Photo credit: woodleywonderworks

Earth Day, the annual day of awareness and time for appreciation of the environment, has become a hot button among members of different political parties. Those who believe in climate change use it as a soap box day and those who don’t often do not celebrate or acknowledge the day at all. But no matter what side of the fence you are on, you can use Earth Day as a means to bettering your world or local environment. After all, you don’t have to embrace the idea of climate change in order to want cleaner parks, less smog and fewer landfills.

If you are looking for some way to celebrate Earth Day while making a difference in your local community, here are a few ideas.

Photo credit: Mykl Roventine

1. Volunteer. In general, volunteerism on Earth Day revolves around cleaning up the land around you—but it doesn’t have to. You can volunteer at your local animal shelter, your local church, your local nursing home or any other organization. After all, your environment is not just about land and air, it is also about the people and animals who coexist in it.

2. Start a recycling center at work. If your office doesn’t already recycle then you could make a huge difference simply by putting out a few bins for newspapers, plastic bags and cans. Be sure to line the containers with garbage bags (that you can later recycle) to make transporting the contents from your office to the recycling center easier. You can drop off the recyclables at your local grocery store or recycling center weekly or monthly, depending on how quickly they pile up.

3. Make crafts with trash. Did you know you can make beautiful Christmas wreaths with wire hangers and plastic shopping bag handles? Simply form a circle with the wire hanger and start tying the plastic bag handle strips around the circle. But that’s not the only craft you can create with trash. Do some research and create a craft project or two to help reduce and re-purpose your waste.

Photo credit: iboy_daniel

4. Host a clothing and accessory exchange party: Few people realize just how much buying new clothes and accessories (like jewelry, belts and purses) can affect the environment by encouraging constant production. From the factory waste and smog to the machinery and oil to the shipping of the products and the mining of natural elements, the production of new clothes and accessories can have a significant negative impact on the planet. On Earth Day, you can reduce some of this impact by hosting a clothing and accessory exchange with your friends and neighbors so that you can all enjoy something new without buying it.

5. Pick up trash at the park. If you have ever seen empty soda or beer cans, plastic bottles and bags, or trash of any other kind around your neighborhood or local park then your community needs you to make them clean once again. On Earth Day you can take a long stick with a nail at the end of it along with a bag and start picking up all the trash you see around your park or neighborhood. Not only is this good for the earth, it also makes your neighborhood look great.

By:  Terra L. Fletcher, owner Fletcher Freelance

Almost everyone travels, some people travel quite frequently.  What can make your vacations or business trips more enjoyable?  Traveling smart. The following six travel gadgets and accessories are practical solutions for common traveling dilemmas.  They also make great gifts!

     1.  Bose In-Ear Travel Headphones 

A set of high-quality earphones is essential for any traveler.  Bose products fit most electronics and deliver clear, authentic sound.  For maximum comfort, the in-ear headphones come in three sizes of contoured silicone tips that sit in the ear (without entering the ear canal).  These earbuds are$99.99 on the Bose website.  You’ll also find replacement parts and a carrying case.

     2.  Downy Wrinkle Releaser

For about four dollars you can undo most of the wrinkles your cramped suitcase has inflicted upon your vacation wardrobe.  Simply spray, stretch the fabric, and smooth out the wrinkles.  No iron required!  Downy Wrinkle Releaser works on nearly all garments and is available in most supermarkets.

     3.  Samsonite Travel Accessories RF ID Protection Passport Cover 

Travel documents should be safe, organized, and accessible.  Passports now have radio frequency identification chips (RFID) which make it easy for border control to quickly scan your documents.  Due to the prevalence of identity theft, it is essential to ensure that thieves cannot read that RFID code.  Samsonite’s passport protector is constructed of rugged nylon and lined with RFID blocking aluminum. Its bi-fold cover and mesh windows secure your travel documents whether your cover is open or closed.

