October 22, 1844

Posted on October 22, 2013 by Joel Byers

On This Date in TWISTED-HISTORY! in 1844, the followers of Millerism experienced “The Great Disappointment”. William Miller was a rural New York Baptist preacher and student of the Bible who preached and believed that the end of the world was going to happen on October 22, 1844. There was even a farmer who leapt from the very top of his barn seconds before midnight so that he’d be in the air when the Resurrection happened. It is this writer’s firmly-held belief that the farmer’s last words were, “Oh shit, was it supposed to happen one minute after mid…….”. On October 23, the Millerites stormed William Miller’s home and demanded to know what went wrong since they had sold all their worldly goods and possessions believing that Miller’s calculations were correct. They voiced their displeasure with torches and pitchforks and things would have gone from bad to worse if Mrs. Miller hadn’t taken that opportunity to yell out to the crowd, “You think you’re disappointment?! How do you think I’ve felt every night for the last 20 years?!” The crowd then slowly dispersed with much snickering and knowing looks.

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About Joel Byers

Born in North Georgia and educated at some very fine public institutions. Real education started after graduating from college and then getting married and raising two boys. Has the ability to see the funny and absurd in most things and will always remark on it, even if it means getting the stink-eye from his victims.
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