It seems we’re obsessed with the end of the world some days. Zombies, massive meteors, or nuclear annihilation—we run the gamut in our fiction and in our fears. But what if we’ve already been through the end of the world? What if we’ve already survived not one, not two, but 10 different doomsday scenarios? Humans are nothing if not resilient and tenacious.

10 The Dust Bowl

Lasting eight years, the Dust Bowl was a severe drought in the 1930s, the roughest time of the Great Depression. It affected parts of Texas, Colorado, Nebraska, and Oklahoma, driving thousands from their states to seek a better life elsewhere.

The combination of over-farming, reliance on a small number of crops, and lack of rainfall led to soil depletion, which turned normally fertile topsoil into fine-particle dust. The storms kicked up by the prevailing west-to-east winds of the Great Plains caused dust clouds to bury entire towns in suffocating grit.

But lest you think it was confined to the Midwest, on April 14, 1935, the dust storms were so massive that they blotted out the Sun in several states (as well as Washington, DC) and ships in the Atlantic Ocean reported dust falling upon their decks. Ironically, a member of Franklin Roosevelt’s cabinet was testifying before Congress on the need for soil conservation when the storm hit. He reportedly pointed out the window and stated, “This, gentlemen, is what I’ve been talking about.”

A combination of soil conservation laws and programs as well as rain finally returning to the Plains states in 1939 brought a close to what must have seemed like the end of days to many.

9 The Mongol Conquests

Ruthless and dispassionate, the Mongol hordes descended upon the societies of Asia and Europe like a force of nature. During the 13th century, Genghis Khan forged the many tribes and clans of the central Asian steppes into an effective and devastating war machine, conquering China, the Middle East, Russia, and parts of Europe.

That the Mongols killed many is not in doubt, but the exact number can be hard to pin down. Some regions such as China had excellent census figures, but other places did not (or their records didn’t survive). While we may not know exactly how many people perished as the hordes swept through Eurasia, we do know that there was a sudden drop-off in the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere—a drop-off that cannot be explained except by the deaths of millions of living, breathing animals.

The Mongols, though, eventually lost momentum and fragmented. Their massive empire eventually fractured and dissolved, a mere 100 years after they started.

8 The Black Plague

Most people are aware of the massive, devastating plague known as the Black Death, which swept through Europe in the 14th century. It is reported to have killed around 50 percent of the European population.

But what many people don’t know is that the Black Death didn’t just affect Europe but Africa, the Middle East, and Asia as well. The plague, caused mainly by the microbe yersenia pestis, was phenomenally virulent.

It spawned not just the plague itself but widespread panic and the rise of crazy superstitions, such as that the disease was caused by God’s displeasure. The disease struck down the rich, poor, weak, powerful, pious, and heretical alike and led to massive social upheavals.

The plague returned periodically afterward but lacked the impact of the 14th-century outburst. Yet it still remains in our collective memory, albeit in the form of a poetic misconception: “Ring Around the Rosie”, which most people believe chronicles the stages (and attempts to prevent) the Black Death. On the contrary this famous nursery rhyme appears to have no connection to the plague—nor, indeed, any sinister origins at all.

7 Potato Famine

In the mid-19th century, the reliance of many working poor upon a single crop (potatoes) led to millions of deaths. Most people associate this disaster with Ireland, and they’re partly right. Ireland did indeed have the most visible manifestation of the “blight.”

But it was definitely not the only country to suffer. The blight actually struck most of northern and central Europe, including Scotland, where it was known as the “Highland Blight” or “Highland Famine.” The blight also affected Belgium and was devastating to the German economies, leading to near total societal collapse as starving workers died in the streets of Europe.

The tragedy was made worse by the fact that in many regions, such as in Ireland, there was more than enough food produced, but governments and merchants alike favored the profits made by selling grain and food overseas.

6 The Thirty Years’ War

Arguably the most famous of the “religious” wars of Europe, the Thirty Years’ War was a series of conflicts pitting one nation against another in an attempt to resolve several matters, including the primacy of Catholicism or Protestantism. Nearly every country in Europe participated in the wars, but the most devastating battles took place in the Holy Roman Empire of Central Europe.

The very nature of the war, which combined political greed with religious obsession, meant that no side was willing to be merciful to the other. The result devastated Germanic cities and states, leaving many municipalities as ghost towns and harvests of staple grains reduced by up to 75 percent.

