
Notable countdowns —
The Tikker watch counts down to your death. Happy days! Here are some other notable countdowns that are far less morbid.

Final space shuttle mission —
On July 8, 2011, Atlantis launched from Kennedy Space Center, marking the final mission of the American space shuttle program.

Y2K —
Everyone was scared that the start of the year 2000 would be rocked by computer malfunctions. However, Y2K really just marked the start of using zeros as glasses.

Late Show Top Ten List —
From the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York City, the Late Show with David Letterman is famous for its nightly Top Ten List.

Countdown with Keith Olbermann —
Keith Olbermann hosted "Countdown" on both MSNBC and Current TV.

Great Guinness Toast —
Clocks in pubs around the world count down every year to February 13 for the Great Guinness Toast, in which beer drinkers annually try to break the record for the largest toast.

Doomsday: December 21, 2012 —
Many people were convinced that the Mayan calendar predicted the end of the world on December 21, 2012. We're still here.

"The Final Countdown" by Europe —
In 1986, Joey Tempest and his band Europe peaked at number 8 on the Billboard 200 charts with their song, "The Final Countdown."

The 5-second rule —
Fact: If your food falls on the floor you have five seconds to pick it up before it becomes unsafe to eat. That's science, people. Science.

99 Bottles of Beer —
But seriously ... do you know ANYONE who has ever completed this song?

London Olympics clock —
Shortly after the countdown clock for the 2012 London Olympics was unveiled, the silly thing started malfunctioning. Technicians eventually figured it out.

Last day of school —
Everyone remembers watching that clock on the last day of school and counting down with all your friends. Cue: Being bored for three months.

Debt ceiling —
Nothing to see here.

Countdown clock on "Lost" —
Push the damn button!

3-2-1 Contact —
The science program "3-2-1 Contact" aired on PBS from 1980 to 1988.

The Miracle On Ice —
On February 22, 1980, from the Winter Games in Lake Placid, New York, with 30 seconds remaining, the TV broadcast popped the game clock into the upper left corner of the screen so Americans could watch Team USA defeat the Soviet Union 4-3. "Do you believe in miracles?"

ESPN's Not Top Ten —
Each week, ESPN highlights the worst plays in sports. And for 40 straight weeks, the defending champion of the Worst of the Worst was the infamous Mark Sanchez Butt Fumble. Finally, the network retired the play because it was never going away.

Darts —
George Carlin: "Darts could be a sport, 'cause you might put somebody's eye out. But darts will never be a sport because the whole object is to reach zero, which goes against all sports logic."

FIFA Transfer Window —
This is the short, twice-annual period when football (soccer) clubs can transfer players to and from other clubs. The countdown to the end of the window is always exciting for fans and the media to see who pulls the trigger at the last moment.

The infamous MLS countdown clock —
Unlike most sports, in soccer the clock counts UP from 0 to 90 minutes. However, in the early years of Major League Soccer they tried to Americanize the game by counting DOWN. It was horrible. Eventually, the league came to its senses and ditched the countdown. Purists rejoiced. All was right in the world.


