Ten 100 Year Predictions That Came True

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The BBC has dug up a hundred year old article that predicted televisions, mobile phones, tanks, digital color photos and so on. Normally these Nostradamus-like predictions are so vague that anything close can be counted as something that came "true," but this guy was pretty damn specific.

In 1900, an American civil engineer called John Elfreth Watkins made a number of predictions about what the world would be like in 2000. How did he do? He began the article with the words: "These prophecies will seem strange, almost impossible," explaining that he had consulted the country's "greatest institutions of science and learning" for their opinions on 29 topics.
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Those predictions were all well-educated projections. Technically, we do have ships that can cross the Atlantic in 2 days... (you need to do 60 knots). Heck, that goes to show just how bang-on we can be in projecting emerging technologies.

now where's my tinfoil hat...
 
This gives me hope that Michio Kaku will get some things right in his Physics of the Impossible book.
 
Discussions about that 1900 article was all over the Internet 10 to 12 years ago. Just set Google's custom range to something like 1999 to 2005 and you will find many articles referencing John Elfreth Watkins, Jr's 1900 predictions. I guess everything old will be new again. I predict that in 2022 Watkins' article will be newsworthy again because people's memories are getting worse and worse!
 
That's pretty cool. Especially about the prediction of televisions.
 
And we've got novel minds these days and people call him crazy for making predictions of things a 100 years from now.

I won't be alive then, but I laugh at those who cast such quick judgement.
 
I wonder how many he got really wrong. I mean Nostradamus got some things right, even if vague, but a lot of what he said wasn't even close.
 
Jimby said:
To bad he wasn't right about Mosquitos.
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That would cause the extinction of most of the earth's living beings. Mosquitos and many other insects are at/near the bottom of the food chain, but they are pretty much the largest volume of food source on the planet.
 
DejaWiz said:
That would cause the extinction of most of the earth's living beings. Mosquitos and many other insects are at/near the bottom of the food chain, but they are pretty much the largest volume of food source on the planet.
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Removing mosquitos would cause the extinction of most of earth's living beings? HAHAHAHAH!
 
PornoSatan said:
Removing mosquitos would cause the extinction of most of earth's living beings? HAHAHAHAH!
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Laugh all you want. Facts are facts. Do some very basic research about mosquitos and insects and their vital role in the food chain, FFS.
 
PROPHET = The idiot in the movie theatre yelling "the butler did it" because he's seen the movie before.
 
DejaWiz said:
Laugh all you want. Facts are facts. Do some very basic research about mosquitos and insects and their vital role in the food chain, FFS.
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To think all of life, each improving the ability to survive throughout millions of years, would go extinct because of some mosquitos is hilarious. Here's a common sense more likely occurance -

A few species (unnoticeable amount) would go extinct while the rest would quite quickly adapt to the lack of mosquitos in the world.
 
He made some uncanny, remarkable predictions, I admit. I wonder what "'experts" made predictions in 2000 for what will happen in 2100. Even though many will say I'm not such an "expert", I'll go ahead and make a few predictions:
1.) Most of you who are reading this in 2012 won't be around in 2100.
2.) People will continue to get fatter and lazier.
3.) Cars will fly. (Finally!)
 
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