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1500 questions
56
votes
13 answers
Is history always written by the victors?
The famous "history is written by victors" saying argues that the victors overwhelmingly influence historical accounts.
Are there any examples of history written by the(or THE) losers?
Jayaram
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56
votes
2 answers
Were Roman public roads built by private companies?
According to a civil engineer (video in Spanish), the Appian way was built as a concession. This is, it was built by a private "company", paid by the state.
Unfortunately, Wikipedia is not clear about who built the Appian way. It only states who…
luchonacho
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56
votes
7 answers
Was WW1 generally foreseen?
I am looking for information on the general perception of the educated population in the decade leading up to WW1. I would like to know to what extent a tragedy of the scale of WW1 was foreseen. Was it a shock that it happened, or was it something…
user26353
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56
votes
6 answers
Why didn't battleship Bismarck have more support?
The primary objective of battleship Bismarck was to sink transporters coming from the U.S. and sailing to Europe transporting goods (oil, food). It encountered HMS Hood and sank it.
German cruiser Prinz Eugen was sailing along with the Bismarck all…
Eugen Sunic
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55
votes
15 answers
Are there any important biographies of nobodies?
Biographies usually cover interesting people who said and did notable things. I'm curious about lives notable just for their contexts: the stories of unremarkable people in historically remarkable circumstances. Have any major works been written…
Aaron Brick
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55
votes
14 answers
Were any Kings/Queens who were monarchs as children good rulers?
I am listening to a history of England podcast, and so far (only up to 1405) All the monarchs who started as children have been pitiful leaders.
Are there any (worldwide) that have turned out to be good rulers?
I understand why becoming King at such…
WendyG
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55
votes
1 answer
In ancient Rome, could free-born Romans become slaves?
In the article Roman Slavery, Kenneth Tuite, formerly of the Classics Department at the University of Maryland, states quite categorically that Romans could not be slaves:
Although a class system existed, there was no such thing as a native
Roman…
Lars Bosteen
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55
votes
6 answers
Why was Spanish Fascist dictatorship left in power after World War II?
Throughout the Second World War, many people in Spain were under the hope that the victory of the Allies would trigger an invasion of Spain to defeat the dictatorship of Franco, a fascist who won the Civil War in 1939 thanks to the help of…
fedorqui
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55
votes
4 answers
Was hay invented only in the Middle Ages in Europe?
I stumbled upon the following remark from Freeman Dyson:
The most important invention of the last two thousand years was hay. In the classical world of Greece and Rome and in all earlier times, there was no hay. Civilization could exist only in…
asmaier
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55
votes
7 answers
Why did the Roman military start to favour swords over the spear phalanx?
Up until the rise of the Roman Republic, the Greek phalanx was considered the dominant form of military tactics. Evolution had simply favoured longer and longer spears: by the time of Alexander, phalanxes often carried polearms that rivalled a pike…
Bob Tway
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55
votes
9 answers
History of scientific regression
Throughout history, humans have made many subtle and many substantial scientific advancements. Humans have explored, examined, learned, applied and at times seemingly "forgotten" and/or were unable to pass on the scientific knowledge they had…
E1Suave
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54
votes
3 answers
Has NATO ever started a war?
From my reading it appears to me that NATO has never initiated a war but only reacted to conflicts already happening? Is this interpretation correct? I find it important to answer as many pro-russian sources claim NATO to be an aggressor, but I have…
CuriousIndeed
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54
votes
4 answers
What do the phone number suffixes J, M, R, W in 1940 New York phone book mean?
Browsing through the Staten Island, NY telephone directory of January 1940, I found that certain phone numbers were printed with a suffix J, M, R or W. What do these mean? I've marked a few of them in the image below.
The phone book itself does not…
MTA
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54
votes
4 answers
When did humans develop the ability to sail any direction regardless of wind direction?
When did humans develop the sail technology and skills to be able to use the wind to sail in any direction, including using techniques such as beating to effectively sail into the wind?
I checked Wikipedia and did a search using DuckDuckGo. I…
JoshuaD
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54
votes
17 answers
Was Switzerland really impossible to invade during WW2?
My question is not about an alternative scenario, nor about the reasons that caused Switzerland to not get invaded (as could be seen here: Why was Switzerland not attacked during the two World Wars?). I am asking about if the Swiss military of WW2…
user38955