All Questions
14,247
questions
1
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0
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45
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Is this trebuchet based on a real historical model?
I was watching a clip from Game of Thrones where trebuchets were being launched from ships. From my research, the closest thing I could find is a floating arm trebuchet, but rather than dropping ...
- 119
1
vote
0
answers
167
views
How were Mercy Dogs of WWI and WWII trained to know which soldier is from their side and which one isn't?
So, I have been reading about the Mercy Dogs of WWI and WWII. I was wondering, how did they actually train dogs to know which soldier belonged to their 'side', and which soldier belonged to the 'enemy ...
- 111
2
votes
1
answer
720
views
How can I identify this RAF pin badge?
I am trying to identify the man in the photo below, and I am hoping that his uniform in this picture gives some clues. I am told he was in the RAF, though I know nothing of his role. The pin badge/...
- 513
0
votes
0
answers
24
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Can anyone help me find a 2010 Associated Press report on the costs of the drug war?
I came across Fox News and Huffington Post articles claiming to be reporting on an Associated Press report claiming that America has spent $1 trillion on the war on drugs. Based on the following ...
- 1,838
18
votes
1
answer
4k
views
Does a year 1900 meeting in a Masonic Hall imply that it was a meeting of Freemasons?
I am researching an individual who lived in the north of England in 1900. He is reported in a local newspaper as having attended “a large an influential meeting” in the local Masonic Hall. The meeting ...
- 513
0
votes
0
answers
52
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Is this newspaper article describing the Battle of Glorieta Pass?
I've been trying to find old newspaper articles covering the Battle of Glorieta Pass as close to the date it happened, but strangely the term "Glorieta Pass" isn't coming up in the databases ...
- 1,547
5
votes
2
answers
582
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Where did Carlson's Raiders get Boys anti-tank rifles in 1942 and why?
According to English Wikipedia, during the 1942 Raid on Makin Atoll (modern-day Butaritari, Kiribati) the Marine Raiders used Boys anti-tank rifles to attack the Japanese flying boats that attempted ...
- 117
-2
votes
2
answers
148
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Was the Pearl Harbour case possible to resolve just by negotiations, and if so, why this was not done? [closed]
Pearl Harbour is in Hawaii, this is the middle of the ocean, far from the main land mass of the USA. After Japan attacked these islands in 1941, it was likely the moment when USA could force the ...
- 377
6
votes
0
answers
124
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Was Ulysses S Grant arrested while president or any other time?
I'd like to get some good sources on this particular story about President Grant being arrested for speeding while holding the presidential office. The media is abuzz with what looks like an ...
- 201
2
votes
0
answers
185
views
Were the Western World's general political and ideological consensus and consequent actions primarily responsible for the global ending of slavery? [closed]
Would one be accurate in stating that it was the general idealogical and political consensus and subsequent actions of the Western World during the early to mid 1800s that were primarily responsible ...
- 29
2
votes
1
answer
137
views
Why is Nouruz celebrated all over the Turkic states of the former Soviet Union, but not in Turkey?
Nouruz is an old Iranian festival, basically the Iranian or Persian New Year. However, it is not only celebrated by speakers of Persian and closely related languages (i.e. not only among Iranians, ...
- 7,158
2
votes
1
answer
156
views
Why did Frank James (Jesse's brother) get acquitted and how was he close with President Roosevelt despite being an outlaw?
I don't understand what was in Frank's favor, when Younger spent 25 years in prison.
There is this quote from the book The Day Jesse James Was Killed by Carl W. Breihan.
Why would a (former) president ...
- 23
-2
votes
0
answers
75
views
Do you think most people don’t realise that there was a first millennium? [closed]
Every time I mention a year between 1 and 999 to non-historians, they ask me if I mean the year a thousand years later. For example if I say to a family member “Alfred took London from the Vikings in ...
- 1
-1
votes
0
answers
104
views
Was the French bourgeoisie closer to the political world than the English one, during the 18th and 19th centuries?
Was the French bourgeoisie closer to the political world than the English one, during the 18th and 19th centuries?
For instance, had more ties with political leaders, or themselves ensuring political ...
- 101
4
votes
0
answers
157
views
How much iron ore could a medieval miner extract per day?
I am finding really hard to find an answer to this question. There are some numbers available online, but first of all the numbers range quite a lot from different sources, then they are given for a ...
- 149
2
votes
1
answer
85
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Looking for information on North Korean government/party/military organization late 1980s-early 2000s
I'm working on a translation (not Korean) related to North Korea under Kim Jong-Il. Although it's mostly related to personal experiences, it does introduce leading figures in the state. I need to use ...
