(Image viaFor a show about a dysfunctional yellow family, The Simpsons has a strange habit of getting things right about the future. For decades, fans have pointed out eerie moments where the show seemed to predict major world events, technological inventions, and cultural shifts with bizarre accuracy. While some can be chalked up to coincidence, others are so specific it's hard not to wonder if the writers have a secret time machine. Here are 15 of the most famous times The Simpsons accurately predicted the future.
1. President Donald Trump
The Episode: "Bart to the Future" (2000)
The Prediction: In an episode that gives a glimpse into the future, Lisa Simpson has become the President of the United States. In an Oval Office meeting, she says, "As you know, we've inherited quite a budget crunch from President Trump."
The Reality: Sixteen years later, businessman and reality TV star Donald Trump was elected the 45th President of the United States, creating the exact scenario the show joked about. The writers have said they intended it as a "warning to America," choosing a celebrity name that seemed absurd for a president at the time.
2. The Disney-Fox Merger
The Episode: "When You Dish Upon a Star" (1998)
The Prediction: A quick sight gag in the episode shows the 20th Century Fox studio lot with a sign out front. Underneath the main logo, a smaller line reads: "A Division of The Walt Disney Co."
The Reality: In 2017, The Walt Disney Company announced a deal to acquire 21st Century Fox, including the 20th Century Fox film studio, for over $52 billion. The deal was finalized in 2019, making the throwaway joke a corporate reality.
3. Smartwatches
The Episode: "Lisa's Wedding" (1995)
The Prediction: In another flash-forward episode, Lisa's fiancé is shown communicating with his "picture phone" watch. He talks into his wrist, a concept that was pure science fiction at the time.
The Reality: Nearly two decades later, smartwatches became a mainstream consumer product. The Apple Watch, first released in 2015, and other similar devices allow users to make calls, send messages, and video chat directly from their wrists, just like in the episode.
4. Faulty Voting Machines
The Episode: "Treehouse of Horror XIX" (2008)
The Prediction: In the episode's opening segment, Homer goes to vote in the presidential election. When he tries to cast a vote for Barack Obama, the electronic voting machine repeatedly changes his vote to John McCain.
The Reality: During the 2012 U.S. presidential election, real-life video footage emerged showing a voting machine in Pennsylvania changing a voter's selection for Barack Obama to one for his opponent, Mitt Romney, sparking a national conversation about election security.
5. The Higgs Boson Particle
The Episode: "The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace" (1998)
The Prediction: Homer has a mid-life crisis and decides to become an inventor. At one point, he's seen standing in front of a blackboard filled with a complex equation.
The Reality: According to scientists, the equation Homer wrote is no joke. It's a legitimate, albeit complicated, formula that predicts the mass of the Higgs boson particle. In 2012, physicists confirmed the existence of the particle, and its actual mass was remarkably close to what Homer's equation predicted.
6. The Shard in London
The Episode: "Lisa's Wedding" (1995)
The Prediction: During Lisa's trip to London in the future, a shot of the city's skyline shows a new, sharply pointed skyscraper located right behind the Tower Bridge.
The Reality: The building bears a striking resemblance to The Shard, a skyscraper that began construction in 2009 and opened in 2012. The placement of the fictional building in the show is almost identical to where The Shard stands today.
7. Lady Gaga's Super Bowl Halftime Show
The Episode: "Lisa Goes Gaga" (2012)
The Prediction: In the episode, pop star Lady Gaga performs for the town of Springfield. During her concert, she is suspended by cables and flies through the air while playing a piano.
The Reality: Five years later, during her Super Bowl LI halftime show in 2017, Lady Gaga descended from the roof of the stadium on suspension cables before performing her set, which also included a segment at the piano. The imagery was strikingly similar.
8. Horse Meat Scandal
The Episode: "Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadasssss Song" (1994)
The Prediction: Lunchlady Doris is shown using a large barrel labeled "Assorted Horse Parts" to prepare lunch for the students of Springfield Elementary.
The reality: In 2013, a major food scandal rocked Europe when it was discovered that horse meat was being sold as beef in various pre-packaged meals and products, including those served in some schools.
9. Nobel Prize Winner
The Episode: "Elementary School Musical" (2010)
The Prediction: In a betting pool for the Nobel Prizes, Milhouse is shown holding a card that has Bengt R. Holmström winning the Prize in Economics.
The Reality: Six years later, in 2016, Bengt R. Holmström, a Finnish economist at MIT, was named a co-recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.
10. The Rise of Autocorrect
The Episode: "Lisa on Ice" (1994)
The Prediction: School bully Kearney uses a Newton, an early personal digital assistant from Apple, to take a note. When he writes "Beat up Martin," the device's handwriting recognition translates it to "Eat up Martha."
The Reality: This was a direct jab at the notoriously poor handwriting recognition of the Apple Newton. However, it also perfectly predicted the frustrating and often hilarious nature of autocorrect fails that would become a daily part of life for smartphone users decades later.
11. Tom Hanks's Endorsement
The Episode: The Simpsons Movie (2007)
The Prediction: In the movie, Tom Hanks appears in an ad for the new Grand Canyon, saying, "The U.S. government has lost its credibility, so it's borrowing some of mine."
The Reality: While the context is different, Tom Hanks became something of a comforting, credible voice for America during times of crisis. After he recovered from COVID-19 in 2020, his messages of unity and responsibility were widely seen as a source of stability.
12. "Guitar Hero"
The Episode: "Treehouse of Horror XIV" (2003)
The Prediction: At the end of a segment, Homer is given a magical guitar that lets him play like a rock star, a reference to The Twilight Zone.
The Reality: This predates the popular rhythm game Guitar Hero, which was released in 2005. The game gave millions of people the fantasy of playing guitar like a rock god using a plastic controller.
13. Three-Eyed Fish
The Episode: "Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish" (1990)
The Prediction: Bart catches a three-eyed fish, nicknamed Blinky, in the river near the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant. The fish becomes a symbol of the plant's pollution.
The Reality: Years later, a real three-eyed fish was caught in a reservoir in Argentina that receives water from a nuclear power plant, creating a real-life Blinky.
14. The Game of Thrones Finale
The Episode: "The Serfsons" (2017)
The Prediction: In a fantasy-themed parody episode, the family watches as a dragon burns down their entire village.
The Reality: Two years later, in the penultimate episode of Game of Thrones, Daenerys Targaryen and her dragon burn down the city of King's Landing, a plot twist that proved highly controversial and mirrored the scene from The Simpsons.
15. The Censorhip of Michelangelo's David
The Episode: "Itchy & Scratchy & Marge" (1990)
The Prediction: Marge leads a protest against cartoon violence, which escalates into a crusade against all art deemed inappropriate. This culminates in a segment showing Michelangelo's statue of David being forced to wear pants.
The Reality: In 2023, a school principal in Florida was forced to resign after parents complained that a sixth-grade art class was shown a picture of the famous statue, claiming it was "pornographic." This real-world controversy mirrored the absurdity the s
