The Head family displays survival supplies meant to carry the family through the supposed millennium apocalypse caused by the Y2K computer bug in an undated photograph.

A 1984 computer-trade publication first warned of a cataclysm occurring on January 1, 2000, the Wall Street Journal reported, when a bug caused by a calculation error would cripple computers and other machines and lead to mass chaos. The column described how to purchase an anti-Y2K amulet and lifesaving Y2K-repair tools, the paper said.

Evangelicals also recommended that their followers stockpile food and prepare for the worst, according to the Washington Post. Such leaders as Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson (see sixth photo) hinted that the turn of the millennium would bring Christ's return, as described in the Book of Revelation, the Post reported.