Let's take, for example, a widely quoted Nostradamus prediction that some followers believe foretold the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Robert Kennedy. Nostradamus wrote that "The great man will be struck down in the day by a thunderbolt. An evil deed, foretold by the bearer of a petition. According to the prediction, another falls at night time (Nostradamus Predictions, No Date)." Nostradamus followers point out that John Kennedy was assassinated during the day, while Robert Kennedy was assassinated at night.
Of course, Nostradamus never writes that the two characters in the prophecy are related, and there are numerous alternate fits. Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, for example, was killed during the day in a hail of gunfire while observing a military parade and his counterpart in the Camp David Peace Accord, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, died in the middle of the night of heart failure (Menachem Begin, No Date). In fact, one could argue that this is a much better fit for the prophecy, as both Israel and Egypt are ancient lands that existed during Nostradamus' life, while the United States had barely been discovered.
The problem with Nostradamus' predictions is that most of them are hopelessly vague and can be applied to several scenarios. In fact, it is often the case that after a major world event people will dig through Centuries and conclude that completely dissimilar prophecies foretold the event. Such has been the case with the tragedies of Sept. 11, 2001, as Nostradamus followers have tried to attach several different prophecies to the attacks. One of those prophecies is "At forty-five degrees the sky will burn. Fire to approach the great new city. In an instant a great scattered flame will leap up. When one will want to demand proof of the Normans (Yafeh, 2003)." But clearly the Normans are a European reference and this prophecy could just as likely refer to the World War II bombing of London (or several other cities). In fact, a recent Stanford study found that participants thought as many as three...
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Nursing Dear Casey, I hope all is well with you and your family. It's been a while since I've written; forgive me as I've been busy with school, work and life in general. Over the past few weeks, I've become quite interested in the life and triumphs of Clara Barton, a 19th century nurse, teacher and pioneer who was by my account, a woman way ahead of her time. Clara Barton
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