Creative personalities - artists, musicians, poets - convey thoughts and feelings to people through their works. Sometimes the events described by people of art came true after some time. Predictions in art are an interesting topic that requires separate consideration.
Predicting the future
Writers, composers, artists are able to predict the future, because... They have creative thinking and mental acuity. Examples of predictions of the future in art are not uncommon.
Works of art anticipate cultural, scientific discoveries and historical events. It is worth quoting from John Priestley’s story “June 31st”:
“Everything created by the imagination must exist somewhere in the universe.”
People should be careful about artistic predictions.
Jules Verne
The famous French writer Jules Verne is a 19th century science fiction writer. He foresaw future scientific discoveries in many areas:
- Scuba.
- Video communication.
- Electric chair.
- Aircraft (plane and helicopter).
- Rockets.
- Lunokhods.
- Submarines.
In the book “20 Thousand Leagues Under the Sea” the author describes the creation of the Nautilus. This is a prototype of modern submarines. In the work “From the Earth to the Moon,” a person uses modules and rockets with solar sails. The work “Robur the Conqueror” describes a device similar to a modern helicopter.
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci is a genius. He is a musician, inventor, architect, sculptor, poet, engineer. In his diaries, he recorded knowledge from medicine, history, biology, wrote down poems and made sketches. He made especially many predictions in art.
10 brilliant inventions of Leo da Vinci:
- Ornithopter.
- Diving suit.
- Air propeller.
- Parachute.
- Bearing.
- Machine gun.
- Self-propelled cart.
- Tank.
- Ideal city.
- Robot.
The ornithopter resembled a bird. He was supposed to lift a person into the air. The invention was designed in accordance with the laws of aerodynamics. The diving suit was invented to open the bottoms of attacking ships. The device made it possible to stay under water for a long time and see everything around through glass holes. We breathed through an underwater bell. The propeller was designed for human flight. It looked like a huge screw machine with blades. This invention led to the creation of the helicopter.
The parachute was shaped like a pyramid covered with fabric. Modern scientists studied the device and concluded that Leonardo’s idea could be brought to life. The bearing is the basis of all modern technology. The scientist was the first to sketch it in his notebook. The machine gun consisted of muskets on a board, arranged in a triangle. The shaft was in the center and rotated the weapon so that it fired at short intervals. The apparatus consisted of 11 guns. The same man invented the first car that was driven by a spring mechanism.
During the Middle Ages, epidemics were especially dangerous. The inventor developed a city plan with a hydraulic system and canals, which would help avoid mass infection. The scientist studied the structure of the human body. He built a robot that was able to walk and sit.
Herbert Wales
The writer in his 1914 work “The Liberated World” spoke about the atomic bomb. He predicted the appearance of huge aircraft that could accommodate more than a thousand people, a rocket engine and a laser device. The science fiction writer suggested that the flights would be around the world.
A.R. Belyaev
The science fiction writer in his novel “KEC Star” described modern orbital stations. In the book “Eternal Bread” he spoke about the possibilities of genetics and biochemistry. Transplantology is a science of the 20th century, which was predicted in “The Head of Professor Dowell.” In the novels “Amphibian Man” and “Ariel,” Belyaev reflected on man’s existence in conditions unusual for him (water and air).
Prophecy of Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519). Great Italian artist, inventor, engineer of the Renaissance. His prophecies are allegorical and encrypted in a somewhat unusual way. The meaning of the text in his predictions clearly does not correspond to the title or ending of the prophecy. If you just read the “middle” part of the paragraph, discarding everything unnecessary, then the hidden essence of the predictions will be more clear.
Prediction No. 1012. “It will be seen how all the elements, mixed in a great revolution, run now to the center of the world, then to the sky, and when from the southern countries they rush madly to the cold north, sometimes from east to west, and so from one hemisphere (Earth’s hemispheres – S.V.’s note) to another.”
“About water that flows muddy and mixed with earth, and about dust, and about fog mixed with air, and about fire mixed with its own (elements), and others with their own.”
