You're the Worst Predictor Ever Quiz

Answer: Irving Fisher, Yale University professor

This highly respected professor of economics made this pronouncement only a few days prior to the Wall Street market crash on 29th October 1929. This was the start of the worst world-wide depression of the 20th century.

Answer: Kaiser Wilhelm II, German emperor

The Kaiser made this statement when addressing the troops in August 1914. Even on the British side public opinion was that "it will all be over by Christmas" Both beliefs were sadly misplaced as the First World War lasted until the armistice in 1918. The war didn't officially end until the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in April of the following year. Willhelm II abdicated in 1918.

Lewis and his partner Merriweather headed the Corps of Discovery which undertook the expedition to the Pacific Northwest. Joseph Banks was a naturalist who accompanied Captain Cook on his first 3 year expedition bringing back many previously unknown plants to Europe. John Nott was Secretary of Defence at the time of the Falklands war in 1982.

Answer: Lord Kelvin, Irish Engineer and Physicist

Lord Kelvin came up with these words of wisdom in 1895. Eight years later the brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright made the first powered flight from Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
Marechal Foch of L`Ecole Superieure de la Guerre also had a low opinion of airplanes considering them just prior to World War I as "interesting toys, but of no military value"
Da Vinci, some 500 years ahead of his time had already drafted designs for the airplane.
Joseph-Michel and his brother, Jacques-Étienne, invented the hot air balloon in the 1700's. Their name is immortalized in French, a montgolfièr being a hot-air balloon.

Answer: Sir Harold Spencer Jones, U.K. former Astronomer Royal

Within two weeks of making this disparaging remark the U.S.S.R. launched Sputnik. A month later Sputnik 2 took flight orbiting the earth with the first living creature on board, Laika the dog. Earlier the same year a space advisor to the British government, Dr. Richard van der Reit Wooley readily agreed with Sir Harold by saying "space travel is utter bilge". Great minds think alike.
Roddenberry created Star Trek in 1966 so would have been inspired by man's travel in space.

Even Ed Wood had a concept of space travel, albeit his space travellers were aboard flying saucers as depicted in his camp 1956 film, Plan 9 from Outer Space. John McConnell was Chief of Staff at the time of the Sputnik flights.

Answer: John Sedgewick

Tempting fate at the battle of Spotsylvania Court House, Union general Sedgewick made this comment twice to his men. Shortly after he was shot through the head. Seemingly, at a 1000 yards distance the Confederate sharpshooters didn't need an elephant-sized target. Sedgewick died on the battlefield.
Hooker was a Union general, Jackson and Stuart Confederacy ones. Jackson acquired the nickname Stonewall after exhibiting cool, calm detachment under fire at the Battle of Bull Run. Stuart was Robert E. Lee's flamboyant cavalry commander.

Answer: Eric Easton

An opinion expressed by one of the Rolling Stones first managers to his partner Andrew Oldham. One knighthood and 45 years later the Stones are still rolling.
Ian Stewart was a one time member of the group before switching to the job of their road manager.
George Martin will forever be recognized as producer for the Beatles from their first commercial success to the band's dissolution. Brian Epstein was the Beatles manager when they first became famous.

Answer: Thomas Watson, Chairman IBM

Well, if he did indeed say it, then he may be forgiven as it was a while ago in 1943. Other decision makers in the company must have had a clearer vision of the future: IBM went on to be a major maker of PCs. The computer division was later sold to Lenovo.

The other three obviously saw no such restrictions in their futures. However, even Bill Gates once said "640K ought to be enough for anybody" as late as 1981.

Answer: Emmeline Snively, modelling agency owner

The lady it would seem did not recognize the potential of the 18 year-old in front of her. The latter followed part of the advice by marrying on several occasions by which time she had changed her name from Norma Jean Baker to Marilyn Monroe. None of the other three seemed to have any problems in talent spotting.

Answer: Lt. Joseph Ives

Joseph Christmas Ives was commissioned by the U.S. Army to lead an expedition up the Colorado River in 1857. He was particularly unimpressed by the Grand Canyon. Nowadays around 5 million annual visitors seem to disagree with his poor review of the area.

Dr, Livingstone had an avid interest in the relatively unknown African continent and while searching for the source of the Nile that he discovered the Victoria Falls. Pizzaro brought about the bloody demise of the Incan Empire in Peru. Radisson was a trader who worked for both the French and the English. He explored major areas on the north and west of the American continent while trading with First Nation tribes

Answer: Jean Drapeau, Mayor of Montreal

The mayor was the driving force behind the preparations for the 1976 summer Olympics. They had been budgeted to cost $314 million when he made this rash promise earlier in that year. After the games were over and the costs calculated the final cost overrun was in excess of $1 billion. One newspaper cartoonists took great delight in producing a cartoon showing a very pregnant mayor. Montreal residents were assessed a 'special" tax to pay for the cost deficit which was not paid off until early into the next millennium.