restauration or The Calling of the Jews, that declared a Jewish nation rising to power soon. 1624 - The same astrologers who predicted the deluge of February 1, 1524, recalculated the date to February 1, 1624, after their first prophecy failed. 1648 - Using the Kabbalah Sabbatai Zevi from Smyrna, Turkey, figured that the Messiah would come in 1648. 1650-1660 - The Fifth Monarchy Men looked for Jesus to establish a theocracy. They took up arms and tried to seize England by force. The movement died when the British monarchy was restored in 1660. 1654 - Helisaeus Roeslin made a prediction that the world would end this year based on a nova that occurred in 1572. 1655-1657 - The Fifth Monarchists predicted the final apocalyptic battle and the destruction of the Antichrist were to take place between 1655 and 1657. 1656 - Mary Cary prophesied the conversion and return of the Jews - In his Book of Prophecies (1501), Christopher Columbus predicted that the world would end in 1656. 1658 - Christopher Columbus claimed that the world was created in 5343 BC and would last 7000 years. Assuming no year zero, that means the end would come in 1658. 1660 - Joseph Mede claimed that the Antichrist appeared in 456 and the end would come in 1660. 1666 - Following his failed prediction of 1648, Sabbatai Zevi recalculated the end of the earth in 1666. - A bubonic plague outbreak killed 100,000 and the Great Fire of London struck the same year, and the year ended with the Beast's number (666), meaning that many people imagined it to be the end. - Generated much discussion as it was 1000 + 666 1673 - William Aspinwall, a Fifth Monarchist, predicted the Millennium would begin by this year. 1688 - John Napier calculated the end of the world would be this year based on calculations from the Book of Revelation. 1689 - Pierre Jurieu predicted that Judgment Day would occur this year. 1694 - Johann Heinrich Alsted predicted the Millennium would start on this year. - Johann Jacob Zimmermann believed that Jesus would return, and the world would end this year. 1697 - Cotton Mather predicted the world would end this year. After the prediction failed, he revised the date of the End two more times. 1700 - After his 1688 prediction failed to come true, John Napier revised his end of the world prediction to this year. - In his 1642 work, The Personall Reigne of Christ Upon Earth, Henry Archer predicted the second coming of Jesus would occur in approximately this year. 1700-1734 - Nicholas of Cusa predicted the end would occur between 1700 and 1734. 1705, 1706 or 1708 - Camisard prophets predicted the end of the world would occur in either 1705, 1706 or 1708. 1715 - Isaac Newton predicted Christ's coming in a note in his research on the Law of Gravity - William Whiston, who succeeded Isaac Newton as Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge, also predicted Christ's coming. 1716 - Cotton Mather revised his prediction after his 1697 prediction failed to come true. 1719 - Jacob Bernoulli predicted a comet would destroy the earth on this April 5, 1719. 1736 - William Whiston predicted a comet colliding with the earth on October 16, 1736. - Cotton Mather made a third and final prediction for the end of the world. 1757 - Emanuel Swedenborg claimed that the Last Judgement occurred in the spiritual world this year. 1780 - Connecticut General Assembly Members saw the sky turning dark during the day and interpreted it as a sign of the end times. The primary cause of the event is believed to have been a combination of smoke from forest fires, a thick fog, and cloud cover. 1789 - Pierre d'Ailly predicted the coming of the Antichrist in this year. 1792, 1794 - Shakers predicted the world would end in both 1792 and 1794. 1793-1795 - Richard Brothers stated the Millennium would begin between 1793 and 1795. He was eventually committed to an insane asylum. 1795 - While campaigning for Richard Brothers' release, Nathaniel Brassey Halhed proclaimed that the world would end on November 19, 1795. 1805 - Christopher Love predicted the destruction of the world by earthquake in 1805, followed by an age of everlasting peace when God will be known by all. 1806 - In Leeds, England in 1806, a hen began laying eggs on which the phrase "Christ is coming" was written. Eventually, it was discovered to be a hoax. The owner, Mary Bateman, had written on the eggs in a corrosive ink to etch the eggs, and reinserted the eggs back into the hen's oviduct, and an unannounced visitor found her doing it. She was later hanged for poisoning a wealthy client. 1814 - Joanna Southcoat claimed she was pregnant by virgin birth with the Christ child a second time around, and that he would be born on Christmas Day, 1814. She died on the day of her prediction, and an autopsy proved she was not pregnant. 1836 - John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church, foresaw the Millennium beginning this year. He wrote that "the time, times and half a time" in Revelation 12:14 referred to the years 1058--1836 "when Christ should come". - Johann Albrecht Bengel divided 666 by 42 (months) and came out that each month = 15-6/7 years. He came up with the date of the beginning of the Millennium using this formula. 1843 - Although it was not officially endorsed by their leadership, many followers of William Miller (Millerites) expected the Second Coming to occur on April 28, 1843, during a spectacular meteor shower or at the very end of 1843. - Harriet Livermore predicted the world would end in this year. 1844 - William Miller predicted Christ would return on March 21, 1844. Some followers set another date of October 22, 1844, which resulted in the Great Disappointment that collapsed the movement. 