896. Waters will largely cause the destruction of cities, and likewise horses and buffaloes. They are bringing guns” - a prediction of a flood and the brutal war that would follow this catastrophe.
1013. “It will be seen how the eastern parts flee to the western, and the southern to the northern, spinning throughout the entire universe in great cowardice, cowardice and rage. “About the east wind that will rush to the West” - Leonardo da Vinci’s prediction about the terrible hurricanes that will begin on our planet during this terrible catastrophe.
997. About the cruelty of man. It will be possible to see animals on earth who will always fight with each other, and with great damage and often death for both sides. They will know no limit to their malice; for the cruel members of their body, most of the trees of the great forests of the universe will fall to the ground; and when they are satisfied, then the food for their desires will be to cause death, and suffering, and torment, and war, and madness to every living creature. And in their exorbitant pride they will want to rise to heaven, but the excessive weight of their members will pull them down. Nothing will remain on the earth or under the earth and water so as not to be pursued, moved or spoiled; and what was in one country moves to another; and their bodies will become graves and passages for all animate bodies that they have ever killed. Oh, earth, why don’t you open up to throw them into the deep cracks of your great abysses and depths and will you no longer reveal to the sky a monster so cruel and insensitive?
957. Someone will emerge from the depths who will deafen those standing nearby with terrifying screams and with his breath will bring death to people and destruction to cities and castles (tectonic cataclysm and its terrible consequences).
958. Large stones (volcanoes) will spew out such fire that they will burn the brushwood of many and the greatest forests and many wild and domestic animals.
956. Oh, how many great buildings will be destroyed due to fire.
866. It will be seen how they turn the earth upside down and look at the opposite hemispheres and open the burrows of the most ferocious animals (displacement of the Earth’s rotation axis and activation of volcanoes).
1004. At every point on the earth it is possible to draw the boundary of two hemispheres. All people will immediately exchange hemispheres (shift of the planet's poles by 180 degrees?).
948. It will be seen how the high walls of large cities will overturn into their ditches.
888. Countless lives will be destroyed, and countless holes (sinkholes in the earth's surface) will be made in the earth.
896. Waters will largely cause the destruction of cities...(flood).
920. ... many and the greatest nations will be drowned in their own homes.
945. The puddles will be so large that people will walk on the trees of their country.
871. There will be a great multitude of those who, having forgotten about their existence and name, will lie dead on the remains of other dead.
914. Oh, how many of these there will be who, after their death, will rot in their own homes, filling the area with a fetid odor.
937. The movement of the dead will put many living people to flight with pain, and crying, and screams.
908. There will be many peoples who will hide themselves, their children and supplies in the depths of dark caves, and there in the darkness they will feed themselves and their families for many months without any artificial or natural light.
911. It will be seen how in the air at a tremendous height the longest snakes (missiles) fight with birds (airplanes).
904. You, cities of Africa, will see how your natives will be quartered in their own homes by the most cruel and predatory beasts of our own country.
885. Then most of the people who remain alive will throw away the food they had saved from their homes for free prey by birds and ground animals, without caring at all about it.
889. People will throw away from their own homes those supplies that were intended to support life.
1010. Someone will come from heaven who will change most of Africa, visible to this sky from Europe, and that part of Europe (that is visible) from Africa, and parts of the Scythian provinces will be mixed together in a great revolution.
Prophecies about future cataclysms.
Predictions of Leonardo da Vinci, the famous Renaissance artist: “Floods will outstrip all other horrors,” predicted the brilliant painter. He describes the future flood this way: “Let the dark, gloomy air be driven by the rapid onslaught of furious winds and cut through by endless rain mixed with hail... Let there be huge trees around, uprooted and turned into splinters by the fury of the winds... And let the mountains fall down to the bottom of the valley and form a barrier there for the rising waters, and the waters still break through this barrier, rising in huge waves...”
