A novella published 14 years before the Titanic sank seemed to have predicted the disaster

The novella, "Futility," centered around a ship named the Titan that sank one April after crashing into an iceberg — sound familiar?

• Fourteen years before the Titanic sank on April 15, 1912, a novella called "Futility" was published.
• The story gained attention after Titanic sank due to the eerie similarities between fact and fiction.
• Author Morgan Robertson later said of the coincidences, "I know what I'm writing about, that's all."

In 1898, a novella called "Futility" was published by author Morgan Robertson. At the time, it was just another story written by Robertson, who had spent his younger years working on ships and was even promoted to first mate. But 14 years later, Robertson's story would become the center of one of the most famous shipwrecks of all time: the sinking of the Titanic.

Why was "Futility" brought back into the spotlight — and even renamed "The Wreck of the Titan" — after the sinking? Because "Futility" tells the story of the fictional Titan, the largest ocean liner in the world, widely known as "unsinkable," sailing across the northern Atlantic Ocean. But before the Titan can complete its journey, it hits an iceberg and subsequently capsizes.

That's not where the similarities between the Titan and Titanic end.

As Time reported, the ships were almost exactly the same size — just 25 meters, or 82 feet, apart — both sinkings happened in April, and both ships only had just above the legal minimum number of lifeboats, leading to a catastrophic loss of life.

Over the years, Robertson and the story of the Titan have become interwoven with the sinking of the Titanic

The fictional ship has been used as an Easter egg in the the classic '90s video game "Titanic: Adventure Out of Time"; it is mentioned in the 1955 book about Titanic, "A Night to Remember"; and it was even referenced in a 2010 "Doctor Who" audio drama, "The Wreck of the Titan."

According to the Associated Press, as reported by Yahoo, Robertson was accused of being clairvoyant for the rest of his life. But looking at his upbringing and career can explain why he had so much knowledge about ships: He'd simply been working on them for years.

"Everybody ran to him and said, 'Oh my god, you're psychic,'" Titanic expert Paul Heyer said. "'No,' he said, 'I know what I'm writing about, that's all.'"