13
votes
0answers
172 views
When was the concept of “weekly day off” first introduced in Indian Subcontinent?
Did ancient & medieval indians have a weekly day off? Or was there even a generally recognized day as public holiday?
Or did the concept get introduced with Arabs or Europeans?
12
votes
5answers
739 views
How well can cavalry fight infantry?
In the Battle of Pharsalus, Caesar's infantry won by throwing their spears at the horsemen's faces.
So how come in Battle of Zama and many other battles, including the battle where Khalid ibn ...
12
votes
5answers
776 views
How did a besieged city/castle defend itself vs. catapulting diseased dead bodies into it?
I was a bit shocked to read that diseased dead bodies/animals where catapulted into besieged castles/towns. Biological warfare in the middle ages. But this "method" of warfare had probably alot ...
12
votes
5answers
1k views
How did the US/South Vietnam lose the Vietnam war?
South Vietnam was helped by US. Even when the US was gone, they had a 1 million army.
So why did they lose?
Even without US support, South Vietnam had about the same manpower, higher technology, and ...
12
votes
5answers
533 views
Is there any evidence that the catholic church reduced innovation during the middle ages?
I often hear that the rate of innovation was very high during ancient times in Greece and the Roman empire. I've also heard that the rate of innovation was reduced once the Catholic Church gained ...
12
votes
5answers
834 views
What's the advantage of the infantry column formation in the Napoleonic Wars?
In movies/books set in the Napoleonic Wars, the British are normally deployed into lines and the French into columns. The columns are usually the advancing ones, charging into the line as the line ...
12
votes
2answers
346 views
Why was the Western Front so static in World War I?
Once the German advance was halted, neither side could seriously advance for two years. This seems like an extraordinarily long time. Why didn't anyone succeed at going around the trenches or striking ...
12
votes
4answers
4k views
Why did the southern states secede from the U.S.?
Lincoln's election precipitated the secession, but didn't they have enough congressional power to continue things much as they were? It seems in the preceding two decades the slave states had managed ...
12
votes
8answers
2k views
What was the ratio of German to Soviet losses on eastern front during different stages of the war?
I've read somewhere that the ratio of Soviet to German casualties on the eastern front was 1.4 for the whole war. But what about data for different stages of the war? (this ratio wasn't constant after ...
12
votes
3answers
634 views
What is the difference between the Middle Ages and the Dark Ages?
Is there any difference between the "Middle Ages" and the "Dark Ages"?
12
votes
2answers
374 views
What factors contributed to earlier democratic states failing?
Conventional wisdom says that democracy is the superior form of government.
If this is true, then factors might have contributed to earlier democratic states like Athens in 500 BCE and the Roman ...
12
votes
3answers
267 views
What was the last battle fought mainly by sail-powered ships?
When and where has the last battle between sail-powered ships been fought? If possible, please include the countries involved as well as the armament and types of ships.
12
votes
3answers
459 views
How did former Spanish colonies in the Americas become so fragmented?
If we only consider countries that are connected by land, there are 16 Spanish speaking countries in the Americas, totaling 11,301,072 km2 in area. That's only slightly larger than Canada (9,984,670 ...
12
votes
3answers
2k views
Which Confederate State provided the most troops in the American Civil War?
Of all the states that elected to secede during the American Civil War, which one had the largest number of citizens who actually fought for the Confederacy? I would also be interested if anyone could ...
12
votes
1answer
276 views
Was Napoleon as short as “common knowledge” states?
I once saw a mention (on cracked.com) that Napoleon - who pretty much everyone "knows" was of very short stature - was actually close to average height for his time/demographics, and the short height ...
12
votes
2answers
657 views
What were the Nazi racial views on Hungarians and the Japanese?
Hungary and Japan were Nazi Germany's allies during WWII, yet it could not possibly be argued that the Japanese belong to the "Aryan race", and Hungarians speak a non-Indo-European language, which ...
12
votes
2answers
704 views
What did ex-Gladiators do after being freed?