His the prophecies are allegorical and encrypted in a somewhat unusual way. The meaning of the text in his predictions clearly does not correspond to the title or ending of the prophecy. If you just read the “middle” part of the paragraph, discarding everything unnecessary, then the hidden essence of the predictions will be more clear.
Prediction No. 1012. “It will be seen how all the elements, mixed in a great revolution, run now to the center of the world, then to the sky, and when from the southern countries they rush madly to the cold north, sometimes from east to west, and so from one hemisphere ( hemispheres of the earth– Approx. S.V.) to another.”
“About water that flows muddy and mixed with earth, and about dust, and about fog mixed with air, and about fire mixed with its own (elements), and others with their own.”
896. Waters will largely cause the destruction of cities, and likewise horses and buffaloes. They are bringing guns” - a prediction of a flood and the brutal war that would follow this catastrophe.
1013. “It will be seen how the eastern parts flee to the western, and the southern to the northern, spinning throughout the entire universe in great cowardice, cowardice and rage. “About the east wind that will rush to the West” - Leonardo da Vinci’s prediction about the terrible hurricanes that will begin on our planet during this terrible catastrophe.
997. About the cruelty of man. It will be possible to see animals on earth who will always fight with each other, and with great damage and often death for both sides. They will know no limit to their malice; for the cruel members of their body, most of the trees of the great forests of the universe will fall to the ground; and when they are satisfied, then the food for their desires will be to cause death, and suffering, and torment, and war, and madness to every living creature. And in their exorbitant pride they will want to rise to heaven, but the excessive weight of their members will pull them down. Nothing will remain on the earth or under the earth and water so as not to be pursued, moved or spoiled; and what was in one country moves to another; and their bodies will become graves and passages for all animate bodies that they have ever killed. Oh, earth, why don’t you open up to throw them into the deep cracks of your great abysses and depths and will you no longer reveal to the sky a monster so cruel and insensitive?
957. Someone will come out of the depths who will deafen those standing nearby with terrifying screams and with his breath will bring death to people and destruction to cities and castles ( tectonic cataclysm and its terrible consequences).
958. Large stones ( volcanoes) will spew out such fire that they will burn the brushwood of many and the greatest forests and many wild and domestic animals.
956. Oh, how many great buildings will be destroyed due to fire.
866. It will be seen how they turn the earth upside down and look at the opposite hemispheres and open the holes of the most ferocious animals ( displacement of the Earth's rotation axis and activation of volcanoes).
1004. At every point on the earth it is possible to draw the boundary of two hemispheres. All people will immediately exchange hemispheres ( shift of the planet's poles by 180 degrees?).
948. It will be seen how the high walls of large cities will overturn into their ditches.
888. Countless lives will be destroyed, and countless holes will be made in the ground ( dips in the earth's surface).
896. Waters will largely cause the destruction of cities...( flood).
920. ... many and the greatest nations will be drowned in their own homes.
945. The puddles will be so large that people will walk on the trees of their country.
871. There will be a great multitude of those who, having forgotten about their existence and name, will lie dead on the remains of other dead.
914. Oh, how many of these there will be who, after their death, will rot in their own homes, filling the area with a fetid odor.
937. The movement of the dead will put many living people to flight with pain, and crying, and screams.
908. There will be many peoples who will hide themselves, their children and supplies in the depths of dark caves, and there in the darkness they will feed themselves and their families for many months without any artificial or natural light.
889. People will throw away from their own homes those supplies that were intended to support life.
960. Someone will emerge from the dark and gloomy caves who will subject the entire human race to great suffering, danger and death. After much suffering, he gives joy to many of his followers, but those who are not his supporters will die in anguish and in adversity. He will commit countless betrayals, he will grow and persuade all people to commit murder, robbery, and betrayal; he will arouse suspicion among his supporters, he will take away power from the free cities, he will take the lives of many, he will set people against each other with many tricks, deceptions and betrayals. O monstrous beast! How much better it would be for people if you returned to the underworld! For his sake the great forests will remain devoid of their vegetation. For his sake, animals will lose their lives ( Antichrist).
