End of Days: Infamous Doomsday Prophecies

If history is any guide, everything’s gonna be alright.

Mayan Apocalypse - As we all await the arrival of 2013, check out some of these theories that made people panic for no reason at all. —Naeesa Aziz Based on the way some people interpret the Mayan Long Count calendar, the world as we know it is slated to end on Dec. 21, 2012. However, Maya scholars say the Dec. 21 date is simply the culmination of a 400-year cycle called a b'ak'tun — an ancient Mayan unit of time. Which means that on Dec. 22, another b'ak'tun will begin.  (Photo: Franicisco Martin/Landov/EPA)

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Mayan Apocalypse - As we all await the arrival of 2013, check out some of these theories that made people panic for no reason at all. —Naeesa Aziz Based on the way some people interpret the Mayan Long Count calendar, the world as we know it is slated to end on Dec. 21, 2012. However, Maya scholars say the Dec. 21 date is simply the culmination of a 400-year cycle called a b'ak'tun — an ancient Mayan unit of time. Which means that on Dec. 22, another b'ak'tun will begin.  (Photo: Franicisco Martin/Landov/EPA)

Halley's Comet - In 1910, a rumor spread across Europe and America that Halley’s Comet contained a gas "that would impregnate the atmosphere and possibly snuff out all life on the planet" the next time it passed over the Earth. Halley’s Comet is visible from Earth every 75-76 years and its harmless presence over our skies has been observed and recorded by ancient cultures throughout time.  (Photo: Liaison)

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Halley's Comet - In 1910, a rumor spread across Europe and America that Halley’s Comet contained a gas "that would impregnate the atmosphere and possibly snuff out all life on the planet" the next time it passed over the Earth. Halley’s Comet is visible from Earth every 75-76 years and its harmless presence over our skies has been observed and recorded by ancient cultures throughout time.  (Photo: Liaison)

Heaven's Gate - The "Heaven's Gate" religious group was founded in the 1970s and its members believed that an alien space craft was coming to Earth hidden behind the Hale-Bopp Comet, and the aliens onboard would invade and destroy the Earth. On March 26, 1997, police found the bodies of 37 Heaven's Gate members who committed suicide under the belief that the planet was about to be "recycled" and that the only chance to survive was to leave it immediately.   (Photo: Reuters/Landov)

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Heaven's Gate - The "Heaven's Gate" religious group was founded in the 1970s and its members believed that an alien space craft was coming to Earth hidden behind the Hale-Bopp Comet, and the aliens onboard would invade and destroy the Earth. On March 26, 1997, police found the bodies of 37 Heaven's Gate members who committed suicide under the belief that the planet was about to be "recycled" and that the only chance to survive was to leave it immediately.   (Photo: Reuters/Landov)

The Jupiter Effect - In 1974, two astrophysicists penned a best-selling book called The Jupiter Effect that predicted that an alignment of the planets in the solar system would cause a host of global calamities, including a giant earthquake along the San Andreas Fault on March 10, 1982. None of the predictions came to pass. (Photo: Warren Clarke/Landov/EPA)

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The Jupiter Effect - In 1974, two astrophysicists penned a best-selling book called The Jupiter Effect that predicted that an alignment of the planets in the solar system would cause a host of global calamities, including a giant earthquake along the San Andreas Fault on March 10, 1982. None of the predictions came to pass. (Photo: Warren Clarke/Landov/EPA)

Pat Robertson - "[Obama] wouldn't admit to being a socialist but that's what it is," said evangelist Pat Robertson on the Christian Broadcasting Network's 700 Club on Dec. 13. "He has an agenda."  (Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images)

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Pat Robertson - Christian evangelist minister Pat Robertson predicted that Jesus Christ would return to Earth by the end of 1982."I guarantee you by the end of 1982 there is going to be a judgment on the world," Robertson said during a May 1980 broadcast of "The 700 Club" show on the Christian Broadcast Network. (Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images)

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Nostradamus "Great King of Terror" - Before the year 2000, many people interpreted a passage from 16th century French prophet Nostradamus as a prediction of the end of the world in 1999: "The year 1999, seventh month / From the sky will come great king of terror." (Photo: Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

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Nostradamus "Great King of Terror" - Before the year 2000, many people interpreted a passage from 16th century French prophet Nostradamus as a prediction of the end of the world in 1999: "The year 1999, seventh month / From the sky will come great king of terror." (Photo: Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Y2K - Also surrounding the coming of the year 2000 was everyone’s favorite "technology apocalypse": Y2K.Major news agencies carried stories quoting experts who predicted the date 2000 would cause massive computer and software crashes and spark the meltdown of the global financial system.(Photo: Mark H. Milstein/MCT /Landov)

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Y2K - Also surrounding the coming of the year 2000 was everyone’s favorite "technology apocalypse": Y2K.Major news agencies carried stories quoting experts who predicted the date 2000 would cause massive computer and software crashes and spark the meltdown of the global financial system.(Photo: Mark H. Milstein/MCT /Landov)

Large Hadron Collider - The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the world's largest and highest-energy particle accelerator. The scientific wonder has been praised for discovering the Higgs Boson "God particle” and other wonders, but when it was first launched in September 2009, rumors circulated that the machine could create a black hole that would swallow the planet.(Photo: Mark Clifford/Barcroft Media /Landov)

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Large Hadron Collider - The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the world's largest and highest-energy particle accelerator. The scientific wonder has been praised for discovering the Higgs Boson "God particle” and other wonders, but when it was first launched in September 2009, rumors circulated that the machine could create a black hole that would swallow the planet.(Photo: Mark Clifford/Barcroft Media /Landov)

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Harold Camping - Harold Camping, the 91-year-old founder and chairman of Christian Family Radio Stations Inc., predicted that Judgment Day would arrive on May 21, 2011, according to a numerical code he discovered in the Bible. Many believers in Camping’s theory sold everything they owned, quit their jobs and used all of their resources to spread the word about Judgment Day.(Photo: AP Photo, File)

Future: Sun Becomes a Red Giant - Although it may be billions of years away, many scholars agree that, eventually, the sun will enter its red giant phase when it has converted all of its hydrogen into helium. When this occurs, the sun will expand to a size 20 percent greater than that of Earth's orbit (engulfing our planet) and shine 3,000 times brighter.  (Photo: EPA/NASA /Landov)

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Future: Sun Becomes a Red Giant - Although it may be billions of years away, many scholars agree that, eventually, the sun will enter its red giant phase when it has converted all of its hydrogen into helium. When this occurs, the sun will expand to a size 20 percent greater than that of Earth's orbit (engulfing our planet) and shine 3,000 times brighter.  (Photo: EPA/NASA /Landov)