94
votes
Accepted
Transatlantic Zeppelin trips usually took > 100 hours. How did they stock enough food, and where did they sleep?
The Hindenburg was originally built with 25 double-berthed cabins which accommodated up to 50 passengers. While the ship was laid up in Frankfurt during the winter of 1936-1937, 9 more cabins were ...
- 77.2k
69
votes
Why are so many metros underground? Isn't that more expensive than an elevated system?
In Moscow, under former mayor Yuriy Luzhkov, it was built a line (Butovo line) which is mostly elevated. I think the practice was not considered quite successful as a result.
There are many drawbacks:
...
- 32.7k
60
votes
How did passengers keep warm on sail ships?
Long ago, in 16 century they used open fire in fair weather (with all possible precautions) on the deck to cook (ref. Morison, Admiral of the Ocean Sea). When the sea was rough, only cold food could ...
- 38.8k
57
votes
Why are so many metros underground? Isn't that more expensive than an elevated system?
This is mostly about urban planning, and how much change the local government can or will be able to make to the existing streets.
In London, the central parts of the city (Westminster and the City) ...
- 3,312
48
votes
Accepted
Were there any drunk driving laws before the automobile?
In the UK, the 1872 Licencing Act made it an offence to be:
... drunk while in charge on any highway or other public place of any
carriage, horse, cattle, or steam engine, or who is drunk when in
...
- 77.2k
48
votes
Accepted
Did a significant number of women drive in late 1950s/1960s USA?
Looking at driver's licenses held by women and considering that manufacturers were aiming certain car models specifically at women, female drivers were not uncommon or unusual in the US in the 1950s ...
- 108k
45
votes
Accepted
Why did early attempts to transport milk to London by rail meet with 'much criticism'?
The Agrarian History of England and Wales
E. J. T. Collins, Joan Thirsk
Cambridge University Press, 2000
page 993:
Retailers complained that railway milk was not as fresh as town milk,
and a ...
- 446
36
votes
Why was Panama Railroad in poor condition when US decided to build Panama Canal in 1904?
I have a book at home, The Path Between the Seas (also from McCullough), that talks about that railroad extensively. I'll try to consult it when I get home to polish this answer up, but my memory of ...
- 122k
32
votes
Accepted
What's the rationale for shipping coins back to Spain from its colonies?
According to Manuel Moreyra Paz Soldán, El Virreinato de Perú, 1980, p. 79, the coinage embarked on ships corresponded to:
Taxes obtained from the provinces and citizens in America: "recaudación para ...
- 1,870
31
votes
Why are so many metros underground? Isn't that more expensive than an elevated system?
For New York, the answer is related to real estate value.
In New York City, the construction of the metro was performed by real estate developers. The idea was to build homes, then connect them to ...
- 7,519
29
votes
Transatlantic Zeppelin trips usually took > 100 hours. How did they stock enough food, and where did they sleep?
Never look at history with your own 'modern' perceptions! In those days there were only 2 ways to cross the Atlantic: by ship or by zeppelin. A ship took longer than a zeppelin. Everybody crossed by ...
- 22.7k
26
votes
When was this photo taken?
Between (more likely) 1948 and (highly unlikely) 1969
The logo on the gas station gives us a slightly later start date than the Coke ad requires.
Seen here is the Chevron "winged V" emblem ...
- 14.1k
25
votes
Accepted
What is the oldest road tunnel in the world?
There is a tunnel under a mountain in Samos built around 530 BC. It is described by Herodotus,
book III, 60. In 1882 a tunnel which matches Herodotus description has been actually found. It is one ...
- 38.8k
25
votes
What's the rationale for shipping coins back to Spain from its colonies?
I'm hoping that this answer will resonate with your "theory of colonial economy", although it is not based on historical sources.
Coins shouldn't be viewed as end products manufactured from a raw ...
- 353
24
votes
Were there any drunk driving laws before the automobile?
