MORE HISTORICAL APOCALYPSES

It’s been a month or so since we last visited the doom and gloom from yesteryears. I believe we were up to the beginning of the 19^th Century.

1801
As previously mentioned Astrologer Pierre Turrel picked several years for Doomsday. Among them was 1801, his third date. Alas, it, too, was a failure.

1814
This was Turrel’s final pick for End of Days. As 1814 came and went, author Charles Mackay wrote that “the world wagged as merrily as before.”

October 14, 1820
The Southcottian movement in Bradford, England specialized in Doomsday prophecies. Rather odd, I suppose, but every sect has to find a niche. John Turner, leader of the Southcottian sect and a prophet (of course) had taken over from the group’s founder Joanna Southcott. You may recall she predicted the end of the world and when it was a wash, her followers turned on her. October 14, 1820 was Turner's pick for Doomsday. He was, of course, wrong and the followers turned on him, too. He was followed by John Wroe, described by one historian as a “foul-mouthed, ugly, dirty lecher.”

1843
There was an End of the World prediction proclaimed for April 3, 1843 about which I wrote awhile back. I won’t retell it here, suffice to say April 3, 1843 came and went without the world ending. Which is, I believe, is good to know.

1874
Charles Taze Russell  of the Jehovah’s Witnesses called 1874 the End of Days. He was wrong.

And finally, the last big one for the 19^th Century was in 1881.

1881

The Great Pyramid of Giza has captured the imagination of generations for thousands or years. In the upside down year of 1881 (turn it upside down and it’s still 1881. I remember 1961. There won’t be another one until 6009. Just sayin’…) some folks calculated that measurements from the Great Pyramid and a healthy mixture of imagination combined to see…wait for it…End of Days. Didn’t happen. Sadly, people are still using the Great Pyramid to predict Doomsday. They said it would occur in 1936 and 1953. Both years came and went and people remained here. Oh, well, so it goes.