May 21, 2011 was supposed to be the day the Rapture occurred, according to radio evangelist Harold Camping. He staked his entire reputation on it. His company, Family Radio, spent more than $5,000,000 on 5,000 billboards announcing the date, and a media frenzy followed.
We’re all still around… and we can say with certainty that nothing happened that day. Camping and his ministry were laughingstocks. Within months of his epic failure, Camping announced his retirement. Months after that, he formally admitted he was wrong. In 2013, Camping died. And last year, Family Radio stopped airing his old sermons.
If you weren’t paying attention as all that was happened, you’ll enjoy this summary of Camping’s big prediction (and its aftermath) via Internet Historian:
It’s too bad Camping’s predictions didn’t pan out. Given the world we’ve created, a sudden ending seems all too appropriate.
(Portions of this article were published earlier)