Contemporary history describes the period timeframe that is without any intervening time closely connected to the present day and is a certain perspective of modern history.

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5answers
658 views

Is the Cold War still going on?

Do any historians consider the Cold War, or Cold War II, to be going on? I'm asking because some features of the Cold War still exist, such as an antagonism between Russia and the Western world, and ...
12
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1answer
200 views

What happened to all the french guillotines?

Quoting Wikipedia: "The guillotine remained the official method of execution in France until the death penalty was abolished in 1981. The last guillotining in France was that of torture-murderer ...
10
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2answers
244 views

Why is Las Vegas located where it is?

Anybody know the history of Vegas and basically why that location was chosen as the main hub for gambling, hotels, and entertainment given that (at that time) it was pretty much a random desert in the ...
7
votes
3answers
439 views

How much has U.S. currency inflated since 1792?

How much has U.S. currency inflated since the Coinage Act of 1792 established the U.S. Mint? Adjusting for inflation, what amount of modern currency would have the same buying power as a 1792 dollar? ...
5
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4answers
225 views

Does US law permit spending taxpayers' money to support foreign political parties?

Here is a video, showing a number of Russian opposition activists visiting U.S. embassy before Russian presidential elections: ...
4
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2answers
375 views

What is the source and history of “green on blue attack” expression?

Every time in the news when an Afghan attacks a US army the news say it is a „green on blue” attack, of course the green being the Afghan and the blue being the US/Nato soldier. What is the source ...
4
votes
1answer
123 views

Mexico has the right to possess firearms? [closed]

I have lived and grown up in Mexico for most of my life. I have always known firearms to be illegal here, as well as everyone I know. But just today, I came across this article on Wikipedia, (Gun ...
4
votes
2answers
284 views

What is modern criticism of Nazism? [closed]

When I was studying, one student girl asked the teacher what is so bad with Nazism. She asked what's so bad if other peoples are exterminated? The teacher thought for a while and said that it would be ...
3
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3answers
200 views

Why Americans like to enroll in military services despite huge risks involved?

Working in US military is one of the riskiest jobs in America because of the regular engagement in battles compared to other military in the world. I live in a third-world country. Even in my ...
3
votes
1answer
212 views

What is the purpose of the bridge to the Russkiy island? [closed]

Russky bridge is a bridge to a sparsely populated Russky island in the Far East whose construction started in 2008 and completed in 2012. It is the world's largest cable-stayed bridge, the 1104 m long ...
3
votes
1answer
82 views

Pre-islamic cultural inheritance in contemporary Iran

In contemporary Iran, what are the effect of pre-Islamic Persian cultural heritage that are not linked to islamic culture, religion and literature? In a previous question, I asked about ...
2
votes
2answers
145 views

Why do people (governments) hang on to the idea of East and West?

The Idea of "East and West" was originated in the (nowadays Middle East) during "Trojan" times. The meaning of "East and West" changed since then but the "Western" governments (and by default, Eastern ...
2
votes
0answers
90 views

What was the reason behind total transition towards wide screen displays by the manufacturers? [closed]

I often hear complains by users who are not satisfied by the wide-screen monitors and prefer traditional screen ratios of 4:3 and 5:4. Unfortunately such monitors now are quite rare and the laptops ...
1
vote
2answers
186 views

Iran: Zoroastrianism and Islam

If Zoroastrianism is so strong in Iran, why was there an Islamic revolution? Why is it proclaimed as the Islamic Republic of Iran?
1
vote
1answer
31 views

Heads of state convicted in international court

From this BBC News article: Taylor became the first former head of state to be convicted of war crimes by an international court since the Nuremberg trials of Nazis after World War II. What ...
0
votes
0answers
24 views

How is socialism in latin america different from Bolviarian socialism led by Chavez? [closed]

As title says, how is socialism in latin america generally different from Bolivarian socialism led by Hugo Chavez? I heard that there were many differences, so I wonder if anyone can answer this.
0
votes
0answers
59 views

Do stackexchange sites share anything in common with the Platonic Academy? [closed]

I'm a big fan of stackexchange sites, being most active on stackoverflow. Today I was thinking about how "history repeats itself", and arrived at this question: Looking at the free exchange of ...
0
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0answers
81 views

Soft question: How to remember details and do well in History Exam? [closed]

I'm learning contemporary american history as a general election course right now in a college. I got more than 80% in a exam but I still fell that I don't know: What's important? There are two many ...
0
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0answers
65 views

Have any politicians been known to make a habit of answering questions precisely? [closed]

Are there any records of politicians who have nearly always responded to questions asked of them in public by either answering the precise question asked, or stating that they are unable or unwilling ...
-1
votes
2answers
75 views

What are the origins of the “totalitarian genes” theory?

What are the origins of the infamous "totalitarian genes" theory that alleged that Russians, Serbs, Belorussians had genes favoring totalitarianism and autharitarian government, so to protect ...
-6
votes
1answer
75 views

Destruction of WTC: is this version somehow substatinated? [closed]

Recently I read an article that claimed that WTC in reality was blown up rather than fell due to fire. In discord with various conspiracy theories the source claims that this fact is not a secret. ...
-6
votes
1answer
89 views

The importance to ignore Howie Huber's speech over the internet [closed]

It have been known that public have develop despise to Howie Huber for his received bonus. So, public have shown almost no interest to his received wisdom. When i type in the "Howie huber love to ...