Questions tagged [20th-century]
For questions spanning a significant proportion of the 20th century. Questions focused on the latter decades should consider using the contemporary-history tag. Individual tags exist for specific decades.
643
questions
2
votes
2
answers
307
views
Could healthy young men avoid Wehrmacht conscription before 1939?
The path for men in Nazi Germany seemed to be being part of the Hitlerjugend until the age of eighteen, then serving in the Reichsarbeitsdienst for six months, and then doing two years in the ...
- 21
0
votes
2
answers
216
views
How did the Cold War contribute to the passing of the 1964 Civil Rights Act?
I understand from Dudziak's "Cold War Civil Rights" that Soviet criticism of the US's civil rights record influenced the passing the 1964 Civil Rights Act. However, I was wondering if there ...
user62895
1
vote
0
answers
133
views
Is there any evidence that the black community was anticipating election-related violence in the lead up to the Ocoee Race Massacre?
PART I: THE OCOEE MASSACRE
The "Ocoee Massacre", was an incident of race-related violence directed at the black community in Ocoee, Florida on 2 November 1920. I'll briefly summarize the ...
- 2,374
4
votes
1
answer
271
views
Did the USSR attempt to broker peace negotiations between Japan and USA?
I ran across a remark in the German Wikipedia, in the article about the Tokyo War tribunals. They discuss the points 35 and 36 of the charges (waging war against the USSR) :
Von besonderem Interesse ...
- 143
0
votes
3
answers
238
views
Why are there 37 numbers on European roulette wheels?
A European roulette wheel contains the numbers 0 to 36. Who decided to put 37 numbers on a wheel, and why did they choose this number?
- 111
1
vote
0
answers
45
views
Can anyone help me find out more information about the Daniels and Fisher Cadets?
According to Colorado Encyclopedia Online, William B. Daniels opened a dry goods store when he arrived in Denver, CO in 1864. In 1872 he partnered with William G. Fisher to make Daniels and Fisher Co. ...
- 2,374
0
votes
0
answers
177
views
What was the culture context for having close relationship between boss and workers in early 1900s Germany?
I'm reading Die Verwandlung by Franz Kafka. In the beginning parts of it, the story involves the protagonist Gregor's manager visiting him a few times, to figure out why he wasn't coming to work (...
0
votes
1
answer
206
views
How common was it for archaeologists in past eras to believe in giants?
The past has involved many myths about the existence of giants. Various colonizers and travelers, for example, reported giants among the indigenous peoples of the Americas (eg "Giant Amerindians: ...
- 643
2
votes
0
answers
171
views
What is/are the earliest first-hand account of a sex worker?
I was just reading Hell's Belles: Prostitution, Vice, and Crime in Early Denver by Clark Secrest. I can't find the part now (it's not that important), but he comments that we have no surviving diary ...
- 2,374
0
votes
0
answers
130
views
Why did Women's Day never really catch on in the US, even though it started there?
The roots of International Women's Day (March 8th) go all the way back to New York City in 1909 and the Socialist Party of America. However, from what I have learned the International Women's Day is ...
- 773
3
votes
1
answer
305
views
Was jealousy the cause of Ernst Winter's death?
I was on Wikipedia and I came across the Konitz Affair. I am guessing that Wikipedia took it from the Jewish Encyclopedia.com, which appears to have copied the entry from a 1925 book, 'The Jewish ...
- 2,374
3
votes
0
answers
183
views
Did the teaching of evolution in the US suffer greatly from the Scopes Monkey trial?
After reading the story of the Scopes Monkey Trial, I learned that the teaching of evolution in the US suffers greatly from it. To quote some words from the wiki item, at the section Anti-evolution ...
- 773
1
vote
0
answers
58
views
How is "Jones series" used in the National Archives Office of Strategic Services records?
I was looking around on the National Archives' website in their World War II archives and came across Records of the Office of Strategic Services 1940-1946 (RG 226). One of the contents of the records ...
- 2,374
8
votes
1
answer
783
views
How did people 'park' their horse and buggy in early 20th century cities? How was theft prevented?
I am writing a story that is set in Philadelphia 1904. The protagonist of the story travels to a part of town near a church, parks his horse and buggy, and walks a couple of blocks to visit a brothel. ...
- 345
1
vote
0
answers
115
views
How difficult would it have been for a European to obtain access to US scientific journals in 1945?
On May 1, 1945, volume 158 of the Journal of Biologic Chemistry was published.
I'd like to establish to what degree –and how soon thereafter– its content may have been accessible in continental Europe ...
- 111
0
votes
2
answers
122
views
Why did Associate justice Black speak of a Pyrrhic victory?
At the end of the case Beauharnais vs Illinois, the Associate Justice Black said:
In his dissenting opinion, Associate Justice Black quoted Pyrrhus of Epirus by alluding to the term Pyrrhic victory: &...
