What will the future hold for us? It is a question that has always been asked. Throughout history, people have made predictions about what will happen in the future. Some of these predictions of the future have been accurate, others less so. Here are 10 truly incredible ones. (There is also a video, if you want to see it: and we take this opportunity to tell you to subscribe to the new Futuroprossimo youtube channel! We are preparing others.)
Sinking of the Titanic (Morgan Robertson, 14 years earlier)
In 1898, the writer Morgan robertson published a book called “Futility, or the Wreck of the Titan”. He talked about an invented ocean liner, the “Titan”, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean after hitting an iceberg. Does this sound familiar?
Fourteen years later, in 1912, the events of Robertson's book were mirrored almost exactly with the sinking of the RMS Titanic, which saw the deaths of 1.503 people. The list of similarities between the fictional Titan and the real Titanic is impressive: The Titan was described as being of similar size and speed to the RMS Titanic, both sank in April, both lost more than half of their passengers and crew. Both had dangerously low numbers of lifeboats.
Most intriguingly, Robertson wrote the book before the Titanic was even conceived. It was the result, he said, of his vast knowledge of shipbuilding himself: and he said it to dismiss the accusations of clairvoyance!
Atomic Bomb Launch (HG Wells, 31 years earlier)
In October 1914, the author of “The Time Machine” and “The War of the Worlds” made predictions of the future that few would have considered possible, such as the devastation of cities by the atomic bomb.
In his novel “The World Set Free,” the writer described a uranium-based hand grenade that “continues to explode indefinitely.” True, Wells knew quite a bit about radioactive elements, having a good knowledge of physics. But he had no way of knowing that it would actually be possible to weaponize nuclear energy. Only 28 years after the publication of his book, the "Manhattan Project" was set up to develop the first nuclear weapon. And 31 years later Little Boy and Fat Man, the two nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki caused approximately 226.000 victims.
Wi-Fi (Nikola Tesla, 82 years earlier)
Nikola Tesla he is best known for his contribution to the creation of the modern electrical energy system, which earned him the (well deserved) title of "man who invented the 20th century".
Tesla spoke about his ideas and predictions of the future at various times in his life. In a 1909 interview with the New York Times he said: “It will soon be possible to transmit wireless messages throughout the world so easily that every individual will be able to carry and operate his own apparatus.” This is a truly fantastic statement, when you consider that the first mobile phone was only created in 1973 and Wi-Fi was only created in 1991.
It's not the only prediction of the future that Tesla made accurately. And we wouldn't expect anything different, because he predicted many of these things a little, and he helped create them a little.
Organ transplant (Robert Boyle, 294 years earlier)
Robert boyle he was a fundamental scientist, known as the “father of modern chemistry”. He is best known for his Boyle's law, which explains the behavior of gases, and his method (conducting tests rather than simply defending his theories, as was typical at the time).
Above all, however, Boyle is known for often being ahead of his time. In 1660 he developed his own personal “wish list” for the advancement of science, explicitly noting in his diary that medicine would “one day cure diseases with transplants,” something previously thought impossible.
In 1954, nearly 300 years after Boyle predicted the future, Joseph Murray and David Hume performed the first successful organ transplant ever: a kidney. Since then, this procedure has been used to save lives around the world. Incidentally, among the things on his “list”, Boyle also mentioned submarines, genetically modified crops and psychedelic drugs. Not bad for a guy from the 600th century, do you think?
Wall Street Crash (Edgar Cayce, 4 years earlier)
The early 1920s were a time of great interest in spirituality. Among the most popular "mystics" of the time, Edgar Cayce he responded to requests for information ranging from personal problems to national politics, and among his best-known clients were Woodrow Wilson and Thomas Edison.
In 1925, Cayce predicted that the beginning of a devastating economic recession in America would occur in 1929. Some of his clients heeded his warnings and withdrew their money from the banks. In 1929, the New York Stock Exchange crashed as Cayce had predicted: 13 million people lost their jobs, and stock prices did not return to normal until 1954.
