2012 phenomenon

The 2012 phenomenon was a set of beliefs and predictions that major transformations or apocalyptic events would occur around December 21, 2012, often linked to the Maya calendar.

Maya calendar: A system of interlocking calendars used by ancient and contemporary Maya communities. Its Long Count cycle supplied the date that became the phenomenon’s central focus.
Baktun: A period of 144,000 days in the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar. The date marked the transition from the thirteenth baktun to the next.
2012 doomsday predictions: Specific forecasts that the world or human civilization would end in 2012. They were the most catastrophic subset of the broader phenomenon’s expectations.
Pseudoscience: Claims presented as scientific despite lacking reliable evidence or methods that make them testable. Many 2012 catastrophe forecasts borrowed scientific language without evidential support.
Mesoamerican Long Count calendar: A base-20 calendar that records elapsed days from a creation-era starting point. Its completion of a major cycle on December 21, 2012, was widely misread as an ending.
December 21, 2012: A date corresponding to the completion of a major cycle in the Maya Long Count calendar. Predictions concentrated on this calendar conversion, although the calendar did not predict disaster.
Maya eschatology: Maya ideas about cosmic cycles, endings, and renewal as expressed in historical sources and traditions. It offers a cultural context distinct from imported claims of a single global doomsday.
Apocalypticism: Beliefs centered on an impending decisive end or transformation of the world. The phenomenon adapted recurring apocalyptic expectations to a calendar date.
Maya: An Indigenous people of Mesoamerica with enduring communities and a history spanning millennia. Their calendar and history were often inaccurately presented as evidence for modern prophecies.
2012 solar eclipse: A total solar eclipse that crossed northern Australia and the South Pacific on November 13, 2012. Its timing near the anticipated date sometimes became part of broader celestial speculation.

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