     4.  Schick Intuition Razor

If you’re like me, your sensitive skin doesn’t allow you to shave without shave gel.  Likely your overstuffed luggage would also be grateful not to have a large canister of shave gel to add to its busting seams.  The Schick Intuition Razor lathers, shaves, and moisturizes so you don’t need shave gel.  The razor now comes with four blades for a very close shave.  Schick even makes a Sensitive Care variety, for gals like me.  Pick yours up for about $7.99 at drugstores nationwide. 

     5.   Eagle Creek Travel Towel 

Travel towels are ideal for backpackers, campers, hikers, and the sports enthusiast.  Several quick drying and bacteria resistant varieties are available.  This one from Eagle Creek is a fraction of the size of your bath towel at just 19.5×39”, but its microfiber material is ultra absorbent.  Microfiber is softer than chamois towels, and this towel is sold at a competitive price, $19.95 at Paragon Sports.

     6.  Pelican Micro Case Series

For only $10-20, these stylish little cases can protect almost anything.  These tough polycarbonate cases are crushproof, dust proof, water resistant, and can resist extreme temperatures.  Perfect for storing small electronic devices, the cases come in multiple colors or with clear lids to view the contents.

The best travel experiences are the ones where you are safe, comfortable, entertained, and presentable.  These top picks for travel gadgets and accessories are exactly what you need to ensure your trip is just that.  What are your favorite travel companions?

Lately, I’ve been on a self-improvement kick. One of the things I’ve always wanted to improve is my manners. I never know what fork to use when faced with multiple options, never understand how to wipe my mouth daintily at dinner, and I’ve always been confused about the right way to dress and act in social situations. I sometimes even have trouble figuring out the perfect way to introduce myself to someone new.

This weekend, while watching MTV’s hit show Jersey Shore, I got a little education in etiquette, Jersey style. Luckily for you I’ve created this handy guide so you know just how to eat, pack and dress and how NOT to meet new people.

A picture of our etiquette instructors.

Food and Drink

Knife, fork and napkin dilemma: The first lesson is from “I wear my sunglasses at night” cast member Vinny. In the very first episode of Jersey Shore, Vinny shows us that forks and knives become optional when mama is around. You see, Vinny’s mother takes the time to reach across the table and cut Vinny’s food for him. At the end of the meal, she takes her hand and wipes Vinny’s face clean. So the next time you attend an upscale dinner or function don’t be intimidated by all the knives and forks in front of you, just bring your mom!

The finger food pickle: Eating finger food at a fancy function can be tense. After all, you want to enjoy the yummy treats… but how do you eat them delicately, with class, while avoiding looking like the little piglet you know you are? For this we take our lesson from Snookie. In episode three, Snookie took a pickle from the house refrigerator and proceeded to suck it. Once she had sucked all the juice out of it she then proceeded to bite, chew and swallow the dried pickle husk. So the next time you are at a fancy party just suck the finger foods first and THEN eat them.

Dress

How to be sexy without being sleazy: To learn how to dress appropriately for a night out, we turn to Jersey Shore cast member JWOWW. You see, many of us women have trouble finding that fine line between sexy and sleazy but JWOWW has really figured out how to walk that line in stilettos without falling. Following her shining example in every episode of Jersey Shore we find that exposing some boob and cleavage is good—but you simply must stop exactly one centimeter short of exposing the areola because, naturally, that would just be taking things way too far.

Packing tip: One of the female Jersey Shore cast members, Angelina, gave me a great idea for luggage for my next vacation. I’m always embarrassed that I can’t afford Louis Vuitton luggage and that really stops me from going on a lot of trips. I mean, what would people in the airport say if they saw my plain black Sears luggage? Oh, how they’d scorn me. Because of this, I paid special attention to the luggage brought in by the cast members of Jersey Shore. I mean, they knew they were going to be on television, after all. Surely that meant they would bring luggage that I can emulate without embarrassment. Imagine my surprise when Angelina walked in with all her worldly possessions in black garbage bags. Hooray! Packing for my next vacation just got easier!

