1.
“Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible.” [Lord Kelvin, ca. 1895, British mathematician and physicist]
Um, yeah...not so much. Lord Kelvin was considered one of the top minds in the world at the time, but we actually did manage the whole "flying" thing not soon afterwords.
22 points - added 10 months ago by pxc0 -
[add comment]
2.
"Television won't be able to hold onto any market it captures after the first six months. People will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night." Daryl F. Zanuck
Daryl was the brilliant motion picture man who got Gone With The Wind made but as far as TV is concerned, I think its safe to say he missed the big picture.
20 points - added 10 months ago by pxc0 -
[add comment]
3.
"Everything that can be invented has been invented." Charles H. Duell
Charlie was the Head of the US patent Office in 1899. Despite his keen prediction, humans did manage to invent a couple of things over the hundred years or so.
18 points - added 10 months ago by pxc0 -
[add comment]
4.
"Stocks have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau." Irving Fisher, economics professor at Yale University, 1929
Great job there by Fisher. Unfortunately, a few years later the country would go through The Great Depression, kind of stepping on Irving;s little theory.
16 points - added 10 months ago by pxc0 -
[add comment]
5.
"It will be gone by June." - Variety, passing judgement on rock 'n roll in 1955
Wow, way to have your finger on the pulse of the American people.
14 points - added 10 months ago by pxc0 -
[add comment]
6.
"That virus is a pussycat." -– Dr. Peter Duesberg, molecular-biology professor at U.C. Berkeley, on HIV, 1988
11 points - added 10 months ago by pxc0 -
[add comment]
7.
"This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us." - A memo at Western Union, 1878
10 points - added 10 months ago by pxc0 -
[add comment]
8.
"A rocket will never be able to leave the Earth's atmosphere." - New York Times, 1936
7 points - added 10 months ago by pxc0 -
[add comment]
9.
"The idea that cavalry will be replaced by these iron coaches is absurd. It is little short of treasonous." - Comment of Aide-de-camp to Field Marshal Haig, at tank demonstration, 1916
5 points - added 10 months ago by pxc0 -
[add comment]
10.
"Airplanes are interesting toys but of no military value." - Marechal Ferdinand Foch, Professor of Strategy, Ecole Superieure de Guerre, 1904.
3 points - added 10 months ago by pxc0 -
[add comment]
11.
"It will be years - not in my time - before a woman will become Prime Minister." - Margaret Thatcher, future Prime Minister, October 26th, 1969
2 points - added 10 months ago by pxc0 -
[add comment]
12.
"Democracy will be dead by 1950." - John Langdon-Davies, A Short History of The Future, 1936
1 point - added 10 months ago by pxc0 -
[add comment]
13.
“Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons.” [Popular Mechanics, forecasting the relentless march of science, 1949]
1 point - added 10 months ago by pxc0 -
[add comment]
14.
"There will never be a bigger plane built." - A Boeing engineer, after the first flight of the 247, a twin engine plane that holds ten people
0 points - added 10 months ago by pxc0 -
[add comment]
15.
"Space travel is bunk." - Sir Harold Spencer Jones, Astronomer Royal of the UK, 195
0 points - added 10 months ago by pxc0 -
[add comment]
16.
"There is no likelihood man can ever tap the power of the atom." - Robert Millikan, American physicist and Nobel Prize winner, 1923
0 points - added 10 months ago by pxc0 -
[add comment]
17.
"Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?" - H. M. Warner, co-founder of Warner Brothers, 192
0 points - added 10 months ago by pxc0 -
[add comment]
18.
"Radio has no future." - Lord Kelvin, Scottish mathematician and physicist, former president of the Royal Society, 1897
0 points - added 10 months ago by pxc0 -
[add comment]
19.
"This antitrust thing will blow over." - Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft.
0 points - added 10 months ago by pxc0 -
[add comment]
20.
"Sensible and responsible women do not want to vote." - Grover Cleveland, U.S. President, 1905.
-1 point - added 10 months ago by pxc0 -
[add comment]
ShareRanks is about ranking things that are top, most, greatest, or even worst in all categories.
Use arrows to rank one item in The Worst Predictions Ever versus another.
Use arrows to rank one item in The Worst Predictions Ever versus another.
Top 10 The Worst Predictions Ever are especially marked