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TIME LINE
People have been predicting the end of the world for well over two millennia. While many theories didnt sprout until Christianity spread throughout Europe, the idea of end times have dated back to ancient civilizations, such as Rome and the Maya. Whether you are religious or scientific, a believer or skeptic, there is a theory for everyone. This timeline tracks many, but certainly not all, proposed Doomsday scenarios through the centuries; and as the phenomenon has become more commercial over recent years, movies, books, and videogames have extended into our worlds perception of our final days. This timeline is not meant to persuade nor prove anything. These are just facts. What you do with the information is up to you. No one knows for sure when or how the world is going to end. Maybe it will be millions of years from now, or perhaps you only have until Dec. 21. Either way enjoy whatever time is left.
Maya researchers believe this is when the Mayan calendar started, according to the Gregorian calendar. This is the first time early Christians believed Jesus would return.

3114 634 1806 1910

Romans believed that 12 eagles revealed to Romulus a number that represented the lifetime of Rome. They concluded that each eagle represented 10 years, meaning Rome would be destroyed in its 120th year.

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Century

1st 1346 16731915

Many Europeans saw The Black Plague as a sign of end times as it spread across Europe. During this time 12 predictions were made by various Christians saying Jesus would return for his second coming. The Bible Student Movement made its 9th end of the world prediction.

A hen laid eggs saying, Christ is coming, in Leeds, England. Turns out someone wrote on the eggs with corrosive ink and put them back inside the hen. Camille Flammarion predicted that Halleys Comet would destroy life on Earth. The comet would stir up another scare in 1987.

DAWN RAU

1925
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Words from the Wise

Venture through St. Paul, Minn. and you might see a petite, salt-and-pepper-haired woman shuffling back and forth from her home and the Lunds grocery store a couple miles up the road. Florence Applebehr, 92, has resided in Minnesota her entire life. After having lived through her fair share of global wars, national crises, and personal struggles, a weekly trip to the grocery store isnt slowing her down. For a while it seemed like once one terrifying event concluded another appeared, she says. These events include World War II and the rise of Nazi Germany, the Great Depression, and the Cuban Missile Crisis. Each event sparked questions and fears of the world coming to an end. The Missile Crisis was frightening because we never knew when the Cubans might actually decide to launch their arsenal, she says. Applebehr smirks when remembering various drills that took place across the country in schools and work places. It was a bit of an odd thing, she says. People were so afraid of the possibility of the launch but, while terrifying, [it] did not overly upset me, she says. I figured, we live in Minnesota, they are not aiming at usnot right away at least. She recalls being more concerned for the major cities across the coasts of the country, like New York, Washington D.C., and Miami. If an attack had actually been launched and a city bombarded, then I think it would have felt more like the end of the world, Applebehr says. For Applebehr, seeing and living through some of the most frightening and uncertain events of our time was not enough to drive her toward worrying the world was ending. That came from a much more personal event: her husband dying. After you are married to someone for [56 years], someone who is your best friend, someone who transforms into your whole world, it is unbearable to think about living without them, she says. That was my biggest end of the world [event]. Applebehr says that, in hindsight, she doesnt completely understand why more global and mass destructive events didnt spark a deeper reaction in her, but she believes her location here in Minnesota played a large role in her safety from the world during those times. What Ive learned over the years is that terrible things will happen, she says. But Ive found that in the end, things all seem to work out and there is not much of a point in worrying. When it decides its done, its done. Enjoy what you have when you posses it. MICHAEL KYLLO-KITTLESON

Knowledge from a nonagenarian

1938
The Mercury Theatre on the Air performs a Halloween episode called War of the Worlds, which is based off of H.G. Wells 1898 novel of the same name. Running without commercial breaks, the first 40 minutes are simulated news bulletins about an alien invasion. Many listeners think it is real and start to panic. Film adaptations are also made in 1953 and 2005.

1932
White Zombie, which is considered the first full-length zombie film, was released in New York.

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Countless Doomsday films have hit the box office in recent years, and people have flocked to movie theaters to see their favorite actors survive the end. But how can we separate fact from fiction? Justin Revenaugh, a seismologist and University of Minnesota earth and sciences professor, teaches a course called Geology and Cinema, where he distinguishes the facts and falsehoods in movies with catastrophic natural disasters. FIN sat down with the geology expert to discuss the movie 2012. The film is based off the Mayas prediction that the world will end Dec. 21, 2012, since that day marks the end of the Mayan calendar. Main character Jackson Curtis (John Cusack), a science-fiction writer based in Los Angeles, is a divorced man trying to reconnect with his kids by taking them camping in Yellowstone, unaware of the apocalyptic theories circulating the globe. At the national park, Curtis meets Charlie Frost (Woody Harrelson), a mentally unstable radio host who teaches Curtis about Earth crust displacement, a theory that predicts that the Earths tectonic plates will shift, causing supervolcano Yellowstone to erupt. Frost also explains how the U.S. government is building ships to save the people who represent, what a government employee in the movie calls, the perfect gene pool for repopulation chosen by geneticists. Frosts theories prove to be correct, at least according to Hollywood. Revenaugh, however, says the displacement theory is false, and Yellowstone is a supervolcano that has erupted in the past, but wont again anytime soon. While supervolcanos may be common in geological times, they are pretty rare in human times, he says.

