As the world wakes up on November 14, 2026, humanity has officially outlived one of the most famous scientific predictions of the 20th century. Exactly 66 years ago, in November 1960, Austrian-American physicist Heinz von Foerster and his colleagues published a paper in the journal Science titled “Doomsday: Friday, 13 November, A.D. 2026.” Using two millennia of demographic data, their mathematical model calculated that human population growth would accelerate toward infinity on that exact date, warning that future generations would be “squeezed to death.” Remarkably, the curve tracked reality until the 1990s, when falling global birth rates altered humanity’s trajectory—stabilizing the population at just over 8.2 billion instead of triggering an infinite catastrophe.
About the Author