Can you imagine? Franciscan monk predicted Stalin's reign! Of course, he did not know the name and therefore called the tyrant a “terrible bear” (well, how can one not remember here the “Russian bear”). And further: “By order of the terrible bear, many will be killed in the back of the head (and there were no firearms in Nero’s time!), while others will remain to live a silent, herd life until his reign ends.” Oh, if I had read this prophecy at the beginning of the twentieth century, maybe it would not have come true, or maybe, having realized what could happen, people would not have allowed it?..
However, Ragno Nero clearly saw that Tartaria would throw off the yoke. For, as he believed, she was destined for a key role not only in the twentieth century, but also later. He constantly emphasized that Tartaria would survive any cataclysms, after the atrocities of the “man with smoke coming out of his mouth,” it would become a powerful power, and in the 21st century, a stronghold of peace between different quarreling peoples.
Moreover, Nero saw that Tartaria would “conquer Heaven.” Its inhabitants will be the first to learn to “fly to the stars.” Everything will begin with the “victorious knight”, who will bear the great name of St. George the Victorious. This “knight” will be able to fly straight into the sky. And this event will happen in the “mirror year of the mirror age in double counting.”
Well, was it possible to see more accurately from those distant centuries?! George the Victorious is, of course, our Yuri Gagarin. Well, the “mirror year of the mirror century” is 1961 of the twentieth century. Both parts – both years and centuries – look like a mirror image: 19–61 or X – X. But why “double counting”? Yes, because the year - 1961 - is given in Arabic numerals, and the century - XX - in Roman numerals.
There is in the annals of Nero’s “Oracle” one more, absolutely amazing and even funny prophecy concerning Tartaria. He predicted the coming of evil green dwarfs “to Earth from Heaven” - that’s when, it turns out, they were gossiping about aliens! They will want to enslave the planet, but they will not be able to defeat humanity, because three sages will come from the places of Power who will lead the resistance. Nero named these places too. Scientists have correlated them with modern names. It turned out: Pamir, Tibet and... the Urals. So our compatriots can cope with aliens. In a word, here too Russia will become a “stronghold of peace.” And no matter what happens, even if “countries disappear, continents disappear,” as Nero wrote, “Tartary will never disappear.” Let it be so!
Leonardo da Vinci's dream
Ragno Nero was not the only one who practiced divination in Italy during the High Renaissance. Even the masters of the painting and sculpture workshop dabbled in this. Their “stories of the future” were especially popular in the Pot Society they formed, where they regularly gathered to dine, talk and exchange views on their work. Usually the Florentine architect Simone del Pogliollo, nicknamed Cronaca, distinguished himself there. Despite the fact that he had the important post of chief architect of the cathedral, this red-haired giant loved to talk about everything he had seen on his trips to Italy and about how people would live in the future. For these stories, inexhaustible and fascinating, like ancient chronicles, he received his nickname.
But, of course, the greatest curiosity, both among contemporaries and among us, their descendants, is caused by the predictions of the greatest Florentine artist Leonardo da Vinci. In his notebooks, notes and manuscripts, researchers find many prophecies. But here’s the paradox: most of them were compiled not for the human race, but for nature itself - the animal and plant world. It is not for nothing that Leonardo thought of himself not as a painter, but as a scientist. He was worried about what trees would become, how people would learn to create new varieties of fruits, what could be made from wood and what from metal. He warned that river beds should not be changed, that paper money would appear and replace gold chervonets and ducats.
But most of all Leonardo was worried about one problem, for him it was a great dream - human communication. All his life he dreamed that people of all countries and continents could communicate with each other. He saw this as a guarantee of friendship between peoples, in which rulers would not be able to start another war. And this is how he saw this communication in the future: “People will talk to each other from the most distant countries and answer each other.” Subsequent researchers of Leonardo's work interpreted this passage: “Writing letters from one country to another.” But the Maestro stated directly: not “write”, but “speak.” Of course, until the advent of the telephone, historians could not understand what he was talking about. This became clear only towards the end of the 19th century.
