Predicting the present: 12 years ago, in an end-of-year mailout for friends, I put together a month-by-month diary of the future. I started by predicting daily events in January 1995, then jumped ahead to February 1996, then March 1997, and so on. And the final month in my prophetic diary was December 2006. It seemed impossibly far away at the time, but now this future has finally arrived. So I thought I'd take a look back to see how good my predictions were. Twelve years ago, what was I expecting to happen this month? Here's my Christmas 1994 view of what Christmas 2006 might bring...
December 2006 Fri 1: World AIDS Day - still no cure, now three world leaders dead Sat 2: World Computer Virus Day - most hardware now infected Sun 3: All this year's National Comedy Awards won by politicians Mon 4: Chunnel rail link opens (but no trains run in the UK any more) Tue 5: This year's Drink-Drive campaign targets 14 year olds Wed 6: Weather forecasting is now 99% accurate 20 months ahead Thu 7: Next year's diaries now include sunshine and rainfall forecasts Fri 8: Wimbledon next year shifted to late August when it's dry Sat 9: Ashes tour moved to early July so it'll be sure to be rained off Sun 10: Sonic the Hedgehog wins Sports Personality of the year Mon 11: Blue Peter lights 1st fibre optic cable on Advent coathanger Tue 12: Only 13 QVC shopping days to Christmas Wed 13: Britain, alas, is no longer at the centre of world affairs Thu 14: World War 3 breaks out over Pacific oil drilling rights Fri 15: Japan, China, Australia & California wiped out in 8 hrs flat Sat 16: Nobody in Britain minds being insignificant any more Sun 17: Sudden shortage of cheap plastic toys this Christmas Mon 18: UK passport replaced by microchip brain implant Tue 19: Bernard Matthew Nut Roasts are top seller this Christmas Wed 20: All Christmas cards must now carry a Govt Health Warning Thu 21: The Stone Roses finally release their third album Fri 22: It's a traditional commercialised overpriced tacky Christmas Sat 23: Cliff Richard has this year's number 1 Xmas CD-ROM Sun 24: Last e-mail posting date for Christmas cards Mon 25: Nuclear fallout leads to first White Christmas since 1970 Tue 26: Channel 98 wins Xmas TV ratings war with 37000 viewers Wed 27: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang repeated on satellite TV all day Thu 28: 3 turtle doves, 2 French hens & partridge shot on royal hunt Fri 29: Vivienne Westwood launches new Man Utd strip, £89 Sat 30: Medical advances mean death is now only 95% fatal Sun 31: Archbishop of Canterbury gives her New Year message
Predicting the present: 12 years ago, in an end-of-year mailout for friends, I put together a month-by-month diary of the future. I started by predicting daily events in January 1995, then jumped ahead to February 1996, then March 1997, and so on. And the final month in my prophetic diary was December 2006. It seemed impossibly far away at the time, but now this future has finally arrived. So I thought I'd take a look back to see how good my predictions were. Twelve years ago, what was I expecting to happen this month? Here's my Christmas 1994 view of what Christmas 2006 might bring...