5 World War II

The last great world conflagration is etched indelibly in history. Every corner of the globe, with the possible exception of the Antarctic, saw combat between the Allied and Axis forces. The result was an utterly devastated Europe and Asia.

During the war, 80 million people died in combat, through pogroms (including the Holocaust), and by starvation. By the end of the war, starvation and deprivation were commonplace as people tried to eke out a living amid the destroyed ruins of once-great cities. No running water, no electricity, no food, and barely any government in Europe, China, and Japan left innocent civilians perched upon the knife’s edge of chaos or death.

To illustrate how devastated the world economy and society was, the United States was producing one of every two products made from 1945 to 1946. The destruction was so complete that the normally isolationist United States Congress was motivated to embark upon an ambitious pair of spending projects to jump-start the world economy and prevent a return to the Great Depression. The Marshall Plan and a similar plan launched in Japan and China spent tens of billions of dollars in reconstruction aid.

4 Smallpox In The Western Hemisphere

Contact with Europeans, even if it had been completely peaceful, would not have been benign for people living in the Americas or the islands of the Pacific. Unknown to the Europeans, a nearly invisible hitchhiker had come along on their 15th- and 16th-century voyages of exploration: smallpox.

Along with other diseases that Europeans had built up a resistance to over the centuries, smallpox devastated native populations in North America, the Caribbean, South America, and Oceania. Over the centuries, conservative estimates of the death toll from the disease put the number at 60–70 percent of native populations. Powerless to stop the disease and seeking refuge from the high fevers and horrible pain, natives prayed to their gods or committed suicide to ease their suffering.

3 The Fall Of Western Rome

Often lamented in medieval literature and bemoaned in Enlightenment writings, the contraction and eventual collapse of the Western half of the Roman Empire in the fifth century AD must have seemed like the end of everything. Lasting nearly 1,000 years, Rome had a profound impact upon Mediterranean and European cultures.

Many successor states tried to emulate the pattern of Rome with varying success. However, unlike some of the other apocalypses on this list, the collapse of Western Rome was a drawn-out affair rife with invasions, governmental collapse, and starvation.

Roman Britain, for example, was left to its own devices as the legions withdrew and the Germanic Jutes, Angles, and Saxons invaded, reshaping Britain through conquest. Similarly, Germanic tribes filled the void in Iberia, Gaul, and even the Italian peninsula. Goths, Visigoths, and the infamous Vandals—their names and reputations for brutality persist to this day.

These tribes warred with the people who remained, with each other, and with the Eastern Roman Empire which sought (and failed) to recapture the lost Western Empire. It wasn’t until the eighth century that things began to settle down (sort of) in Western Europe.

2 The Fall Of The Qing Dynasty

China is—and always has been—the most populous place on Earth. Its governments are in charge of the lion’s share of the Earth’s people. Thus, it is no surprise that when one of their governments collapse, it is devastating to the world’s population.

No collapse—and attendant famine—was more pronounced than the end of the Qing dynasty. By the mid-19th century, the Qing dynasty’s fortunes had waned dramatically. Inflation had put even basic foodstuffs out of the reach of ordinary people, greedy bureaucrats and the rich had forced people off their land, and there was a massive influx of the addictive drug opium.

By the mid-18th century, the Chinese had ballooned to nearly 500 million people. So when the economy did collapse in 1876, millions of people starved to death every single year. Add to that the devastation of the First and Second Opium Wars, and the Qing dynasty’s eventual collapse was all but assured. The chaos which ensued led to tens of millions more deaths due to rioting, starvation, war, and disease.

1 Megiddo

The city of Megiddo (aka Tel Megiddo) was an important hub of trade, culture, and power in the ancient world. It was prized by the two major powers of the time—the Assyrians and the Egyptians—so much so that the town was conquered dozens of times in the ancient period.

What’s remarkable about the town is not its conquest but that the memory of those massive, bloody conflicts have worked their way into popular consciousness, mythology, and the three major Abrahamic religions. The battles which raged between Assyria and Egypt, particularly under Thutmose III, were so horrifying and devastating that the later Greek word for the city became synonymous with the end of the world: Armageddon.

It is believed by many devout followers of Abrahamic religions, such as Christianity, that the last battle of all time between the forces of good and evil will occur there. Interestingly, since that cataclysmic battle in the 15th century BC, there have been dozens of battles, big and small, fought in or near Tel Megiddo, including a major battle in World War I between the British and the Ottoman forces.

