The 2012 phenomenon comprises a range of eschatological beliefs
according to which cataclysmic or transformative events will occur on
21 December 2012. This date is regarded as the end-date of a 5,125-year
cycle in the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar. Various astronomical
alignments and numerological formulae have been proposed as pertaining
to this date, though none have been accepted by mainstream scholarship.
A New Age interpretation of this transition is that this date marks the
start of a time in which Earth and its inhabitants may undergo a
positive physical or spiritual transformation, and that 2012 may mark
the beginning of a new era. Others suggest that the date marks the end
of the world or a similar catastrophe. Scenarios suggested for the end
of the world include the arrival of the next solar maximum, an
interaction between Earth and the black hole at the centre of the
galaxy, or Earth's collision with a planet called "Nibiru". Scholars
from various disciplines have dismissed the idea of such cataclysmic
events occurring in 2012. Mayanist scholars state that predictions of
impending doom are not found in any of the extant classic Maya accounts,
and that the idea that the Long Count calendar "ends" in 2012
misrepresents Maya history and culture.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_phenomenon>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1860:
South Carolina became the first of eleven slave states to
secede from the United States, leading to the eventual creation of the
Confederate States of America and later the American Civil War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confederate_States_of_America>
1946:
Frank Capra's popular Christmas film It's a Wonderful Life was
first released in New York City.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_a_Wonderful_Life>
1955:
Cardiff was proclaimed as the capital of Wales.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiff>
1999:
Portugal transferred sovereignty of Macau, which it had
administered since the mid-16th century, to China.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macau>
2007:
Pablo Picasso's Portrait of Suzanne Bloch was stolen from the
São Paulo Museum of Art.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portrait_of_Suzanne_Bloch>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
b'ak'tun:
A period, in Maya calendrical reckoning, of 144 000 days, which is
394.25 solar years.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/b%27ak%27tun>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Individuality is only possible if it unfolds from wholeness.
--David Bohm
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/David_Bohm>