It's always fun to think about what the future holds. What will we be doing in, say, 100 years? What will we be wearing? How will we communicate with one another? How will we get from place to place?
People in the past were no different in their wonderings, imagining a futuristic world where people had access to fantastical technology that made their lives easier — like this unique device that can save a woman's life with one touch of a button.
Of course, when people imagined the future in 1899, they were imagining the times we live in now — and their predictions? While some are strangely accurate, others are truly out there…
These postcards, illustrated by artist Jean-Marc Côté, were released from 1899 to 1910 and included in cigar boxes. People would collect and trade the unique illustrations, laughing or marveling at the illustrated predictions.
Which of these drawings would you like to come true soon? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
When people in 1899 imagined underwater transport, they imagined vehicles pulled by whales — after all, they were still using horse-drawn carriages, so animal power was the only thing they could think of! Engines soon changed the game, though.
The passion for exploring the sea was evident back then. We're not sure how seriously they took this prediction of giant sea horses, but we're not going to lie — we're a little disappointed it's not true.
We have developed new ways of exploring the planet's oceans, though, and have in fact found all kinds of giant, scary creatures! The scuba dress never caught on, though.
The prediction for robot helpers kind of came true, but not quite like these. Robots don't help most of us get ready in the morning, for example.
But they are used in the production of goods, such as in factories — but they're not creating custom-made clothes for us. Today, robots have taken over dangerous factory jobs, as well as serve military purposes.
Strangely, the Victorians didn't think of putting robots in factories — but maybe they thought small children were better suited for that, and robots could be barbers.
They did, though, recognize that humans would have to operate and fix the robots, the way this human maid is guiding her robot assistant as it cleans the floors.
This postcard sees books pumped right into students' brains! Obviously, no one is feeding book pulp right into your skull (ouch), but information is available to us faster and faster thanks to the internet and mobile devices.
This prediction of electric trains is surprisingly accurate! Electric trains exist all over the world, reaching speeds that make travel time much shorter. In the 19th century, coal and steam power were available, but it was not very fast.
"Correspondence Cinema" would let you watch anything at home. This one is accurate, too, but in a slightly different way than was imagined. This image shows a projector, with a phonograph to pipe in the sound. Today, we have live coverage of just about everything, and all kinds of TV and movie technology to watch anything, anytime, anywhere.
Instead of fire, Victorians imagined that we'd be basking in the heat and glow of radium, a radioactive material that was newly discovered during this time. Now we know that hanging out with radium just gives you cancer, so this prediction, luckily, did not come true.
This prediction imagined audio recording right in the home, which of course came true thanks to tape recorders. Today, you can also add a visual element to your diary by creating a video.
To rescue people from flaming high-rises, it was predicted that firefighters would literally fly onto the scene. And given how ill-equipped many fire departments were in the late 1800s, flying firemen would have been a welcome change.
And they thought the police would fly, too! Of course, this prediction of flying police also suggests a prediction of flying criminals. Today, no one is flapping around, but technological advances have made it easier to catch perpetrators.
They also imagined that food could simply be created out of various chemicals, thanks to science. That's kind of true, although today, controversies rage over whether or not it's a good idea.
By 1910, automobiles were popular, and so people thought that they might be the next wave of warfare. The invention of tanks and Humvees partially proved this correct, although the weaponry evolved, as well.
To someone living in the late 1800s, life today might be totally unrecognizable if they only had these predictions to go from! But then again, when we imagine life in the 2100s, our predictions would probably sound pretty crazy, too…
To see more predictions from this period, click here for a book called Futuredays: A Ninteenth-Century Vision of the Year 2000 by sci-fi author Isaac Asimov.
What do you think life will be like in 100 years? Tell us in the comments, and SHARE to see what your friends think!
