We Survived the Apocalypse! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Nostradamus

Born in 1503, Nostradamus was a French pharmacist of sorts, who also dabbled in divination. He published an entire book of cryptic poems, known as quatrains, of his prophecies called "Les Propheties". Of the roughly 1,000 quatrains contained within the book, about a dozen of them have been loosely connected to events in history since Nostradamus' death in 1566 by complications from gout.

Answer: Independence Day

Released in 1996, "Independence Day" starred Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, Vivica Fox, and Randy Quaid. The aliens in question were parasites that went planet-to-planet, consuming planetary resources, using giant flying saucers. The aliens were uncovered via their secret codes within satellite transmissions and their space ships destroyed via missiles launched into the center of each craft.

Answer: Hon-Ming Chen

Originally a Taiwanese religious group that was a combination of Buddhism and Taoism, their religious reputation was amped-up a few notches by a charismatic leader named Hon-Ming Chen. It was Chen that associated God's Salvation Church with flying saucers with his outrageous predictions, which included a message from God broadcast to everyone via television just prior to the event.

After this prediction failed, Chen largely fell out of favor with his followers (understandably).

Answer: Yellowstone

BBC miniseries aside, the Yellowstone caldera is a fascinating piece of volcanic machinery. Imagine it, continually active and covering an estimated 34-miles x 45-miles. A major eruption of the mega-caldera spewed an estimated 2,500 times more ash than the Mount Saint Helen's eruption.

Answer: Marvin the Martian

It's hard to believe that Looney Tunes' "Marvin the Martian" first appeared in 1948! Largely voiced by Mel Blanc, Marvin shuttled from Mars consumed with destroying Earth, Looney Tunes-style. Dressed like a Roman god, Marvin's plots to destroy Earth often involved elaborate plans that were ultimately foiled by other Looney Tunes' characters.

His reason for his apocalyptic quest? Earth obstructed his view of Venus.

Answer: Mormon

Harmston founded what he called The True and Living Church of Jesus Christ of Saints of the Last Days. His church was a Mormon sect of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which broke from the LDS over issues of doctrine. His prediction included the return of Christ, with faithfulness and support of his personal brand of Mormonism as a requirement to be included in Christ's return, predicted to occur on April 6, 2000.

As a result of his failed prediction, he was sued by several of his former congregation for fraud.

Answer: The Day After Tomorrow

"The Day After Tomorrow" featured super storms, tidal irregularities, and climate shifts that plunged the stars of the film into turmoil. Dennis Quaid played a paleoclimatologist that studied ancient ice borings to uncover the causes of previous ice ages.

He recognized the similarities in modern alleged global warming patterns and presented his evidence to world leaders. His conclusions proved correct, and he began a trek to New York City to save his son who was stranded there due to the nasty weather. Luckily, the boy, played by Jake Gyllenhaal, was safe within the New York Public Library where there was no shortage of things to burn for warmth.

Answer: Harold Camping

Harold Camping's most widely publicized end-of-the-world prediction was May 21, 2011. This campaign included billboards, websites, and a lot of funding. Some of Camping's followers even liquidated all of their assets in support of his cause. When May 21st came and went, Camping spun the failure into an additional conclusion that May 21st was the beginning, but the real end would be October 21, 2011.

This was due to be the true the rapture of the faithful...but that date also passed, becoming at least his third failed prediction.

Answer: Armageddon

"Armageddon" starred Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck, and Liv Tyler in a love story with a twist. A giant space rock was breaking up, smashing the cities of Paris and Shanghai before anything could be done. The bad news was that those space pieces weren't the big ones.

Their solution to the big one was two space shuttles with a crew of deep-sea drilling experts to work in deep space, drilling into the meteor and detonating it.

Answer: Mayan

The Mayan calendar, allegedly ending on December 21, 2012, was the end of the Mayan's 13th b'ak'tun. This is essentially a long system of counting. Our last records from that civilization ended with 13 and did not progress (possibly because that civilization was wiped out before 14 b'ak'tun could be established). Also mixed into this theory were planetary alignments, a possible shift in Earth's magnetic rotation, and increased solar activity.