Nicholas of Cusa, a German Cardinal who wrote on a vast range of subjects including philosophy and mathematics, died on August 11, 1464. Using calculations derived from the book of Daniel, Nicholas projected the end of the world for either 1533 or 1741.
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A solar eclipse on August 11, 1999 was awkwardly linked by some to a prediction from Nostradamus, Century 10, Quatrain 72: "In the year 1999 seven months / From the sky will come the great king of terror." Of course not only is the dating off, but also this eclipse proved as harmless as any.
The same quotation of Nostradamus' - "From the sky will come the great king of terror" - may sound familiar because it was often applied to the 9-11 attacks (sometimes with the specific reference to the year 1999 left out). But more importantly, in the Orson Welles-narrated documentary "The Man Who Saw Tomorrow", this quotation was taken to mean that an unknown Muslim leader in a blue turban would launch a nuclear strike on the United States in June 1999.
