Isaac Newton's 2060 note

That the world would not end before 2060 — a lower bound Newton set to discourage date-setting, not a prediction that it will end that year.

In a 1704 manuscript, Newton calculated that the world would not end before 2060 — often misreported as a prediction that it will end in 2060. He explicitly wrote the note to discourage date-setting.

Isaac Newton (1704 manuscript) — individual.

The 2060 note surfaced in mainstream press when the National Library of Israel's Newton papers went online in the 2000s. Every few years a headline recirculates it as a fixed prediction rather than the ceiling Newton actually described.

WHY IT RESONATEDNewton's name carries enormous cultural weight; the note is regularly misreported as a firm 2060 prediction.

The manuscript itself is public. Newton's stated purpose was to place a floor under speculation — 'it may end later, but not before' — and to embarrass 'fanciful men' who kept setting near-term dates. Historians of science routinely correct the misquote.

Treating the note as a prediction inverts what Newton wrote. It is also a private numerological argument from Daniel with no independent evidential support.

• Newton's theological manuscripts and the 1704 note (overview, with sourced citations)Reference work
• National Library of Israel — Newton papersReference work

• Tuesday, October 22, 1844·Religious Interpretation
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• Saturday, May 21, 2011·Religious Interpretation
  Harold Camping — 21 May 2011 Rapture prediction

Browse every dated entry on record — end of the world predictions by year, from historical failed apocalypses to upcoming doomsday dates.