On this date in 1972, Herbert W. Armstrong of the Worldwide Church of God predicted Jesus' Second Coming. Far from being his only forecast of the apocalypse, Armstrong's 1972 prophecy was merely the most widely-heralded of dozens of end dates proclaimed in a ministry spanning five decades.
Founded in 1934 as a radio evangelism outreach in Eugene, Oregon, Armstrong's Worldwide Church of God eventually attracted thousands of followers in Pasadena, California, notably including eccentric chess champion Bobby Fischer. Fischer, like Armstrong's son Garner Ted Armstrong, had public fallings-out with the minister; and particularly after Armstrong's death in 1986, the group (now named Grace Communion International) was accused of practicing abusive programming techniques on the children in its congregation.
