The 2012 Maya Apocalypse
Maya Long Count Rolls Over Like an Odometer; Planet Survives Friday
The ancient Maya never scheduled an apocalypse. Plenty of people scheduled it for them anyway.
What was claimed (paraphrase)
The end of a 5,126-year cycle of the Maya Long Count calendar on 21 December 2012 would bring cataclysm or the end of the world.
— widely believed 2012 doomsday (not the ancient Maya) · due December 21, 2012
The Long Count just ticked over to a new cycle, like an odometer, not a self-destruct timer. People threw parties at Chichen Itza instead.
The Story
A popular belief with no single owner, built on a misreading of the Maya Long Count (summary paraphrased from Wikipedia). Doom scenarios included rogue planets, alignments and pole shifts; New Age versions predicted a positive transformation instead.
The ancient Maya predicted no such thing: the idea built up from the 1970s, and the exact date spread after 1983.
Receipts
- 2012 phenomenon - Wikipediaaccessed 2026-09-29
As of Oct 9, 2026
since it didn't happen
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