Apocalypse when?

Dec 21 2012 is the most eagerly-awaited date since 2000. But we’ve a history of getting it wrong, says Oliver Moore

WHILE Mayan scholars do not consider Dec 21, 2012 important, popular culture has focused on that date as the end of the world.

The date is regarded as the end of a 5,125-year cycle in the Mayan calendar, converging with astronomical alignments and numerological formulae. While some have redefined this date as transformative rather than apocalyptic, solstice 2012 is the most eagerly-awaited date since the millennium. But, then, we have a history of over-hyping events.