Isaac Newton's 2060 (at the Earliest)
Isaac Newton: Not Before 2060, and Please Stop Guessing
Newton scribbled 2060 as the earliest possible date, specifically to discourage doomsday date-setters.
What was said
“It may end later, but I see no reason for its ending sooner. This I mention not to assert when the time of the end shall be, but to put a stop to the rash conjectures of fancifull men who are frequently predicting the time of the end, & by doing so bring the sacred prophesies into discredit as often as their predictions fail.”
— Sir Isaac Newton · said 1704 · due 2060, and no earlier
Honorary patron saint of this website: he only wrote 2060 down to stop people setting doomsday dates. It did not work.
The Story
From Yahuda MS 7.3g, f. 13v (National Library of Israel), an unpublished manuscript note; Wikipedia dates the related manuscript to about 1704. The countdown runs to the start of 2060, the earliest date he allowed.
Later spin
Historian Stephen Snobelen stresses that Newton saw 2060 as the earliest possible date for a new era rather than a literal destruction of the world.
Receipts
- Statement on the Date 2060 - Stephen D. Snobelen, isaac-newton.orgaccessed 2026-09-29
- Isaac Newton's religious views - Wikipediaaccessed 2026-09-29
As of Oct 9, 2026
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