Apocalypse Canceled

By Melissa August, Val Castronovo, Matthew Cooper, Daren Fonda, Lina Lofaro, Benjamin Nugent, Desa Philadelphia, Julie Rawe and Alain L. Sanders

THE SKY IS FALLING! Apocalypse watchers were on full alert last Friday, when the moon, sun and five planets were in close alignment. The day was supposed to bring devastating tidal waves and earthquakes, but the only ruination was caused by the ILOVEYOU computer virus. Hardly a surprise; doomsday milestones have a way of not living up to expectations.

DREADED DATE Jan. 1, 2000

DOOMSDAY PREDICTION Y2K, the millennium bug, would cause financial chaos or nuclear holocaust

WORST NEWS OF THE DAY In Japan a glitch shuts down a radiation alarm at a nuclear plant, causing concern but no leaks

[DREADED DATE] Aug. 11, 1999

[DOOMSDAY PREDICTION] The solar eclipse, said designer Paco Rabanne, would cause the Mir space station to fall on France

[WORST NEWS OF THE DAY] A tornado strikes Salt Lake City, Utah, leaving at least one person dead and more than 60 injured

[DREADED DATE] March 26, 1997

[DOOMSDAY PREDICTION] The Heaven's Gate cult claims the earth will be destroyed, and they must flee on a spacecraft trailing Comet Hale-Bopp

[WORST NEWS OF THE DAY] The bodies of 39 cult members are discovered, participants in a mass suicide