“This ‘telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us.” — A memo at Western Union, 1878 (or 1876).

“The trend of things seems all against any diminuation of what is called the servant difficulty to-day, and, as a consequence of that we may expect the Twentieth Century house, not only to be full of labour-saving appliances, dustless sweepers, self-making beds, neatly-mounted electric cooking things, and so on, but built with a much more earnest regard to convenience and cleanliness than our houses of to-day.” — H. G. Wells, “The English House of the Future” Strand Magazine, 1903

“Louis Pasteur’s theory of germs is ridiculous fiction” — Pierre Pachet, Professor of Physiology at Toulouse, 1872

“The abdomen, the chest, and the brain will forever be shut from the intrusion of the wise and humane surgeon” — Sir John Eric Ericksen, Surgeon-Extraordinary to Queen Victoria, 1873

“This ‘telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us.” — Western Union internal memo, 1876

“Everything that can be invented has been invented” — Charles H. Duell, U.S. Office of Patents, 1899

“October 13, 2007 at 5:47 am

Cannons that can destroy whole cites 25 miles away? Impossible, I say!”

Actually, The largest battle ship ever constructed, could indeed fire a shell around 25 miles. It was built by Japan during the second WW, and had to use spotter plains to direct the shelling, because at sea, the target at max. range was below the horizon. It was however already largely obsolete by the aircraft carrier by the time it was built.
As far as destroying whole cities much smaller guns can do that, not with one shot mind you.