Even though Nostradamus has been dead for 458 years, his predictions are still being interpreted by his followers – and they reckon we’re in for a rough 2025.

The French astrologer, born as Michel de Nostredame, marked his name in the history books with Les Prophéties – a collection of predictions – back in 1555.

Although the English print version is only 179 pages, many have interpreted his words to predict upcoming contemporary world events.

While some see him as a genius, many just think he’s being deliberately vague.

And before 2024 comes to a close, there’s still three big predictions which are yet to supposedly happen – so watch this space.

Either way, here are five predictions for 2025 and some will come as a bit of a shock, The Standard reports.

A war in England and the return of the plague

Nostradamus predicted that the UK would see a great plague as well as a huge war, writing: “When those from the lands of Europe, see England set up her throne behind. Her flanks, there will be cruel wars.

“The kingdom will be marked by wars so cruel, foes from within and without will arise. A great pestilence from the past returns, no enemy more deadly under the skies.”

It’s the last thing we need at this point.

Nostradamus’ predictions for next year are looking pretty grim (Getty Stock Images)

Conflict in global politics

The astrologer believes that ‘great powers will clash’ and some think this is a nod to what is currently going on in politics, with the threat of nuclear war.

He says there will be ‘a decrease in the influence of established Western countries and the emergence of new world powers’.

However, it isn’t all bad as Nostradamus notes there will be ‘significant improvements in illness prevention and treatment’.

That’s something, at least.

The Ukraine and Russia war comes to and end

The Ukraine–Russia war escalated when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

“Through long war all the army exhausted, so that they do not find money for the soldiers; instead of gold or silver, they will come to coin leather, Gallic brass, and the crescent sign of the Moon,” Nostradamus writes.

Some believe that references to ‘the crescent sign of the Moon’ and ‘Gallic brass’ suggests that France and Turkey could be involved in settling the dispute.

The world is also supposed to ending according to his predictions (Getty Stock Images)

End of world

It doesn’t look like we’ll get to enjoy any of the good things next year as Nostradamus also predicts a massive asteroid destroying the world.

“From the cosmos, a fireball will rise, A harbinger of fate, the world pleads. Science and fate in a cosmic dance, The fate of the Earth, a second chance.” he writes.

Disaster in the Amazon

Not only the world’s end supposedly coming, the astrologer has predicted volcano eruptions and floods in Brazil as climate change continues to be a threat.

“Garden of the world near the new city, In the path of the hollow mountains: It will be seized and plunged into the Tub, forced to drink waters poisoned by sulphur,” he said.

The rise and fall of Aquaman

Last, but not least, is the prediction of a ‘mysterious leader’ emerging to form an ‘aquatic empire’.

I think at this point, we shouldn’t rule out Frozone coming to life after he’s found his ‘super suit’.

The Simpsons fans were left both heartbroken and confused when a beloved character was killed off after 35 years.

The Simpsons has been on our screens for as long as we can remember, with its first episode coming out in December 1989 on American broadcaster Fox.

But after more than three decades, the show has killed off a beloved character in its most recent episode, and people have been left both gutted and baffled.

The victim was none other than Larry the Barfly – aka Larry Dalrymple – a regular at Moe’s Tavern and one of Homer’s best friends.

During the episode ‘Cremains the Day’, the famous barfly, who is often seen in the background at Homer’s favourite drinking spot, drops dead at the bar.

Following the sad event, bartender Moe, Homer and his pals Lenny and Carl turn up to his funeral, but they realise that they know almost nothing about their ‘friend’, even though they spent so much time together.

Larry the Barfly has been killed off after 35 years. (Disney)

They felt even worse when Larry’s mother, Iris, paid an emotional tribute to her late son at the funeral, saying: “My Lawrence always talked about his best friends, the fellows at Moe’s Tavern.

“It would warm my heart if they came up and shared fond memories of my son.”

Following the episode, Simpsons fans took to Reddit to express their confusion over the fact an entire episode was dedicated to Larry.

They also expressed their shock that one other character didn’t feature in the memorable ep.

One person posted on Reddit: “Does anyone else find it odd that the Simpsons would give Larry a ‘spotlight’ episode and not even mention this weirdo once?”

Larry was a staple in Homer’s friendship group. (Disney)

Alongside the post, they shared an image of Sam, who is also a barfly at Moe’s.

Others agreed, with one writing: “Honestly I didn’t know that barfly’s name was Larry. Like I don’t know the name of the guy in the picture.

“I’ve seen him in a ton of episodes, but I don’t think they ever referred to him by name.”

While another said: “Considering that he’s (at least from my perspective) the lenny to larry’s carl, it seems like a strange choice that he wasn’t even shown or referenced.

