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36 Historical Predictions: How’d That Turn Out?

Were they soothsayers? Or liars?

36 Historical Predictions: How’d That Turn Out?

March 06, 2024

These historical and pop-culture figures swung for the fences in terms of their predictions of the future. Thankfully, we’re now in the unique position of being able to see exactly how they turned out.

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36

HBO

TWO DAYS BEFORE THE ACCIDENT THAT PARALYZED CHRISTOPHER REEVE, HBO AIRED A MOVIE STARRING REEVE IN A WHEELCHAIR. The movie was called Above Suspicion, and it was released on May 25, 1995. Reeves' horseback riding accident was on May 27, 1995. CRACKED.COM http://www.chrisreevehomepage.com/n-1995.html — Source

35

Americathon

THE YEAR 1998, ACCORDING TO Americations The U.S. is depleted of oil and falling into bankruptcy to foreign lenders. Nike has become a huge conglomerate. The USSR has collapsed. China is a global superpower that is leaning toward capitalism. Reality TV is out of control. AM AMERICATHON CAME OUT IN 1979. CRACKED.COM https://youtu.be/yFyVs_766S4 — Source

34

IN 1987, APPLE MADE A COMMERCIAL PREDICTING BORDERLINE MAGIC PRODUCTS THEY'D INVENT BY 2011. The video featured meall a tablet-style computer with a personal digital assistant that takes - CHTT phone calls and video chats, searches the Fite network - Schedule - Internet, analyzes Desartifucation - - - data, and creates sophisticated graphics. And the Scopy Year: 1230 Rate: 22 whole thing has a touch screen and is voice-activated. THE VIDEO IS SET IN SEPTEMBER OF 2011-JUST A COUPLE OF WEEKS BEFORE APPLE LAUNCHED THE IPHONE WITH SIRI. CRACKED.COM https://youtu.be/QRH8eimU_20 — Source

33

WILCO'S ALBUM YANKEE WIICO HOTEL FOXTROTPREDICTED THE 9/11 ATTACKS. Tall buildings shake Voices escape singing sad sad songs Voices whine Skyscrapers are scraping together Your voice is smoking -Jesus, Etc. Although the album was released in 2003, it was actually recorded in early 2000-well before the Twin Tower attacks. http://web.archive.org/web/20010826133635/http:/www.chicagotribune.com/ CRACKED.COM features/ifestyle/chi-010815003Baug 15.storycollschi-leisure-hed — Source

32

NICKI MINAJ PREDICTED HER COUSIN'S DEATH, WITH A SONG. Why'd you have to leave in July? On a peaceful and serene summer night... Why the doctors could not stop the bleeding... Now you see you not bullet proof... I could've told you about my intuition ... Why'd you have to go so soon? -We Miss You A year after Nicki wrote this, her cousin Nicholas Telemaque was gunned down in July and left to bleed to death. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/nicholas-telemague- CRACKED.COM 27-shot-death-brooklyn-street-leaving-nightclub-article-1.155416 — Source

31

WARREN ZEVON PREDICTED HIS OWN DEATH. His song The Factory ends with these lines: Kickin' asbestos in the factory Punchin' out Chryslers in the factory Breathin' that plastic in the factory. Zevon died from advanced malignant mesothelioma, which is usually caused by inhalation of asbestos. That wouldn't be so odd if Zevon wrote that song from his personal experience, but he didn't. Не never worked in any such risky environment himself and had no reason to believe he was at risk of mesothelioma. CRACKED.COM www.nytimes.com/2003/01/26/magazine/warren-zevon-s-last-waltz.htm/?pagewanted=all&src=pm — Source

30

IN 1898, MARK TWAIN MADE UP THE TELELECTROSCOPE. OR, AS WE CALL IT, THE INTERNET. The improved 'limitless- distance' telephone was presently introduced, and LOLAND made daily visible doings discussable to everybody, the of the by witnesses audibly separated by too, 100 any number of leagues. Day by day, and night by night, he called up one corner of the globe after another, and looked upon its life, and studied its strange sights, and spoke with its people, and realized that by grace of this marvellous instrument he was almost as free as the birds of the air. -From the — Source

