Nostradamus nuts are claiming that the prophet predicted the coronavirus. They point to one of his writings, Century 2:53, which warns: “The great plague of the maritime city. Will not cease until there be avenged the death. Of the just blood, condemned for a price without crime.” Although landlocked Wuhan is not a “maritime city,” the disease was traced to a seafood market, which they believe is enough to prove a link.
Asteroid ‘to destroy Earth within 10 years’
In another prophetic prediction, a pastor and conspiracy theorist says the texts of Revelation 8 prove Earth will end in a fiery death when an asteroid strikes the planet at the end of the decade. Thomas Thorn says one of the signs of the plagues of Exodus is “scorching and setting ablaze fields and forests”, which he has linked to the spate of wildfires. These will be followed, he says, by a “great star from heaven, burning like a torch” falling on Earth.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Expert says Beethoven was not deaf
Popular opinion has it that Ludwig van Beethoven composed some of music’s greatest masterpieces while completely deaf. However, according to an expert, the composer still had hearing in his left ear until shortly before his death in 1827. “This is going to send everybody scurrying to revise biographical concepts about Beethoven,” said Theodore Albrecht, professor of musicology at Kent State University, Ohio.
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––For more outlandish tales and news to make you smile, sign up for our new Tall Tales email at theweek.co.uk/sign-up-for-the-tall-tales-email.–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
-
Crossword: August 27, 2025The Week's daily crossword
-
August 27 editorial cartoonsCartoons Wednesday’s political cartoons include a KKK rebrand, Donald Trump vs. Gavin Newsom, and Ghislaine Maxwell as the new Celebrity Apprentice
-
The mission to demine UkraineThe Explainer An estimated quarter of the nation – an area the size of England – is contaminated with landmines and unexploded shells from the war
-
Zoos offer cockroach naming and hippo poo candlesTall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
-
NHS tells Scots to walk like penguinsTall Tales Walk like penguins in the snow, says NHS
-
Experts discover why dogs wag their tailsTall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
-
Peruvian 'aliens' aren't really aliensTall Tales And other stories from stranger side of life
-
Woman accidentally puts nan in washing machineTall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
-
Couple sues after ‘farting dog’ ruins flightfeature And other stories from the stranger side of life
-
Experts suggest the real-life Dracula was veganfeature And other stories from the stranger side of life
-
Pedants forgive Waterstones over apostrophefeature And other stories from the stranger side of life