- 6,474
1
vote
3
answers
165
views
Were there universities that treated socioeconomic status as a major factor in college admissions? [closed]
For many years I have been asking myself the same question: Are there universities that treat socioeconomic status as a major factor in college admissions (without taking race into consideration at ...
-1
votes
1
answer
112
views
Where is Heinrich Martin Weber's grave located?
Where is Heinrich Martin Weber buried?
His full name is perhaps: 'Heinrich Martin Georg Friedrich Weber', or
'Heinrich Martin Georg Weber' or as this historian amateurs site claims 'Martin Georg ...
- 27
5
votes
3
answers
1k
views
How did British people cope with damp/mould without central heating in the past?
Having read a bit about damp and mould issues in poorly heated homes, I was wondering whether this was an issue for Britain in the past, where few houses have central heating systems. Presumably the ...
- 63
2
votes
1
answer
192
views
In Shanghai before World War II what were relations like between the Europeans living there and the local Chinese?
My Uncle has been telling me a lot about my great grandfather. He was in the merchant marine and, before World War II, he was stationed in Shanghai which at the time had a large European population. ...
- 21
1
vote
1
answer
141
views
Where can I find information on a WWI soldier?
Does anyone know where to find details on WWI soldiers? I am researching a captain called Thomas Zachary Woods. Thus far I have found this website: http://doingourbit.ca/profile/thomas-woods. Where ...
2
votes
0
answers
92
views
Were there serfs in early 20th century in south of Spain? [closed]
So, here is the deal,
My grandad fled Andalusia in 1934 when he was a little kid with his mother. For what he told me he and his mother they were practically serfs. Working for a rich man, sleeping in ...
- 121
1
vote
0
answers
113
views
In the early 20th century, was there any difference in the size of war horse between heavy cavalry and light cavalry?
In the early 20th century(during WW1), was there any difference among the sizes of war horses used by heavy cavalry (dragoons, schweres reiters, cuirassiers) and light cavalry (hussars, uhlans, ...
- 21
5
votes
1
answer
198
views
How was coffee brewed in Philadelphia (or surrounding area) in 1904?
I am writing a story about a physician in Philadelphia in 1904. I read that Hills Bros. packaged the first 'vacuum packed tins' of coffee. I just don't know if there was enough distribution that he ...
- 345
8
votes
1
answer
238
views
What was a Purity Chapter?
In turn-of-the-last-century American newspapers, I keep finding notices of numbered "Purity Chapters" holding meetings, like this...
The annual meeting for the election of officers of ...
- 183
5
votes
1
answer
323
views
Who was Professor Henri Andre and what did he publish?
Looking at the history of electrochemical batteries, I came across this article from NASA where it says:
In the late 1920s, French Professor Henri André finally made the first practical silver-zinc ...
- 17.3k
2
votes
0
answers
150
views
Did mother Teresa ask to allow to Christianise Arunachal Pradesh to receive Bharat Ratna?
Mother Teresa is a popular person, generally known for her humanitarian work. But from my childhood, I repeatedly used to hear that she promoted and converted many Indians to Christianity either ...
- 129
21
votes
10
answers
5k
views
Is there any instance of part of a country successfully seceding and then unifying with a neighbouring country in the last century?
There have been and still are plenty of groups who are fighting for independence of their home regions, and many who have been successful, but is there any precedent for groups fighting to leave the ...
- 609
2
votes
0
answers
183
views
Did Deng Xiaoping really break his leg playing billiards?
I am reading the biography of Deng Xiaoping by Ezra Vogel. In the biography, it mentions that Deng Xiaoping once broke his leg playing billiards. I personally find that highly unlikely. Billiards is ...
- 129
1
vote
0
answers
57
views
Where can I find primary sources about the 1973 Arab oil embargo? Specifically from a non western perspective?
I'm trying to compare U.S/British media portrayals (newspaper articles, speeches, etc.) to ones coming from the Middle East at the time, but it's very difficult to find the latter, especially ...
- 11
1
vote
0
answers
126
views
When did people first think of plastic as bad for environment?
I know that at first plastics was thought of as good. It replaced certain natural materials. For some decades after plastics was invented, it wasn’t thought as bad for environment and nature. Since ...
- 119
-3
votes
1
answer
175
views
How colonialism have been done right (benevolently)? [closed]
The British Empire (& Europeans, Arabs etc.) colonised many countries but the colonial experience, advertised as a "westernizing the backward people for their own good" masked the ...
- 1
6
votes
1
answer
543
views
What did MLK, Jr. mean by "Mayor Loeb is in dire need of a doctor"?
In his famous 1968 "I've been to the mountaintop" speech in support of the striking Memphis Sanitation Workers, Martin Luther King, Jr. made a reference to then-mayor Henry Loeb:
You know ...
