44 votes
Accepted

Was Rosie the Riveter sourced from a Michelangelo painting?

In principle, yes. But it is not the 1943 Westinghouse poster of a "Rosie the Riveter"-like figure captioned "We Can Do It!" by J. Howard Miller that became conflated with "Rosie the Riveter" in ...
LаngLаngС's user avatar
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34 votes

Why do revolutions "eat their own?" What is the sociological dynamic here?

Revolution and Power As Lenin famously said, the key question of any revolution is the question of Power. Translating it into the vernacular for the benefit of the unindoctrinated: a revolution is ...
sds's user avatar
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32 votes
Accepted

Why was the Soviet Marine Infantry disbanded in 1947?

The most serious discussion of the matter (that I could find) appears in the book Кузин В.П., Никольский В.И. "Военно-морской флот СССР: 1945–1991." — СПб.: Историческое Морское Общество, 1996. V....
Moishe Kohan's user avatar
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24 votes
Accepted

What was the "Brakteaten" medieval monetary system?

It appears that the author, Margrit Kennedy, has either misunderstood or is deliberately misrepresenting the situation with Medieval bracteates. Medieval bracteates (a form of pennies) are pieces of ...
sempaiscuba's user avatar
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22 votes
Accepted

Who was "Lt.-Commander R.T. Chaloner Woods"?

Since the author served in the Royal Navy, a logical place to start would be the British National Archives. Much of their records have fortunately been digitalised and can be searched online - ...
Semaphore's user avatar
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18 votes

Why do revolutions "eat their own?" What is the sociological dynamic here?

Revolutions create instability. Edmund Burke said the following after the French Revolution: one of the first and most leading principles on which the commonwealth and the laws are consecrated is ...
Ne Mo's user avatar
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16 votes

What are some Chinese sources testifying the extreme weather events of 535-536 CE?

The chronicles Beishi 北史 "History of the North" and Nanshi 南史 "History of the South" have at least some of what you are looking for. The Nanshi chronicle mentions frost and snow. This is cited in ...
Lars Bosteen's user avatar
15 votes
Accepted

Is there any verifiable ancient source for the etymology of βάρβαρος?

Short Answer It appears that some liberties have been taken with the etymology of βάρβαρος in the sources you have cited. Not until the Roman period do we have a suggestion of an onomatopoeic origin (...
Lars Bosteen's user avatar
14 votes

What was the condition of women in "primitive societies" around the world?

Quite the opposite, he's arguing that "savage" societies give women higher status (from our modern point of view). I think its important to understand that this was written by a man who benefitted ...
T.E.D.'s user avatar
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14 votes

Why do revolutions "eat their own?" What is the sociological dynamic here?

Old system destroyed, new system not yet established When you observe human behavior in large groups, you will notice a large amount of inertia. Let's take for example British political system. They ...
rs.29's user avatar
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12 votes
Accepted

Could the nukes involved in the 1966 Palomares B-52 crash have detonated?

It seems unlikely that the 1966 incident could have resulted in the nuclear explosion of one or more of the four hydrogen bombs that fell at Palomares, and I am not aware of any serious claims to the ...
sempaiscuba's user avatar
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11 votes

What are some Chinese sources testifying the extreme weather events of 535-536 CE?

The main descriptions of the abnormal weather is found as mentioned in the other answers from the 北史/南史 beishi/nanshi which mentions snow in September and August respectively. As for the highlighted ...
AlphaD's user avatar
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11 votes

Why do revolutions "eat their own?" What is the sociological dynamic here?

It's actually very simple. So long as the target of a revolution/movement exists, the solution remains very theoretical: "solve the problem". During this time, everyone in the movement ...
Sterling's user avatar
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10 votes
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Are records on the meetings of the Japanese war council during 1945 publicly available?

These records have been commercially available in print since 1967, when it was published under the title Haisen no Kiroku (敗戦の記録, lit. Records of Defeat) by Hara Shobo. This included materials ...
Semaphore's user avatar
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10 votes

Is there a quote that expresses Mill's opposition to Indian democracy?

Yes, he was. The book you're looking for is Considerations on Representative Government. [A] people must be considered unfit for more than a limited and qualified freedom who will not co-operate ...
Ne Mo's user avatar
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10 votes

Where can I find examples of fiefs that are not land?

One example might be thirlage, the right to force serfs to use a specific mill and to pay for the usage. Another was the right to mint coins. I believe both were commonly granted in addition to lands, ...
o.m.'s user avatar
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9 votes
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Where can I find information regarding the orphanages for mixed children in Nazi Germany?

You are asking about "Ausländerkinder-Pflegestätte", though many other terms where used. Pflegestätten were established after a decree by Heinrich Himmler in 1943. The children where separated, ...
mart's user avatar
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9 votes
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Were high wages the root cause of the industrial revolution?

I suspect that the podcast may be referring to published research by Robert Allen of Oxford University. In his 2006 paper Explaining The British Industrial Revolution From the Perspective of Global ...
sempaiscuba's user avatar
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8 votes

Was Rosie the Riveter sourced from a Michelangelo painting?

The “We Can Do it” poster was only seen by Westinghouse Employees as W.H. had hired their own in-house artist. His posters would be displayed for two weeks and then replaced with another of his ...
Tammy's user avatar
  • 81
8 votes
Accepted

What ancient Roman(s) wished houses were made of transparent walls?

It seems to be related to a tale told of Domitian, who was reacting to a prophecy concerning his death. From The History of the Roman Emperors: From Augustus to Constantine, Volume 6 (original French) ...
justCal's user avatar
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7 votes

Was it common to brush off Hitler's radical remarks as just figures of speech to whip up the supporters among US commentators in the 1930's?

Here's a couple quotes from a 1932 article in Foreign Affairs called "Hitler: Phenomenon and Portent". This was written by Paul Scheffer, the Washington correspondent of a German newspaper ...
Jeff Burka's user avatar
7 votes

Why do revolutions "eat their own?" What is the sociological dynamic here?

In these kinds of situations, the divide is between the call for "continuing" revolution by some, and the wish by others to "Join the Establishment." Naziism was a "...
Tom Au's user avatar
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7 votes
Accepted

When did Walter Benjamin say "We collect books in the belief that we are preserving them when in fact it is the books that preserve their collector"?

It would appear that this may be a case of a paraphrase which became more popular and replaced the actual quote in our internet copy and paste, hallmark-quote based consciousness. Researching online ...
justCal's user avatar
  • 38.7k
6 votes

What are canonical sources about fifth century BCE Athens?

There is a vast amount of literature covering the period you are interested in. What follows is but a small sample, but it should set you on your way. The following ancient sources cover 5th century ...
Lars Bosteen's user avatar
6 votes

What are some Chinese sources testifying the extreme weather events of 535-536 CE?

I would like to conglomerate some of the supposed events here, as given from the primary historical sources from 《北史》 (History of the Northern Dynasties) and 《南史》 (History of the Southern Dynasties). ...
dROOOze's user avatar
  • 1,111
5 votes
Accepted

Did Ancient Romans use metal thimbles? What were they like?

Unfortunately, the Italian Wikipedia page doesn't cite a source for its claim. I'm certainly not aware of any securely-dated thimbles from Roman contexts here in the UK. I did a keyword search on ...
sempaiscuba's user avatar
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