Whiston's Comet Strike
Newton's Successor Whiston Booked a Comet Strike for October 1736. Londoners Camped; London Stood
Crowds headed for Islington and Hampstead to watch the capital's ruin as the beginning of the end. October closed with London still standing.
What was claimed (paraphrase)
he predicted the world would end on 16 October that year because a comet would hit the earth
— William Whiston (theologian, mathematician; former Lucasian Professor) · said 1736 · due October 16, 1736
October 1736 brought no comet strike and no London annihilation. Archbishop Wake publicly denied the scare; Whiston kept publishing.
The Story
William Whiston had already blamed a comet for Noah's Flood. In 1736 he put another one on the calendar for London.
Wikipedia records the date as October 16; Charles Mackay remembered the thirteenth and the crowds that poured toward Islington and Hampstead to watch the city fall as the beginning of the end. Archbishop Wake issued a denial to calm the capital.
No strike. No ruin. Whiston's Astronomical Year (1737) discussed the comet that did appear — after the appointment had already missed.
Receipts
Wikipedia: predicted world end 16 Oct 1736 by comet; Archbishop William Wake officially denied it. Mackay places the scare on 13 Oct and describes crowds to Islington, Hampstead, and fields — London as 'beginning of the end.'
Quote paraphrases Wikipedia; day follows Wikipedia; Mackay's 13th noted as variant in panic literature.