'The Simpsons did it first': Fans suggest cartoon predicted decapitation of Christopher Columbus statue in Boston

A statue of Columbus was beheaded in Boston on 10 June

(Getty/Fox)

Fans of The Simpsons have said that the series “predicted” the beheading of a Christopher Columbus statue in Boston, Massachusetts this week.

In the season one episode “The Telltale Head”, Bart Simpson is seen decapitating a statue of Jebediah Springfield, the founder of the fictional cartoon town of Springfield.

The statue of Columbus in Boston’s Waterfront Park was attacked by protesters on 10 June. Like the statue of Jebediah Springfield, the head was removed overnight.

Columbus is now a controversial figure in the US largely due to the mass violence perpetrated by the Italian explorer against Native Americans.

The Simpsons fans were quick to point out the similarities on social media. “The Simpsons done it again,” wrote one commenter. “The prediction was true.”

Another joked: “Thanks Christopher Columbus, but The Simpsons did it first.”

The long-running cartoon is renowned for its ability to “predict” the future, with a litany of global news events being seemingly anticipated in scenes from the show’s considerable back catalogue of episodes.

The election of Donald Trump as US president, the invention of smart watches and the Disney-Fox merger in 2019 are just some of the events that were depicted in the series before transpiring in real life.

Earlier this year, some fans claimed that the series had predicted the outbreak of coronavirus in an early episode called “Marge in Chains”.

However, the scenario depicted in the episode involved an infectious virus travelling to the US from Osaka, Japan – not Wuhan, China, where some have theorised the coronavirus originated.

Recently, a clip of Homer Simpson saying: “will this horrible year never end?” has been jokingly interpreted as a prediction of the numerous global crises that have occurred in 2020.