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Sir Isaac Newton was probably one of the smartest people to have ever lived. He pioneered calculus, laws of motion, and of course, laws of gravity, so clearly the remarkable physicist and mathematician is incredibly credible... which is why it is so scary to think that along with his many groundbreaking discoveries, Newton also predicted the end of the world.
Back in 1704, Newton was doing a lot of Bible study as well as reading other religious writings. With the knowledge he amassed from them, he calculated a specific date when the world would end and be replaced by a "Kingdom of Heaven." That date: The year 2060.
It was a long way off in Isaac's time but now, in just 37 years, Earth will turn into "a flourishing and everlasting Kingdom." He wrote in old English, "So then the time times & half a time are 42 months or 1260 days or three years and an half, recconing twelve months to a yeare and 30 days to a month as was done in the Calendar of the primitive year. And the days of short lived Beasts being put for the years of lived kingdoms, the period of 1260 days, if dated from the complete conquest of the three kings A.C. 800, will end A.C. 2060."
If that makes you nervous, don't worry, Newton added, "It may end later but I see no reason for its ending sooner." Regardless of how soon, Newton expects wars, plagues and catastrophes to cause the world to "reset" and start a divine era.
The famed physicist isn't alone in his belief of the coming apocalypse either. In his book, Our Final Hour, Sir Martin Rees, one of today's leading scientists, argued that humanity only has a 50-50 chance of making it to the year 2100.