Predictions by their nature talk of future events. Most never came true, some do.
1865: Jules Verne imagined a man on the moon.
Science fiction author wrote about two men bound for the moon aboard a projectile fired from a cannon in his novel “From Earth to the Moon’. Verne even set the rocket launch in Florida, now the site of Kennedy Space Center.
1925: William Mitchell predicted that Japan would launch a surprise air attack in Pearl Harbour.
He was considered as the father of the United States Air Force. He annoyed Army and Navy leaders following WW1 by his demands for investment in air power. In 1925, he wrote the report which included the prediction of a Pearl Harbour attack. He had accused Army and Navy leaders of incompetence in a defending the nation. He was court-martialled on the direct order of President Coolidge.
1909: Nikola Tesla predicted wi-fi and mobile phones.
In a 1909 interview with the New York Times, this engineer and employee of Thomas Alva Edison said “ it will soon be possible to transmit wireless messages all over the world so simply that any individual can carry and operate his own apparatus’
1898 Novel: The Wreck of the Titan’ had uncanny similarities to Titanic ship-wreck.
The novel, by Morgan Robertson told the story of a British owned vessel, regarded as unsinkable which hits an iceberg off the coast of Newfoundland in April. The ship had too few lifeboats for the number of passengers aboard. All these facts also relate to the sinking of Titanic in 1912.
1726: Jonathan Swift wrote a story in Gulliver’s Travels in which he describes two moons about the Red Planet.
The moons of Mars: Phobos and Deimos were not discovered until 1877, over 150 years after Swift wrote about them.
1914: H G Wells wrote of Atomic Bombs.
In his book “The World Set Free”, wrote of Atomic Bombs as tremendous pillars of fire and radioactive vapour drifting and killing all they overtook. The Manhattan Project, which led to the development of nuclear bombs did not start until 1939 and the first bombs dropped in anger did not happen until 1945.
1660: Robert Boyle predicted organ transplants.
Nearly 300 years before the first major organ transplant in 1954. Known as the father of modern chemistry, predicted in a note in his personal journal. Experts also credit Boyle for foresight about aspirin and sleeping pills.
1888: Edward Bellamy envisaged the credit card.
This science fiction writer described a similar concept in his utopian novel Looking Backward, 2000–1887. He explains “A credit corresponding to his share of the annual product of the nation is given to every citizen…and a credit card issued him with which he procures at the public storehouses, whatever he desires.”
1968: Arthur C. Clark imagined the iPad.
Astronauts reading electronic newspapers on something very like an iPad or Tablet can be seen in the film ‘2001: A Space Odyssey. The director of the film, Stanley Kubrick and write Clarke spent several years discussing how they could a film to arouse emotions. The result was a masterpiece.
1919. Ferdinand Foch predicted the WW2.
He was French general who served as the Supreme Allied Commander during WW1. Many historians regard his contribution to the war effort as integral in ensuring victory. A skilled military thinker, Foch was a key negotiator at Versailles after the German surrender. He believed that only a complete occupation of the Rhineland would protect France from future German aggression. His demands were ignored. Displeased with the outcome of the Treaty of Versailles, Foch proclaimed during its signing “ This is not a peace. It is an armistice for twenty years. Nearly exactly twenty years later to the day, German aggression kickstarted WWII, proving Foch’s prophecy to be correct.
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