Meeting New People

Keep your hands to yourself: If you want to meet new people, you need to have courage. If you want to be noticed, you have to stand out from the crowd. If you want to really stand out from the crowd, you should sucker punch a girl in the face like Jersey Shore non-cast member Brad Ferro did. While stealing drinks from the Jersey Shore cast, Ferro was heckled by Snookie. In response, he punched her right in the face. He has since lost his job and become the universal symbol for douchedom.

And there you have it, all the etiquette basics covered. While I wouldn’t expect this information to show up in Emily Post’s next book, further lessons await you on MTV.

Some of the cast of the original Star Trek.

As far as I’m concerned, no science fiction series set in space holds a candle to the original Star Trek series; it’s fun and campy without being distractingly so, the plots and acting hold up well over time, and it is chock-full of lessons that encourage personal growth. Over the years I’ve grown and learned a lot while watching the show. The growth is probably due to my love of potato chips but the learning is all thanks to Star Trek. You see, this seemingly simple science fiction show actually can teach you a lot about life. Here is a small sampling of some of the life lessons Star Trek bestows on its viewers.

The buyer should always beware: In the season 2 episode, The Trouble with Tribbles, lieutenant Uhura buys a mysterious little pet while on shore leave. The animal is called a tribble and she has never heard of them before. She doesn’t ask any questions about its care and doesn’t seem curious about any problems or pitfalls of the species. She just falls in love with the cuddly, trilling thing and buys it. The next day, Uhura’s tribble has babies, which she gladly gives away to other crew members. Before you know it, the USS Enterprise is overrun with tribbles. They crowd the bridge, have gotten into the ship’s mechanical system (much to Scotty’s chagrin) and they are eating all of the food. It turns out that 50% of each tribble’s system is devoted to reproduction and they have babies about every 12 hours. Like any infestation they must be collected and removed from the ship immediately, which means many lost man hours.

All of this could have been avoided if Uhura had asked some questions of the breeder. Once she found out how quickly tribbles reproduced, she would not have purchased one. While you and I probably won’t make any purchases that procreate that quickly and easily, we should always be wary of deals that seem too good to be true and we should find out all the upsides and downsides of our potential purchases before we buy.

Logic + emotion = balance: Spock and Captain Kirk are each like a different emotional extreme. Spock is almost completely unemotional

Look, they need each other.

(except during mating season) and Kirk is very emotionally empathetic. Spock has no pride or hubris while Kirk has a little too much. Together they work as a team to soften each other’s attributes and create decisions that are founded on both logic and emotional responses to situations. We regular folk could benefit from learning how to mix objective logic and reason with our emotional side to make decisions that aren’t lacking in either brains or heart.

A doctor is a doctor, is a doctor: I could not tell you how many times the USS Enterprise’s doctor Leonard “Bones” McCoy explains to Kirk that he is a doctor and not some other type of professional able to hypothesize or fix things outside of his specialty. This lesson can be taken two ways:

a) Understand what you know and admit what you don’t. How much trouble could they have gotten in if Bones had gone outside his specialty?

b) Find the right person for every job. Don’t ask your dog walker to opine on an injury your dog has—go to the vet. When laziness and accessibility come together you end up with the wrong person for the job.

Poster by Echosphere.

You are expendable… unless you are a main character: When an episode of Star Trek shows an unknown character beaming down to a planet, you can rest assured that there will be a death sometime during the episode. You know who will die? That one dude who beamed down that you, the viewer, had never seen before; the extra. And when the survivors get back to the ship no one else seems to care that this one dude died. If you aren’t an important, outgoing individual at your workplace then no one is going to miss you if you get laid off or fired–which makes you the first choice to beam down to planet jobless. Avoid this by staying involved in committees and projects at work, producing ideas and efficiency measures, and being noticeably good at what you do.

Photo by lusi

Every month brings a new potential holiday, special day or commemorative event to our homes and, therefore, a new opportunity to buy the wrong gift for the man or woman you love. From Valentine’s Day to anniversaries, Christmas to birthdays, gift-giving days lay on your calendar like land mines itching to explode.

