Why do people think the world will end, and where did that idea start?

[Thomas]

I'm started to get really annoyed by the whole end of the world thing. I'm not annoyed by people who think the world is going to end. On the contrary, I'm getting tired of all the people making jokes about it. Everywhere, on facebook, on twitter, youtube comments, in real life, people are constantly making jokes about how absurd the idea of the world ending on 12/22/12 is. Well I've never met a single person who thinks the world is going to end. Nobody, not on the internet, not in real life. I'm curious as to who these people are. Apparently there's a good amount of people who are worried about it, for NASA to make a public statement saying the world is not going to end.

So I'm curious, where did this idea start? I know it has to do with Mayan calendars ending, as everybody and their sister seems to know now, but where'd this idea come from originally? Information about Mayan calendars isn't information that the average layman would know. Who's the guy who came along with knowledge about ancient Mayan calendars, noticed where they ended, somehow made the connection between that and the end of the world, and then publicized the idea? And when did this ridiculous commotion first start?