30 Bold Predictions That Didn’t Exactly Pan Out
Not so confident now are ya, you cocky predictors!
![30 Bold Predictions That Didn’t Exactly Pan Out](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/4/8/1020648_320x180.jpg)
It must be nice having all that confidence. We’ve never once had a shred of it, so we’re honestly in awe. These self-assured hotshots made the most audacious predictions, and as admirable as it was, time was there with a humble pie to the face! So remember kids, this is why we doubt ourselves constantly. It keeps our faces pie-free.
![There's simply no demand for YouTube. YOUTUBE COFOUNDER CRACKED COM Cofounder and СТО Steve Chen once said there's just not that many videos I want to watch. Strange that a man with zero foresight could accidentally invent a perpetual motion propaganda machine!](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/7/7/1018977.jpg)
![The 23-letter alphabet. J. ELFRETH WATKINS WHAT MAY HAPPEN IN THE NEXT HUNDRED YEARS By JOHN ELFRETH WATKINS,JR. Grand Oper Trains One Hundred and Filly Miles an Hour Traine will HESE prophecies will seem strange. almost will sound as Fire two miles-a minute. normally express trains one hun- impossible. Yet they have come from the To go from New York to dred and fifty miles aus hour box. Automa most learned and conservative minds 111 night America To the wisest and most careful There will San Francisers becigarshaped will take a day electric and locomotives a by fast haul CRACKED CON men in our](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/7/8/1018978.jpg)
![Rail commuters will suffocate. DIONYSIUS LARDNER Manaroil CRACKED.COM The professor at University College, London, was convinced that high-speed trains were simply impossible, because the passengers, unable to breath, would die of asphyxia.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/7/6/1018976.jpg)
![Nothing bad will happen to the stock market. IRVING FISHER CRACKED.COM 3 days before the stock market crash, an American economist declared that stocks had reached a permanently high plateau.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/7/5/1018975.jpg)
![Brick-and-mortar stores have nothing to worry about. TIME MAGAZINE CRACKED.COM Their 1966 prediction that remote shopping will flop was based on the observation that women like to get out of the house.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/7/4/1018974.jpg)
![The telephone has no legs. WESTERN UNION CRACKED COM In an internal memo, employees were told that the telephone shouldn't be seriously considered as a means of communication.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/7/3/1018973.jpg)
![Movies are a fad. CHARLIE CHAPLIN CRACKED.COM Before becoming a silent film star, Chaplin declared what audiences want to see is flesh and blood on the stage. Right about the flesh; right about the blood; wrong about the medium.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/7/2/1018972.jpg)
![Audiences don't want to hear actors. A WARNER BRO. CRACKED.COM H.M. Warner thought silent movies were the height of cinema: Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/7/1/1018971.jpg)
![Smoking's probably fine. NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE CRACKED.COM W.C. Heuper, director of the institute's Environmental Cancer Section, was pretty darn sure that, if smoking played a part in lung cancer, it seems to be a minor one.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/6/8/1018968.jpg)
![Michael Jordan won't carry this franchise. CHICAGO BULLS GM LLS 1 CRACKED.COM General Manager Rod Thorn was almost apologetic that there was no one taller he could have drafted: What can you do? Jordan isn't going to turn this franchise around.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/7/0/1018970.jpg)
![TV won't last 6 months. 20TH CENTURY FOX CRACKED.COM Studio exec Darryl Zanuck predicted that people will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night. Staring at that box is the only thing that gets us through the day!](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/6/9/1018969.jpg)
![50 THE INTERNET 5 DECEMBER 1995 CompuServe Internet Services AHENET - - The - Insurance - f - 1 - - Rystan WT - Maketing il iw - и MADE CRACKED.COM I predict the Internet will soon go spectacularly supernova and in 1996 catastrophically collapse. -Robert Metcalfe, the inventor of Ethernet. Не said he'd eat his words if he were wrong. And so he did, sticking a magazine page in a blender then eating the goop with a spoon.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/6/7/1018967.jpg)
![50 DEMOCRACY 5 1936 CRACKED.COM Democracy will be dead by 1950. -John Langdon-Davies, British journalist. Yeah, it got hairy there for a bit, but they haven't quite managed to get rid of democracy so far.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/6/6/1018966.jpg)
![50 FASHION 5 FEBRUARY 1939 CRACKED G COM The man of the next century will revolt against shaving... His hat will be an antenna. His socks, disposable. His belt will hold all his pockets ever did. -Vogue. They were right about beards, at least.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/6/5/1018965.jpg)
![GOLD SCARCITY 20 1911 GRACKED.COM Gold has even now but a few years to live. The day is near when bars of it will be as common and as cheap as bars of iron and blocks of steel. -Thomas Edison, keeping the dream of alchemy alive.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/6/4/1018964.jpg)