While the right gift on any of these days can make you a hero in the eyes of your significant other, the wrong gift can make you a heartless, uncaring failure. In order to avoid being seen in an unflattering light, be sure to never buy your spouse or significant other the following five gift ideas.

1. A Pap smear or colon exam appointment: In December 2009, CBS launched a public service announcement campaign that said scheduling a Pap smear appointment for your wife was a “special” Christmas present. While it is nice to be concerned with the health and wellness of your spouse maybe you should save something like that for a regular day. Prostate exams, colorectal exams and Pap smears do not make good Christmas presents and they really kill the mood on Valentine’s Day. And given on a birthday, they can seem like an insulting reminder of advancing age, so don’t even go there.

2. Exercise machines or clothes: If your spouse is a real fitness buff then you may get away with giving them workout stuff as a gift but the average exercise-avoiding Joe may not respond so nicely. This gift could be misinterpreted as a hint that you think your lovely or handsome spouse needs to lose a few pounds. Most people don’t want to hear that any day, least of all on a romantic anniversary or holiday.

3. Snore-stopping nasal strips: If your spouse is snoring then nasal strips could help reduce the sleep-related breathing problems they have. But this is not an appropriate gift for a holiday—romantic or not. How about you buy yourself some earplugs instead? And, if you are actually worried about the health effects that snoring may have on your spouse, talk to them about it outside of any holiday, anniversary or birthday celebration.

Photo by alexallied

4. A cookbook or grocery store gift certificate: There isn’t anything that says, “Cook my dinner, slave” as well as a cookbook or some grocery store gift certificates do. If your spouse has a real passionate interest in cooking then this might actually be a fun idea but otherwise, steer clear of the domestic duties as gifts.

5. A pet: Nothing says, “I love to obligate you” as much as a forced 10-20 year commitment to pick up poop and pee. Buying a pet is a serious endeavor because the purchaser is promising to provide better than adequate care for a living thing for as long as it lives.  That means they will pick up its puke, feed it, put medicine in its eyes, ears or throat, play with it, exercise it—the list goes on and on. What the hell kind of gift is that?

The trick to giving the perfect gift on any holiday or anniversary is to give something that your spouse will like—not something that you WANT them to like. Think about their hobbies, passions and interests and, if all else fails, just take a few hours and spend time with them. Time is the gift that keeps on giving.

Photo by lm913

As much as we resent them in grade school, high school and college, quizzes seem unavoidable and irresistible when found in an online format these days. With titles worthy of The National Enquirer and questions that would make your momma blush, these little nuggets of content are supposed to give you an insight into your character, personality, intelligence and life—but how accurate are any of them, really? After all, the broad personality traits that are reflected within the quiz questions can describe any one of us at different times of our lives, days or even menstrual cycles. The quizzes leave no room for personality quirks or nuances and need a broad brush with which to paint participants.

If you aren’t familiar with these inane time sucks, here is a sampling of some of the worst. The following quiz titles have been found on Facebook and other popular Web haunts of angsty pre-teens and are extremely popular… or so I’ve heard…

1.    Who Were You in a Past Life? What are the chances that you have even lived another life? And if you did, do you really think you are exhibiting traits of that former person now? Also, when you take this quiz, how come you always end up as some dead famous person? I mean, are they the only people who are reincarnated? Why not Salvus the 1930’s newspaper delivery boy who died at age 13 from the chicken pox? How come he didn’t get reincarnated?

2.    What Movie Star are You? Guess what? You aren’t. No, you are not a movie star at all. You may be fanatic about how your toilet paper roll hangs, but you are not Jennifer Aniston. You may love to drink and party, but you are not Lindsey Lohan. In fact, not only are you not a famous doppelganger but you are also not a movie star if you haven’t been in a movie.  And no, YouTube movies do not count.

3.    Are You in Love? I know, sometimes life love and relationships are hard. Sometimes, your heart feels something that your head may not agree with or your head tells you that you should feel something that your heart is simply not interested in. But if you need a quiz to tell you whether or not you are in love with someone then guess what? You are not in love with anyone. No matter how personally conflicted you may be, a pre-formulated quiz simply cannot tell you how your emotions feel.

