Milhouse is a genius. Really.
On Monday, Bengt Holmstrom of MIT and Oliver Hart of Harvard were announced as the joint winners of the 2016 Nobel Prize in Economics (for work on contact theory and how to evaluate whether things should be government-run or privately owned).
But eagle-eyed Simpsons fans were not surprised. Milhouse Van Houten predicted the win (his pick is to the right of Martin's circled red pick) in the 2010 Simpsons season premiere via a Nobel Prize betting pool he was in with Lisa Simpson, Martin Prince and Database (yes, they really were in a Nobel pool).
The episode's plot revolves around Krusty the Clown being scammed into thinking he won the Nobel Peace Prize so he'll travel to Europe, where he is arrested and tried by the International Court of Justice for deplorable behavior. Bart and Homer Simpson save him by "proving" that Krusty helped win the release of Nelson Mandela (though he really just wanted a potato chip).
Soon after the announcement, MIT tweeted out the connection between the Simpsons and Holmstrom:
Fun fact: @TheSimpsons' Milhouse once predicted MIT Prof. Holmström would win a #NobelPrize. Today, he was right! https://t.co/CC0LRk1avy pic.twitter.com/syhMiJBK2A
- MIT (@MIT) October 10, 2016
See a clip of the episode with the Nobel betting pool below.
Read more: 'The Simpsons' to Make Virtual Reality Appearance
Update: An earlier version misstated that Database was a computer not a character.
