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Soothsayers who wept for the future

30 Prognosticators Who Gazed Into Their Crystal Balls and Saw Some Messed-Up Stuff

July 27, 2024

Did they guess?!?! Did they know?!?! We have to know! These past predictors and/or TV and film creators were so on-the-nose that it’s honestly pretty creepy. They say life imitates art, but we don’t think that term originally meant life in the future. Life in the present, sure, but these futuristic art imitators shocked us all.

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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 the of the LOLAND made daily visible doings to everybody, by witnesses audibly separated by too, discussable any number of leagues. 100 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

ON SEINFELD, JERRY AND ELAINE EAT NONFAT FROZEN YOGURT BUT GAIN WEIGHT. THEY DEDUCE THAT THE YOGURT ISN'T AS NONFAT AS IT CLAIMS. just a few months later, New York Magazine published a study of various desserts that claimed to be diet or nonfat. The frozen yogurt industry turned out to be just as dishonest as seinfeld jokingly portrayed. CRACKED.COM — Source

28

House of Cards 2017's Grenfell Tower tragedy The similarities between the deadly fire at Grenfell Tower and a 1993 episode of the BBC's series are chilling, with both scenarios featuring a gas explosion in a run-down tower block, and the UK government facing accusations of neglect. CRACKED — Source

27

GRAGKED.COM two lesser stars, or satellites, which revolve about Mars...- Jonathan Swift, describing the Red Planet's moons in his 1726 novel Gulliver's Travels. Phobos and Deimos, discovered in 1877 by Asaph Hall — Source

26

A 1995 student PSA featuring 5th graders from Helena, MT not only correctly proclaimed By the time we're in college, the Internet will be our telephone, television, shopping center, and workplace. ка The Greatest Thing in Lin ADA It also hinted at the Internet's future infatuation with felines. I even found a recipe for cat food cupcakes! CRACKED.COM — Source

25

CRACKED COM THE VIDEOGAME TOM CLANCY'S GHOST RECON UNCANNILY PREDICTED THE RUSSIA - GEORGIA WAR. RELEASED IN 2001, THE GAME WAS SET IN APRIL 2008 - JUST R FEW MONTHS BEFORE THE REAL WAR. — Source

24

CRACKED COM When the Treaty of Versailles was signed, officially ending the First World War in 1919, French Marshal Ferdinand Foch responded... THIS IS NOT PEACE. IT IS AN ARMISTICE FOR TWENTY YEARS. The Second World War started in 1939. — Source

23

And in her ears the little Seashells, the thimble radios tamped tight, and an electronic ocean of sound, of music and talk and music and talk coming in, coming in on the shore of her unsleeping mind. -Fahrenheit 451 Well, It seems that Ray Bradbury knew something that we didn't CRACKED.COM — Source

22

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. CRACKED.COM http://www.nydailynews. com/news/crime/nicholas-telemaque- 27-shot-death-brooklyn-street-leaving-nightclub-article-1.155416 — Source

21

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

20

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

19

IN THEIR PILOT EPISODE, THE LONE GUNMENTHWARTED 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@ruMG2hHSLo — Source

18

CHECK THE NAMES IMPRISONED WITH WESLEY SNIPES AND SYLVESTER STALLONE IN DEMOLITION MAN: CRYO-PENITENTIARY MORNING HEARING SCHEDULE ID# INMATE TIME 07:00 HYDE, QUENTIN 357-M 08:15 PETERSON, SCOTT 4-NKT 07:30 PHOENIX, SIMON 468-W IT'S A MURDERER NAMED SCOTT PETERSON. Peterson would be the center of a sensational 2004 trial for killing his pregnant wife. The movie even put him in the right jail: its cryoPrison houses california's worst criminals, as does scott's san Quentin, california's last death row facility. CRACKED.COM — Source

17

In 1932's INITANI KEN Evening News LATE SPECIAL FYONG Brave New World, - - SALE - - - Meet Louise, the world's Aldous Huxley first test-tube arrival described in-vitro fertilization. SUPERBABE BRAVE NEW WORLD Wide-eyed Louise Brown pictured in hospital 18 hours after the ... born Today the's doing - well for Page Three In 1978, the world greeted Louise Brown, who was the first ALDOUS HUXLEY test-tube baby. CRACKED COM — Source

16

EMINEM'S VIDEO LIKE TOY SOLDIERS SHOWS RAPPER PROOF DYING IN THE HOSPITAL AFTER GETTING SHOT. TWO YEARS LATER, PROOF WAS INDEED FATALLY SHOT. In the video, Proof reenacted the death of another rapper, Bugz. Eminem could have picked anybody he wanted for the role of friend who gets shot to death, but he selected Proof, in a case of terrifying precognition. CRACKED.COM — Source

15

ROBERT HEINLEIN'S 1961 NOVEL STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND PREDICTED 3-D COMPUTERS IN EVERY HOME. IT ALSO CAME UP WITH A MUCH MORE SPECIFIC PREDICTION: SCREENSAVERS. A stereovision tank disguised as an aquarium; he switched it on, guppies and tetras gave way to the face of the well-known Winchell. Fish in an aquarium would become one of the most popular screensavers out there. CRACKED.COM — Source