4.    How Crazy are You? Look, if you really think that you are crazy then you need professional psychological help that a spelling mistake filled online quiz is simply not qualified to give you. If you aren’t actually looking for a diagnosis in the quiz then you just want a label to put on all the stupid decisions you’ve made in life, which is probably not something that you should be proud of or excited by.

So the next time some online quiz offers to tell you whether you are a Gryffindor or a Slytherin, whether you are trendy or trite or what kind of flower you are—spend your time doing something more useful instead… like trimming your eyelashes. At least you’ll actually get something out of that.

Celebrities may have more money than you, more material possessions than you, more plastic surgery and more powerful friends, but they are not immune to being caught committing a crime and getting a horrible mug shot taken. Over the years many stars including Mel Gibson, Paris Hilton, Heather Locklear and even Bill Gates have been arrested and had a mug shot taken. But not all celebrity mug shots are terrible or embarrassing; although, the ones that are, are so bad they often make you forget about the good ones. Here area few examples of some of the worst celebrity mug shots out there.

Yasmine Bleeth

Yasmine Bleeth: Jail is certainly no day at the beach, but when you were once a Baywatch babe, those harsh overhead lights can be extremely cruel. Especially when they set off the baggy, dark-eyed, blotchy skinned, sunken in nose horror of what looks like a year long drug bender.

Nick Nolte

Nick Nolte: Dirty hair obtained through products like Jonathan Antin’s Dirt may be “in” but dirty hair from a shower-free weekend binge is never cool. The Hawaiian shirt, however, is a nice touch and does brighten the picture up. It also shows us the partying mood that got him into this position.

Rip Torn

Rip Torn: There may be no way to look dignified in a mug shot, but there sure is a way to look down right terrible. Start with a head full of week-old, unwashed hair, add a drunken stupor, and then fall asleep mid-crime so that one side of your hair flops upward like a baby bird learning how to use his wings and you get Rip Torn.

Joyce Dewitt

Joyce Dewitt: Doe-eyed surprise is one thing when it’s caught on the face of a 20 something ingénue, but on a 60-year old after a drunk driving arrest, it just isn’t very flattering. After all, by the time you reach 60 you should not be surprised that you can get arrested for driving drunk and that they are going to take your picture if you do.

Phil Spector

Phil Spector: While it’s not surprising to see a celebrity mug shot in which the celebrity looks like just another average loser, it is surprising to see one in which said celebrity resembles your day laboring alcoholic uncle that no one leaves their children alone around. No, of course there is nothing wrong with day laborers and no—not every alcoholic (or uncle) is a molester—but seriously, if you have one of those, chances are he looks similar to this.

The next time you want to feel morally, ethically and physically superior to your celebrity idols, just do a real quick web search for a mug shot of them. Chances are real good they will have been caught unprepared for the spontaneous photo shoot and won’t have the benefit of Photoshop to even their skin tone, reduce fine lines and sleeping at the wheel wrinkles, and you’ll feel like a million bucks. Of course, no matter how bad they look in mug shots, these celebrities probably actually have a million bucks… but at least they don’t look like it.

Photo by aileé

The Food Network may have the best, most all-around consistently interesting basis for its content, but that doesn’t mean it’s immune to the fight for ratings that every channel participates in. Thanks to this fight, Food Network has caved in to the modern viewers’ desire for adrenaline pumping reality television and has created some of the most interesting reality shows TV has to offer, and they are all based around the topic of food. I know, I can sense your disbelief. But read about some of the best Food Network reality shows below and see if your television viewing taste buds aren’t tantalized.

1.    Top Chef: On Top Chef, chefs from all over the country compete to be named the top chef and win money to open their own restaurant. During the weeks of competition, contestants must make gourmet foods out of gas station fare, they must flay and debone fish at record speeds, and they need to create recipes that impress in record time—all while living together in the same house 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. And that is really the key to this show’s success because instead of being able to just meet for a competition with their game faces on, they develop friendships and enemy…ships and their personal feelings sometimes get in the way of their cooking.