What did ex-Gladiators do after being freed? Did they stay near to what they knew or chose completely unrelated professions and prospered?
12
votes
2answers
609 views
When and where was salt as valuable as gold?
I have often heard that gold and salt were sometimes considered of equal value. When and where did that occur?
12
votes
2answers
1k views
Were there any attempts to assassinate Joseph Stalin?
Were there any attempts to assassinate Stalin? I haven't learned of any attempt to kill him, was he so brutal that no one tried to kill him?
12
votes
2answers
344 views
What did squires do in the middle of a medieval battle?
According to wikipedia, a normal squire daily job included:
Carrying the knight's armour, shield, sword,
Holding any prisoners the knight takes,
Rescuing the knight should the knight be ...
12
votes
5answers
381 views
When and how did the idea of a “class-less” society originate in the United States?
The United States is often referred to as a "class-less" society where anyone can rise to any height. Leaving aside whether this is actually the case or not, when and how did this idea originate? Was ...
12
votes
2answers
731 views
Why did the Moors invade the Iberian peninsula?
Almost all of the information that I can find with regards to the Moorish invasion of the Iberian Peninsula simply states when the Moors invaded. There seems to be very little on what the motivation ...
12
votes
3answers
734 views
Why do Spaniards have their lunch and dinner so late?
I've been reading about it and many sites explain (unconvincingly, for me) that the reason why Spaniards currently have lunch around 2 and dinner around 9:30 is because during the 40s (after the civil ...
12
votes
2answers
289 views
Why did some people need to pay a bond in the 1700s in order to get married?
This is more a genealogy question than a historical event but I couldnt think of anywhere else to ask it. (I hope it not off topic)
In 1787 my Great (x6) Grandfather paid a bond of £200 the ...
12
votes
1answer
230 views
How many hours per day did a Sumerian farmer sleep?
I wonder about the life-styles of the inhabitants of ancient civilizations. As a particular case, if we consider the era of Sumer, what are the significant diversities compared to rural life today?
12
votes
3answers
243 views
Material Basis of the Golden Age of Bohemia
On a recent visit to Prague I was much impressed by the city's beauty and the number and splendor of its historic sites, such as Prague Castle, the Charles Bridge (a bit further afield Karlštejn ...
12
votes
3answers
403 views
Was the Titanic tragedy at least partly avoidable?
Was there any way that Titanic's collision with the iceberg could have been avoided after the iceberg had been spotted? Could the ship have been saved from sinking by the pilot or captain after the ...
12
votes
2answers
821 views
To what extent did Native American cultures develop metalworking for tools and weapons?
When Europeans started showing up in the New World, the native cultures were technologically far behind. Many still used stone tools: North American tribes used flint, while some Mesoamerican cultures ...
12
votes
1answer
232 views
What was the motivation for the Gregorian Calendar?
The Gregorian Calendar eventually replaced the Roman calendar at some point, I know this was something to do with the days not being quite accurate so specific days (I think equinox and solstice) were ...
12
votes
1answer
219 views
Why did Poland keep Warsaw as its capital instead of returning it to Krakow in the 20th century?
My recollection is that Krakow was Poland's capital for much of the Middle Ages, having moved there from Thorn(?) shortly after 1000 A.D.
My understanding is that Warsaw, a newer city, became ...
12
votes
2answers
155 views
When did it become acceptable to campaign for yourself for US President?
I am fascinated by the stark differences between election mechanics/strategies/policies of the early United States when compared to today.
In the early days of the US, it was seen as "ungentlemanly" ...
12
votes
1answer
468 views
Was there actually a project by the Nazis to create supernatural monsters/weapons?
In many American sci-fi/fantasy fictional works, there's a trope about Nazis creating/attempting to create/use supernatural weapons/monsters (examples Hellboy movie, Indian Jones movie etc.) What, if ...
12
votes
4answers
193 views
Why were the Prague Spring leaders treated more leniently than Nagy and his colleagues?
Following the Warsaw Pact's 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia the lead Czech reformer Alexander Dubček was dismissed and given a lowly job with the forestry commission.
