On movie screens around the country, the world is coming to an end.

Hollywood director Roland Emmerich, of Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow notoriety, uses his skill with special effects to depict the end of the world in the new movie 2012.

The 2012 is a reference to the Maya lunar calendar, which allegedly comes to an end on December 21, 2012. Some people think the world will end with it. Maya experts do not agree.

In any case, this is not the first time in recent memory that the end of the world has been said to be nigh. We combed through past headlines to see how print journalism (which is facing its own “end is coming” scenario) announced the imminent demise of our planet. Here are our picks for the outstanding offerings. Let us know if you have any headlines to nominate, old or new.

Best Use of a Common Catchphrase

“Apocalypse Not Now”

The Herald Sun, Australia, October 30, 1992. Event: The rapture, predicted to occur at midnight October 29, 1992, by the Mission for the Coming Days Church.

Runner-up: “Apocalypse Next Time,”  The Daily Mail, London, August 12, 1999. Event: A gathering of people on the northern plain in Israel to watch an eclipse thought to augur the end.

Stating the Obvious Award

“The World Didn’t End Yesterday”

The Independent, London, November 15, 1993. Event: An apocalypse promised by the Great White Brotherhood, founded by Yuri Krivonogov, a hypnotist and psychological weapons researcher.

Runner-up: “Lovely Day as the World Goes On”

The Daily Telegraph, Sidney, July 5, 1999. Event: A Nostradamus prediction that the world would end on July 4, 1999.

It’s All About Us Award

“Hold the Front Page – This Could Be Our Very Last Edition”

The Sunday Times, London, November 14, 1993. Event: The Great White Brotherhood prediction (see above).

Eat, Drink, and Be Merry Award

“France Awaits End of the World With Long Lunches”

The Gazette, Montreal, Quebec, June 26, 1999. Event: The 1999 Nostradamus prediction.

Destroyed by Everything But the Kitchen Sink Award

“What’s Going to Get You First? Nuclear war, climate change, mutant disease, pollution, meteorites … The number of possible ways the world as we know it might come to an untimely end has rarely seemed so high.”

The Independent, London, January 5, 1997. Event: No specific event, just a shopping list of possible scenarios.

Runner-up: “Doom’s No Reason to Wallow in Gloom: The More You Know the Better You Feel, Says a Physicist Who Knows a Lot”

The Philadelphia Inquirer, December 12, 1999. Event: Publication of the book Countdown to the Apocalypse: Asteroids, Tidal Waves and the End of the World, by physicist Paul Halpern.

OMG Award

“Y2 Chaos”

The Christian Science Monitor, Boston, January 15, 1999. Event: New millennium end-of-worldism.

Law Enforcement Award

“FBI Prepares for Armageddon”

The Guardian, London, November 1, 1999. Event: Groups around the globe preparing for a year 2000 meltdown.

Silver-Lining Award

“Planning the Party to End All Parties”

The Guardian, London, December 18, 1995. Event: That Nostradamus 1999 prediction.

-Aimee Brown

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