I remember back in 1999 and all the concern as to what would happen when the year 2000 arrived. There was widespread concern that computers wouldn’t work and people wouldn’t be able to get their money out of banks and maybe even civilization as we knew it would come crashing down. Of course none of that happened, but maybe it was the start of the conspiracy theories that are so popular today.
I read a book recently that mentioned similar happenings back in A.D. 999 when the clock was ticking down toward the new year of 1000. It seems that people throughout Europe were holding their collective breath. Everyone was wondering what the new year and millennium wold bring. Many thought it it would herald the Last Judgement and the End of the World, and pilgrims converged on Jerusalem where they thought the final battle between good and evil would take place.
According to the book, some of those pilgrims were thrown to their knees during the journey by a thunderstorm. They recorded the event for posterity, believing that the thunder was the voice of God announcing the Day of Judgement.
In that same year — 999 — a meteor appeared in the skies above England, shining with a light so brilliant it turned night into day. That even caused a lot of doubters to become believers.
I guess the good thing is that nobody had to worry about their computer crashing….
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