29

A GOOFY 1987 SITCOM PREDICTED GADHAFI'S DEATH WITHIN A FEW MONTHS. The show was called Second Chance, and in the pilot STJ PETER'S OFFICE Colonel Moammar July 29, 20TJ Gadhafi shows up in St. Peter's office in July of 2011. Gadhafi actually died in October of that year. Not too far off, for a show that aired 24 years before that date. CRACKED.COM https://youtu.be/o62MU1q-U1k — Source

28

Predictions

ROBERT HEINLEIN PREDICTED THE SCREEN SAVER, IN 1961. They went to the living room; Jill sat at his feet and they applied themselves to martinis. Opposite his chair was a stereovision tank disguised as an aquarium; he switched it on, guppies and tetras gave way to the face of the well-known Winchell Augustus Greaves. -Stranger in a Strange Land CRACKED.COM Robert A Heinlein, 1961 Stranger in a Strange Land. — Source

27

ALBERT BROOKS PREDICTED REALITY me TV IN 1979. FILMING THANKSGIVING His mockumentary film Real Life featured an obnoxious, intrusive camera crew trailing a family and deliberately stirring up conflict. It was meant as a sendup of a PBS documentary series, but with the twist that most of the drama was generated artificially by the producer. CRACKED.COM http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/real-life-1979 — Source

26

30 Rock

ENJOYING YOUR KFC DOUBLE DOWN? 30 ROCK THOUGHT OF IT FIRST. miha KFC the - Tracy Jorden MEAT MACHINE SEX MEAT IS THE NEW BREAD! Presenting the U I D for Tracy Jordan Meat - SEENON - Jorden Machine, which saved you from suffering through the bread part of your sandwich, in 2006. The Double Down بلدق came out in 2009. CRACKED.COM http://www.avclub.com/tvclub/30-rock-rural-juror-head-and-hair-209499 — Source

25

THERE'S A POSTER ON ROBBIE'S WALL IN POLTERGEIST FROM THE 1988 SUPERBOWL. An odd choice of SAMPLE - set decoration, considering the movie was released in 1982. And downright creepy when you realize that on SuperBowl Sunday in 1988, Heather O'Rourke, who played Carol Anne, became violently ill. She died the next day. She was 12 years old. CRACKED.COM https://youtu.be/au-QUyjOF7A — Source

24

IN THEIR PILOT EPISODE, THE LONE GUNMEN THWARTED A PLOT TO HIJACK A PLANE AND CRASH IT INTO THE WORLD TRADE CENTER. (Cue X-Files theme music.) It aired in March, 2001. CRACKED.COM https://youtube@ruM32hHsLo — Source

23

JACKIE WILSON HAD A HEART ATTACK WHILE SINGING THE WORDS, MY HEART IS CRYING. - STEREO higher and higher JACKIE WILSON It was 1975, and Jackie was singing his hit song Lonely Teardrops onstage. When he hit the line about his crying heart, he suffered a massive heart attack and collapsed onstage. It took a while for the audience to realize he wasn't just being dramatic. CRACKED.COM — Source

22

CHRIS ROCK NAILED THE TITLE OF OJ's BOOK. O.J. SIMPSON I Didn't Kill My Wife! But If I DID, Here's How I'd Do It It was 1999, on The Chris Rock Show. Не did a segment where he was reminiscing, and held up a video with OJ called I Didn't Kill My Wife! But If I DID, Here's How I'd Do it. Simpson's 2007 book was entitled If I Did It. To be fair, it's possible OJ got the idea from Chris Rock. CRACKED.COM https://youtu.be/KKD4bKVEus — Source

21

36 Historical Predictions: How’d That Turn Out? — Source

20

HAL IS HERE. The name of HAL, the sentient computer from the 1968 film 2001, is a one-letter shift from IBM. Today we have IBM's Watson, an artificial intelligence so sophisticated that it defeated the two most successful Jeopardy contestants ever. Without being connected to the Internet. CRACKED.COM http://www.ibm.com/smarterplanet/us/en/ibmwatson/what-is-watson.html — Source

19

DEMOLITION MAN INADVERTENTLY PREDICTED SCHWARZENEGGER'S POLITICAL CAREER. Detective Huxley mentions doing research at the Arnold Schwarzenegger Presidential Library. Stallone's character John Spartan reacts the way you'd think Stallone would. The movie came out in 1993, a full 10 years before Schwarzenegger began his two terms as Governor of California. It also predicted driverless cars, Skype, and GPS. CRACKED.COM https://youtu.be/-OZ_R3YpB1Y — Source

