How Many Predictions Made by Nostradamus Were Correct and Incorrect?

Nostradamus completed a total of 942 quatrains which he organized into Centuries – groups of 100 quatrains (one Century only had 42 quatrains). A quatrain is simply a poem with 4 lines.

The rhymed quatrains of Nostradamus were written mainly in French with a bit of Italian, Greek, and Latin thrown in. He intentionally obscured the quatrains through the use of symbolism and metaphor, as well as by making changes to proper names by swapping, adding or removing letters. The obscuration is claimed to have been done to avoid his being tried as a magician.

Well the atomic bomb is one for example

“Near the gates and within the cities
there will be two scourges the like of which was never seen,
famine within plague, people put out by steel,
crying to the great immortal God for relief.”

First, the original French uses the word “Portes” which means Gates or Doorways – this is usually misinterpreted to mean Ports – as in sea ports. This is clearly a description of plague and famine causing much death – not nuclear attack. In order to make this fit, people often translate it abominably. One example is line three which can be found to be rendered thus: “Intense in torment, an incredible proportion of human lives ended”. The only possible connection could be “steel” – but in the time of Nostradamus this would most likely have meant weaponry of some sort.

The the one about Oliver Cromwell
“More of a butcher than a king in England,
born of obscure rank will gain empire through force.
Coward without faith, without law he will bleed the land;
His time approaches so close that I sigh.”

People say that this quote refers to the reign of Oliver Cromwell in England during the 17th century. This one is fraught with problems. Most important of all, Cromwell was born to the minor gentry – he was hardly a “butcher” (most likely a euphemism for a commoner). Also, while I agree that Cromwell was a coward and an evil man, he did have a faith – he was a protestant.