- 161
0
votes
1
answer
171
views
How many visits did the Mitford sisters or Oswald Mosley make to Nazi Germany?
The youngest Mitford sister, Unity, first met Hitler in Munich 1934, who invites her older sister Diana over to meet him in April 1935. Sometime in 1935 Unity delivers the televised speech at ...
- 145
1
vote
3
answers
586
views
Why were French maids apparently so common outside France?
Wikipedia article doesn't help at all. It's surprisingly thin and essentially doesn't explain anything. It's only vaguely implied that this was a thing outside of France.
Why exactly did so many ...
- 29
5
votes
0
answers
362
views
Can you identify the military uniform on the man in this photo?
I found this photo in a box I inherited from my grandmother. The photo is on heavy card-like stock, but there is no writing or any markings on the back. My grandparents were born in Germany, but came ...
- 51
7
votes
0
answers
120
views
What did US presidential ballots look like when unpledged electors were offered?
Unpledged presidential electors have run in at least four US presidential elections. In 1960, 14 were elected.
In this age, where the electoral college is almost a mere formality and we rarely think ...
- 571
1
vote
0
answers
48
views
Where can I find Information about small businesses in Europe who formed 'co-op' currency & traded among each other between WW1/2?
Several years ago I read an essay on a small/independent website about companies in Europe which got together during the hyper-inflationary 1920s & 30s and negotiated amongst each other for ...
- 11
4
votes
1
answer
269
views
Was Castro City ever a city?
I obtained a map of a South-East SF Bay.
Officially it is Page 8 of San Francisco, Oakland, Fremont, Berkeley set, compiled by the Soviet Main Intelligence Department of General Staff (ГРУ ГШ) in 1976....
- 918
0
votes
0
answers
70
views
What should I read to understand the New Deal coalition?
I'm interested in learning about the history and the structure of the New Deal coalition formed during the 30s up until its end in the 60s from an academic perspective, particularly with regards to ...
- 109
5
votes
1
answer
1k
views
What percentage of US households had electricity and telephones in 1940?
I'm trying to find a published source giving the percent of U.S. households having electricity and percent having telephones in 1940 (+/- a year or two). Not interested in the rural vs city divide per ...
- 153
19
votes
4
answers
8k
views
Why was the Israeli army strong enough to win the 1948 war?
How did the new state of Israel already have an army strong enough to secure a military victory against multiple neighboring armies in 1948?
According to a inadequately cited Wikipedia article, we ...
- 378
3
votes
1
answer
549
views
What did whistling bombs actually sound like?
Apparently some WWII-era bombs had whistles built into their design, so that they would whistle as they fell. Often, for example in Looney Tunes cartoons, this is depicted as a whistle that gradually ...
- 273
4
votes
2
answers
443
views
What did anti-Greek stereotyping look like in the United States in the early 20th century?
I am writing a story that is set in the 1920s. Several of the characters in the story are either immigrants from southern or eastern Europe (e.g., Greece, Italy) or their children, and I'm trying to ...
- 387
1
vote
1
answer
177
views
Was "Nobody intends to build a wall" Machiavellian? [closed]
When Ulbricht said in 1961: "Nobody intends to build a wall", is there any truth to the idea that he was being deliberately Machiavellian, knowing that most East Germans would read the signs ...
- 101
3
votes
0
answers
169
views
West Berlin: who else fled besides East Germans?
When the Iron curtain descended across Europe, and Berlin was the only hole unplugged, did large numbers of other Eastern Europeans flee that way as well? I know that East Europeans could across into ...
- 101
2
votes
2
answers
220
views
Are there any good books in English about the mechanics of German reunification?
Are there any good books in English about the mechanics of German reunification? I'd be interested to know how such things as:
Criminal justice. Who was released and who remained in prison? Did ...
- 101
4
votes
1
answer
248
views
How common was Nixon-esque espionage in 20th-century American politics?
During the Watergate scandal, President Nixon's supporters were reportedly fond of saying, "Everyone does it." When I listened to Slate's Slow Burn podcast recently, I remember them saying ...
- 571
1
vote
0
answers
105
views
Has the paradigm of interpretation of the 20th century as "short" been criticized in historiography?
In "The Age Of Extremes: 1914-1994 " Hobsbawm describes those years as "short" as opposed to the long 19th century. Is there any historiographic source that criticized this kind of ...
- 11
1
vote
1
answer
225
views
What cars were used with the Crocodile Class Ce 6/8 locomotive during its active years, especially at the beginning?
The Crocodile Class Ce 6/8 locomotive was manufactured around a century ago, between 1919 and 1927. It was used by Swiss Federal Railways.
Wikipedia claims that
These locomotives were developed for ...
- 170