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1500 questions
28
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5 answers
Was the Dutch State independent when the Dutch East India Company was founded?
How were The Dutch able to build a successful trading empire by 1602 (with The Dutch East India Company) if the Dutch State gained independence after the Thirty Year's War in 1648?
The war ends in 1648 with the Peace of Westphalia and the German…
chris
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Why didn't the Moroccans try to explore and conquer the New World?
Why didn't the Marinid try to discover and colonize the New World during the 15th and 16th centuries, like the Spanish and Portuguese?
They faced the Atlantic Ocean and had the power and the technology.
Mr.lock
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3 answers
What evidence is there of the vision aids people used before the invention of eyeglasses in about 1286?
The Wikipedia article on glasses says ‘scattered evidence exists for use of vision aid devices in Greek and Roman times’ but only cites the example of Nero’s emerald. This article on Magnifying glasses states
Historians seem to agree that the…
Lars Bosteen
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28
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9 answers
Was it ever possible to join the US military instead of going to prison for a crime?
It is pretty clear that today the US military is an all volunteer force and it is not allowed to take people who are joining to avoid going to prison. Was there ever a time when a judge could sentence a criminal to prison or military service? If so,…
StrongBad
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2 answers
Was there a King of England, or an heir to the throne, in 1831 who idolized Michael Faraday?
I know this question seems a bit absurd, so let me preface this by saying that it stems from a 1994 history-based edutainment game titled Mario's Time Machine in which the main character travels back in time to various historical periods. While it's…
Reversinator
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28
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2 answers
Why were the Irish exempt from conscription during WWI?
During the first world war all of Ireland was within the United Kingdom.
In C. S. Lewis's autobiographical book Surprised by Joy he says that as an Irishman (from Belfast) he was exempt from conscription during the first world war.
(He joined the…
Michael Hardy
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28
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4 answers
Why were the losses in the Battle of Norfolk so lopsided?
During the 1991 Gulf War there were a lot of lopsided tank battles where such a large number of Iraqi vehicles got destroyed for very little Coalition losses. For example in the Battle of Norfolk about 750 Iraqi tanks were destroyed against 5…
user69715
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28
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2 answers
When did homosexuality become unacceptable in Europe?
In the ancient greek world male homosexuality was common and didn't attract the same scorn as it did even 100 years ago. So 2,000 years ago, it was acceptable, and 100 years ago it was unacceptable. When did it change? Why did it change?
Amandasaurus
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28
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11 answers
Why wasn't the Republic of Ireland invaded (by either side) in WW2?
Ireland was neutral in WW2, however it was never invaded (by either side). How come? Why wasn't Ireland invaded by the UK to prevent the Germans invading? Why didn't germany invade ireland? It would have allowed them to open a new front for the…
Amandasaurus
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28
votes
4 answers
Why did Mexico encourage the settlement of Texas by Americans?
Beginning in the 1820's, Mexico encouraged Americans (such as Moses and Stephen Austin) to settle in their territory of Texas. It was this that led to Texas becoming independent of Mexico—something the government very definitely did not want. So why…
George A. Solodun
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28
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2 answers
When and why did war chariots stop being used?
Many cultures (Egypt, Celts, etc...) had war chariots either as mobile platforms or as troop transport. What other advance in warfare made them obsolete?
Sardathrion - against SE abuse
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28
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3 answers
Why did the United States not invade North Vietnam?
The United States was fighting in Vietnam two battles:
The "conventional" NVA (North Vietnamese Army)
An insurgency "guerrilla" organization.
The US tried desperately to stop both, and spend huge amount of effort bombing North Vietnam trying to…
Charles Shiller
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28
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1 answer
Capturing a much larger ship?
In Master and Commander (book 1 of Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series), the 54-man, 14-gun Sophie captures the 319-man, 32-gun Cacafuego.
Is this really plausible? How would it work? Is it the confined space of a ship's deck that makes the…
DavidC
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28
votes
7 answers
Why did trench warfare accept deadlocks?
As someone who has never studied military history or strategy I find it very hard to understand how and why both sides got locked into relatively short lines of heavily defended trench warfare with little prospect of gains for either side.
As an…
Flexo
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28
votes
2 answers
When did Americans become safe from highway robbery?
The other day a friend and I were reconciling our memories of "shotgun" rules, the customs by which American teenagers determine who sits in the front passenger seat of a car. The concept derives from descriptions of the Old West, when armed…
Christopher
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