There might be debates about when science fiction originated, but even by the most conservative estimates, its history as a literary genre spans at least 200 years. During this time, tens if not hundreds of thousands of novels, novellas, and stories have been written in which authors depicted imagined futures. It’s not surprising that many predictions turned out to be spot on. This article will discuss some of the most exciting instances of future predictions by sci-fi writers.
Jules Verne
A classic example of sci-fi predicting future inventions can be found in the novels of Jules Verne. For instance, in “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea” (1869) and “The Mysterious Island” (1874), Verne describes Captain Nemo’s submarine, the “Nautilus.”
There were attempts to create underwater vessels even before Jules Verne, such as the oar-powered submarine by the Dutch engineer Cornelius Drebbel or the “Nautilus” (sic!) submarine by the American inventor Robert Fulton.
However, all these prototypes were slow, had limited capacity, and could only cover short distances underwater, incomparable to Captain Nemo’s vessel. In his novels…