- 21
-2
votes
2
answers
199
views
What was the nature of conflict between Helvetii and German in prelude to Gallic Wars?
In Caesar's diaries from Gallic Wars, he states that Helvetii battled Germans "almost daily, repelling them from their own territories or waging wars on German frontiers".
What were German ...
- 155
2
votes
1
answer
282
views
Were the Assyrians and the Akkadians different people or the same people under a different name?
Were the Assyrians and the Akkadians different peoples, or were they one and the same?
I've noticed that the Assyrians didn't seem to have their own gods as far as I have read and are just worshiping ...
- 137
2
votes
0
answers
138
views
When did putting the last name first become popular in filing?
Preliminary research: A Google search turned up nothing, and I'm not sure where to begin exactly.
When did it become popular to file away folders based on last name first? Has this long been the case, ...
- 948
1
vote
0
answers
95
views
How did 19th century Germany pull so far ahead of its contemporaries? [closed]
I'm not well-read, but I got the impression that Europeans (e.g. Gilbert and Sullivan, Bizet, Smetena) rejected German art while they pulled ahead in engineering and mathematics. Stephenson may have ...
- 147
-1
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0
answers
60
views
How was a school for Deaf girls established by public subscription in the middle of a famine?
An Górta Mór, the Irish famine, ran from 1845 to 1850.
St Mary’s School for Deaf Girls was established in Cabra, by public subscription, in 1846. It opened with fifteen pupils.
St Mary’s was (and is) ...
- 305
4
votes
0
answers
113
views
Did Nazi Germany ever actually make it illegal to practice Judaism?
While I appreciate that the Nazis tried to portray their anti-Semitism as based on racial, and not religious differences per se, and I understand that if one converted to Judaism, one would be ...
- 809
3
votes
0
answers
77
views
How did Egypt turn from "Breadbasket of the Mediterranean" to second-biggest importer of grain?
Egypt is currently undergoing a severe economic crisis. One key reason is that it is importing much of the grain needed to feed its population (and livestock), and this has become expensive/difficult ...
- 1,099
5
votes
3
answers
3k
views
What were the 20th century historical disputes?
In "Moses in the Hieroglyphs", by Grant Berkley (Trafford, 2006) there appears the following astonishing assertion, relating to professional historians and archaeologists:
In academic ...
- 477
5
votes
2
answers
329
views
Why in the 70s and 80s was the United Kingdom called Great Britain in the international naming conventions?
I am not sure whether this is the right group for this question because it is about the recent past. But I didn't find a more suitable forum.
Checking old articles and documents from my country I saw ...
- 229
1
vote
0
answers
52
views
How adamant/sustained was George F. Kennan's opposition to the [creation of the] UN?
Wikipedia's page on George F. Kennan says that he
warned against U.S. participation and reliance on multilateral, legalistic and moralistic organizations such as the United Nations.
(Citing a review ...
- 4,491
-1
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0
answers
155
views
Is this is a German ring from WW2?
Is this silver ring (no hall marks) is a German ring from WW2? The symbols seem to suggest it is.
- 1
5
votes
0
answers
100
views
What's the source that Henry IV was the first post-Norman conquest monarch to speak English as their first language?
Okay; the oft-cited fact that "Henry IV was the first English monarch after 1066 whose first language was English".
Now, while I have no doubt it was, what I find puzzling about this is that ...
- 809
13
votes
5
answers
6k
views
Why would this word have been an unsuitable name in Communist Poland? Is it because it's a racial slur?
In Marek Hłasko's The Graveyard (set in communist-occupied Poland) there is a scene where, in a political party meeting one of the party members (Nowak) is forced to change the name of his dog. This ...
- 139
3
votes
1
answer
141
views
What was the difference between Hussars and Chasseurs à Cheval in the 19th Century French army?
As far as I can discover, in 19th Century France, Chasseurs à Cheval and Hussars were both light cavalry with little or no armour, prioritizing speed over protection, armed with sabres and carbines, ...
- 5,611
0
votes
0
answers
66
views
Can you identify this, possibly Italian, uniform?
I'm trying to identify this uniform and info on the men. My grandfather is in the picture.
I'm told it's from WWI in Italy.
Can someone help me on this. My grandfather was born in 1901.
- 1
10
votes
1
answer
704
views
Is "Lenin’s Testament" authentic?
Context
In 1922, the Communist Party was firmly in control of the USSR (or at least the Russia part of it), and Vladimir Lenin was the undisputed leader of the Party. Lenin was seriously ill and had ...
