2012
Mayan apocalypse year
2012 refers to the calendar year, but carries particular cultural weight from the supposed Mayan prophecy predicting world-ending events on December 21st of that year.
The date spawned disaster films, doomsday preparations, and widespread media coverage.
Since nothing happened, 2012 now serves as shorthand for overblown apocalyptic predictions: Remember when everyone thought 2012 would be the end?
Total civilizational collapse
- prophecyForetelling of future events
- calendarDate-tracking system
- Long CountMesoamerican calendrical system
- DecemberYear's final month
solstice · cycle · Mesoamerica · Quetzalcoatl · glyphs · archaeology · cosmology · rituals
February's occasional extra
- calendarDate-tracking system
- GregorianNamed for a pope
- quadrennialEvery four years
- synchronizationAligning timing across systems
leapling · birthday · Julian · timekeeping · adjustment · solar year
England's capital city
- athletesSports competitors
- medalsAwards for achievement
- ceremonyFormal event marking occasions
- torchHandheld burning light source
Phelps · stadium · gymnastics · swimming · track · athletics · rowing · cycling
Forty-fourth president's family name
- RomneySurname or placename
- campaignOrganized effort toward goal
- votingFormally registering a choice
- ballotVoting document
presidential · Republican · Democrat · primary · debate · polls · swing state · super PAC
apocalypse
Total civilizational collapse
- prophecyForetelling of future events
- calendarDate-tracking system
- Long CountMesoamerican calendrical system
December · solstice · cycle · Mesoamerica · Quetzalcoatl · glyphs · archaeology · cosmology · rituals · codex
leap day
February's occasional extra
- calendarDate-tracking system
- GregorianNamed for a pope
- quadrennialEvery four years
synchronization · leapling · birthday · Julian · timekeeping · adjustment · solar year
London
England's capital city
Phelps · torch · stadium · gymnastics · swimming · track · athletics · rowing · cycling · velodrome
Obama
Forty-fourth president's family name
ballot · presidential · Republican · Democrat · primary · debate · polls · swing state · super PAC · convention
- Disaster FilmsArmageddon, Deep Impact, The Day After Tomorrow, The Towering Inferno, Twister
- Roland EmmerichIndependence Day, The Day After Tomorrow, Godzilla, Stargate, The Patriot
- Eco FilmsAn Inconvenient Truth, Our Planet, Planet Earth, Blue Planet, The Lorax
- Ensemble FilmsThe Breakfast Club, Love Actually, Nashville, Grand Hotel, The Royal Tenenbaums
- survival storiesescape story, wilderness survival, shipwreck tales, shipwreck, sea survival
2012ancient times
Long-ago historical era
antiquity · year zero · prehistoric times · prehistory · far future
- London 2012British capital's summer games