100
votes
Accepted
Why didn’t Japan attack the West Coast of the United States during World War II?
There were several well-known attacks.
Aleutian Islands Campaign
On June 6, two days after the bombing of Dutch Harbor, 500 Japanese
marines landed on Kiska, one of the Aleutian Islands of ...
- 1,841
64
votes
Accepted
How did such a relatively minor event as the assassination of an archduke start World War I?
The assassination itself did not cause the war — it only caused the first declaration of war in World War One.
What really happened between the assassination (June 28) and the eruption of war (...
- 6,267
56
votes
Accepted
How did 300,000 people survive the 3 1/2 year siege of Sarajevo?
A combination of the UN, NATO, the Red Cross, Sarajevo International Airport, the Sarajevo Tunnel, smugglers, and the Bosnian Army saved Sarajevo. While the siege officially ended in Feb 1996, it was ...
- 55.5k
53
votes
Accepted
Has any country ever had 2 former presidents in jail simultaneously?
Quite a few candidates if:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_heads_of_regimes_who_were_later_imprisoned
... [sort by country] is anything to go by...
Andalusia (technically an autonomous ...
- 22.9k
46
votes
Why was Washington State an attractive site for aluminum production during World War II?
Aluminium refining requires huge amounts of electricity so plants are often sited close to things like hydroelectric dams or abundant supplies of coal or natural gas. Bauxite (aluminium ore) needs to ...
- 666
34
votes
What is the object moving across the ceiling in this stock footage?
Confirming Brian Z and his answer: this is most likely a penumatic tube mail system. And strictly speaking: "What is the object moving…?" –
It's not a "cuboid box" but a cylindrical container, also ...
- 80.7k
32
votes
How did such a relatively minor event as the assassination of an archduke start World War I?
Whether the assassination of an Arch-Duke is a 'minor event' is a matter of opinion. In this particular case it was also the assassination of the Heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, the Inspector of ...
- 5,601
32
votes
Has any country ever had 2 former presidents in jail simultaneously?
Peru has an interesting case of former presidents being incarcerated or in the eye of justice.
Alberto Fujimori in right now in prison, for human right violations, 25 years of conviction.
Ollanta ...
- 4,819
23
votes
What is the object moving across the ceiling in this stock footage?
That's a pneumatic tube. The tube itself is transparent in this case, but the object you see moving through it is a capsule carrying documents, or maybe cash or other small objects. They are still ...
- 22k
19
votes
Why didn’t Japan attack the West Coast of the United States during World War II?
Japan had a lot of targets closer to home. They included Southeast Asia (which they conquered), China, and India (Japan came fairly close). They did attack American possessions on the far side of the ...
- 104k
18
votes
Why was Washington State an attractive site for aluminum production during World War II?
Aluminum manufacturing is very energy-intensive and requires large amounts of electricity, which the other comments have covered.
Washington State and the Pacific Northwest has an abundance of ...
- 2,206
18
votes
How did 300,000 people survive the 3 1/2 year siege of Sarajevo?
Because it was not a complete siege thanks to the Sarajevo Tunnel and Operation Irma. The first one was a tunnel that passed below the siege, and the second one was a security zone protected by the ...
- 4,819
16
votes
Has any country ever had 2 former presidents in jail simultaneously?
South Korea right now has their last two presidents, Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye in jail.
Then again, almost all ex-presidents of South Korea end up either on trial or committing suicide...
- 261
11
votes
How did such a relatively minor event as the assassination of an archduke start World War I?
The war was already built-in, because Germany was faced with a strategic conundrum/objective circumstances:
If Russians enter the war, Germany risks losing it, fighting France and Russia on two ...
- 17.9k
10
votes
Accepted
When did the Saxons settle Britain?
The Saxons probably moved in in force in the fifth century AD when the Romans withdrew.
I studied this period of English history at University and have since taken courses in Old English (language of ...
- 5,601
8
votes
Accepted
Why was Hanford, Washington, selected during World War II as the site of America’s first nuclear energy plant?
A vast, isolated area was needed to produce plutonium because no one knew for sure how much damage the radiation it gave off might do. Abundant power for plutonium production and water to cool the ...
- 6,267
7
votes
Accepted
How did silk manufacturing become a major industry in medieval Europe?
Before the 500’s, the Chinese and Persians held a monopoly over silk manufacture and sale, obtaining fabulously high prices in Roman and, later, Byzantine markets.
In 550, Byzantine emperor Justinian ...
- 6,267
7
votes
Why didn’t Japan attack the West Coast of the United States during World War II?
Japanese submarines did come to the American Pacific coast. I know of one bombardment while visiting Fort Stevens on vacation. The attack did no damage, but appears to have helped foster fears of ...
- 2,206
7
votes
How did China become so **populous**?
Long history of strong agricultural production
Long periods of stability and prosperity
Large land area
Culture that encourages more than 2 children
Long history of a large state encompassing a large ...
- 7,491
7
votes
How did China become so **populous**?
China is not so populous. By population density it is on 84-th place, after
Italy (65), Nigeria (64), Germany (58), Pakistan (56), United Kingdom (51),
Japan (40), India (33), Netherlands (31), ...
- 38.8k
7
votes
Accepted
What were the flaws in the U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey?
That article kind of glossed over a rather complicated subject. The oft-quoted conclusion of the Strategic Bombing Survey packed many separate claims into one sentence, and different historians have ...
- 97.5k
7
votes
Accepted
Are there any modern history examples of large scale conflicts where warfare technology provides a great advantage to the defender, except WWI?
Obvious example. Radar.
First radars during WWII were too heavy and had a short operational range. Hence, only the defender had the option of installing a radar to concentrate forces and defend ...
- 4,819
6
votes
Accepted
When and why China started to make a difference in the superpower arena?
If you have to pick a single decade, it was the 1980s.
Sorry for the text wall, but the full story is a little messier than that.
Even during the heyday of European imperialism, when its science and ...
- 2,023
6
votes
Why didn’t Japan attack the West Coast of the United States during World War II?
Range of their ships...
The Japanese doctrine dictated a naval battle near the home islands, a repeat of the Russo-Japanese war. They did so largely because they lacked enough fuel to reliably reach, ...
- 1,128
6
votes
Southern Manifesto main idea
I think the Wikipedia page summarizes it quite well; the intent was to oppose racial integration of public spaces.
Fundamentally it was a disagreement about segregation and integration. The authors ...
MCW♦
- 33.8k
5
votes
Why didn’t Japan attack the West Coast of the United States during World War II?
Japan, like all major navies, had doctrines that were highly influenced by Mahon's book The Influence of Sea Power Upon History published in 1890, which emphasized the critical role of capital ships (...
- 151
5
votes
Are steam engines still in regular use anywhere in the world?
A large variety of preserved and rebuilt steam locomotives are still used on well over a hundred heritage railways in the UK, some well over 10 miles in length. See the list of British Heritage and ...
- 51
5
votes
Accepted
What is the story of this image?
It is based on the standard Apple logo:
and was modified to incorporate the silhouette of Steve Jobs to commemorate his death in 2011 by Hong Kong based Graphic Designer, Jonathan Mak Long.
- 77.2k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible