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Which was the first war in which photography was employed?

Undoubtedly photography has greatly changed public perception of war; but there is no clear point in which photography began to be used—whether for documenting war or anything else. So I’m left wondering, in which war was photography first used to…
George A. Solodun
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Has a major war ever occured and a map before the war looked exactly the same after?

By this I mean has there ever been a major military conflict from the time periods of 1500 ad to present (I disregard civil wars and weird things like say the Pig War etc...) where if you had a map made one day before the war started of the…
ed.hank
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Was Hitler released from jail in 1924 on condition that he ran democratically?

In 1924, Adolf Hitler served only 264 days in prison after his failed coup d'état. Was his release politically ordered? I suppose that the motive could've been that it is better to have him lead the "Völkisch" movement, than to risk more like him…
LocalFluff
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4 answers

How common was marriage between nobles and peasants in the Middle Ages?

How common was it during the Middle Ages for European nobility to marry peasants or serfs? I am aware that during the era, the institution of marriage was considered a severely practical matter rather than romantic, with stratification between…
user17846
20
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2 answers

Why did no other empire contest Russia's colonization of North-Asia?

As far as I know, no 18/19th century empire tried to colonize Siberia or the northern Far East besides Russia. That sounds implausible to me and I'm curious how could that be?
Ezra
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Why wasn't sauerkraut used to combat scurvy?

While reading about age of sail, I've read about scurvy and how it was 'cured' by 'acidity' of citrus. It come to my mind - why didn't they try to use sauerkraut? It seems that it should be more familiar to Europeans then some exotic fruit and more…
Maja Piechotka
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3 answers

Did Napoleon plan to invade India?

In 1798 Napoleon invaded Egypt and in 1799 he invaded the Middle East. The only thing that stopped him from going further was the fortifications of Acre which he could not take. What was his plans if he actually took Acre. Much I read were only…
Ole Petersen
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What did Buddhism vs. Hinduism mean politically?

I am just starting to study the history of Hinduism and Buddhism. This question is strictly about the objective outer trappings of the religions, not their spiritual teachings. Popular literature on the subject generally tells us that Buddha was a…
20
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Were there ever any farming societies without a calendar?

Were there ever any farming societies without a calendar? For example, the Egyptians had a calendar to help them know when to plant and when to harvest. The ancient Greeks had a calendar, as did the Romans. Were there ever any societies that lived…
Joe
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Pre-Christian use of the Greek Septuagint

I'm interested in the pre-Christian use of the Septuagint, as well as the Greek language, within Jewish everyday life in Israel and in the synagogues of Israel. Is there evidence that the LXX or Greek documents or writings were commonly used within…
Tonyg
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How was beer production affected by the war during WW2?

How did the war affect beer production during World War II? This is a follow-up question to this question at Seasoned Advice, which is gathering interesting food-science answers but which are are short on historical perspective and long on…
SevenSidedDie
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Were bookshops 'common' in the late 19th century, and how did they differ from modern ones?

I've been reading a little bit about Victorian publishing bit I'm struggling to get a feel for how common and how similar Victorian bookstores in London would be. This is all I've read. It sounds like by about 1890 all you have of fiction in shops…
AncientSwordRage
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6 answers

What reasons did the Confederacy have for believing they would have a quick victory?

At the beginning of the U.S. Civil War, both sides were very confident in a quick and easy victory. I can see why the North would think so: they had a better trained army, better infrastructure (including many more miles of railroad), and superior…
Ovi
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How accurately could ancient astronomers find latitude and longitude?

In classical times, say, 200 BC to 400 AD, how accurately could an astronomer determine their latitude and longitude? Could they find their position to the nearest degree? Minute? Second? I'm guessing they could find their latitude fairly…
Joe
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How was life in the Iron Age different from life in the Middle Ages?

Let's say you were from the Middle Ages, 1200s England or Germany, and you got thrown back in time to the Iron Age. It's still the same place, but it's 400 BC. Apart from the language, what would you actually notice as being different? How was…
Joe
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