From eerily prescient to wildly incorrect, 100-year-old predictions about 2024

 Well, we are finally here. Is this the future you envisioned?

Nearly 100 years ago, a group of visionaries dared to imagine what life would be like in 2024. Some of his predictions failed miserably while others proved strangely accurate.

Join us now as we look into that crystal ball from 1924.

Hollywood, thanks for ending all wars.

Movie mogul D.W. Griffith, director of "Birth of a Nation," believed that motion pictures would help usher in a new era of peace.

Griffith predicted, "In the year 2024, the most important thing that cinema will have helped accomplish in a big way will be to end all armed conflict in the civilized world." “Pictures will be the most powerful factor in bringing about this situation. By the use of the universal language of motion pictures, the true meaning of the brotherhood of man will be established throughout the earth.

Through the magic of movies, British citizens will learn that the Japanese people are kindred spirits, and French citizens will discover that Americans share their values and ideals.

He wrote, "It should not be supposed that I believe that a hundred years from now pictures will have time to educate the public to shun discord and animosity." "What I mean to say is that, by that time, war, if there is such a thing, will be fought on a completely scientific basis, with the element of physical destruction completely eliminated."

At the other extreme, Professor Leo H. Baekeland, President of the American Chemical Society, worried that weapons of the future could destroy humanity in the blink of an eye.

He said, "The largest and best preserved cities, no matter their size or distance, will be constantly exposed to destruction and disfigurement." “There will be death and torture of residents whether they are sleeping in their beds at night or whether they are reading newspapers in their cozy clubs, or saying their prayers in church. There will be no way to protect women or children, the old or the infirm.”

Arthur Dean, whose parenting advice column appeared in newspapers across the country, expressed concern about American dietary habits.

"I sometimes wonder what our stomachs will look and feel like 100 years from now," he wrote. “Will we even have teeth? Will there be any color other than color on our face? Would the men have any height to speak of or would they all be fat? Will the people be mostly like East and West – all latitudes and longitudes and no longitude?”

While some American religious leaders blamed jazz for promoting immorality among the youth, Russian classical violinist Paul Kochansky defended the syncopated music.

He said, "Jazz music is a powerful force for the development of music in America, and in a hundred years it will be as accepted as classical music." “I can't imagine how anyone could say that your American jazz music is a destructive force. I consider such statements completely ridiculous.

Swedish architect Ben Björksson predicted that American metropolises would demolish vast portions of cities "to replace the architectural plans of cities that were originally built by people for whom the automobile was only a fantastic dream."

"In the city of a hundred years from now, I see three-deck streets, speedways through the heart of the city, skyscrapers with automobile entrances up to 15 stories high, monorail expresses to the suburbs in place of streetcars and motor-omnibuses— Moving sidewalks and underground freight carriers that will go in all directions, serve all railway stations and business districts, and which will largely replace today's heavy trucks and wagons," said Björksson.

Professor E.L. Furlong, curator of the vertebrate collection at the University of Southern California, worries that horses — yes, horses — could be on the verge of extinction by 2024.

"Tractor and automobile are replacing the horse every day in rural life," he told an interviewer. “As the horse's usefulness ceases to exist, so will the necessity of its existence.

“Before many years, the use of the horse for the purposes with which it has been identified from time immemorial will be a curiosity. Within the next hundred years, you might find horses in zoos. I'm sure you won't find them anywhere else.”

Maybe he was pretending, but Frank L. Ferraro presented a clear vision of the future in a letter to the New York Daily News in 1924.

“Has anyone ever thought what this country will be like a hundred years from now? Just imagine: we would have a female president, female politicians, and police,” wrote Ferraro. “As women will hold all the highest positions, men will naturally be forced to do all the labour; Those who are not physically fit for such difficult tasks will have to stay at home and wait for the children (or take care of the pets).

“Then we will have an army entirely of women, so that in case of war, women will do all the fighting (trust me, they can also fight).”

University of Southern California President R.B. Von Kleinschmidt envisioned that the "Girl of Tomorrow" would be a goddess who loved to dance.

“She will be physically strong, active and alert, love the outdoors and enjoy its attractions; Active in sports, engaging in sports by choice in which a little risk adds the spice of danger. She will be beautiful, enhancing the virtues of inheritance through habits of moderation,” he said.

“The dance will continue in its motion toward the exotic, and the Terpsichore will be wild and full of animation. Mentally, she will not be lazy - sharp in intellect and quick in taking decisions. Spiritually, she will radiate love and goodwill. With the trust of his fellow men and faith in God, it will be easy for him to be kind and it will be a joy for him to serve. In creation, He will be supremely glorified – a blessing on earth and a hymn of praise to heaven.

U.S. Senator William E. Borah, a Republican from Idaho, blamed "waste in government" for the oppressive taxes imposed on Americans.

He said, "Until people understand the need to simplify government, we will be unable to deal with the problem and 100 years from now we will be no better off than the countries that have been destroyed in the past."

Sir Kingsley Wood, a British politician speaking at a 1924 dinner in London, told his audience that "There is no doubt that by the year 2024 the average expectation of life will be at least 100 years, and a man of 75 will be comparatively young." Man."

He hoped that the rapid progress of science would ensure that future grandchildren of those attending the dinner would live many years longer than those present. He declined to speculate whether the coming generation would be happier than previous generations.

Archibald M. Low, a British scientist, imagined something that sounded strangely like the Internet in his 1924 book "Wireless Possibilities."

“Doubtless in future we will be able to sign our checks by rapid transmission of motion; We will be able to locate criminals, send their fingerprints, and pursue many lines of business that currently require our physical attention,” Lo wrote.

“What a great help this is to the man who objects to a big city! Why couldn't he run his business from the comfort of his home instead of washing his hands every week to maintain his financial reputation.

New York City real estate magnate Joseph P. Day expects the daily commute to work in 2024 will be very different.

He told a radio listener, "The dirigible and the airplane promise to be the most important factors in the transformation of the suburbs and in bringing the outskirts of the city closer to the heart of things."

“The airplane is still in its infancy, but its development as a commercial proposition will proceed rapidly from now on. When this method of transportation is perfected and the sky becomes black with airborne clouds, it will be an everyday occurrence for the businessman to fly from home to office and back home again.

Lieutenant Russell Maughan's dawn-to-dusk transcontinental flight in 1924 was a national triumph.

"What's left to win by 2024?". The Burlington Free Press was surprised. "Will 100 years from now some courageous American, traveling in a machine we thought impossible, race around the world in broad daylight and win? Who's to say?"

Maughan's flight would have seemed impossible to the pioneers of covered wagons a century ago.

“Maybe by 2024 we will be in direct contact with other worlds through signals and arrange to run an expedition there. But we don't dare to predict it seriously.