20 loud predictions that did not come true (21 photos)

Predicting future events is no easy task. However, some people still believe they can see into the future and are happy to share their predictions. Here are twenty people from distant and recent history, many of whom were very smart, but their predictions turned out to be wrong.





1. William Thomson (Lord Kelvin)



Kelvin was deeply skeptical of X-rays, declaring in the late 1800s that they would ultimately prove to be a hoax. He also believed that heavier-than-air craft were impossible.

2. Ken Olsen





Despite being the founder of Digital Equipment Corporation, Ken Olsen stated in 1977, "There is no reason why anyone would want a computer in their home."

3. Robert Metcalf



The inventor of the Ethernet network wrote in his 1996 InfoWorld column: "I predict that the Internet will soon go off like a supernova and collapse."

4. Napoleon



"You want to make a ship sail against the wind and the current by lighting a fire under its deck? "I have no time for this nonsense!" This was Napoleon's reply to Robert Fulton, the inventor of the first steamboat.

5. Thomas Craven



In 1961, Federal Communications Commissioner T. Craven said: "There is virtually no chance that communications satellites will be used to provide improved telephone, telegraph, television, or radio service in the United States."

6. John Elfrith Watkins



In an article for Ladies' Home magazine in 1900, John Elfrith Watkins suggested that the world would switch to phonetic spelling, eliminating the letters C, X, and Q entirely.

7. Harold Camping



Camping was an American preacher who publicly predicted the end of the world at least 12 times.

8. Darryl F. Zanuck



Darryl F. Zanuck was one of the founders of 20th Century Fox and its chairman. He once said, "Television can't last more than six months. People will soon get tired of looking at a plywood box every night."

9. George Wald



In 1970, the Nobel Prize winner in Physiology or Medicine said that humanity had no more than 15 to 30 years left to live.

10. Time Magazine



In 1965, Time magazine predicted that most jobs would be replaced by computers. This would allow 90% of the population to live on government subsidies. "With government benefits, even non-working families would have, by one estimate, an annual income of $30,000 to $4,000," the article stated.

11. Alex Lewyt



In 1955, Alex Lewyt, president of the Lewyt Vacuum Cleaner Company, said, "A vacuum cleaner powered by nuclear energy will probably be a reality within 10 years."

12. Eric Anderson



In 2010, Eric Anderson of Space Adventures claimed, "By 2020, you'll see private citizens making trips to the moon."

13. Dr. Lowry McDaniel



In 1955, Dr. Lowry McDaniel predicted that the common cold would be eradicated by the year 2000.

14. Johann Steffler



In 1524, this famous German mathematician and astrologer noticed that almost all the planets of the solar system were beginning to line up in the constellation Aquarius. He decided that this was a sign and announced an imminent universal flood. Many believed him, and one even built an ark.

15. Bernard Strehler



The biologist and author of the book "Time, Cells, and Aging" believed that humans could live 150 years or more, and that this would happen very soon. He presented his findings at a conference of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology.

16. Paul Ehrlich



In 1970, the American biologist warned humanity that uncontrolled population growth on the planet would lead to mass starvation. According to his forecasts, 100-200 million people would die annually due to food shortages.

17. Hong-Ming Chen



The religious leader made several dubious claims in the 1980s. For example, he claimed that God appeared on American television screens, and later appeared in the form of Chen himself. Surprisingly, his followers believed him.

18. Waldemar Kaempfert



New York Times science editor Waldemar Kaempfert foresaw a world in which “even soup and milk would be sold in frozen briquettes” and “viscose underwear” would be turned into sweets.

19. Peter Gunther



A biology professor at the University of North Texas has no doubt that “by the year 2000, thirty years from now, the entire world, with the exception of Western Europe, North America and Australia, will be in the grip of famine.”

20. Joanna Southcott



Thanks to "voices in her head," Southcott predicted the British famine of 1799. This brought her great popularity, but in 1813, when Joanna declared that at the age of 64 she would give birth to the Messiah, she suddenly died.