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.
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Was Heisuke Yanagawa really censored out in photos, and why?
Heisuke Yanagawa (柳川 平助) was an IJA Lieutenant General who commanded one of the main armies in the Battle of Nanking. He would have been one of the generals photographed marching into Nanking. I've ...
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What is this old dual-disc metal object with a spindle? [more pictures added]
[Updated: There are now pictures of both top and side views. Scroll to bottom of post to see the side views.]
While sorting through family artifacts, I found a black metal two-layer disc with a long ...
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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 ...
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What were the rules for guards in Schindler's factories?
Oscar Schindler was able to leverage money for influence to protect the prisoners in his factories. In addition to barring guards from his factory floor, he was able to influence when a guard could ...
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What is the meaning behind this Panama joke published in a 1914 newspaper?
The following was published in a column of jokes in The Washington Herald on May 10, 1914:
But as a matter of fact the real Panama hats are not nearly as pretty as the imitation ones.
I assume the ...
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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 ...
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Where did the SOE agents sit in the 161 squadron Short Stirlings?
If this question is better suited for a more aviation-oriented forum, please let me know.
During World War II SOE agents were dropped into occupied Europe by No. 161 squadron of the RAF. This ...
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Was there an official order on ships' cats per vessel?
In the funny, but still (I assume) historically accurate material about "The history of Ships Cats", the author states that "many navies had standing order for minimum acceptable number ...
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Was the US Naval base at Guantanamo Bay actually important in 1985? And was it in any danger?
In the real world case that A Few Good Men is based on, in 1985 part of the guard for the base was a group called "The Ten" that went through grueling physical training in order to guard a ...
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Is it true that the Jewish people signed O instead of X at Ellis Island?
I was trying to understand the etymology and history for the word 'kike'. With discovering some stuff on the Internet.
After searching on many sources, I found out that Jewish people on Ellis Island ...
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Why was Wang Zhiming apparently pardoned, unlike other Christian victims of the Cultural Revolution?
Wang Zhiming is a particularly famous Christian martyr of the Cultural Revolution in China – he is one of ten martyrs of the 20th century to have a statue above the Great West Door of Westminster ...
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What did Thomas Mann yield in negotiations with Nazis in 1933?
The following is from the article on Golo Mann (1909 – 1994) in the German Wikipedia (translation courtesy of Google Translate). Golo Mann was the son of German novelist and 1929 Nobel Prize in ...
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Is this character based on a real person?
In the 2014 historical novel Natchez Burning, by Greg Iles, chapter 29:
A black Mississippian who left his native state in the early 1950s to go to law school, Quentin Avery fought on the front ...
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Did the Issa ally themselves with the Italians or with Ethiopia in the 1930?
Did the Issa ally themselves with the Italians or with Ethiopia in the 1930? I found conflicting statements about this. Wikipedia claims without an immediate citation that:
In the Italian invasion of ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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How were steam turbines typically manufactured in the interwar period (1918 - 1939)
Steam turbines are large rotating machinery, with many blades, that convert steam power into rotary motion. In the interwar period, 1918 - 1939, they were used principally in power plants and naval ...
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Did "seedy" bars in the 19th-century and early 20th-century really stage mock-fights?
A trope that I have encountered several times in popular culture is where rich/fancy clients
visit a "seedy" bar frequented by among others prostitutes, sailors and criminals. Suddenly
a ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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Did New York skyscrapers construction workers take any industrial action over safety concerns?
This video talks about the construction of New York's skyscrapers such as the Chrysler Building and Empire State by the 'roughnecks', a specialized set of construction workers who worked high in the ...
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Early 20th Century Vienna - memoirs of Travelers
I am searching for memoirs of travelers who went to Vienna in 1900-1913. What they saw and did, where they ate etc and am having a hard time finding anything.
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Is the person in this "Yellow Peril" NZ cartoon Maori?
In this anti-Asian 1907 NZ cartoon, is the person being entangled by the octopus in this cartoon meant to be Maori?
The clothing and long hair suggest it's not a white New Zealander (pakeha),
but I ...
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How many people survived the Titanic?
How many people survived the Titanic? Was it 706, 706 or 705 or can we only say it was between 705 and 713 ? Where do these various number come from?
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Were the libelous statements in Stratton Oakmont v Prodigy Services Co. true?
In Stratton Oakmont v Prodigy Services Co., the case that eventually led to the adoption of Section 230, Prodigy was sued for libelous statements posted on their forums by one of their users. ...
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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 ...
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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. ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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, ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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Did legal interracial marriage hit a nadir that was above 50% in 1948?
Did legal interracial marriage hit a nadir that was above 50% in 1948?
Explain XKCD for this comic, which is currently down so I'm using an archive... said:
Since the establishment of the United ...
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Can anyone help to identify this picture of a relative wearing a possibly Polish/Russian/Prussian uniform?
I found this photo and tried to match to uniforms of the time around 1911. Can’t find one with similar pockets or stripes. Can you help to identify? My sister says person on left is grandfather. They ...
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What does this signature say?
I’m having difficulty of reading what this fancy signature or fancy writing says on my great grandfather’s ring?
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Why are there two "Smaller & Smaller"s?
So M.C. Escher created a piece of art called "Smaller & Smaller". The problem is, when you look it up, two similar but non-identical pieces of art come up:
and
The color difference isn't a big ...
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Was there a race to patent the use of Freon as a home refrigerator coolant?
Thomas Midgely, Jr.'s hands were in two of the most detrimental scientific breakthroughs of the 20th century: the proliferation of leaded gasoline and the use of Freon (a chlorofluorocarbon) as a ...
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How common was holiday travel in Austria-Hungary?
How common was it to travel across different regions in Austria-Hungary for holiday trips? (e.g. people from Budapest to the beaches of Croatia)
If yes: How wealthy would have they been and what kind ...
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When did the Great Leap Forward famine become widely known? Was it not widely known c. 1975?
Gale Johnson (1975):
For the entire twentieth century to the present, there have probably been between 12 million and 15 million famine deaths
As late as c. 1975, was the Great Leap Forward famine ...
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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 (...
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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 ...
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Did Russia support both Georgian nationalists and the Georgian government during Georgian civil war?
I am trying to understand the history of Georgia after the independence from Russia reading the French Wikipedia article about it. Yet I don't understand the position of Russia during the Civil War.
...
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What are some important female names who participated in the first human genome sequencing project?
Specifically, females involved in the human sequencing project, from between 1990 and early 2000s (I'm especially interested in medical doctors, but tech experts or of other branches of science are ...
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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 ...
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Why did many young voters support Ronald Reagan in the 1984 U.S. Presidential Election?
In 1984 many young voters seemed pretty enthusiastic about Ronald Reagan, especially young White voters. Young voters supporting a Republican for president is almost unheard of these days. What was it ...
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