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18

A 1986 ISSUE OF MAN OF STEEL FEATURED LOIS LANE TRAVELING ON THE SPACE SHUTTLE WHEN IT MET WITH DISASTER AND SUPES HAD TO RESCUE HER. As the artist was completing it, the Challenger disaster happened, killing teacher Christa McAuliffe and all the astronauts on board. DE TEST SECURITY THE COMICS MAN EVENT OF OF THE STEEL CE man NO.1 THE R.L. RESTENDAY METROPOLIS 2000 ALL F can on THE CELEBRATIONS FOR TWO HUNDRED AND AFTER SPECIAL ADDANSEMENTS AND BEEN ANNVERSARY MADE 10 - THE EXPERIMENTAL SPACE-PLANE LAND AT METROPOLIS INTERNATIONAL PENT OUT a the AMPORT 10 EVERYTHING SEEMED TO — Source

17

MTV

THE FIRST VIDEO TO PLAY ON MTV PREDICTED ITS SUCCESS. The song was Video Killed the Radio Star, by the Buggles. It wasn't a new song, and music videos weren't new. OH-UH-OH! But they were right. Video replaced radio as the source of new music, soon after. CRACKED.COM http://www.mtv.com/artists/buggles/ — Source

16

Superman

SUPERMAN COMICS PREDICTED THE ATOMIC BOMB. MEANWHILE, IN A SECRET UNDER- GROUND WORKSHOP, AN OLD ENEMY OF A Superman SUPERMAN CHUCKLES TO HIMSELF... comic from 1945 SUCCESS AT LAST! THE MOST POTENT WEAPON EVER INVENTED showed Lex IS MINE-PROVED AND PERFECTED- READY TO BRING ME WHATEVER Luthor creating an I DESIRE! outlandish new device called an atomic bomb, to instigate chaos in the city of Metropolis. It was so NOTHING CAN LET'S SURVIVE THE SEE! on-the-nose, the BLAST OF THIS ATOMIC BOMB! Defense Department ordered DC Comics to pull the story. Just months later, the U.S. nuked Hiroshima and Nagasaki. — Source

15

55 50 AVAILABILITY 5 OF MEAT SEPTEMBER 1913 GRAGKED.COM If current trends continue, Americans in the 21st century will live as the low-caste Chinaman does now, on rice and vegetables, and like him, slothful creatures, anaemic and without initiative. -Gustav Bischoff, Meat Packers Association — Source

14

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. — Source

13

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. — Source

12

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. — Source

11

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. — Source

10

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. — Source

9

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. — Source

8

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. — Source

7

50 THE ALPHABET 5 DECEMBER 1900 no D CRACKED COM There will be no C, x or Q in our every-day alphabet. They will be abandoned because unnecessary. -John Watkins, from the Saturday Evening Post. Yes, we'd develop informal spelling but wouldn't drop any letters entirely, bc that idea sux, dafuq would be the point in doing that? — Source

6

Remote Diagnoses

65 50 REMOTE 5 DIAGNOSES 1905 CRACKED.COM The Popular Mechanics version of medical video conferencing included an electric handshake that touches you from afar. That didn't come to pass. And if it did, you know we'd have it shaking body parts for decidedly non-medical purposes. — Source

5

55 50 5 TRAINS 1850 : 8 SIERRA RAILROAD CRACKED COM Rail travel at high speed is not possible because passengers, unable to breathe, would die of asphyxia. -Irish professor Dionysius Lardner. We do have high-speed trains now, as well as even faster transport methods. — Source

4

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. — Source

3

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. — Source

2

Bathrooms

50 BATHROOMS 5 2000 1900 CRACKED CON French artists predicted life in the year 2000 for the 1900 World Exhibition. They foresaw machines scrubbing you clean and applying makeup. Even with access to robotics today, we prefer handling certain intimate activities ourselves. — Source

1

Wrong Predictions

65 ay in U Things or 50 ANIMALS Join the Species Already Extinct 5 - NOVEMBER 1926 - - the , sight... the the - before - - - 141 y investiga - GRACKED.COM the teaght will It's grobable ber be right - wild benef the by to Me - - M . masily - - - - ... - - - . - Loos - - the - - a - - - when .. - - Production - - . 4b to - - - - why - - - - - - - - - two - — Source

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