Michael is a lecturer at two Midwestern universities and loves to work in the creepy, odd, cool, and strange tidbits into his lectures to illustrate just how cool history is.

Mankind has always made predictions about the future, and quite a few people throughout history have claimed to know what lies ahead. Even during the 20th century, sci-fi writers made some surprisingly accurate predictions about the computerized 21st-century space age.

Then there are the doomsday prophets who, over the centuries, have repeatedly predicted the end of the world. Given the hundreds of end dates provided, we fortunately seem to have a pretty good success rate for surviving apocalypse theories. Some predictions were based upon close analysis of biblical references. Others involved planetary movements and collisions with comets. Many were just plain weird, to the point of even changing the date when the anticipated apocalypse failed to arrive.

Today’s Internet age has provided a means of delivering these theories to a vast audience within a short time frame. With websites dedicated to imaginary planets, fake news sites, and social media shares, these messages of imminent doom can quickly go viral. It’s surprising how many people have actually believed the world was going to end tomorrow. Again.

10 Y2K
2000

As the calendars clicked over to the year 2000, a combination of uncertainty about the dawning of a new era and widespread scaremongering saw millions of people hoarding supplies and bunkering down for the end of the world as we know it.

Some believed that computer coding issues meant that programs would be unable to recognize the year 2000, crashing systems and causing worldwide chaos. Many feared that on the stroke of January 1, 2000, computers would recognize the new date as 1900.

Millions of dollars were spent worldwide preparing for “Y2K” or the “Millennium Bug,” which was supposed to affect everything from banking and retail to emergency services and airplane safety systems. Even the skeptics were hoarding extra groceries, water, and flashlights “just in case” essential services actually did fail.

On the stroke of midnight, the predicted global meltdown failed to eventuate, and the world as we know it continued to go on.^[1]

9 Nibiru Collision
2003

The fictional planet “Nibiru” (also referred to as “Planet X”) first failed to collide with Earth on May 27, 2003. Nibiru is said to be a planet which sits on the outskirts of our solar system. Some followers claim that the planet’s orbit is controlled by a giant UFO.

Nancy Lieder claimed in 1995 that a brain implant enabled her to communicate with aliens in the Zeta Reticuli system. She believed it was her chosen mission to warn the world of the impending end to humanity.^[2]

NASA scientists have repeatedly refuted the existence of the planet, suggesting that at most, it’s a small, inconsequential comet, if it’s anything at all. This has sparked claims of a cover-up from believers in Nibiru.

A number of dates have been proposed for the apocalypse since 2003. When the planet fails to arrive, the date is shifted to a new estimated time of arrival. It would seem that Lieber’s extraterrestrial communications may be a little unreliable.

8 Live On The Internet
2008

Ohio-based pastor Ronald Weinland took to the Internet to warn everyone that the world would end on September 30, 2008. The minister of the “Preparing for the Kingdom of God” church also released a book in 2006, stating that he and his wife had been appointed as witnesses to the end of the world.

Citing biblical references and a complex series of events which would occur in the lead-up to Armageddon in a series of sermons streamed live on the Internet, Weinland urged his followers to prepare for the end in 2008.

Unfortunately, there had been an error in Weinland’s calculations, so the apocalypse didn’t appear as expected. Under his new calculations, it was due on May 7, 2012. After that, it was May 19, 2013. Weinland was found guilty of tax evasion in 2012.^[3]

7 Catastrophic Earthquake
2011

Evangelical broadcaster Harold Camping advised the world that it was due to end on May 21, 2011. His radio ministry invested in an extensive advertising campaign to warn the world of impending doom. Billboards, motor vehicles, and radio advertising spread the word that the end of the world was nigh.

According to Mr. Camping’s revelations, true believers would ascend into Heaven on that date, while the rest of the world would suffer a catastrophic earthquake. A number of followers divested themselves of their worldly goods in preparation, only to be sadly disappointed when the day passed without the forecast doom.

A review of the scripture revealed to Mr. Camping that he had failed to factor in God’s mercy, which would extend the date of impending doom until October that year. Mr. Camping’s previous predictions of a 1994 apocalypse had also failed to come to pass.^[4]

6 Comet Elenin
2011

Throughout history, the appearance of comets has always been seen as a harbinger of doom. So when Russian astronomer Leonard Elenin first spotted Comet Elenin late in 2010, the doomsday theorists hit the Internet. The armchair astronomers predicted everything from earthquakes and tidal waves to a full-on collision with Earth between August and October 2011.