And here are the other lines: “People will move, but they will not move; they will speak to someone who is not there.” Strange? No. This is again about talking through a telephone cable. In this case, the person will actually talk to someone who is not next to him. And he himself will be in place, but if you talk from Moscow to New York, you will hear all the sounds of another city and decide that you have been transported there.
Here are Leonardo’s predictions about a different means of communication between people: “It will be possible to see figures of people and animals that will follow these animals and people... but the different sizes into which they turn will seem surprising,” “Huge figures of the human form will appear, which, the closer you get to them, the more they will reduce their size.”
Researchers wondered about everything: some believed that Leonardo was talking about the sun's shadow, others - about the shadow cast by candles. And only in the twentieth century it became clear: it would be possible to see human figures, first on film, then on a TV screen. And approaching the “figure” and moving away from it is the same as the approach and departure of a camera shooting a movie on film. Leonardo, as I saw it, described the principle of operation of film and television equipment.
And here’s more about cinema and television: “Aerial bodies will begin to give us instructions with their sayings.” Much more accurate and colorful: indeed, for the person sitting in front of the screen, the presenter or TV commentator is a kind of airy body.
Finally, one more prophecy about the communication of humanity: “People will talk, touch each other and hug, standing some in one hemisphere, others in another, and the languages of some will be understood by others.” How do you like this dream of some kind of personal spherical video communication booths, which also have built-in electronic translators? It seems that we are already close to realizing Leonardo's dream. Just yesterday, having gone online, I received an offer to download a video communication program, so as not to correspond, but to fully communicate - both talk and see each other. Well, a translator from all major languages has long been built into the computer. Use it!
Prophecy about the popes
In 1590, a sensational discovery was made in the Vatican library: on one of the dusty shelves in the farthest corner there was an old parchment, folded somehow, as if the one who stuffed it there sincerely wished that the manuscript would never be found - forever and ever. But then why not just destroy the hated document?..
The answer was found as soon as the Benedictine monk Arnold de Villon unfolded his accidental discovery. The manuscript was indeed one of the most dangerous - it is impossible to read, but it is also impossible to destroy, for it conceals a prophecy of unprecedented scale. On the pages of the manuscript, 112 popes were mentioned - starting from Pope Celestine II (who was on the throne from 1143 to 1144) to those who inherited and will inherit the throne of the Roman Catholic Church until the second coming. An amazing prediction!
The author of the “complete papal list” turned out to be the Irish bishop Malachy O’Morger, who lived in the 12th century. According to legend, he was born in 1094 (500 years before the discovery of the manuscript!), and throughout his life he was known to be so devout and so active in praising God that he was canonized by the Catholic Church.
During his episcopal service, Malachy went to Rome in order to present to Pope Innocent II a report on the labors of the subordinate diocese and to receive the episcopal mantle from the pope (in other words, Innocent had to officially confirm Malachy to the episcopal rank). Arriving in Rome, Malachi was not received with due honor. Of course, he was some kind of Irish shepherd, and for Rome, Ireland is the same backyard as it once was for the Roman Empire. In a word, the offended and alarmed Malachi was visited by a vision of the future misfortunes of the papal throne: the entire branch of succession to the throne of the Roman popes unfolded before him. He saw not Innocent on the throne, but a new pontiff. From him he began counting 112 popes. Malachi named each pontiff in his list not by name, but characterized it with a short, but succinct and figurative Latin motto, which subsequently completely coincided with the life and work of the real ruler of the Catholic Church. The first pope from Malachy's list was Celestine II, whom Malachy called: “Ex caltro Tiberis” (“From the castle on the Tiber”) and he turned out to be right. Celestine actually came from a castle on this river.
