1.
This “tip” from 1963 advises people to bury engine fuel in the ground. Today, we know how harmful this is to our environment:
2.
This person made a joke about murdering Queen Elizabeth on the exact day she ended up dying:
3.
And this meme joked that Queen Elizabeth would outlive King Charles so he’d never take her throne. Following her death, he became king:
5.
This website predicted that the world would have its last case of polio in 2016. Unfortunately, there are several countries still struggling with polio outbreaks, including the United States. There are currently at least 57 confirmed polio cases in New York — a consequence of the anti-vax movement:
6.
This 2017 article claimed that Josh Peck and Drake Bell had reconciled after Drake called Josh out on Twitter for not inviting him to his wedding. But on Barstool’s BFFs podcast, Josh said they never actually made up and haven’t spoken since the feud:
7.
This 1950 ad claimed there was “not one single case of throat irritation due to smoking Camels.” We know now that smoking puts people at a high risk for throat cancer:
8.
This 2018 quote from Jalen Ramsey is a bit embarrassing these days, considering Josh Allen’s success:
9.
This old advertisement for cellophane shows babies wrapped in plastic. As we now know, plastic wrap is a major suffocation hazard for babies and young children:
10.
And this advertisement for lead definitely predated our knowledge of how dangerous the naturally occurring element really is:
11.
When the Telegram messaging app launched in 2013, it was advertised as “free forever.” This year, they started offering a paid subscription version:
12.
This ancient computer has a sticker on it that says “never obsolete.” I beg to differ:
13.
This ad promoting salt for weight loss is both pseudoscience and anti-fat:
14.
This is the poster for a movie called It’s Pat, which was based on a regular character on SNL. The “joke” is that no one knows Pat’s gender. This movie would obviously not be made today, as it’s extremely offensive toward nonbinary people:
15.
This is a quote from president James Buchanan about how he will be fondly remembered in the future. Unfortunately for him, he is actually considered to be one of the United States’ worst presidents, due to the divisions he created over slavery leading up to the Civil War:
16.
This was a 1950s advertisement titled “The Beauty of Asbestos.” Today, we’re thankfully aware that asbestos causes cancer:
17.
This page from a booklet claimed that July 2, 2016 would be “E-DAY,” aka the day the world runs out of petrol. Prices of petrol are still exorbitantly high, but we definitely haven’t run out:
18.
In 2015, CNN ran an article that said Saudi Arabia would run out of cash in less than five years. According to the Economist, Saudi Arabia will have the fastest growing economy in 2022:
19.
This advertisement advised women to put Lysol in their vaginas. Enough said:
