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1500 questions
23
votes
2 answers
Is today's Old City of Jerusalem the Jerusalem of the Crusades' period?
In 1099 the Christian crusaders besieged the walled city of Jerusalem and took it. Here is a map of the Old City of Jerusalem today:
It clearly shows the walls (I don't know when they were built) around the Old City. I measured this on Google Maps,…
Zebrafish
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23
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2 answers
Why is North-Korean communist leader Kim Il-sung called Kim Ir Sen in some languages?
Looking on Wikipedia I see that in many of the languages of the former communist countries, namely East European, the North Korean leader Kim Il Sung (or Song) (1912-1994) is called Kim Ir Sen. (I am posting the Polish page because it has more…
user8690
23
votes
1 answer
The WWI Christmas truce of 1914 resulted in no consequences, in spite of clear warnings against such beforehand - why were there no courts-martial?
British and German Soldiers photographed together during 1914 Christmas Truce. Source: The Daily Mirror, Friday January 8, 1915.
Question
What factors led to no courts-martial charges being pursued by British, French, Belgian and German…
Kerry L
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23
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1 answer
What did Zhang Zuolin say after his train blew up?
Zhang Zuolin was an early 20th century Chinese warlord of Manchuria. He was fatally wounded by the Japanese Army on June 4, 1928, using a bomb laid beneath tracks where his armoured train travelled over.
There is a colourful description of his last…
congusbongus
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23
votes
3 answers
How did succession in Anglo Saxon England work?
I heard that the Witan would elect an Ætheling to be King after the previous King died and it typically followed primogeniture. Was primogeniture a requirement for succession or did the Witan have the full authority to choose among any member of the…
Jacob Harrison
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23
votes
4 answers
Why did piracy thrive in the late 17th and early 18th centuries?
Why did piracy thrive in the late 17th and early 18th centuries?
Was it because the sailors in the Royal Navy and privateers were not satisfied with their pay? Was it because since many wars were ending there was just less demand for seamen?
I've…
Shrey Joshi
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23
votes
2 answers
Why did the Japanese withdraw from Siberia in 1922?
According to Wikipedia the Japanese were the de facto leaders of the foreign anti-Bolshevik intervention in Siberia during the Russian Civil War. The other foreign powers pulled out by 1920, presumably having decided it was a hopeless cause. The…
rwallace
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23
votes
1 answer
Hiring professionals to transcribe historical documents
I'm sorry if this question sounds strange but I'm not sure where else in the world to post it.
I have an eighteenth-century will that I'd like to be able to read, but I have very little practice in the art and find the document difficult to…
duhaime
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23
votes
5 answers
Which European monarch of the middle ages died furthest from home?
After a lot of googling on this - and thinking the crusades might provide an answer - the best I've come up with is Louis IX of France who died in Tunis on the 8th crusade. That's 920 miles 'as the crow flies'.
By furthest from home, I mean from the…
JLK
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23
votes
8 answers
What cultures did, or do, perform human sacrifice on a regular basis?
Looking at the Area 51 commitment page, I realized that some of the questions that were originally suggested there never got asked here, so I thought I'd add some of them. Something else I would like to see addressed as part of this question would…
Steven Drennon
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23
votes
2 answers
Was Hiroshima targeted because its mountains would "rebound the explosion back into the city for more damage"?
In English class, while analyzing the anti-war themes of a book, my teacher brought up something that I had never heard before and honestly significantly doubt the accuracy of. She said that:
Hiroshima was chosen as a target for a nuclear bomb…
Sydney Sleeper
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23
votes
1 answer
Leather 1.50 German gold mark
I have a German 1.50 gold mark that looks to be made of leather. It is about 3/16 of an inch thick. and dyed black. It has many symbols. Please if anyone can tell me about this. It looks to be dated 1923. I can not find another like it anywhere…
StarSapphire
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23
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1 answer
In Antiquity, were Persian arrows considered superior to their Greek counterparts?
In Xenophon's Anabasis I ran into the following part:
The Persian bows are also large, and consequently the Cretans could
make good use of all the arrows that fell into their hands; in fact,
they were continually using the enemy's arrows, and…
The Sardaukar Knight
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23
votes
2 answers
What was the ratio women to men after World War 2 in the Soviet Union
I can imagine that after World War 2 the ratio of women versus men changed drastically.
During World War 2, Soviet casualties amounted to over 20,000,000, and as military casualties were almost all men I would think there were a lot more women in…
Mech_Engineer
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23
votes
8 answers
Who was the longest lived European monarch of the middle ages?
After a lot of googling, I'm still not sure about this. Finding the longest reigning monarchs is easy enough, but I'm less sure about the one who lived the longest.
A good candidate would appear to be Harold Fairhair (ca. 850 to ca. 932) but his…
JLK
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