2.    Food Network Challenge: Cakes! Cakes I say! While the Food Network Challenge can focus on any food item—chili, meatloaf, casserole, whatever—the best episodes are those that revolve around mountains of flour, eggs, sugar and fondant. During the competition, the bakers must create a veritable statue of cakey goodness that is executed perfectly, is artistically inspired and impresses the judges more than their rivals’ cakes, but they must also move the cakes from the counter to a display table after they’ve been assembled. And that, my friends, is when the viewer really is on the edge of their seat.

3.    Iron Chef America: Much like the original, Japanese version, Iron Chef America pits one chef against another. They must use the same main ingredients and develop a completely different and tastier menu than their competition. They have limited time to do so and their food gets judged by a panel of food experts, writers, celebrities and any other fitting food connoisseurs.

4.    Ace of Cakes: Yeah, I know, more cakes. But this one isn’t a competition, it’s simply a reality show about a bakery that creates amazing cakes for regular folks and celebrities. Their Harry Potter cake for one of the movie’s premiers was outstanding and mostly edible and their everyday wedding cakes defy gravity and logic. But beyond that it is a show about a group of people who have fun together while dedicating themselves to keeping their customers happy.

5.    Worst Cooks in America: How would you like some boiled chicken covered in American cheese for lunch? What—doesn’t sound good to you? Well if it does, you may be one of the worst cooks in America. On this show, contestants cook their best recipe for judges to prove that they are the worst cook America has to offer its collective palate. Those who are judged to be the worst get a lesson in cooking from professional chefs and then must match their newly acquired skills against the other worst cooks.

There is no denying it; reality television has been on a downward spiral for the past 10 years. The innovation is gone, it’s completely formulaic, and there is nothing you haven’t seen before.

Or is there?

Bravo’s multi-city reality series, Real Housewives is a shining example of what reality television could be if producers would lay off the gimmicks and contrived situations and just let people be. So what is it that this show gets right?

My favorite "Real Housewives" cast.

1. The participants aren’t cloistered: Instead of being put in a special house or castle the Real Housewives cast members stay home with their families. This puts a special strain on them which gives the show an added edge and gives us a legitimate insight into how private life is for other people. Naturally the shows are edited but you still get a surprisingly realistic look at their daily lives.

2. It’s a family affair: With the all-out invasiveness of the camera crew, Real

Ahhh family...

Housewives is a true family affair. Not only do we see the cast members’ reactions to their family but we see their family’s reactions to them. We can observe the contrast between how they act with friends and how they act with loved ones, we get to see how annoying and insecure some of the husbands are, how superficial some of the relationships are, how real and enduring others are, and we get to see all the little cracks in the armor. In short, we get past the “perfect family” front that many people try to present to the world.

3. It’s no game: There is no prize, no dimwitted bachelor or bachelorette to win, no money, no roses, no competitions… nothing but normal, everyday, rich people life–which does sometimes include roses, competitions, dimwitted bachelors and bachelorettes.

BFFs

4. These chicks are catty… and they’re neighbors: Having the primary cast consist entirely of women is interesting because women are different than most men in terms of social interaction. At the risk of sounding like a self-hating chick, I have noticed that women tend to gossip more than men, they are often very judgmental about other women. They also seem to talk behind backs more often. At least, that is what the women on Real Housewives do. While this same type of interaction can happen on other reality shows with many female cast members, Real Housewives is special because these women actually know each other socially and are real-life neighbors. Talk about after-the-show awkwardness.

5. They are (almost) all over 30: Except for Kim Zolciak, the supposedly 29 year old Atlanta housewife, all the housewives are over thirty—and all of them look it. No matter how much plastic surgery these women have or how sexy some of them are, none of them look a day younger than 35, and that doesn’t mean they are not hot. Of course, the benefit to being in your thirties is also shown which is that many of them are successful professionals in their own right and they are confident in a way 20-somethings usually aren’t. These women also show how sex appeal doesn’t have to be the exclusive domain of the young and unwrinkled.

