Future predictions are a funny thing. Although some may seem ridiculous, or at the very least misguided, there’s always people who are pessimistic about seemingly impossible feats and changes. Here we have thirteen of the most incorrect future predictions ever made:
1859
“Drill for oil? You mean drill into the ground to try and find oil? You’re crazy.”
Associates of Edwin L. Drake refusing his suggestion to drill for oil.
1873
No surgeon will ever operate on the heart or brain: “The abdomen, the chest and the brain will forever be shut from the intrusion of the wise and humane surgeon.”
Sir John Eric Ericksen, British Surgeon.
1878
“When the Paris exhibition closes, electric light will close with it and no more will be heard of it.”
Erasmus Wilson, Oxford Professor.
1883
“X-Rays will prove to be a hoax.”
Lord Kelvin, President of the Royal Society.
1888
“It is not demonstrated that a true flying machine, self-raising, self-sustaining, self-propelling, is physical impossible?”
Professor Joseph Le Conte, Popular Science Monthly.
1903
“The horse is here to stay, but the automobile is a novelty – a fad.”
The President of The Michigan Savings Bank.
1912
“Titanic passengers all all rescued: giant new liner limping towards Halifax badly damaged.”
Syracuse Herald.
1919
“Taking the best left-handed pitcher in baseball and converting him to a right-handed fielder is one of the dumbest things I ever heard.”
Tris Speaker, Baseball Hall of Famer on Babe Ruth.
1920
“A rocket will never be able to leave the Earth’s atmosphere.”
The New York Times.
1944
“You better get secretarial work or get married.”
Emmeline Snively, advising would-be model Marilyn Monroe.
1948
“Television won’t last. It’s just a flash in a pan.”
Mary Somerville, pioneer of radio educational broadcasts.
1955
“Rock n’ roll? It’ll be gone by June.”
Variety Magazine.
2005
“This website venture is the sort of failure that is simply unsurvivable.”
Nikki Finke, LA Weekly.
The Future That Never Happened: 13 Failed Predictions That Couldn’t Have Been More Wrong | Visual.ly, Hendrick’s and The Huffington Post
