Itinerary: End of the World Day

Millennium fever. It comes around more often than you’d think.

These days we worry about our computers crumbling as nines roll over to zeros, but doomsday concerns date back thousands of years. The first-century Book of Revelation talks about the apocalypse and the coming of the Millennial Kingdom, but such ideas cut across all world religions--each in its own way predicting the end of this world and the dawning of a new age.

Specifically, this Friday marks the 155th anniversary of World’s End Day. William Miller, a Protestant revivalist in the 1800s, toured the nation to reveal his Bible-based calculations showing that the Second Coming of Christ would be between March 1843 and March 1844. When April 1844 rolled around, he checked his math and came up with Oct. 22, 1844, as the big day. Devout Millerites--or Adventists--supposedly gave away their earthly possessions in preparation.

Let’s just say there was a lot of shopping to do Oct. 23.

Los Angeles--home to earthquakes, floods, fires and droughts--generally laughs in the face of apocalypse. What a perfect place to be on World’s End Day.

Friday

A lot of people think that the Big One will be the end of the world as we know it in Southern California. If you weren’t here for Northridge--or need a reminder--step on the earthquake simulator at the California Science Center (700 State Drive, open daily 10 a.m.-5 p.m. [323] 724-3623). It’s on the second floor in the Creative World area.

Create your own World’s End Film Festival, touching on as many different scenarios as possible: asteroid (“Deep Impact,” “Armageddon”), plague (“12 Monkeys”), nuclear war (“Mad Max”), global warming (“Waterworld”), technology gone awry (“Terminator,” “T2”), alien attack (“War of the Worlds,” “Independence Day”) and marshmallow men (“Ghostbusters”).

Saturday

Want a peek at what a pollution pit Los Angeles could be? Stop by Vernon, considered by some environmentalists to be the most toxic ZIP Code in the country. In 1992, EPA figures showed that Vernon--a city of only five square miles--produced almost 2.3 million pounds of toxic air emissions.

To get the full effect, take along the book “Sex, Death and God in L.A.” and read Mike Davis’ chapter, “The Empty Quarter.”

Then, swing by the Museum of Television and Radio (465 N. Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills. [310] 786-1000) at 2 p.m. to catch the screening of “R.E.M. on Television.” The 90-minute compilation of clips (also Sundays at 2 p.m. and Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. through Nov. 28) includes the video of R.E.M.’s 1987 hit song, “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine).”

Sunday

Up in the Santa Monica Mountains a cold war relic still stands--perfect for evoking that “Dr. Strangelove” feeling.

The Nike Missile Control Site was, from 1956 to 1968, one of 16 outposts in and around L.A. that scanned the Pacific with radars, looking for incoming bombers from what was then the Soviet Union. The 30 Nike missiles that would intercept aircraft were four miles away, in the Sepulveda Basin.

The site--officially called LA96C--was bought by the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy in 1995 and renamed San Vicente Mountain Park. The radar equipment and barracks are gone, but the enormous tower, which on a clear day affords a view of the Valley, downtown L.A. and the ocean, remains. A popular rest stop for hikers and mountain bikers, it is accessible from the unpaved section of Mulholland Drive, about a mile west of Encino Hills Drive.