The world was supposed to end 10 years ago today
Topics: Space, World News, News
Anna Verdon
Featured Image Credit: James Thew / Alamy Stock Photo/Maximum Film / Alamy Stock Photo
Topics: Space, World News, News
According to the Mayan calendar it’s a miracle that we’re all still here as the world was meant to end 10 years ago today.
The ancient Maya had predicted more than 2,200 years ago that the calendar would end on 21 December 2012 which led to people speculating that an apocalypse was due to occur.
Many people had long thought that we’d be wiped out by a natural disaster like a giant tidal wave, earthquake or volcanic eruption.
Others thought we’d come to our demise by the Earth colliding with a mysterious planet which would cause a shift in our magnetic poles or a black hole. All very festive, isn't it?
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However, obviously, the Mayans' predictions were incorrect.
Many people took to social media to comment on the missed historic ‘milestone’.
“The Mayan Calendar flopped so hard 10 years ago,” said one.
“Glad it didn't because we have TikTok,” said another.
While another person posted a Gangnam Style meme and wrote 'it did', in reference to the song’s video becoming the first to reach 1 billion views on YouTube this day in 2012.
Another said: “Maybe they did and this is Hell.”
While someone else bleakly added: “They predicted right, my life did end.”
Others remembered being worried at the time.
“The way I was eating Doritos in bed wandering whether I’d be here tomorrow,” reminisced one.
“Ngl 2012 the movie really f*cked me up as a kid a small part of me lives in fear every day,” said another.
While the ancient Mayan people couldn’t predict the future, they did develop one of the world’s first written languages and worked out how to measure time using two complicated calendar systems.
The first was the Calendar Round system which was based on two overlapping cycles – a 260-day sacred year and a 265-day secular year. At the end of each cycle, the clock would reset itself.
The second was the Long Count Calendar which had predicted that the world would end 10 years ago.
The Maya believed that the end of one cycle would signal the beginning of another but this led to people believing that it signified the apocalypse.
Some thought this would be because the winter solstice and the Milky Way’s equator would align, although this was rubbished by scientists who said it would have no impact on the Earth and the Maya would not have known about the solar system back then.
Others believes the ancient Mayan people were following advice from aliens or drew on plagues from the Bible to suggest what would happen to the planet.
Either way, we all lived to tell the tale. Phew.