Predictions for the future - from 1900

[Kacey]

Predictions of the Year 2000
from The Ladies Home Journal of December 1900

Here's the first 5 - you can see the whole list of 29 at the link above. Some of them are amazingly correct; others are incredibly far off of current reality.

The Ladies Home Journal from December 1900, which contained a fascinating article by John Elfreth Watkins, Jr. “What May Happen in the Next Hundred Years”.
Mr. Watkins wrote: “These prophecies will seem strange, almost impossible. Yet, they have come from the most learned and conservative minds in America. To the wisest and most careful men in our greatest institutions of science and learning I have gone, asking each in his turn to forecast for me what, in his opinion, will have been wrought in his own field of investigation before the dawn of 2001 - a century from now. These opinions I have carefully transcribed.”
During the Year 2000, we included Mr. Watkins research in our feature articles. We invite you to comment on these predictions, whether they have been realized in some way or how they can never be accomplished! In any event, we know you’ll enjoy these entries.
Prediction #1: There will probably be from 350,000,000 to 500,000,000 people in America and its possessions by the lapse of another century. Nicaragua will ask for admission to our Union after the completion of the great canal. Mexico will be next. Europe, seeking more territory to the south of us, will cause many of the South and Central American republics to be voted into the Union by their own people.”
Prediction #2: The American will be taller by from one to two inches. His increase of stature will result from better health, due to vast reforms in medicine, sanitation, food and athletics. He will live fifty years instead of thirty-five as at present – for he will reside in the suburbs. The city house will practically be no more. Building in blocks will be illegal. The trip from suburban home to office will require a few minutes only. A penny will pay the fare.
Prediction #3: Gymnastics will begin in the nursery, where toys and games will be designed to strengthen the muscles. Exercise will be compulsory in the schools. Every school, college and community will have a complete gymnasium. All cities will have public gymnasiums. A man or woman unable to walk ten miles at a stretch will be regarded as a weakling.
Prediction #4: There Will Be No Street Cars in Our Large Cities. All hurry traffic will be below or high above ground when brought within city limits. In most cities it will be confined to broad subways or tunnels, well lighted and well ventilated, or to high trestles with “moving-sidewalk” stairways leading to the top. These underground or overhead streets will teem with capacious automobile passenger coaches and freight with cushioned wheels. Subways or trestles will be reserved for express trains. Cities, therefore, will be free from all noises.
Prediction #5: Trains will run two miles a minute, normally; express trains one hundred and fifty miles an hour. To go from New York to San Francisco will take a day and a night by fast express. There will be cigar-shaped electric locomotives hauling long trains of cars. Cars will, like houses, be artificially cooled. Along the railroads there will be no smoke, no cinders, because coal will neither be carried nor burned. There will be no stops for water. Passengers will travel through hot or dusty country regions with windows down.

 

[bydand]

Thanks for posting that. That was an interesting read. It really is amazing how close some of them were, along with how far off they could be in the next sentence. Wounder how close we would be today looking forward 100 years.

 

[michaeledward]

This reads like a scam to me.

Here's a source I trust that mentions this article ...

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/features/jan-june01/predictions.html

... but it doesn't contain these predictions.

 

[Rich Parsons]

Why are 13 and 26 the same subject?

 

[Kacey]

Why are 13 and 26 the same subject?

I dunno... I saw that too. Whether it's a real set of predictions or not, I still found them interesting.

 

[mrhnau]

Thanks for posting that. That was an interesting read. It really is amazing how close some of them were, along with how far off they could be in the next sentence. Wounder how close we would be today looking forward 100 years.

I wonder if that has been done? I'd find it fascinating to try and guess what the next 100/1000 years is going to bring however, there might be a large percentage of people that find potential problems (global warming, oil running out, nuclear war, etc). There would be quite a diverse set of opinions about the future

Thanks for posting this Kacey. I enjoyed it

 

[Steel Tiger]

I wonder if that has been done? I'd find it fascinating to try and guess what the next 100/1000 years is going to bring however, there might be a large percentage of people that find potential problems (global warming, oil running out, nuclear war, etc). There would be quite a diverse set of opinions about the future

Thanks for posting this Kacey. I enjoyed it

I know that a group of German biological futurists took a look at what flora and fauna would look like in 1000 000 years. Very interesting. You might see it on Discovery from time to time.

There are people who work as futurists for various industries. Quite a few were asked for their opinions regarding the look of the film Minority Report.

 

[MA-Caver]

This reads like a scam to me.

Here's a source I trust that mentions this article ...

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/features/jan-june01/predictions.html

... but it doesn't contain these predictions.

Flying houses. Talking dishwashers. Undergarments turned into candy. That's what people 100 years ago thought we would be enjoying today.

Well they at least got the edible underwear partially right? :lfao: