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Paleofuture

@PaleofutureBlog

A website about the history of the future. Check us out on Bluesky, at least until Musk sells Twitter.

 San Diego, CA
paleofuture.com
Joined December 2010
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The Summer Intern Who Ate His Lunch on a Nuclear Bomb in 1955 paleofuture.com/blog/2023/8/…
The Summer Intern Who Ate His Lunch on a Nuclear Bomb in 1955 — Paleofuture

The Summer Intern Who Ate His Lunch on a Nuclear Bomb in 1955 — Paleofuture

If you came across the photo above, you probably wouldn’t think it was too consequential in the grand scheme of world events. But this photo is indeed historic. That man, sitting in the back of a...

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This 1930s Prediction For the Wind-Powered Greenhouses of the Arctic Actually Became a Reality paleofuture.com/blog/2023/8/…
This 1930s Prediction For the Wind-Powered Greenhouses of the Arctic Actually Became a Reality —...

This 1930s Prediction For the Wind-Powered Greenhouses of the Arctic Actually Became a Reality —...

We explore a lot of predictions here at Paleofuture that didn’t pan out. So it’s kind of cool to stumble upon a prediction that was extremely accurate, like this 1930s idea for wind-powered greenho...

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'White Collar Robots' Were Coming For Your Job in 1954 paleofuture.com/blog/2023/8/…
'White Collar Robots' Were Coming For Your Job in 1954 — Paleofuture

'White Collar Robots' Were Coming For Your Job in 1954 — Paleofuture

Today, there’s a lot of concern that machines are taking over the jobs of people in offices across the U.S., with the rise of artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT. But predictions about robots...

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Glass Banks Were the Future of Security in 1931 paleofuture.com/blog/2023/7/…
Glass Banks Were the Future of Security in 1931 — Paleofuture

Glass Banks Were the Future of Security in 1931 — Paleofuture

Banks have often been some of the first businesses to embrace new technology, whether it was computer networks or mass surveillance . But one idea for banks in the early 1930s was a little out there....

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Why Americans Were Disappointed in the Cars Produced Immediately After World War II paleofuture.com/blog/2023/7/…
Why Americans Were Disappointed in the Cars Produced Immediately After World War II — Paleofuture

Why Americans Were Disappointed in the Cars Produced Immediately After World War II — Paleofuture

The manufacturing of automobiles in the U.S. ground to a halt during World War II, as America’s industrial might pivoted to aiding the war effort. But that didn’t stop people from dreaming about the...

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The History of Child Slavery in California and Why I'm Having Trouble Sleeping These Days paleofuture.com/blog/2023/7/…
The History of Child Slavery in California and Why I'm Having Trouble Sleeping These Days —...

The History of Child Slavery in California and Why I'm Having Trouble Sleeping These Days —...

Do you ever read something so disturbing it keeps you up at night? Lately, I’ve been reading a lot about the enslavement of Indigenous people in California during the 19th century. And while I like...

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CCTV and Shipping Via Missile: 7 Ideas For the Future From a 1950s Tech Company paleofuture.com/blog/2023/7/…
CCTV and Shipping Via Missile: 7 Ideas For the Future From a 1950s Tech Company — Paleofuture

CCTV and Shipping Via Missile: 7 Ideas For the Future From a 1950s Tech Company — Paleofuture

The late 1950s was filled with predictions that would later be regarded as the Golden Age of Technological Futurism. Whether it was shipping packages via missile or using videophones to conduct...

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This 'Television Newspaper' Was Predicted Decades Before TV Would Go Mainstream paleofuture.com/blog/2023/7/…
This 'Television Newspaper' Was Predicted Decades Before TV Would Go Mainstream — Paleofuture

This 'Television Newspaper' Was Predicted Decades Before TV Would Go Mainstream — Paleofuture

Today we take it for granted that we can read news article on any number of digital screens. But back in 1934, the idea of reading a newspaper via a screen was revolutionary, as we see from this...

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The Bizarre Oppenheimer Movie From Ayn Rand That Never Got Made paleofuture.com/blog/2023/7/…
The Bizarre Oppenheimer Movie From Ayn Rand That Never Got Made — Paleofuture

The Bizarre Oppenheimer Movie From Ayn Rand That Never Got Made — Paleofuture

The buzz surrounding the new film Oppenheimer has reached a fever pitch. Directed by Christoper Nolan, the movie about Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb, has apparently left preview...

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When a Simple Blue Light Was the Hot New Anaesthetic in Dentistry paleofuture.com/blog/2023/7/…
When a Simple Blue Light Was the Hot New Anaesthetic in Dentistry — Paleofuture

When a Simple Blue Light Was the Hot New Anaesthetic in Dentistry — Paleofuture

Swiss doctor Camille Redard received worldwide press in 1905 after he announced a new anaesthetic for dental surgery that was supposed to make everything completely painless. The good doctor simply...

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The Curious Case of President Harding's Homeopathic Doctor and the Ku Klux Klan paleofuture.com/blog/2023/7/…
The Curious Case of President Harding's Homeopathic Doctor and the Ku Klux Klan — Paleofuture

The Curious Case of President Harding's Homeopathic Doctor and the Ku Klux Klan — Paleofuture

Was President Warren G. Harding a member of the Ku Klux Klan? That’s the unsubstantiated rumor that first started in 1923 after Harding died in office and a member of the KKK claimed the late...

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This Weather Nerd Had a Dire Prediction For July 4, 2023 paleofuture.com/blog/2023/7/…
This Weather Nerd Had a Dire Prediction For July 4, 2023 — Paleofuture

This Weather Nerd Had a Dire Prediction For July 4, 2023 — Paleofuture

Could the world see a world-shattering earthquake or hurricane on July 4, 2023? That was the prediction from one person in 2009 who said they could predict the future. And we’re about to find out if...

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This 'Voice in a Box' Warned Pedestrians About Jaywalking in 1936 paleofuture.com/blog/2023/6/…
This 'Voice in a Box' Warned Pedestrians About Jaywalking in 1936 — Paleofuture

This 'Voice in a Box' Warned Pedestrians About Jaywalking in 1936 — Paleofuture

Today, many municipalities have audible notifications at crosswalks that alert people about when it’s safe to cross the street. But the city of St. Louis tried something similar to deter jaywalking...

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The 1940s Promised Helicopters In Every American's Backyard paleofuture.com/blog/2023/6/…
The 1940s Promised Helicopters In Every American's Backyard — Paleofuture

The 1940s Promised Helicopters In Every American's Backyard — Paleofuture

If you follow tech news, the world of air taxis is just around the corner . But this isn’t the first time Americans have heard that promise. In fact, just after World War II, there were a lot of...

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The Flat-Screen TV of Tomorrow in Disneyland's Monsanto House of the Future paleofuture.com/blog/2023/6/…
The Flat-Screen TV of Tomorrow in Disneyland's Monsanto House of the Future — Paleofuture

The Flat-Screen TV of Tomorrow in Disneyland's Monsanto House of the Future — Paleofuture

The photo above might not seem very revolutionary to those of us here in the 2020s. But back in 1960, this was a wild idea for tomorrow. And visitors to the Monsanto House of the Future at Disneyland...

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You Can't Blame the 21st Century for the 'Media Frenzy' Around the Titanic Sub paleofuture.com/blog/2023/6/…
You Can't Blame the 21st Century for the 'Media Frenzy' Around the Titanic Sub — Paleofuture

You Can't Blame the 21st Century for the 'Media Frenzy' Around the Titanic Sub — Paleofuture

The U.S. Coast Guard has announced the five people who were visiting the site of the Titanic in a small submersible two miles below the ocean’s surface have died and I’ve seen countless critiques of...

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Pink For Boys and Blue For Girls: Gendered Colors Were Completely Different 100 Years Ago paleofuture.com/blog/2023/6/…
Pink For Boys and Blue For Girls: Gendered Colors Were Completely Different 100 Years Ago —...

Pink For Boys and Blue For Girls: Gendered Colors Were Completely Different 100 Years Ago —...

If you ask any random American off the street what color is for boys and what color is for girls, you’ll likely hear that blue is masculine and pink is feminine. But it hasn’t always been that way....

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Moviegoers Were Tired of Seeing 'The Same Ideas Used Over and Over Again' In 1910 paleofuture.com/blog/2023/6/…
Moviegoers Were Tired of Seeing 'The Same Ideas Used Over and Over Again' In 1910 — Paleofuture

Moviegoers Were Tired of Seeing 'The Same Ideas Used Over and Over Again' In 1910 — Paleofuture

Are you tired of the remakes, reboots, and sequels getting churned out by Hollywood? You’re not alone. But American film audiences have long complained about the lack of originality in cinema. In...

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Radio Was Going to Make Everyone a Wealthy and Well-Educated Globe Trotter paleofuture.com/blog/2023/6/…
Radio Was Going to Make Everyone a Wealthy and Well-Educated Globe Trotter — Paleofuture

Radio Was Going to Make Everyone a Wealthy and Well-Educated Globe Trotter — Paleofuture

New technologies often come with people who believe they’ll not just change the world, but bring about something close to a technological utopia. And the many predictions for radio broadcasting in...

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Chevy's Astro III Concept Car From 1969 Was a Three-Wheeled Wonder paleofuture.com/blog/2023/6/…
Chevy's Astro III Concept Car From 1969 Was a Three-Wheeled Wonder — Paleofuture

Chevy's Astro III Concept Car From 1969 Was a Three-Wheeled Wonder — Paleofuture

Most cars of the 21st century have four-wheels, as they have for over 100 years. But some forward-looking car designers of the 20th century were obsessed with making a three-wheeled vehicle for the...

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