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10 Times 'The Simpsons' Accurately Predicted The Future

The Simpsons' knack for predicting the future is both crazy and mind-blowing.

The Simpsons

Now and then, 'The Simpsons' make headlines for eerily predicting the future. Their predictions range from political prophecies, sports victories, disasters, and even anomalies in nature, and our minds always get blown whenever their decades-old predictions come true in the present.

The creators of the show have since clarified that there is no magic crystal ball behind the predictions. Instead, these prophecies were a result of brilliant minds who are working behind the long-running animated sitcom. Nonetheless, it's still undeniably entertaining whenever these predictions happen in real life.

So let's take a look back at some of the times when 'The Simpsons' accurately predicted the future.

Blinky

1. Blinky the Three-Eyed Fish

In season 2, episode 4, titled "Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish," Bart and his sister went fishing in the river by the power plant. He caught a three-eyed fish named Blinky, which makes local headlines. The episode aired in 1990.

In 2011, more than a decade later, a three-eyed fish was found in the reservoir in Argentina. That particular reservoir was fed by water from a nuclear power plant.

Lady Gaga- The Simpsons

2. Lady Gaga's Superbowl Halftime Show.

In season 23, episode 22 of The Simpsons titled "Lisa Goes Gaga," Lady Gaga can be seen hanging by cables, hovering over the crowd at a concert. The episode aired in 2012, and roughly five years after, Lady Gaga had an akin performance and wore an uncannily similar outfit for the Super Bowl LI's halftime show.

simpsons-trump

3. Donald Trump's Presidency 

In the episode "Bart To The Future," Lisa became the President of the United States. During a cabinet meeting, she says, "We inherited quite the budget crunch from President Trump.” In 2016, Trump was elected the President of the United States. Even more astounding is that the same episode paved the way for the next prediction on our list. 

The Simpsons- Kamala Harris

4. Kamala Harris' Vice-Presidential Win

Kamala Harris got sworn in alongside the new President of The United States, Joe Biden, on 20 January 2021, after Donald Trump's departure.

The ensemble Kamala wore eerily resembles the outfit Lisa Simpson donned in an episode titled "Bart To The Future" aired in 2000.

In that particular episode, Lisa was sworn in as the first female president after Donald Trump!

Although Kamala was not elected the President, she is the first female vice president in history. Her term alongside the new POTUS Joe Biden starts after Trump leaves office.

Now that is one crazy coincidence!

smartwatch-simpsons

5. Smartwatches

Aside from events, 'The Simpsons' was also pretty advance when it comes to technology. In an episode aired in 1995, the animated show introduced the idea of a watch you could also use as a phone. Apple watch was released nearly 20 years after that episode. 

Ted Cruz - Mayor Quimby

6. Ted Cruz's Cancun Trip Amidst The Pandemic

Just a month after 'The Simpsons' went viral for predicting Kamala's win, the cartoon show generated buzz on the internet again for another prophetic episode. When Sen. Ted Cruz escaped to Cancun, Mexico amid Texas’s Arctic storm that killed a lot of people, fans couldn't help but relate his irresponsible action to the 1993 episode "Marge in Chains". In that episode, the corrupt Mayor Joe Quimby gave a press conference announcing a pandemic happening. Quimby assured the public that he did not escape to the Bahamas. However, in the next frame, it was revealed that Quimby was only tricking the public into thinking that he was in his office, when in fact, he was at the beach. 

Disney Acquires 20th Century Fox-simpsons

7. Disney Acquires 20th Century Fox

In Season 10 Episode 5, titled "When You Dish Upon A Star", an establishing shot at the end of the episode shows the 20th Century Fox Logo with "A Division of Walt Disney Co." written below it. The episode aired in 1998, then in 2018, roughly 20 years later, The Walt Disney Co. bought Fox!  

The Higgs-Boson Particle AKA God Particle-simpsons

8. The Higgs-Boson Particle AKA God Particle

In the 1998 episode titled, “The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace," Homer aspired to become an inventor himself. In one scene, Homer was seen profusely scribbling a math equation on a chalkboard. More than a decade later, scientists discovered the Higgs-Boson particle. To everyone's surprise, the mass of the particle was similar to Homer's work. 

The 9/11 Attack-simpsons

9. The 9/11 Attack

The 9/11 prediction is among those prophecies that even the writers of 'The Simpsons' did not see coming.

In the episode "The City of New York vs Homer Simpson", a particular shot seems to refer to the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York City, and not even Al Jean, one of the show’s original writers and its showrunner since 1998, could explain it.

“There is a frame where there’s a brochure that says New York at $9 a day, and behind the nine are the twin towers ... it looks like ‘9/11’. That one is a completely bizarre, strange thing,” Jean says.

Bill Oakley, who served as an executive producer on the show at the time, said: “$9 was picked as a comically cheap fare,” he says. “And I will grant that it’s eerie, given that it’s on the only episode of any series ever that had an entire act of World Trade Centre jokes.”

The invention of The Shard - simpsons

10. The invention of The Shard 

In Season 6, Episode 19, titled "Lisa's Wedding", Lisa goes on a trip to London. It didn't make a lot of sense back then, but we saw a skyscraper behind Tower Bridge that looks eerily similar to The Shard. Construction on the building started 14 years later, in 2009, and it's even in the right location as seen on the show.