1847 - George Rapp, the founder of the Harmony Society, preached that Jesus would return in his lifetime, even as he lay dying on August 7, 1847. - Harriet Livermore predicted the end of the world a second and final time. 1853-1856 - Much of the working-class thought that the Crimean War was the Battle of Armageddon. 1859 - Thomas Parker, a Massachusetts Minister, looked for the millennium to start about 1859. 1862 - John Cumming stated it was 6000 years since Creation in 1862, and that the world would end. 1863 - John Wroe, the founder of the Christian Israelite Church, calculated that the Millennium would begin this year. 1873 - In 1870, Jonas Wendell published his views in the booklet entitled The Present Truth, or Meat in Due Season, concluding that the Second Advent was sure to occur in 1873. 1874 - Charles Taze Russell predicted the return of Jesus to occur in 1874, and after this date reinterpreted the prediction to say that Jesus had indeed returned in invisible form. 1881 - Mother Shipton in the 15th century was quoted as saying "The world to an end shall come, In eighteen hundred and eighty-one" in a book published in 1862. In 1873, it was revealed to be a forgery; however, this did not stop some people from expecting the end. 1890 - Wovoka, the founder of the Ghost Dance movement, predicted in 1889 that the Millennium would occur in 1890. 1892-1911 - Charles Piazzi Smith concluded from his research on the dimensions of the Great Pyramid of Giza that the Second Coming would occur between 1892 and 1911. 1901 - The Catholic Apostolic Church, founded in 1831, claimed that Jesus would return by the time the last of its 12 founding members died. The last member died in 1901. 1910 - Camille Flammarion predicted that the 1910 appearance of Halley's Comet "would impregnate that atmosphere and possibly snuff out all life on the planet", but not the planet itself. "Comet pills" were sold by one enterprising man to protect against toxic gases. The comet indicated the Second Coming to many. 1914 - The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society (Jehovah's Witnesses) under the leadership of Charles Russell branched off from the International Bible Students Association and then computed that from Daniel's 4th chapter the return of Christ the prophecy would be 1914. The writing referred to "seven times" and they interpreted each time as 360 days, giving 2520 days, representing 2520 years, measured from the starting date of 607 BC, landing the target date at 1914. 1915 - John Chilembwe in Nyasaland predicted the Millennium would begin this year. 1918 - International Bible Students Association predicted Christendom shall be cut off and the glorification of the Little Flock (The Church) in the Spring of 1918. It would be succeeded by revolutionary governments. God would "destroy the churches wholesale and the church members by the millions." Church members would "perish by the sword of war, revolution, and anarchy." The dead would lie unburied. In 1920, all earthly governments would disappear, with worldwide anarchy prevailing. - Jehovah's Witnesses used new math to predict Christ's second coming in 1918. 1920 - Jehovah's Witnesses again predict Christ's second coming in 1920. 1925 - Jehovah's Witnesses again predict Christ's second coming in 1925. - According to the Seventh-day Adventist Margaret Rowen the angel Gabriel appeared before her in a vision and told her that the world would end at midnight on this February 13, 1925. 1935 - Wilbur Glenn Voliva announced that "the world is going to go 'puff' and disappear" in September 1935. 1936 - Herbert W. Armstrong, the founder of the Worldwide Church of God, told members of his church that the Rapture was to take place in 1936, and that only they would be saved. After the prophecy failed, he changed the date three more times. 1941 - Jehovah's Witnesses again predict Christ's second coming in 1941. 1943 - Herbert W. Armstrong's first revised prediction after the 1936 one failed to come true. 1947 - John Ballou Newbrough writes Oahspe: A New Bible, where he foresaw the destruction of all nations and the beginning of post-apocalyptic anarchy in 1947. 1953 - David Davidson wrote a book called The Great Pyramid, Its Divine Message. He predicted that the world would end in August 1953. 1954 - Dorothy Martin, the leader of a UFO cult called Brotherhood of the Seven Rays, said the world was to be destroyed by terrible flooding on December 21, 1954. The fallout of the group after the prediction failed was the basis for the 1956 book When Prophecy Fails. 1957 - Watchtower Magazine said in January 1957 that "Sometime between April 16 and 23, 1957, Armageddon will sweep the world! Millions of persons will perish in its flames and the land will be scorched." 1959 - Florence Houteff, The 2nd Prophet of the Branch Davidians, predicted the apocalypse foretold in the Book of Revelation would proceed on April 22, 1959. The failure of the prophecy led to the split of the sect into several sub-sects, the most prominent led by Benjamin and Lois Roden. 1960 - Piazzi Smyth, a past astronomer royal of Scotland, wrote a book called Our Inheritance in the Great Pyramid. He concluded from his research that the millennium would start before the end of 1960 based on the dimensions of the Great Pyramids. 1962 - Jeane Dixon and various Indian astrologers predicted a planetary alignment on February 4, 1962, that was to bring destruction to the world. Mass prayer meetings were reported from India. [Next page](imagination-failedprophecies-3.md)