![50 THE BEATLES 5 FEBRUARY 1962 CRACKED.COM We don't like the sound. Guitar groups are on their way out. -Dick Rowe, head of artists and repertoire at Decca Records. The Beatles then went on to some success, as did rock music in general.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/6/3/1018963.jpg)
![55 MOVING 50 5 HOUSES JULY 1971 CRACKED.COM The house of the future would have no roots Gone would be water pipes, drains, power lines; the autonomous home could therefore move, or be moved, to anywhere on earth. -Arthur C. Clarke. Не wasn't predicting RVs, which already existed.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/6/2/1018962.jpg)
![FEMALE 50 5 EVOLUTION DECEMBER 1950 1950 , 2000 O GRACKED.com The woman of the year 2000 will be will be more than six feet tall, wear a size 11 shoe, have shoulders like a wrestler and muscles like a truck driver. -Associated Press. True for some women. AP also predicted, She may even be president.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/6/1/1018961.jpg)
![55 50 CYBORGS 5 OPTICO-VIDEO NOVEMBER 1963 ASER ANTENNA SYNCHRO-ELECTRONIC SHAVER GAMMA-RAY REPELLER OPTICO-VIDEO HELMET SENSOR CONNECTED TO OPTIC NERVE RADAR-AUDIO SENSOR SELF-REGENERATING ATOMIC BATTERIES PUSHBUTTON PANEL FOR PSYCHO-BIOLOGICAL NEEDS EMERGENCY CARDIAC PUMP FORCE-FIELD OXYGEN TANKS REGULATOR AND COMPRESSOR IN THORACIC PUSHBUTTON BIOLOGICAL NEED PANEA CRACKED.COM CAVITY Popular Science believed we were close to the cyborg above, but their ultimate goal (Optiman) was more advanced. We had to hurry else Russia would do it first. Absurd, of course. We're not going to make our cyborgs green.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/6/0/1018960.jpg)
![HOME 50 5 APPLIANCES 1955 CRACKED.COM Nuclear-powered vacuum cleaners will probably be a reality within ten years. -Alex Lewyt, vacuum company president. We have nuclear power today, but it makes a lot more sense to produce it centrally than to stick a reactor in every appliance.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/5/9/1018959.jpg)
![KEANU REEVES IN SPEED Phone CRACKED.COM Long before The Matrix and John Wick, critics said he couldn't lead a big-budget blockbuster like Speed. Не shaved off his long hair, bulked up, and his performance as Jack Travern made him an unexpected action star who would soon become the highest-paid of all time.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/5/7/1018957.jpg)
![HEATH LEDGER AS THE JOKER CRACKED.COM Fans were outraged that Ledger was cast as the Joker. Known for A Knight's tale and Brokeback Mountain, critics cried too young, too pretty, and not good enough, but his performance is considered among the all-time best, and he became the first actor in a superhero movie to be nominated for (and win) an Oscar.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/5/8/1018958.jpg)
![DANIEL CRAIG AS JAMES BOND CRACKED.COM In 2005, the Blonde Bond controversy had fans boycott the film. They saw James Bond as sleek, elegant, and debonair whereas mostly-unknown Craig seemed like a meathead. His 5 installments as Bond from 2006 to 2021 have grossed nearly $4 billion.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/5/6/1018956.jpg)
![ROBERT DOWNEY JR. AS TONY STARK CRACKED COM Marvel Studios fought against the casting, and Director Jon Favreau stated, Robert was a tough sell. They wanted a lesser-known actor with no baggage who was 10 years younger. RDJ has since become synonymous with Iron Man, and kicked off the trend of superhero obsession we're currently living in.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/5/5/1018955.jpg)
![JENNIFER LAWRENCE AS KATNISS EVERDEEN CRACKED.COM Because Katniss Everdeen is a beloved book character, fans questioned Lawrence's look and experience. Her ability to lead the franchise was immediately cemented, and lead to the next four Hunger Games installments.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/5/3/1018953.jpg)
![RENEE ZELLWEGER AS BRIDGET JONES CRACKED.COM Bridget Jones was British literature's most iconic female character of the 90s, so casting a petite Texan like Zellweger saw the headline, 'Crap American Comedian Playing English Icon'. The career-defining role won over fans everywhere and earned an Oscar nom.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/5/2/1018952.jpg)
![MICHAEL KEATON AS BATMAN CRACKED.COM Warner Bros received 50,000 protest letters from angry fans after Keaton was cast in 1989, but both Keaton Batmans are considered the gold standard of superhero films, and the best Batman debate usually comes down to Bale or Keaton.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/5/4/1018954.jpg)
![Turbine A Gue DOLLAR 263 Co Hondensator COINS SOLA SIDENU YOSHELLEI SOLTES STACEL CRACKED.COM In 2007, the US government thought 42 dollar coins would replace bills, saving the mint $4.4 billion over the next couple decades. But people liked bills more. Half of all dollar coins sit uncirculated in government vaults.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/5/0/1018950.jpg)
![Turbine A DOME HOMES Torbin Gue 263 330 Hondensator SOLK CRACKED COM In the '60s, architects thought dome homes would catch on because they would totally shrug off damage from hurricanes and other natural disasters. Buyers rejected them because they looked completely bloody stupid. 8](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/5/1/1018951.jpg)
![FLYING CARS SOLK 3218 fe CRACKED.COM Henry Ford had a plan for cheap, easy-to-use, personal planes everyone can own. A plane in every driveway! Then his prototype (avoidably) crashed during a test flight, and Ford scrapped the whole idea. HA 8](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/9/4/9/1018949.jpg)