Instead of visiting a clairvoyant to find out what's on the cards for 2024, why not just binge watch The Simpsons for clues?
We're all well aware by now that the beloved animated sitcom has a knack for forecasting major historical events - but whether its merely a massive coincidence or a giant conspiracy theory remains up for debate.
The fact that several of The Simpsons chilling predictions have seemingly come true this year has only added fuel to the fire of the longstanding discussion which often haunts the internet.
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We already watched the residents of Springfield act out Lady Gaga flying into her Super Bowl performance, the US battling murder hornets, suffering from a disease eerily similar to Covid-19 and reacting to Donald Trump's presidency way before it all happened in real life.
A string of key events that have hijacked the headlines throughout the last 12 months also played out in The Simpsons universe ahead of time - making the theory that the writers know something we don't that bit more believable.
Titanic Sub
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For starts, the 2006 episode titled Homer’s Paternity Coot seemingly foreshadowed the devastating events that unfolded when the ill-fated Titanic sub made it's doomed voyage in June this year.
It shows Homer heading on an intrepid adventure as he tries to uncover the sunken treasure ship, the Piso Mojado, alongside his long lost father Mason Fairbanks in a submarine - just like how victims Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his teenage son Suleman headed to explore the Titanic wreckage.
The Simpsons characters end up separated while below the surface and when Homer gets lost, his submersible worryingly starts flashing an 'oxygen low' sign, which then swiftly changes to 'oxygen gone'.
He passes out - but thankfully wakes up in hospital three days later.
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Tragically in real life, the Titan sub imploded during it's descent and killed all five passengers on board.
The cartoon classic's writer producer, Mike Reiss, had also been on three expeditions with OceanGate himself - but later said the episode was inspired by the 1996 film Crimson Tide.
He said: "We didn’t predict the future, we just did it off that movie and 20 years later, something like that happened."
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The Barbie craze
But how does he explain The Simpsons apparently anticipating the Barbie craze taking over the world in 2023?
Loyal fans will remember the 1994 episode Lisa vs Malibu Stacey, where Lisa launches a campaign to get the creators of the Malibu Stacey doll to make a better role model for young girls.
The original toy utters phrases such as 'Math is hard’ or ‘Don't ask me, I'm just a girl’, which obviously doesn't sit well with Lisa - so she get's its designer, Stacy Lovell, to produce a more feminist-empowering toy called Lisa Lionheart.
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The inspiring figurine is released and instantly becomes a big hit - and The Simpsons resident newsreader Kent Brockman is urged by his daughter to do a segment on Lisa's doll, which soon becomes 'important news' and a 'fascinating' subject which he spent 28 minutes waffling on about - just like Greta Gerwig's Barbie film did.
However, the creators of Malibu Stacy see Lisa's doll as a real threat and release a new one to bury Lisa Lionheart.
To Lisa and Lovell’s dismal, the new Malibu Stacy - which is just the old one wearing a ‘new hat' - is wheeled in front of Lisa’s doll display, with little girls opting for Malibu Stacey instead.
Margot Robbie's starring role in Barbie helped bring the iconic doll back to the forefront of kid's minds, proving once and for all that she will always be that toy which will never die - just like Malibu Stacey.
Donald Trump's arrest
The cartoon sitcom predicted the rise of Donald Trump in the political sphere, but they also seemingly predicted his epic fall from grace too.
In the same episode which has strange parallels to the Barbie film's success, Kent Brockman also has some other news to share - but he only quickly spits it out after finishing his nearly 30 minute spiel about Lisa Lionheart.
As he's wrapping up the night's news and using the majority of his airtime to discuss the new doll on the market, the presenter casually adds: "Oh, and the president was arrested."
Kent's last minute admission may have gone over the heads of some fans of The Simpsons, but others spotted that it seemed to foretell Donald Trump's arrest and charge in August 2023 amid an election interference case.
Although the episode didn't explicitly state the businessman was the President who had been led away in handcuffs, viewers put two and two together and added it to the list of eerie coincidences.
However, the unnamed President in the show was arrested for murder rather than accusations of attempting to overturn election results in Georgia and allegedly paying hush money to an adult entertainment star like Trump.
But hey ho, it's close enough to make the list.
Elon Musk rebranding Twitter
It's been quite a whirlwind throughout 2023, but one of the most bizarre additions to this year's wacky occurrences is Elon Musk's decision to completely rebrand Twitter after he took it over in in October last year.
Has he not heard the saying if it's not broke, don't fix it?
Anyway, he decided to get rid of the iconic blue bird as well as the social media platform's well known name in favour of a new logo and moniker - X.
It came to a shock to a lot of dedicated social media users, although it was hardly surprising that Musk had opted for a complete shakeup of Twitter to make it his own.
Let's have it right, when does he do things by halves?
But The Simpsons were one step ahead as per usual, as seen in a 2012 episode titled Ned ‘N Edna’s Blend.
As always, Homer is at the centre of it and this time he is seen scrolling on his phone.
If you look closely, you can have a gander at what kind of apps Springfield Nuclear Power Plant's finest worker has on his device and one might stick out to you.
That's because many believed that it looks suspiciously similar to the logo design that Musk went with for X.
Censoring Michelangelo's David
Fans of The Simpsons are often left on the fence about the show's ability to predict things but this one really was a open and shut case of life imitating art.
Cast your mind back to the 1990 episode, Itchy & Scratchy & Marge, where Marge is on a mission to get rid of violence from the TV show her kids love - The Itchy & Scratchy Show - as Maggie is repeating the behaviour she watches.
Her campaign ends up blowing up, prompting thousands of other angry parents to share their grievances about things they don't find appropriate for their offspring to be watching.
Marge's rag tag gang of mums and dads then set their sights on boycotting the travelling exhibition of Michelangelo's sculpture of David which is doing a whistle-stop tour of Springfield.
One parent tells the blue haired mum it is an 'abomination', while raging: "It’s filth, it graphically portrays parts of the human body – which practical as they may be – are evil," - even though Marge thinks it's a masterpiece.
A similar situation unfolded in real life early this year, when school kids in Tallahassee, Florida, were shown a picture of the iconic sculpture by an art teacher and their parents lost their rags.
People complained that their children had been exposed to 'pornography' and were 'upset' by it.
The principal of Tallahassee Classical school, Hope Carrasquilla, ended up resigning after all the backlash.
Where was Marge to smooth things over when you need her, eh?
'Radioactive' fish
To wrap up a year of mysterious coincidences, how about seeing Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida eat a fish which had been caught from radioactive water and treated?
To prove that marine mammals hadn't been affected by the pollution being pumped into the waters off the Fukushima coast and that the seafood was safe to eat, Kishida chowed down on some fish sashimi.
He said it was a 'safe' and 'very delicious' snack, although other people were more wary - especially loyal watchers of The Simpsons who had took heed of a 1990 episode.
In Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish, Mr Burns munches on a three-eyed fish which is believed to have suffered garish mutations due to pollution in the water from his nuclear power plant.
The ridiculously rich and menacingly mean businessman is running for governor of Springfield, so he needs to have the public on his side and goes to drastic lengths to convince people he hasn't caused any harm.
The fish - aptly named Blinky - is served up by the Simpsons family for Mr Burns and he takes a bite out of it in front of rows of cameras and press, just like how Japan's PM did.
You know you're in a mess when you're turning to Mr Burns playbook for tips on how to wriggle out of a scandal.
Although it didn't exactly come true, it's quite the uncanny coincidence.
Topics: The Simpsons, TV and Film, Conspiracy Theory, Weird, World News
Olivia Burke