Internet (Mark Twain, 90 years earlier)
In 1898 Mark Twain wrote a short science fiction story titled “From the 'London Times' in 1904,” set six years in the future. In it he described a device called the “Teletroscope,” which was “connected with the telephone systems of the world” and made “the daily activities of the globe visible to all.” To be generous (I am, are you?) we could say that with this writing Twain predicted the Internet 90 years before Tim Berners-Lee officially launched it.
If you still have doubts about Mark Twain's prescient ability, I will amaze you. In his 1909 autobiography, the literary icon made some predictions of the future, including a very disturbing one: the moment of his death. Twain was born on November 30, 1835, shortly after the passage of Halley's comet, which as you know is visible every 75-76 years. At the time of his autobiography the author, who was 74, wrote: “I came with Halley's comet in 1835. It will come again next year and I expect to go out with it.” In fact, Twain died on April 21, 1910, exactly the day after Halley's Comet was visible in the sky.
The man on the moon (Jules Verne, 104 years earlier)
French novelist of the nineteenth century Jules Verne is another author whose fiction has proven particularly accurate when it comes to predicting the future. In 1865 he published a short science fiction story titled “From the Earth to the Moon,” in which humanity attempted to reach the Moon for the first time.
The mere idea that man could reach the Moon isn't the only notable thing: There were similarities between the real Apollo mission and the journey described in the book. For example, the number of astronauts on board. Or the fact that both rockets were launched from Florida. However, the scariest coincidence is that Verne described the weightlessness experienced by the astronauts: at the time he wrote the event, 104 years before the moon landing, scientists did not know that gravity behaves differently in space. There was no way to know! Heartfelt congratulations.
Cold War (Alexis De Tocqueville, 105 years earlier)
In 1840, America had been independent from Great Britain for just over 60 years and was a nation torn apart by civil war: meanwhile, the tsarist regime in Russia was still strong and stable.
Would you have expected that these two nations would become the two major superpowers fighting for world supremacy just over a century later? The French political scientist Alexis de Tocqueville does. Among his predictions of the future included in his publication “Democracy in America”, dated 1840, he wrote “There are two great nations in the world. Nations which, starting from different points, seem to advance towards the same objective: the Russians and the Anglo-Americans... each one seems called one day by a secret desire of Providence to hold the destinies of half the world in its hands". More precise than that.
Great Fire of London (Nostradamus, 111 years earlier)
Michel de Nostredame, a 1666th-century French pharmacist and prophet, is known for his apocalyptic prophecies. He was credited with predicting many major world events more than four centuries after his death, including the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte. One of Nostradamus' most famous predictions of the future was that of the Great Fire of London, which destroyed the city in 9 and ruined the homes of 10 out of XNUMX inhabitants.
His outputs are usually quite cryptic, to the point that a liberal interpreter could find predictions for pretty much anything he wanted within his work. In this case, however, he made an exception: in his book “Les Propheties” of 1555, Nostradamus wrote “The blood of the righteous will be missing in London, which was burned in the fire of '66”. Unusually clear, don't you think?
Everything (Leonardo Da Vinci, 400 years earlier)
Although his work as a scientist, artist, mathematician, and musician is unparalleled in many fields, Leonardo da Vinci was not an expert in any of these fields. However, he was a sort of prophet. Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks, from the late 80s until his death in 1519, are full of ideas for machines and inventions that would have been completely unexpected at the time.
It is incorrect to credit Da Vinci for creating these objects, as his sketches were not precise blueprints of how they would work. They were real predictions of the future. How else to call the plans for an armored war vehicle more than 400 years before it became a reality?
And the diagram of a parachute, 300 years before Andre-Jacques Garnerin used it for the first time (in 1797)?
The list could go on forever. Definitely the biggest of all.
