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1500 questions
25
votes
10 answers
What was the 1970s name for skinny jeans?
I'm currently writing something set loosely in the 1970s. One character refers to another (who is not present) in a disparaging way. The insulting phrase includes the detail that this person only wears skinny jeans, because the reader is meant to…
916
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Have any kings ever been serving admirals?
As the title says, has any person who has held or has gone on to hold the title of King (or some other similar monarchical title) ever been a serving admiral, who has exercised actual command of a fleet at sea, and not just an honorary admiral?
The…
Monty Wild
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25
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3 answers
Why didn't pre-Norman English kings build stone town walls?
This question is about defensive city walls, not longer walls such as the Great Wall of China or Hadrian's wall.
After the Norman conquest, many defensive city walls were built by Norman kings in troubled areas. But why did the pre-Norman kings not…
Apoorv
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25
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1 answer
In which document was the exact course of the northern part of the German-Polish border decided?
While researching the answer to "How was Germany's border decided?", I didn't manage to find any documents which would precisely describe the borders between Germany and Poland between the points 53° 16' 28.19" N 14° 26' 38.96" E (near Mescherin and…
Martin Sojka
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25
votes
5 answers
Is black American history only about segregation, slavery, and the 3 people you get taught about in school?
I'm a black eighth-grader, and I'm learning about slavery and stuff. But it hit me, in all of the time I've been learning history, I have only seen my people talked about (just in the book) if the topic is slavery, the teacher may talk about…
Beef Boss
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25
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2 answers
What is the reason for: "Risk taking must focus on winning rather than preventing defeat" in US Army Operations guides?
I am posting this question in the hope that 'history' is close enough on-topic to find answer to this question:
What is the intent behind the statement
"Risk taking must focus on winning rather than defeat, even if preventing defeat appears…
P.R.
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25
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1 answer
Did "droit du seigneur" actually exist in medieval Europe?
Droit du seigneur, also known as "jus primae noctis" (right of the first night), was the supposed right of a feudal lord to sleep with his serfs' brides on their wedding night.
Was it actually practiced in medieval Europe? Was it ever codified into…
Anubhav C
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25
votes
2 answers
Where are the Native American primary source documents?
I am currently looking into Crow Mythology and every website I've seen says essentially "The Native Americans thought of the crow as X". But "NATIVE AMERICANS" is too broad a category! Where are they getting this information from? No citations are…
Lance
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25
votes
2 answers
Who are these red flag worshipers from these early maps?
While doing some research into maps over the last month or so, I came across an interesting item which I found recurring on two different sources. I first encountered this scene on a copy of the Abraham Ortelius Atlas, the 1570 Theatrum orbis…
justCal
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25
votes
2 answers
Who is depicted in this Soleimani propaganda image?
While reading news and analytics about Soleimani and the fuss his death made, there is a teaser image, where I cannot identify the shown persons. The news is in German, which can be found on telepolis.de
I know the Soleimani person, of course, in…
Semo
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25
votes
4 answers
Why were so many of the earliest banks founded by cloth merchants?
I recently noticed that a lot of early banks, including Metzler and Berenberg, were founded by cloth merchants. Any idea why this particular line of trade was most conducive to setting up investment management?
I would imagine that since cloth is…
TheChymera
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25
votes
5 answers
How was the Luftwaffe able to destroy nearly 4000 Soviet aircraft in 3 days of operation Barbarossa?
According to Wikipedia:
a Soviet archival document recorded the loss of 3,922 Soviet aircraft
in the first three days against an estimated loss of 78 German
aircraft.
How were German combat aircrafts so successful? Was it the technology,…
Eugen Sunic
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25
votes
4 answers
Was it possible for a message from Paris to reach London within 48 hours in 1782?
I used to have a paperback copy of Diplomacy of the American Revolution by Samuel Flagg Bemis, but now I can't find it. I seem to recall that American diplomats in Paris in 1782 (Franklin, Adams, Jay) told a British diplomat that his credentials…
Michael Hardy
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25
votes
1 answer
Did Catherine the Great really call for the abolition of serfdom?
... like Catherine the Great S01E01 (2019) shows?
This would be almost a century before serfdom was actually abolished, and makes one wonder why the Czars didn't just do it, if they were in favor of it.
user26470
25
votes
7 answers
Has there ever been a truly bilingual country prior to the contemporary period?
What I mean by this is: has there ever been a country where the bulk of the population spoke two different languages as a matter of course?
This question is somewhat inspired by this video in which Simone Giertz says that "everyone in Sweden learns…
Gort the Robot
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