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December 23, 2009 
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Wrong, wrong and wrong
By THANE BURNETT, QMI Agency




Since the beginning of time, expiry dates have been hand stamped on the world.

If it wasn't heralded by the first clap of thunder over our hairy ancestors it's now being forewarned by the melting of icebergs in the North.

But as humans, we suck at accurately predicting our end-times.

Here's a list of some of the notorious dates we lived through.

Around 2800 BC: An unearthed Assyrian clay tablet reportedly talked about humanity coming to a speedy end. But the writer expired long before the world.

634 BC: Romans fear their city will fall after 120 years.

389 BC: Having gotten it previously wrong, Romans figure the real date is around 389 BC: Wrong again.

First Century: Some followers of Jesus believe he will return to Earth soon after his death.

247: Thanks to Roman persecution, many Christians believe the end is upon them.

365: Hilary of Poitiers predicts an end to humanity.

Easter Eve, 793: The Bishop of Toledo writes about end-times panic, after a Spanish monk prophesises doom and gloom.

800: Multiple learned sources predict Doomsday.

806: Another bishop pegs this date as the real eve of destruction.

1000: Some researchers say panic sweeps across Europe as the dawn of a new Millenium arrives. Others argue most people aren't even aware of the date.

1184: More than a few prophets believe the Antichrist will arrive on this date.

1284: Again religious leaders get the date wrong for the arrival of the Antichrist.

Feb., 1420: A Czech prophet marks this date as the end of days.

Feb. 1, 1524: London astrologers pick this date as Doomsday -- heralded by floods in the city. An estimated 20,000 people leave their homes in panic.

1532: After getting reports of bloody crosses in the sky next to comets, a Viennese bishop says the end is nigh.

Oct. 19, 1533: A mathematician gets his numbers wrong by calculating this will be Judgement Day.

1532, 1544, 1801 and 1814: A French astrologer tries to even the odds by picking four different end-of-world dates. All are wrong.

Around 1555: Influential French theologian Pierre d'Ailly figures the world will come crashing down at this time.

July 22, 1556: A rumour swirls that our would will end on "Magdalene's Day." But everyone lives another day to brood and worry.

1584: Astrologer Cyprian Leowitz predicts another end of everything.

1603: Year Dominican monk Tomasso Campanella said the sun would ram into the Earth.

1656: Physician Helisaeus Roeslin foresees mankind going up in a blaze.

1657: Date believed by many to signal the Apocalyptic battle and the defeat of the Antichrist.

1689: A Camisard prophet predicts Judgement Day will take place in this year.

1694: Cultists leave from Germany to America in the hopes of greeting Jesus back to Earth. They are not happy campers when He doesn't appear.

1700: Puritans believe this will be the true date of man's ultimate destiny.

1982: The year of a Grand Conjunction, when the planets line up. Some believe it is a clear mark of disaster. Though the year did give us Eye of the Tiger by Survivor, so perhaps it did signal humanity's decline.

Jan. 1, 2000: The 'millenium bug' is supposed to cause a massive computer meltdown. Planes are supposed to fall from the sky and even your TV cable is in peril.

Jan., 2000: An American Christian group picks this month for global economic chaos.

--

Believe it or not...

Winter Solstice on December 21, 2012 -- precisely at 11:11 AM Universal Time -- marks the completion of the 5,125 year Great Cycle of the Ancient Maya Long Count Calendar.

And for those who believe it, marks the end of the world.










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