- 109
5
votes
1
answer
148
views
Help identifying Italian uniform, rank, regiment
I'm hoping to learn the time period of the photo, any division, rank, and any other information y'all can glean. The photo was passed down so much information has been lost - it is possibly my ...
- 51
2
votes
0
answers
155
views
How did Mao regain and consolidate power after the Great Famine?
Mao Zedong's position had weakened after the Great Famine, and in the period during and leading up to the Cultural Revolution, he regained and consolidated his power. I am interested in getting a ...
- 121
8
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Where is the other surviving chest from the Boston Tea Party?
A web site dicussing the Boston Tea Party has the following paragraph:
Two hundred thirty-nine years later, young John’s find, one of only
two known surviving tea chests from the Boston Tea Party, ...
- 81
-1
votes
1
answer
54
views
What is the relation between the "Jacobins" and the "Montagnards" (French Revolution)? [closed]
What is the relation between the "Jacobins" and the "Montagnards" (French Revolution)?
Seems the Montagnards were members of the Jacobins club.
Do they have the same ideas?
I did ...
- 101
-1
votes
2
answers
193
views
What are the intellectual roots of the "French Republican identity" pursuit?
The "French Republican identity" was born during French 3rd Republic (1870-1940), founded by political figures such as Jules Ferry and Léon Gambetta.
It is indeed the 3rd French republic ...
- 101
2
votes
1
answer
112
views
How do large landowners affect a state? [closed]
I read the Unbound Savanna chapter in Progress and Poverty, and I saw a video summary of Marc Bloch's Feudal Societies. Truly, I am a worldly man.
Anyway do economists and sociologists say if majority ...
- 147
-1
votes
0
answers
107
views
Do we know of pagan creation myths that had a creation week?
Is the creation week an introduction by Abrahamic religions, or are there other known pagan religions that also have, as part of their creation myths, a creation week?
I've googled this question but ...
- 175
6
votes
1
answer
634
views
Who are the three people in the Twilight Struggle card "Red Scare / Purge"?
Image of card in question:
Who are the three people in the image?
The card comes with flavor text:
Sparked by fears that the “enemy is among us,” the “red scare” hit its apex with Senator Joseph ...
- 5,898
18
votes
1
answer
284
views
Would a common person in the 18th century have heard Mozart's music during his lifetime?
Mozart was and is one of the most influential musicians and today nearly everyone knows his name and probably some of his famous compositions.
During his lifetime he certainly was a well known ...
- 359
-1
votes
1
answer
131
views
How well were early WW2 naval tactics and strategy accounting for the importance of aircraft carriers? [closed]
I'm not an expert in WW2, but I've heard some conflicting claims about aircraft carriers and how they changed the nature of naval warfare. I know carriers entered wide use in WW2, but not how their ...
- 749
0
votes
0
answers
114
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 ...
- 765
2
votes
1
answer
280
views
What is the origin of the expression "I'm the culture they're dying for"?
There is an anecdote about a young man (a poet) being berated by an older woman during WWI where she asks him if he is not ashamed of letting all those other young men die to protect their culture, to ...
- 73
8
votes
2
answers
2k
views
What are the grenades and artillery cited in this testimony?
In the testimony of a Soviet officer of the raid on Tatsinskaya cited by Wikipedia, the Soviet officer speaks of two elements faced by Soviet tanks:
Enemy artillery
Germans "launching grenades [...
- 5,893
4
votes
0
answers
135
views
How could people hear the proclamations of the republic in Germany in 1918?
On November 9th, 1918 both Philipp Scheidemann and Karl Liebknecht made their proclamations (see Wikipedia). In many TV documentaries one can see a huge crowd of thousands of people listening. ...
- 139
18
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3
answers
6k
views
Did courtiers of antiquity hold in their pee or did they have common commodes available in the king/queen's court?
Self-explanatory. Did any royal court in history from ancient to medieval times (of any culture) have a public restroom that people who attended court can use, or were they sort of left to their own ...
- 201
-1
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0
answers
163
views
Why has Acre been sieged so many times?
I recently read about Napoleon's Siege of Acre and then another during the Third Crusade. This led me to see that there have 7: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Acre
What is so notable about ...
- 151
19
votes
1
answer
4k
views
Are there any medieval manuals relating to castle building?
I'm doing research on the medieval castle, specifically what was required to build one. I'm particularly interested in learning about this from a medieval perspective, so I wondered if there are any ...
- 191
1
vote
0
answers
114
views
Was there a major Mexican military disaster in the Navajo Wars?
Back in the previous millennium I read a book from the Central Branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia about the Navajo Wars. I believe that book was Navajo Wars: Military Campaigns, Slave Raids, ...
- 18.4k