If Hollywood had its way, the world would end with an abrupt Ice Age paired with an alien invasion, tossing in an asteroid-Earth collision for good measure.

Cinematic Science
In the movie, an American geologist is informed that neutrinos caused from a solar flare are heating up the Earths core to a record-high temperature. But Revenaugh says neutrinos pose no threat to the planet because they are particles that pass through the planet constantly. Theyre passing through you right now, he says. The neutrinos in 2012 increase the temperature of Earth, causing the core to expand and the crust to crack. [Its] expanding like if you put jelly in a cupcake and it eventually breaks, Revenaugh says. But in reality, the core cannot break because its surrounded by the mantle, which is ductile (capable of being molded or shaped). Therefore, the crust will not just tear apart like it does in the movie, he explains. In 2012, buildings, highways, and people plummet into a gaping hole created by earthquakes, enveloping L.A. entirely. Its not a vacuum down there, Revenaugh says of the portrayal of inner Earth. Actually, Earth shifts and erodes when the plates collide against each other; it does not open. Revenaugh compares the scene to the world opening up to hell, but seems almost offended that hell is depicted as the inside of Earth. In reality, the only thing below the crust is more Earth. So when the world ends, do not expect a mixed bag of natural disasters to be the cause. And do not expect to build Everest-sized arcs to survive, Revenaugh jokes. The glaciers that melt in the movie would not cause sea levels to drastically rise. It would only rise a couple of meters, so it wouldnt do that much damage, he says. As entertainingor perhaps frighteningas Doomsday films may be, do not forget that the scientists in those movies are actors, and theyre not quite sure what a neutrino is, either. KATIE WIELGOS www.finmagazine.sjmc.umn.edu

1947
A spacecraft allegedly crashed near Roswell, New Mexico sparking many conspiracy theories concerning a government cover-up about the existence of UFOs and aliens. Since then, there have been countless documentaries, books series, and a TV show based on the incident.

1947
The Cold War began. It was a nuclear standoff between the worlds two superpowers: the United States and Soviet Union. The threat of a nuclear war was perceived as a means to an end. The war ended in 1991 after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

1941
After branching out from the Bible Student Movement, this is the first time Jehovahs Witnesses predicted the end of the world.

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The End, La Fin, Das Ende

MEXICO

Experts are fighting to assure the public that the Mayan Calendar has not predicted the end of the world. Mexican government archaeologist Alfredo Barrera says that the Maya did make prophecies, but they consisted of events that occurred in their lifetime and not the future, according to The Huffington Post. Archaeologists, anthropologists, and history specialists are trying to rid fears throughout Mexico. Others are taking measures into their own hands. Resorts, for example, are hosting information sessions to inform tourists about the misinterpretations of the calendar, according to the Rock Hill, S.C. newspaper The Herald.

BOLIVIA

If you believe in extraterrestrials, Bugarach, a small village with a population of about 200, may be able to withstand the coming Armageddon. Some think that a group of aliens residing in a nearby mountain will leave when the world ends and take Bugarach citizens with them. The city is sparking a lot of interest and its small population is predicted to rise immensely before the predicted Doomsday, according to the BBC.

FRANCE

The government of this South American country is planning to cut ties with Coca-Cola on Dec. 21, 2012 due to a belief that this day will mark the end of capitalism. Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca says that a new era of equality will begin after the company is banned from Bolivia, according to the news source Zimbio.

IRAN

BRAZIL

The countrys Supreme Leader told his people they need to prepare for end times. Ayatollah Ali Khameneis message refers to the prediction that the Islamic Messiah is coming, as well as the rising global tension from the nations possession of nuclear weapons, according to the independent news network WND. Whether it is from weapons of mass destruction or a Muslim savior, leaders have warned the Iranian people that the end is near.

A Ziggurat is being built for those who want to survive Dec. 21 in Brazil. This pyramid-shaped tower is a refuge in the making, according to Globo Reprter. Located in the city of Corguinho, the structure will be able to withstand the predicted apocalypse.

RUSSIA

The safe houses are built, companies are making drastic business decisions, and some world leaders warn of the end. Other experts offer comfort, insisting that the Earth is not in its final days. The U.S. is not the only country where both Doomsday believers and doubters are facing the unknown on Dec. 21. Heres whats going on elsewhere in the world.
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A man in Russia has built a survival capsule to survive beyond Dec. 21. The capsule can house four people comfortably for up to 40 days. It can withstand lava, float, roll down hills, and land upside down. Creator Evgeny Ubiyko urged the Russian government to obtain as many of these safe houses as possible. Each capsule costs approximately $80,000, according to the news network RT. No purchase from the government has been recorded.

ALEXA BALL FIN MAGAZINE 5