If that word sounds familiar, it's because Dec. 21, 2012, on our calendar marks the end of the 13th b'ak'tun of the Mayan Long Count Calendar. In other words, it's the day the count will read 13.0 ...

The Maya, who lived in Central America between A.D. 250 and 900, had a cyclical calendar that ran approximately one human lifetime, or 52 years (life was shorter back then).

Characteristic of this system is the cyclical nature, with the Mayan calendar featuring three common cycles: the Long Count, Tzolk’in (260-day) and the 365-day, solar-based Haab’.

Entertainment; Doomsday 2012: If the Mayan calendar doesn't kill us, solar flares will . Published: ; Dec. 20, 2012, 7:42 p.m.

But how does the Mayan calendar work, anyway? ... Each tun is thus 18 blocks of 20 days, or 360 days — approximately a year by the solar calendar. Tuns, in turn, ...

If you thought 365 days was a long time, try resetting your calendar every 18,980 days instead. 52 solar years make up the longest cycle of the Mayan calendar – a complex and ancient system that ...

There are three parts to the Mayan calendar, but let’s focus on one for a moment: the Haab. This third of the calendar tracked the solar year, calculated down to 365 days.

Mayan Calendar Round. ... Tzolk’in (260-day) and the 365-day, solar-based Haab’. Combined, these three cycles formed what is known as the Calendar Round and which lasts for 52 haab’ ...

"That's somewhat different from our own calendar, which is really tied to the length of the solar year," said Walter Witschey, an archaeologist and Maya expert at Longwood University in Virginia.

END OF THE WORLD fears have taken over the world as people share bizarre conspiracy theories about the Maya calendar, and this weekend's solar eclipse and summer solstice. By Sebastian Kettley.

Mayan shamans take part in a ceremony on December 21, 2012, celebrating the end of the Mayan calendar, at the Tikal archaeological site, north of Guatemala City. JOHAN ORDONEZ/AFP/Getty Images ...