Hopefully producers will take note of the popularity and differences in this Bravo series and reality show addicts everywhere will benefit by seeing some improvement in future reality television shows.

Credit: Bearman2007 (via Flickr)

With the latest big screen offering, “2012” a $200m production, based on myths that have their origin in the Mayan calendar, talking about the end of the world, there is no better time than this to write about such predictions.

Here are the top ten doomsday predictions that did not happen, based on a column by Benjamin Radford, in Live Science.

The Hen of Leeds (1806)

Throughout the centuries, there have been several people who claimed that Jesus Christ would return, but what happened in Leeds, England is the strangest proclamation ever. It is said that a hen started laying eggs on which “Christ is coming” was written.  This was huge news in those days and people were totally convinced that doomsday is nearing.  But one fine day, it was discovered by a local that it was all nothing but a hoax. The eggs were taken out, written on with corrosive ink and put back.

Millerites Mania (1843)

William Miller, a New England farmer, after going through the bible carefully told people that God’s chosen time to end the world is going to be on April 23, 1843.  He managed to convince people to an extent that it gave birth to Millerites, his followers. Many people believed his predictions to be true, so much so that they even went to the extent of giving away or selling their possessions.  But April 23 came and went with no sign of Jesus.  The Seventh Day Adventists are people from this group who have divided after the prophecy failed.

Mormon Armageddon (1891)

Joseph Smith, founder of the Mormon church, held a meeting in February 1835 to tell church leaders that he had spoken to God and during the conversation he was told that Jesus would return within the next 56 years.

Televised Threat (1982)

In May 1980, televangelist and Christian Coalition founder Pat Robertson shocked and alarmed his audience around the world by saying that he knew when the world would come to an end.  He said, “I guarantee you by the end of 1982 there is going to be a judgment on the world.”

Comet Catastrophe (1910)

In 1881, an astronomer found that comet tails contain cyanogens, which is a deadly gas related to cyanide.  This was just another bit of news until it was discovered that that Earth would pass through the tail of Halley’s comet in 1910. There was a lot of speculation that the Earth might be bathed in the toxic gas when it passes through the tail of the comet and it caused panic, until scientists intervened to tell people to calm down and that no such thing is going to happen.

Credit: Bostankorkulugu (via Flickr)

Alien Tailenders (1997)

In 1997, with the appearance of comet Hale-Bopp, there were rumors that an alien aircraft was following this comet. Heaven’s Gate, a UFO cult, based on these rumors, concluded that the world would end soon.  However, the world ended only for 39 of the cult members on March 26, 1997, when they committed suicide.

Nostradamus Revisited (1999)

For hundreds of years, people have found the metaphorical writings of Michel de Nostrdame intriguing. One of his most famous predictions read as, “The year 1999, seventh month/From the sky will come great king of terror.” Devotees were concerned that this was the vision of Armageddon.

Y2K Bug (2000)

Towards the end of the last century, with the coming of the computers, people began speculating that computers will trigger doomsday. They believed that PCs will not be able to tell the difference between 2000 and 1900 dates, and suggested problems leading to N-holocaust.

Ice Age (2000)

“5/5/2000 Ice: the Ultimate Disaster” written by Richard Noone says that by the year 2000, there would a three-mile thick mass of Antarctic Ice.  It was said that on this day, the planets would also be aligned in the heavens, and would somehow lead to a global icy death.

God’s Church Ministry (2008)

God’s Church minister Ronald Weinland predicted in 2006 that there will be death of millions of people by the end of 2006, and the world will face the worst times in human history within two years after that.  One of his predictions also said that the United States would no longer be the world’s most powerful nation.

Many people now say that these prophecies may not really happen.  However, when a new prediction is made, we can be sure that speculations will begin all over again.

You might also enjoy Worst Manmade Ecological Disasters and The War on Terrorism vs. Mother Nature: Death Tolls.