Have you ever heard of the phrase "it's the end of the world as we know it"? That phrase, while much more general, allows for much more room and truth. Using the phrase, the "end of the world" has come many, many times in history. It came when the automobile went into mass production, when commercial airliners first took off. It came when the gun was invented, and when the Roman Empire fell. It came for a great many many people any time their government went through a big change, or any time there was war, famine, or disease running rampant. It came when you realized that the world isn't a nice place, or that life isn't always fair. In other words, while no actual "end of the world" prediction has ever come true, the world as we know it ends many times in anybody's lifetime.
