"There is no shortage of modern apocalyptic thought: Some Christians thought that the second coming of Jesus would coincide with the turn of the millenium, for technophobes the Y2K scare was the secular equivalent of Armageddon, and most cults declare the end-times every other Wednesday (and alternating Saturdays), while the new hot apocalypes theory on the block, is based on ancient Mayan prophecies, says that the end of days is set for 2012.
These are just the current dates, but humanity has believed that we are living in the end-times since the beginning of time. From the moment humans gained sentience, we immediately thought that everything around us was irrevocably fucked, and that it was just a matter of years - if not days - before the whole world came crashing down around us. Nostradamus is the most famous of these ancient criers of doom, but he was not the first by far: One of the earliest apocalyptic heralds is recorded in an Assyrian clay tablet dating all the way back to 2800 BC, which reads in part:
Our earth is degenerate in these latter days. Corruption is rampant. These are signs that the world is speedily coming to an end.
This tablet, in addition to being one of the first recorded apocalyptic prophesies, also holds the dubious honor of being the oldest innaccurate prophecy ijn history - considering that since you're alive to read these words, that anonymous author was wrong by at least five thousand years. Though there have sertainly been other mistaken prophets of doom since, none has been such a truly epic failure. It just goes to reinforce that age-old adage: You can't spell Assyrian without an "ass"."
http://www.everythingisgoingtokilleverybody.com/
This book is really funny!