"Causing bodily harm by wanton or furious driving" (whether drunk or not) was made illegal by the Offences against the Person Act 1861. It is interpreted as applying to:
drivers of horse-drawn ...
- 393
22
votes
When was this photo taken?
The ad for Coke seen on the billboard on the right of the picture was first used in 1947. Various matching images can be found on the internet, for example here, but so far I have not been able to ...
- 3,016
19
votes
How did passengers keep warm on sail ships?
There were several ways to stay warm. Not that any of them were exactly great. First winter travel was rare.
Next is the fact that passengers (not crew) would not really go above deck much. They ...
- 774
17
votes
Accepted
Which company offered this aircraft interior in the 60s?
It seems that it's a mock-up image produced as publicity for the passenger model of the 747 aircraft by Boeing/Pan-American Airways.
It would have to have been from the late 1960s, since the 747 ...
- 77.2k
17
votes
What's the rationale for shipping coins back to Spain from its colonies?
Many of the coins shipped to Europe were quickly and crudely minted. These were called cobs. According to a page at Notre Dame University,
The intention in minting these crude but accurately ...
- 269
16
votes
Why was Panama Railroad in poor condition when US decided to build Panama Canal in 1904?
It lost its appeal after 1867, and, after bankruptcy of the French, deteriorated quickly.
Remember that is a railroad built across the jungle (just its construction took 5,000 to 10,000 deaths for 76 ...
- 1,082
15
votes
Accepted
Couldn't Japan have solved the problem of drifting at sea?
I believe this is somewhat overstating the risks and well as the severity of the disasters.
A sengokubune (千石船) refers to a ship that can carry 1000 koku of rice (sen = 1000). The actual ship design ...
- 97.6k
15
votes
How did passengers keep warm on sail ships?
Trans-Atlantic passenger travel was not very popular until the advent of the steamer, and yet men and women crossed the ocean periodically, including the affluent.
Trans-Atlantic passenger travel ...
- 22.7k
14
votes
Did a fallen-out red signal lens ever cause a railway accident?
A lot of confusion here, but a kernel of truth. The book Railroad Signaling (2003, pp. 47-49) gives a fairly detailed account of how the color coding of signals evolved over time. It mentions that the ...
- 23k
14
votes
Did a significant number of women drive in late 1950s/1960s USA?
The description reads as authentic.
Of course, we need to differentiate quite a bit.
The more rural it gets the earlier female adoption of driving automobiles is observed.
It seems that by 1940 most ...
- 80.8k
14
votes
When was this photo taken?
Adding to the consensus above, the car in the foreground right has a California license plate that was issued between 1947-1950. See Wikipedia for historical license plate images.
The car in front of ...
- 141
13
votes
What is the oldest road tunnel in the world?
There appear to be two candidates which can definitely be considered for oldest road tunnel in the world, and a couple of others which are older but may be disputed. Roughly in chronological order, ...
- 108k
13
votes
What's the rationale for shipping coins back to Spain from its colonies?
Gold and Silver are worth so much that their "bulk" is very rarely a problem.
Coins make it easier to count them. Their bulk is increased slightly; say by a factor of 2.
This makes gold 10 g/cm^3 ...
- 370
13
votes
How did they measure speed in the 19th century so they could issue the first speeding ticket?
For this particular case, there is a (very) detailed account of the trial in the Maidstone Journal and Kentish Advertiser, 30 January 1896:
I.C. Heard ... was standing at the window of his cottage at ...
- 9,102
12
votes
When did streets get names?
Streets in ancient Mesopotamia had names.
A 1975 study of ancient Sippar by Rikvah Harris at the Nederlands Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten (http://www.nino-leiden.nl/download/3235) found mention of ...
- 5,400
11
votes
Why are so many metros underground? Isn't that more expensive than an elevated system?
Noise, vibrations, and visual impact drop the value of the nearest houses, and decrease quality of life for its inhabitants. The maintenance of an elevated system is expensive, not only economically ...
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible