DM-001 · 1844
Failed prophecy · United States
The Great Disappointment — the day heaven’s appointment was kept by no one
Christ did not come; the faithful wept · Failed prediction
DM-002 · 2011
Failed prophecy · United States
Harold Camping’s Rapture — the trumpet that never sounded, twice
No Rapture; Camping reset, then recanted · Failed prediction
DM-003 · 2012
Failed prophecy · Worldwide
The 2012 Maya Apocalypse — a calendar rolled over, and nothing fell
The date passed; the calendar reset · Failed prediction
DM-004 · 2000
Failed prophecy · Worldwide
The Y2K Scare — the midnight that broke almost nothing
Rollover passed; only minor glitches · Passed
DM-005 · 1857
Failed prophecy · Xhosaland (Eastern Cape)
The Xhosa Cattle-Killing — a people destroyed its own food to be saved
The dead stayed dead; tens of thousands starved · Famine
DM-006 · 1806
Hoax prophecy · Leeds, England
The Prophet Hen of Leeds — the apocalypse a swindler pushed back up a chicken
The eggs were a fraud; no end came · Debunked
DM-007 · 1910
Comet panic · United States and worldwide
The Halley’s Comet Panic — the night the sky’s poison never came
Earth passed through the tail unharmed · Passed
DM-008 · 1982
Failed prophecy · United States
The Jupiter Effect — the planets lined up and nothing fell
The planets passed; the ground held · Failed prediction
DM-009 · 1999
Failed prophecy · France
Nostradamus and the King of Terror — the dreaded month came and went
August dawned; the sky stayed quiet · Failed prediction
DM-010 · 1535
Doomsday cult · Germany
The Münster Rebellion — the New Jerusalem ended in famine and the scaffold
The city fell; thousands dead, leaders executed · Executions
DM-011 · 1954
Failed prophecy · United States
The Seekers — the flood that the believers were told they had cancelled
No flood, no saucer; new message: the group's light had saved Earth · Failed prediction
DM-012 · 1988
Failed prophecy · United States
Edgar Whisenant’s 88 Reasons — the engineer who reset the clock when it ran out
No Rapture; the date was simply reset · Failed prediction
DM-013 · 1998
Failed prophecy · United States
Chen Tao — the God who was to appear on channel 18, and did not
Static on channel 18; Chen offered himself to be stoned · Failed prediction
DM-014 · 1814
Failed prophecy · England
Joanna Southcott — a virgin of sixty-four promised a messiah, and bore none
No child; she died, then dropsy at autopsy · Failed prediction
DM-015 · 1881
Failed prophecy · England
Mother Shipton’s 1881 Prophecy — a Victorian bookseller’s forged couplet emptied the villages
Dawn came; the verse was already a known forgery · Debunked