4. (a) Since when had Jehovah’s people been anticipating that catastrophic events would begin in 1914? (b) Of what period of time would 1914 mark the end?

⁴ From the mid-1870’s, Jehovah’s people had been anticipating that catastrophic events would start in 1914 and would mark the end of the Gentile Times. This is the period of “seven times” (2,520 years) running from the overthrow of the Davidic kingdom in Jerusalem in 607 B.C.E. to Jesus’ enthronement in heavenly Jerusalem in 1914 C.E.​—Daniel 4:24, 25; Luke 21:24, King James Version.b

5. (a) What announcement did C. T. Russell make on October 2, 1914? (b) What political upheavals have taken place since 1914?

⁵ Thus, when C. T. Russell appeared for morning worship with the Brooklyn, New York, Bethel family on the morning of October 2, 1914, he made the dramatic announcement: “The Gentile Times have ended; their kings have had their day.”

“It was in B.C. 606, that God’s kingdom ended, the diadem was removed, and all the earth given up to the Gentiles. 2520 years from B.C. 606, will end in A.D. 1914.”f​—The Three Worlds, published in 1877, page 83.

“The Bible evidence is clear and strong that the ‘Times of the Gentiles’ is a period of 2520 years, from the year B.C. 606 to and including A.D. 1914.”​—Studies in the Scriptures, Volume 2, written by C. T. Russell and published in 1889, page 79.

Charles Taze Russell and his fellow Bible students realized decades earlier that 1914 would mark the end of the Gentile Times, or the appointed times of the nations. (Luke 21:24) While they did not in those early days fully understand what this would mean, they were convinced that 1914 was going to be a pivotal date in world history, and they were right.