Nostradamus predicted the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.

See the email here.

No.

The first supposed Nostradamus prediction:

In the City of God there will be a great thunder, two brothers torn apart by Chaos, while the fortress endures, the great leader will succumb.

Unknown authors, not content with the vagueness of the above prediction, have elaborated upon it:

In the city of york there will be a great collapse, 2 twin brothers torn apart by chaos while the fortress falls the great leader will succumb third big war will begin when the big city is burning

Most versions of the email cite Nostradamus making the prediction in 1654. Nostradamus did not make any predictions in 1654 having died in 1566.

The other predictions:

On the day of the 9 month that two metal birds would crash into two tall statues, in the new city, and the world will end soon after

is a complete invention not found among any of Nostradamus's quatrains.

The Urban Legend Zeitgeist doesn't know what comfort people draw from gleaning 'predictions' from Nostradamus, but cooking up bogus prophecies for public consumption trangresses at least the bounds of good taste.

Neil Marshall's web page on Nostradamus that is apparently the source of the bogus Nostradamus prediction is no longer available. You can see a copy of it here.

Web references:

• Rumor Watch: Terrorist Attacks on U.S. from About.com
• False Prophecy from the Urban Legend Reference Pages

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