1. Morgan Robertson predicted the sinking of the Titanic
In 1898, writer Morgan Robertson published a novella entitled “Futility, or the Fall of the Titan.” In it, he told the story of the fictional ocean liner Titan, which sank in the Atlantic Ocean after colliding with an iceberg. Sounds familiar? Not surprising... Fourteen years later, the events from Robertson's book came true. In 1912, the cruise ship Titanic sank; The tragedy claimed the lives of 1,500 people. In fact, the list of similarities between the fictional Titan and the real Titanic is very long. The Titan was similar in size and speed to the Titanic, both ships sank in April, killing more than half the passengers and crew, and both had woefully few lifeboats. But the most intriguing thing is that Robertson wrote the book long before Titanic was even invented. How could he predict the crash so accurately? Robertson denied accusations of clairvoyance, and argued that the similarities were merely the result of his extensive knowledge of shipbuilding and maritime trends.
2. H.G. Wells predicted the creation of the atomic bomb
3. Nikola Tesla predicted the creation of Wi-Fi in 1901
Serbian-American engineer Nikola Tesla is best known for his contributions to the development of the modern electrical system. In a 1909 interview with The New York Times, Tesla shared his thoughts on future technology. He said: “It will soon be possible to transmit wireless messages throughout the world, and anyone will be able to acquire his own apparatus for transmitting such messages.” This was an incredible statement at the time, since the first mobile phone was not created until 1973, and Wi-Fi did not appear until 1991. It could also be argued that Tesla foresaw the invention of Skype and video calling. In 1926, he declared that "thanks to television and telephony, we will be able to see and hear each other clearly...despite the distance of thousands of miles." In 2013, Tesla was commemorated with a statue in San Francisco that gives away free Wi-Fi to visitors.
4. Robert Boyle predicted organ transplants in the 1660s
Robert Boyle was an extraordinarily influential scientist, often called the "father of modern chemistry." He is best known for his discovery of the Boyle-Marriott law—the behavior of gases—and for his habit of conducting experiments to confirm his hypotheses. However, he is also known for always being ahead of his time. In the 1660s, he wrote a “wish list” for the future of science, noting in his journal that future medicine would “cure diseases by transplantation.” In 1954—more than 300 years after Boyle's prediction—Dr. Joseph Murray and Dr. David Hume performed the very first successful organ transplant, transplanting a kidney into a patient. Today, the procedure is used to save lives around the world—in 2014, 17,107 kidney transplants were performed in the United States alone. And this is not all that the scientist foresaw. On his mysterious "wish list" he mentioned submarines, genetically modified crops and hallucinogens.
5. Edgar Cayce Predicted the 1929 Stock Market Crash
Edgar Cayce was an extremely popular mystic in the early 1920s. While in a trance, he answered questions ranging from personal problems to national politics, and boasted a large number of famous clients, including Woodrow Wilson and Thomas Edison. In 1925, Cayce began to talk about the fact that within four years a catastrophic economic depression would begin in America. Some clients heeded Casey's warnings and withdrew their savings from banks. As the mystic predicted, in 1929 the New York Stock Exchange crashed. 13 million people were unemployed, and stocks did not return to normal until 1954. Casey's prophecies did not end there. In 1938, he predicted that in 1968 or 1969 archaeologists would make a discovery "under the long-standing silt and seawater beneath Bimini" in the Bahamas, which would be "the return of Atlantis." In 1968, a mysterious underwater rock formation was discovered on Bimini Road, which some people believe is part of the legendary lost city of Atlantis. He also accurately predicted the date of his own death - January 3, 1945.
6. Mark Twain predicted his own death
In his 1909 autobiography, American literary icon Mark Twain made an ominous prediction: the time of his own death. Twain was born on November 30, 1835, shortly after Halley's Comet came into view from Earth - as it does every 75-76 years. At the age of 74, Twain wrote: “I came with Halley's Comet in 1835. It will happen again next year and I will go with her.” And Twain died on April 21, 1910, the day after the comet reappeared. And this is not the only time Twain accurately predicted the future. In 1898, he wrote a short science fiction story called “From the London Times of 1904,” which predicted future events. In it, he described a device called a "Telelectroscope" that was "linked to the telephone systems of the world" and allowed "everyone to observe daily events occurring anywhere in the world." And we can say with confidence that Twain predicted the Internet 90 years before Tim Berners-Lee created the World Wide Web.