“However, I think the story benefited from it being centered on just homer, moe, lenny, and carl, as I think the story would have gotten a bit cluttered if there were five (six if you include larry, seven if you add barney into the mix) characters involved.”

Following the ep, long-running Simpsons writer Matt Selman credited the team behind the emotional episode: “‘Cremains of the Day’ — @TheSimpsons episode 765, brilliantly written by John Frink, stunningly co-run by @mrtimlong & daringly directed by Gabriel DeFrancesco.”

Everyone is saying the same thing about The Simpsons’ real-life opening scene.

As one of the longest-running shows on American TV, The Simpsons is one of the most widely beloved shows in the world, still going strong 35 years after its first episode aired in 1989.

Over the years, though, the show has gotten more and more creative with their iconic opening theme, including different details, animations, and sometimes characters from time to time – just to spice things up a little bit.

But one of the coolest and most memorable depictions of this was in 2006, when the creators made a live-action opening theme, take a look:

In the clip, we can see a boy playing Bart re-enacting the iconic blackboard scene, where he writes the same thing several times – though the sentence can change, depending on the episode.

This time, it read: “I will not eat things for money”.

The man playing Homer nailed his role, chucking the radioactive stick to the side in tune with the theme song, while Marge (played by a woman with comparatively big hair) and Maggie are running errands, as per.

Lisa was played by a girl that pulled the band practice scene off to a tee, and at the end, they even had Homer run away from the car in real life – pure authenticity.

As cool as it was to see, everyone noticed one glaring detail of the memorable season 17, episode 15 opening theme.

It was a perfect shot-for-shot remake. (Fox)

Viewers think that the whole thing was actually filmed in the UK, despite the show being very much American-made.

They left their thoughts on this in the comments section below the clip, posted on YouTube.

One user said: “Although set in America, something about this is so unignorably British”

Another put: “I love how it’s so clearly filmed in the UK as well, genuinely hilarious.”

A third pointed out that a previously popular car in Britain featured: “I love the fact that homer is driving a Lada XD”

A different user said: “The British Homer Simpson driving a Russian car (LADA 2105 if I’m right) is so heartwarming”.

But there is a very good reason behind why it seems so British.

The whole intro was created by a British company. (Fox)

It turns out that, despite being used for an actual episode of the series, it was created by Sky One, to advertise the premiere of Season 17 prior to its release.

In fact, at the end of the original sequence, it said: “Come home to The Simpsons on Sky One.”

But creator Matt Groening loved it so much that he decided to use it in a real episode, adding the words ‘The Simpsons’ coming out of the clouds at the start.

It may have helped that the clip became a viral sensation online too – or as viral as something could have been in 2006.

The Simpsons creator Matt Groening explained why he decided to make his iconic cartoon characters yellow and where the idea first came from.

If you’ve made it this far onto the internet then you basically know who The Simpsons are, America’s most famous family really needs no introduction.

Since their debut on TV, they’ve become titans of pop culture for being a brilliantly funny sitcom with so many jokes and clever references that made their episodes endlessly rewatchable.

At least that’s how things started out, plenty of Simpsons fans have their own milestone for when the show lost its sparkle and an explanation for what brought it down.

Still, by then it had already become a juggernaut all by itself and the show’s popularity was essentially self-sustaining. On top of that, The Simpsons has gained a reputation for being able to predict the future with uncanny accuracy.

Disney

As for how things all got started, The Simpsons began life as a series of animated shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show before getting their own run on Fox.

Back when he was coming up with the initial design for the show, Simpsons creator Matt Groening wanted to go for something which didn’t stick to the typical colours for cartoons of the time.

While most of the characters on The Simpsons have yellow skin as though they have some kind of debilitating kidney disease, there’s a very good reason for this.

Answering fan questions before the release of The Simpsons Movie in 2007, Groening explained that the idea to make the family yellow didn’t actually come from him.

He said: “An animator came up with the Simpsons’ yellow and as soon as she showed it to me I said, ‘This is the answer!’

Lisa O’Connor/Variety via Getty Images

“When you’re flicking through channels with your remote control, and a flash of yellow goes by, you’ll know you’re watching The Simpsons.“

So there you have it, an animator suggested to Groening that The Simpsons ought to be yellow and it turned out to chime with the iconic look he was going for all along.

Another part of the design for The Simpsons is all the characters only having four fingers on each hand, except for God and Jesus who both have five.

As for why The Simpsons are called that, Groening got the name from ‘the simpletons’, which is why during the title sequence you see ‘The Simps’ before the rest of the family name appears.

Now you know something, which is apparently half the battle already won.