This was despite the fact that the comet was some 647 million kilometers (402 million mi) from Earth when it was first spotted. Mainstream news all but ignored the existence of the comet, as there wasn’t really very much to report, according to the facts provided by space scientists.

NASA astronomers assured the world that the comet posed no threat to life as we know it.^[5] In fact, the object broke into small pieces during its journey through the inner solar system in 2011.

5 A Transformation Of Sixes
2012

Followers of the Miami-based sect “Growing in Grace” proclaimed the end of the world would occur on June 30, 2012. According to their leader, Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda, on that date, his followers were to be transformed into magical beings that would fly and walk through walls. The cult leader claimed he was a reincarnation of Jesus, a fact which was revealed to him through talking to the prophets.

According to the cult, on June 30, 2012, the Earth’s rotation would accelerate to a speed of 107,289 kilometers per hour (66,666 mph). Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda turned 66 in 2012. All cult members were tattooed with the numbers “666.” These inexplicable coincidences all pointed to the inevitable end of the world as we know it on the predicted date.^[6]

Advertising billboards were erected to proclaim the date on which his followers would be taking over the world. As usual, July 1, 2012, arrived without incident.

4 Maya Doomsday
2012

According to some scholars, the ancient Maya calendar indicated that the end of the world was coming shortly before Christmas 2012. Misinterpretations of the ancient calendar suggested that it ended on December 21, 2012, signaling the end of time.

So popular was the “2012 Phenomenon” that many were pointing to natural disasters and world events at the time as indications that the prophecy was unfolding. Once again, the Internet was flooded with theories of galactic collisions that would mark the end of the world on that date.

Yet again, NASA scientists were quick to debunk the doomsday theories, seeking experts to explain the complexities of the Maya calendar. The Maya perception of time was infinite, and therefore their calendar could not be said to pinpoint a specific date in time or be read in the context of our modern calendars. Nor were there any other indications in Maya culture of a cataclysm on that date or of any potentially Earth-shattering comets or planets currently on NASA’s radar.

NASA was so confident that the Earth was safe that they issued their press release a day early. As was the case with the previous predictions, the world continued to turn on December 22, 2012.^[7]

3 Rasputin’s Apocalypse
2013

Grigori Rasputin was a holy man most famous for his connections with the ill-fated Russian Royal family. Dubbed the “mad monk,” Rasputin’s “mystical powers” were claimed to have cured the Russian prince of the blood disease hemophilia. In letters to the Russian royal family during the revolution, he made a number of accurate “predictions,” such as his death at the hands of government officials and the subsequent murder of the Russian royal family.

These, however, may have been more of an astute understanding of the political turmoil of the time than any mystical revelation. Among the predictions in his final letters was the suggestion that the “second coming” would occur on August 23, 2013, and that the Earth would be consumed by fire—yet another apocalypse that failed to materialize.^[8]

2 Blood Moon Prophecy
2014

In 2014, we once again managed to escape the “Blood Moon Prophecy.” In fact, this was the 62nd time in 2,000 years that we have escaped a lunar-induced apocalypse, specifically the end that’s supposed to come after a series of four lunar eclipses, referred to as a tetrad. Biblical scholars have long cited references from Acts and Revelation where “the sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood” as a biblical verification that the lunar eclipse signifies the imminent end of the world.

Christian pastor Mark Bilz predicted that a series of eclipses in 2014 would mark the beginning of the apocalypse, while John Hagee, author of Four Blood Moons, also suggested that the string of blood moons would mark the end of the world. Both these predictions attracted wide attention, with some people actually hoarding supplies in preparation for the impending apocalypse. However, like every lunar eclipse before them, nothing happened other than the Moon being temporarily shadowed.^[9]

1 Nibiru (Again)
2015

In 2015, Nibiru was once again threatening life on Earth, with claims that its collision course with our planet would end on September 23 that year. According to conspiracy theorist David Meade, NASA was hiding information on the planet from the general public.

Biblical verses indicated that the apocalypse would definitely arrive shortly. When Nibiru appeared to miss its connecting flight in September 2015, the estimated time of arrival was revised to October 15 that year. Nibiru’s latest no-show was on April 23, 2018.

NASA once again continued to reassure worried stargazers that Nibiru was nothing more than an Internet hoax. Given the number of times the mythical planet has failed to show up this decade, you tend to believe them.

Lesley Connor is a retired Australian newspaper editor who provides articles to online publications and through her travel blog.