A decade or so earlier, the ...
12
votes
2answers
194 views
Why did the British not introduce the sterling in India?
The question is about the adoption of currency during imperialist rule.
Why did the British persist with the local currency, the rupee?
What impediments did the British face in implementing the ...
12
votes
3answers
822 views
What do the modern Japanese people think about the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
Japan has been an ally of the USA for a long time now.
On the other hand, every year they observe Hiroshima Day.
Moreover, Japanese people visit Yasukuni Shrine.
Then what is the catch?
12
votes
1answer
135 views
How did the existence of the Alps impact the development of Switzerland?
Can anyone tell me what was the role of Alps and Alpine region in Swiss development of Switzerland?
12
votes
1answer
217 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 ...
12
votes
1answer
87 views
In which document was the exact course of the northern part of the German-Polish border decided?
While researching the answer to "How was Germany's border decided?", I didn't manage to find any documents which would precisely describe the borders between Germany and Poland between the points 53° ...
12
votes
1answer
1k views
What was the life expectancy of an ancient roman child and adult?
I'm assuming the average life expectancy of a Roman did not change very much between 500 BC - 500 AD (?), as there was probably no significant progress in medical knowledge or nutrition. Do historians ...
12
votes
2answers
140 views
What are the reasons of the ethnical fragmentation of the Caucasus?
While investigating on Albania, I kept finding peoples I never heard of before. Notwithstanding my vast ignorance, this was systematic to the point that I started investigating. Take a look at this ...
12
votes
3answers
363 views
Why wasn't San Marino unified with Italy?
Why wasn't San Marino unified with the Kindom of Italy during the unification process? Where there are plans or efforts at the time to unify the two states? Did either government at any time try to ...
12
votes
1answer
212 views
Did the Germans have a team equivalent to the one from Bletchey Park in the UK during WWII?
There is a lot of information about the British code breakers at Bletchey Park and the work they did for cryptography, computing and the war effort.
Still, I haven't heard a lot about a German ...
12
votes
3answers
211 views
Were British fears of Russia using Afghanistan as a staging post for an invasion of India unfounded?
I know that "The Great Game" was originally concerned with Russian-British competition in Central Asia, but my question is was this competition and British fear founded on anything? My understanding ...
12
votes
1answer
1k views
What was the actual value of tea destroyed during the Boston Tea Party?
I'd like to know 2 or 3 of the following 3 metrics:
Actual value in the currency of the time (yes I realize that there were local currencies and in general FX concept was... hard to do).
NPV ...
12
votes
1answer
122 views
What percentage of the population in the “Old West” actually carried handguns?
I'm hoping cenus information and historical gun manufacturing records make this an answerable question. What percentage of the population in the Old West actually carried handguns? Was it a minority ...
12
votes
1answer
157 views
Medieval Scottish clan society and legal structure
What was the basic structure of a Scottish clan in the medieval times?
What was the role of the clan chief?
What was the role of the elders?
Were there any other prominent roles in the society such ...
12
votes
4answers
483 views
Why did Austronesian/Polynesian people not colonize Australia?
Australia hosted aboriginal populations since prehistory. However technologically advanced civilizations (in comparison) lived nearby, in Indonesia, Polynesia and New Guinea.
Why was it not colonized ...
12
votes
2answers
148 views
Why did George McClellan fail to act?
I'm watching Ken Burns' The Civil War, and he paints a picture of George McClellan as someone who was perfectly prepared to score significant victories against the Confederacy, but simply decided to ...
12
votes
3answers
825 views
Did WW1 produce a “Baby Boom” like demographic effect in USA or elsewhere?
When WW2 American veterans returned home in 1945, one of the well known effects was the demographic one known as "Baby Boom" - a sharp spike in birth rate from 1946 till 1957 or 1964, depending on ...
12
votes
5answers
354 views
What was the significance of changing the name of “Persia” to “Iran”?
As best as I understand it, the founding of the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1979 was when Persia became Iran. What was the motivation for changing the name?
