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What happened to Russell’s predictions about God’s kingdom arriving in 1914?

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Three Jehovah's Witnesses stand beside literature carts, holding religious magazines, at the Star Ferry Pier under a blue sign for City Hall and MTR Station in Hong Kong. — Jehovah’s Witness Adherents of the Jehovah's Witness movement distributing literature about their faith in Hong Kong, China.

Charles Taze Russell, the founder of the International Bible Students Association, predicted that 1914 would mark the end of the Gentile times and the establishment of God’s millennial kingdom on earth.12

When the kingdom did not arrive as prophesied, the movement faced a significant challenge due to the apparent failure of this eschatological prediction. Despite this, the movement survived, and Russell’s teachings continued to motivate followers to circulate his literature and to recalculate the timing of the Parousia (Christ’s presence).12

Following Russell's death in 1916, Joseph Franklin Rutherford succeeded him as president in 1917. Under Rutherford’s leadership, the group became a more tightly knit organization, and in 1931, he changed the group's name to Jehovah’s Witnesses to emphasize their focus on Jehovah as the true God.2