This Day In History: Preacher William Miller died on this day in 1849. Miller gained great notoriety with his belief that the world would end in October 1844, and he had a great many believers. When the date came and went it came to be known as the "Great Disappointment." People were so upset that churches were burned, Millerites were tarred and feathered and others were attacked by mobs wielding weapons. Miller's followers, the Millerites, were estimated to vary between 50,000, and 500,000, and eventually led to the Seventh Day Adventist movement.
I've talked to Adventists that still hold October 22 1844 as a sacred day, and even as "the beginning of the end." That's probably what Thomas Preble believed when he released his 1847 book entitled "The Voice of God, Or an Account of the Unparalleled Fires, Hurricanes, Floods and Earthquakes Commencing with 1845 with some account of Pestilence, Famine and Increase of Crime."
See also The Number 666, the Beast & the Apocalypse - Over 250 Books on DVDROM
End of the World Predictions
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