Every so often, it feels like somebody comes up with a new end of the world scenario. I get bits and pieces of some prophecy over here, some prediction over there, and a whole lot of confusion and intrigue. Heck, the most recent world-altering event was September 2025 with the rapture that was supposed to happen! This got me thinking, what are the most memorable “end of the world” events that I remember experiencing or hearing about? Esteemed readers, I proudly present to you: my doomsday podium.
4. Worthy of mention, I give the “coming of the new ice age” fourth place on this ranking! It started in the 1970s with the prediction of a new ice age coming 50 years from then. It spread mainly because of a global cooling trend happening around that decade, with newspapers sensitizing the public to this phenomenon, and scientists stating the world could enter a new ice age should the cooling trend continue. It had enough impact that it made its way into my life as a kid in the 2010s. I remember hearing about a supposed “ice age” approaching soon — a terrifying prospect for a young girl living in a hot climate city. As far as end of the world vibes go, it had solid word of mouth reach and prophetic-like predictions from years ago that were supposedly based on science.
6/10, bone chilling, would be intrigued to see another prediction like this.
3. In third place and taking home the bronze medal, we’ve got 2015’s “Super Blood Moon eclipse” doomsday! Following a series of three lunar eclipses, the fourth and final one in the lunar tetrad was believed to announce the world’s end, according to religious groups. Part of why it was so scary was that, in addition to being eclipsed and turned red, the moon was also at its closest position to Earth, making it appear larger. In my experience, it was interesting to witness how glued everyone’s gaze was to the moon when the eclipse happened — some because of its rarity and beauty, and others anxious about the world possibly ending.
7/10, would’ve definitely hit harder if not opaqued by another recent doomsday… had me terrified still. Bonus points for the moon looking so badass and scaring me poopless.
2. For the silver medal in this doomsday podium, I present to you the great, the mighty, the unparalleled “Y2K” bug! By the end of 1999, people feared for the world’s collapse because of a computer glitch known as the millennium bug, or Y2K. It was believed that computers were not equipped to handle the digit change to indicate the start of a new millennium, and that this would cause the collapse of any computer dependent systems. Transport, banks, schools, businesses, governments, nuclear facilities, you name it — all to come crashing down because of computers going haywire. I’m convinced this end of the world single-handedly gave the generations above me the biggest scare of their lives as far as doomsdays go. I didn’t personally experience it, but trust me, I’m certain it was a big event. So big in fact, that when little me first asked about the world seemingly ending soon, my parents attempted to soothe me with “don’t worry, it was supposed to end on new year’s day in 2000, and nothing happened.”
9/10, perfect coincidence to change millenium amid the booming of the internet, powerful legacy, would have loved to see it in person.
1. Lastly, there’s one doomsday that, in my opinion, did it better than all of the rest. I present to you, the winner of the gold medal, 2012’s “Mayan Calendar” apocalypse! This one had the whole world on the edge of their seats. People believed the Mayans, notorious for their extraordinarily precise astronomy knowledge, had accurately predicted the end of the world to be Dec. 21, 2012. This story became so big thanks to the internet’s capability to spread information rapidly, leading to the sensationalization of the end of the Mayan calendar. The endless stream of content online and how much people were talking about it only made it seem more catastrophic. I remember hearing about how the world would plunge into darkness for three consecutive days and how we would be supposedly visited by strange beings in the dark. I was horrified. My sister and I were so terrified in fact, on the day of the end we bid each other farewell at sundown and couldn’t sleep all night. The amount of content we got from it was crazy, too. Movies, news, videos, claims, blogs, game content, it was everywhere! To this day, that was the biggest, baddest, scariest end of the world I’ve lived through.
10/10, peak content, marked a generation, what all ends of the world should aspire to be.
