1861: American novelist and short-story writer Morgan Robertson is born. His 1898 novel, Futility, eerily foretells one of the 20th century’s great man-made disasters: the sinking of the Titanic.

The similarities between Futility and subsequent actual events are startling, beginning with the names of the ships. Morgan Robertson called his liner Titan, which is just a little too close for comfort. Both ships founder on an April night in the North Atlantic, each after hitting an iceberg while going too fast.

They are roughly the same size: Titan is 800 feet long, while the Titanic was only 83...