14

H.G. WELLS FIRST WROTE ABOUT THE ATOM BOMB IN A 1914 NOVEL CALLED THE WORLD SET FREE. IT WOULD BE DECADES BEFORE SCIENTISTS MADE THE BOMB REAL. wells didn't even know the bomb was possible. не just knew a little bit about radioactive decay, and thought if we ever split an atom, it would probably make a really big boom. CRACKED.COM — Source

13

A FOOTBALL POSTER IN POLTERGEIST SAYS 1988 SUPER BOWL XXII. 1988 SUPERSON XXII WHICH IS WEIRD, BECAUSE THE FILM WAS RELEASED IN 1982. In 1988, on the day of super Bowl XXII, Poltergeist actress Heather O'Rourke happened to be living in san Diego, the city where the game was taking place. she suddenly became violently ill and died the following afternoon. CRACKED.COM — Source

12

A FORGETTABLE 1995 HBO MOVIE CALLED ABOVE SUSPICION FEATURED CHRISTOPHER REEVE. ...AS AN OFFICER CONFINED TO A WHEELCHAIR. This film aired May 25. May 27 was the day of Reeve's horseback riding accident. The movie where he plays a paraplegic was released just two days before he landed in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. CRACKED.COM — Source

11

THE 2005 SHOW EXTRAS FEATURES A FICTIONAL HOLOCAUST FILM STARRING KATE WINSLET. SAYS WINSLET, CYNICALLY: DO A FILM ABOUT THE HOLOCAUST, YOU'RE GUARANTEED AN OSCAR. Fast-forward to 2008, and Kate winslet has a leading role in The Reader, a Holocaust film. Despite getting mixed reviews, it scores winslet an Oscar for Best Actress. CRACKED.COM — Source

10

WAG THE DOG'S PRESIDENT, CAUGHT CREEPING ON A GIRL, DISTRACTS THE MEDIA WITH A WAR. A CLEAR PARODY OF BILL CLINTON AND MONICA LEWINSKY? NOPE. You might think this commented on clinton's out-of-nowhere decision to bomb sudan and Afghanistan days after the Lewinsky scandal broke. But the film came out in December 1997, eight months before he ordered the bombing. CRACKED.COM — Source

9

QUIET PEOPLE GO OUT IN THE MORNING, AND SEE AIR-FLEETS PASSING OVERHEAD, DRIPPING DEATH - DRIPPING DEATH! THE WAR IN THE AIR H.G. WELLS (1907) BATTLE OF BRITAIN (1940) CRACKED.COM — Source

8

The World Trade Center towers were destroyed... ...in Super Mario Brothers, 8 years before 9/11. CRACKED.COM — Source

7

MATTHEW PERRY'S SHOW SECOND CHANCE SHOWED THE CHARACTER IN HEAVEN WITH ST. PETER AND MUAMMAR GADDAFI. ACCORDING TO THIS SHOW, GADDAFI DIES ON JULY 29, 2011. Gaddafi ended up being killed on october 20, 2011. we'd say that's pretty close for a prediction made 24 years in advance. CRACKED.COM — Source

6

IN 1987, APPLE RELEASED A PROMO VIDEO IMAGINING FUTURE TECHNOLOGY. CHOCO IT SHOWED A TABLET COMPUTER WITH VIDEO CHAT AND VOICE-BASED SEARCH. The scene was supposed to take place on september 16, 2011. The ipad ended up coming out in 2010. The first Apple tablet with a voice- based assistant (siri) came out september 2011, within two weeks of the date the video predicted. CRACKED.COM — Source

5

AIRPLANET THE SEQUEL AM SCANNERS THAT GENERATE NAKED IMAGES OF PASSENGERS? SURELY YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS. CRACKED.COM — Source

4

Heat Ray - The War of the Worlds Tactical High Energy Laser - U.S. Army CRACKED COM — Source

3

In 1947, artist Isamu Noguchi, created Sculpture to be seen from Mars. It was a fantasy earth sculpture project, envisioned to be miles wide and tall. In 1976, NASA's Viking 1 captured this image of a mountain ON FRICKIN' MARS! CRACKED COM — Source

2

AT THE SAME TIME ENEMY WARSHIPS FIRE ON PEARL HARBOR, HAWAII.. NATIONAL COMICS #18 DEPICTED UNCLE SAM DEFENDING PEARL HARBOR IT WAS RELEASED IN 10° NOVEMBER, 1941. AMERICA'S HERO UNCLE SAM ON DECEMBER 7, 1941, JAPAN ATTACKED PEARL HARBOR CRACKED.CON — Source

1

IN1969, MONTY PYTHON GAVE US THE MOUSE PROBLEM. The Little WHITE RODENT Room A NEWS REPORT INVESTIGATES MEN DRESSING UP AS MICE AS A FETISH. The idea was supposed to make fun of gay panic. Half a century later, we now know about furries, SO the sketch barely registers as a joke. MAGGIE CRACKED.COM — Source

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