10 Modern Things That Were Predicted Hundreds Of Years Before They Appeared

We, human beings, like to make things up. Our imagination takes us to the future filled with mind-bending technologies, surreal gadgets, and abilities that surpass everything we thought possible. We read about them in science-fiction books, watch futuristic movies, and eventually get inspired to create them in real life. Think smartphones are a totally new invention? Nope, they were predicted decades ago! Same goes for credit cards, self-driving cars, and even smartwatches. Here are 10 modern things that were predicted hundreds of years before they appeared.

Video-chatting

It seems that some people, like the 19th century artist Jean-Marc Côté, had an ability to glance into the future. He’s one of the creators of En L’An 2000, an image series of technological achievements we should have made by the year 2000. This art collection was first printed in 1899! In it, Jean-Marc Côté depicted the future of video chatting – when no such visual technologies existed yet!

iPad

Arthur Clarke, author of 2001: A Space Odyssey, made a prediction in 1968, describing a technologically advanced civilization that created life on Earth. In the book he mentioned electronic newspapers that look much like modern day iPads or tablets for reading.

Apollo 11

Jule Verne’s From Earth to the Moon has the exact depiction of Apollo 11 mission to the Moon. The similarities are uncanny! In the novel three men boarded a spacecraft named Columbiad and launched from Florida. 104 years later three astronauts boarded the Apollo 11 spacecraft with a command module named Columbia that also launched from Florida! In the novel a telescope was able to see the mission in progress, and that’s exactly what happened in real life!

Laser

H. G. Wells is known for his futuristic novels and precise predictions. Back in 1898 he described what he called a ‘Heat-Ray’ in his novel The War of the Worlds. This weapon was capable of destroying anything from any distance without a hint of noise with just one short flash of light.