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1500 questions
26
votes
6 answers
Why do old kitchen stoves have circular openings in the upper surface?
As a sidenote to this question: Why do European 19th century kitchen stoves for solid fuels often have circular openings on top? Is the heating more effective if there is no additional metal between the fire and the cooking vessel on the stove? Cast…
Jan
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26
votes
3 answers
Did Stalin offer Hitler peace after Stalingrad?
While reading Winston's War (Max Hastings), I have been repeatedly impressed by the image of Hitler fighting against the Soviet Union, while the latter was supplied by the Allies. A collectivist society, with a totalitarian government, fighting on…
adam.baker
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26
votes
1 answer
When and how did the Han ethnic group become by far the biggest ethnic group in China?
China is a very ethnic homogenous country, one ethnic group, the Han make up 92 % of China's population.
Huaxia refers to a confederation of tribes—living along the Yellow
River—who were the ancestors of what later became the Han ethnic group
in…
Andy
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26
votes
3 answers
How and why was the boundary between West and East Berlin decided to be where it was?
I have been trying to find detailed explanations (and, if available, references in English or German about it) to the following about the division of Berlin into West and East sides after WW2:
how exactly was the division boundary decided;
why…
EliasWagner
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26
votes
9 answers
Why did Jews not immigrate to the Muslim world?
Throughout most of history, Jews lived significantly better in the Muslim countries than in Christian ones. Moreover, after the expulsion from Spain, many Spanish Jews moved to the Muslim world (from Morocco to the Ottoman Empire). Yet, when Jews…
user39
26
votes
1 answer
How does this bird trap work?
www.nuernberger-hausbuecher.de provides the illustration below:
I want to know how this bird trap mechanism works, as shown by this bird hunter of the medieval period on the book image, and it doesn't seems to have any bait in it either.
As a…
Li Jun
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26
votes
4 answers
Why was the US so pro-China and so anti-Japan before WW2?
There is little doubt that the US embargoes on Japan pushed an already aggressive Japan towards Pearl Harbor. Japanese Navy doctrine had already been contemplating a conflict with the US and this gave them the choice of backing down or going to…
Italian Philosophers 4 Monica
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26
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3 answers
Can anyone identify the military branch and rank of the man in the front row? This is from Germany @1932
I assume the boy on the right is in a Hitler youth uniform but I don't know the uniform of the man in front, maybe a Prussian uniform? They were from the eastern part of Germany (now Poland) - Silesia.
Michael McNally
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26
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1 answer
Did Saladin speak any European languages?
As the leader of a large coalition force I'm aware he was multilingual, speaking at least Kurdish and Arabic (one site added Turkish) but a European language seems like a longshot. If he did speak one, I'd guess possibly a little Latin or Norman…
Random
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26
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2 answers
What proportion of women died in childbirth before modern times?
I am researching the life of a woman whose mother died in 1615 when her daughter was aged four. I am wondering how likely it is that the mother died in childbirth.
Is there any general information on the proportion of women who died in childbirth…
user558840
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26
votes
2 answers
Why is Thailand considered an Axis power in WWII?
I read a Wikipedia article about military history of Thailand and it left me a taste of anti-Thai bias.
It is known that Thailand in 1940 (after the fall of Paris and establishment of Vichy government) assaulted nearby French colonial possessions in…
Anixx
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26
votes
5 answers
Did German submarines communicate with allied convoys during battle?
In the movie Greyhound a German submarine communicates with an allied convoy during battle by radio to intimidate the crew.
Are there historical accounts of such behaviour or is this purely fictional?
lejonet
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26
votes
3 answers
Was any significant percentage of Mongol army infantry?
Mongols of Khan's time are generally considered to be a cavalry army, which makes sense logistically, given the width and speed of their military maneuvers.
But is there historical evidence of Khan's Mongol armies ever using infantry in any…
DVK
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26
votes
1 answer
Why were diamond mining plots 31-foot squares?
The Kimberley diamond mine, one of the richest in the world, was discovered in 1871, setting off a rush by hopeful miners. In The South African Diamond Fields, and a Journey to the Mines the author describes the process of claiming plots of land by…
rwallace
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26
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1 answer
Has any U.S. Vice President cast a tie-breaking vote against their own administration?
The US Constitution says the Vice President of the United States may only vote in the Senate to break a tie.
The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided.
The…
RichS
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