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35
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Has there ever been a major migration from the New World to the Old World? If not, why?
Considerable research has been done on the ancient migration of humans from Northeast Asia to the Americas. Between that and Columbus, there were a few smaller migration events from elsewhere in the world — including the Viking travels to North…
StarlightDown
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Why was there a surge in the US incarceration rate during the 1990s?
This surge seems to only have stabilized in the last decade and spans roughly 1980–2005. What is its cause? Even when accounting for population growth, the graph does not look much different.
(Image source: Wikipedia – United States incarceration…
Marmelador
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What is the most number of times someone has become leader of a European country?
Among monarchs, Henry VI (1422 to 1461, 1470 to 1471) and Edward IV (1461 to 1470, 1471 to 1483) both ruled England on two separate occasions. Hethum II of Armenia went one better, ruling three separate times (1289 to 1293, 1295 to 1296 and 1299 to…
Lars Bosteen
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35
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Why does the King of Spain still claim defunct titles like the King of Hungary?
I am reading the Wikipedia articles on the titles of the King of Spain (this and this) and I am confused why they list countless places that are not under Spanish rule and or are totally defunct as a monarchy. The King of Hungary especially really…
fbence
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Was the Wehrmacht a mechanized army?
I read random descriptions of Germany's attack on the Soviet Union, and I got the impression that besides tanks, the armies carried with them millions of horses and that the bulk of the soldiers were planned to reach Moscow and Caucasus on foot…
sofky
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2 answers
How kind were the Muslim occupations of North Africa?
I grew up in Egypt and although I was raised in Muslim-majority country, I am atheist now. In history classes we were told a doubtful story:
The Muslims would have been kind and merciful invaders that treated the peoples of the invaded countries…
K. M.
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Did this "sledge rigged like a sloop" vehicle ever exist, or was it an invention of Jules Verne?
In Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days, the main character Phileas Fogg misses his train in the American north and ends up hitching a ride on a curious invention, as described here:
There Mr. Fogg examined a curious vehicle, a kind of…
ezra
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How did gold come to symbolize lower ranks than silver in the United States Air Force?
In the United States Air Force, including the Air Reserve Component (Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard), gold represents the lower form of a rank.
A gold bar ranks below a silver bar. A gold leaf ranks below a silver leaf.
It seems to me…
Hack-R
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35
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Under which conditions does the losing party actively commemorate a battle?
I am trying to understand under which conditions battles are predominantly remembered and commemorated by the losing party (who acknowledge their defeat), not the victors. This is not who gets to write the history of a battle but which losing party…
Brick
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Did Native Americans ever fight the indigenous people living in Mexico before Europeans arrived?
From elementary school, my history teacher used to talk about the fighting between native American tribes. Then, later in the semester, we would briefly discuss the rise of Aztecs, Olmecs, Mayans, etc.
However, I never noticed any one make any…
damx
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7 answers
Why didn't Moldova unite with Romania?
Towards the collapse of the USSR, nationalism rose in Moldova. Nationalists proclaimed the linguistic and ethnic identity between Moldovans and Romanians. It seems that they strove toward unification of their country and Romania. Besides, Moldova…
Lev
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3 answers
When was Silver ever more valuable than Gold?
These days we pretty much take it as a given that gold is more valuable than silver. The obvious example is the Olympics and other such competitions that give "gold" medals for first place and "silver" for second.
When I was younger I read somewhere…
T.E.D.
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35
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3 answers
Did people use to marry much younger during the last millennium?
I've frequently heard it stated that "people used to marry at much younger ages" historically. Recently, these kinds of statements have tended to show up in sociological discussions about young people choosing to get married later. Many such…
Athanasius
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35
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6 answers
What was the first solar eclipse that was demonstrably predicted in advance?
There is a famous story going back to Herodotus according to which Thales of Miletus predicted the solar eclipse of May 28, 585 BC, which interrupted a battle. Given that we have not a single contemporary source for that claim, and it is unknown how…
user4656
35
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6 answers
Was slavery really on the way out in the antebellum USA?
Gail Jarvis, in an encomium to the Dunning School writes:
William A. Dunning fervently opposed slavery but his reading of the trends of the times led him to the conclusion that the institution was coming to an end. The slave trade itself ended in…
Felix Goldberg
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