"The first issue of Scientific American was published on August 28th 1845..."

We've mentioned that SciAm has had some prognosticating problems* over the years but all in all a pretty good rag.

Via the Twitter feed of Fermat's Library:

The first issue of Scientific American was published on August 28th 1845.

News of the day were that the Telegraph that had been in use for the previous months between Washington and Baltimore was likely to expand to the entire country.

Curious? Read it: https://t.co/TfuvOFJAHf pic.twitter.com/WC4PgwTMws

— Fermat's Library (@fermatslibrary) February 15, 2019

*Our intro to 2016's "Altruistic People Have More Sexual Partners":

Possible fāke™ news alert!
This site, Scientific American, has a history of propagating claims that have no basis in fact:

"That the automobile has practically reached the limit of its development is suggested by
the fact that during the past year no improvements of a radical nature have been introduced."
Scientific American, Jan. 2 edition, 1909

"... too far-fetched to be considered."
Editor of Scientific American, in a letter to Robert Goddard about
Goddard's idea of a rocket-accelerated airplane bomb, 1940
(German V2 missiles came down on London 3 years later).

With that warning we proceed to Scientific American:...

And the outro

Another source to be wary of is this Lord Kelvin guy:

«X-rays will prove to be a hoax.»
Lord Kelvin, President of the Royal Society, 1883.

«Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible.»
Lord Kelvin, British mathematician and physicist, president of the British Royal Society, 1895.

«Radio has no future.» 

Lord Kelvin, Scottish mathematician and physicist, former president of the Royal Society, 1897.  

He was elevated to the peerage as 1st Baron Kelvin and ended up with a bunch of letters after his name: OM, GCVO, PC, FRS, OMG.

First seen in '07's 87 Worst Predictions of All Time.