The expected year for the return of Christ ended on this day 167 years ago, with no sign of Jesus. Daniel 8:14 predicts: “It will take 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the sanctuary will be reconsecrated.” The American Baptist preacher William Miller interpreted this as meaning that Christ would return to purify the earth by fire exactly 2,300 years after the decree of Artaxerxes for the rebuilding of Jerusalem in 457BC.
Accordingly, Miller believed after studying the Jewish calendar that the Second Coming would occur between 21 March 1843 and 21 March 1844. Miller developed a substantial following of Millerites, but there was some disappointment when 21 March 1844 was over and nothing had happened. A new due date of 18 April 1844 was set, but that day also passed without incident. Another preacher, Samuel S Snow, then predicted that the date would be 22 October 1844.
An even larger crowd of followers awaited the 22nd of October, confident that this time the Lord would return. They waited all day, but on 23 October the sun came up as usual, and the hopes of many were dashed. One group of Millerites took the view that the “cleansing of the sanctuary” was a heavenly event, not an earthly event, and it had actually occurred on 22 October as predicted. The Seventh Day Adventist Church traces its roots to this group.