7. Jules Verne predicted the moon landing
Another writer whose work has proven to be eerily accurate is Jules Verne, the 19th-century French novelist who wrote the classic adventure novel Around the World in 80 Days. In 1865, he published a short science fiction story called From the Earth to the Moon, which described the very first manned flight to the Moon. And on July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong made “a huge leap in human history” by setting foot on the surface of the Moon, almost a century after Jules Verne foresaw it. But Verne's suggestion that travel to the moon would one day be possible is not the only thing that made his prediction famous. There were similarities between the real Apollo mission and the journey made in From the Earth to the Moon, such as the number of astronauts on board and the fact that both rockets launched from Florida. However, the most eerie coincidence is that Verne described the feeling of weightlessness that the astronauts experienced. At the time he wrote his story, scientists did not know that gravity behaves differently in space, so it is completely incomprehensible how he described something that he did not know about at all.
8. Alexis De Tocqueville Predicted the Cold War in 1840
In the 1840s, America had been independent from Britain for just over 60 years, and the Civil War split the country almost in half. Moreover, Russia was still under the oppressive and hierarchical leadership of the Tsarist regime. And no one would have thought that these two countries would become the two major superpowers vying for global supremacy just over a century later. So the prediction French political scientist Alexis de Tocqueville made in his 1840 publication Democracy in America seems rather strange. He wrote: “There are two great peoples in the world who, starting from different ends, are moving towards the same goal: the Russians and the Anglo-Americans ... each of them wants to be first and holds in its hands the destinies of half the world.” The last half of the 20th century was characterized by increasingly tense relations between America and the Soviet Union, which attempted to outdo each other in nuclear weapons development, space exploration, and international influence.
9. Nostradamus predicted the Great Fire of London
The prophecies of the 16th century French pharmacist and seer Michel de Nostredame are legendary. He was credited with predicting a huge number of major world events, even those that occurred more than four centuries after his death. One of Nostradamus' most famous predictions is the Great Fire of London, which struck the city in 1666 and destroyed the homes of 70,000 of the city's 80,000 residents. In his 1555 book, Centuries, he wrote: "The blood of justice shall be shed on London burning in flames 66." It's creepy, isn't it? In addition, it can be argued that Nostradamus predicted the French Revolution of 1789. He stated: "The enslaved population will sing, chant and demand while princes and lords are held captive in prisons." This is very similar to how the trampled peasant majority rose up and arrested the French aristocracy during the revolution. Nostradamus also spoke of "headless idiots", which could refer to the thousands of people executed by guillotine, including King Louis XVI and his wife Marie Antoinette. However, Nostradamus' predictions should be taken with a grain of salt. His notes were so extensive that a diligent translator could find predictions for almost anything he wanted within the scope of his work.
10. Predictions of Leonardo da Vinci
Scientist, artist, mathematician, musician... there are countless fields in which Renaissance polymath Leonardo da Vinci was an expert. But was he a prophet? Da Vinci's notebooks, where he recorded his thoughts from the mid-1480s until his death in 1519, are littered with designs for inventions and technologies that are completely out of touch with his time. It is incorrect to credit Da Vinci with inventing these things, since his drawings were not detailed plans for how these things would work, but they can be said to be predictions of inventions that might exist. For example, he drew up plans for a huge armored military vehicle - more than 400 years before it became a reality. Additionally, da Vinci once drew a diagram of an early parachute, three centuries before André-Jacques Garnerin's first jump in 1797. In 2000, skydiver Adrian Nicholas tested a parachute designed by da Vinci, using it to safely jump from a hot air balloon at an altitude of 3,000 meters. He described the flight as smoother than a modern parachute, but the design weighed 9 times more than modern parachutes and did increase the risk of injury upon landing.
