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1500 questions
18
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3 answers
What happened to all the French guillotines?
Quoting Wikipedia on Guillotine:
The guillotine remained the official method of execution in France until the death penalty was abolished in 1981. The last guillotining in France was that of torture-murderer Hamida Djandoubi on September 10,…
Gopi
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18
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2 answers
Language of Franks vs later French
I am reading that before the 8-9th(10th?) century, Franks were a Germanic-speaking nation.
How it is possible to explain that in later centuries their language became a totally different Latin-based language with no traces of German origins? How…
Andrei
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18
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1 answer
Who issued this poster promoting Japanese migration to Brazil?
Several Wikipedia editions use this poster promoting Japanese immigration to Brazil in the early 20th century. However, different Wikipedias describe it as "a Japanese government propaganda poster" or the poster from a private Japanese company, and…
Pere
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18
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2 answers
English monarchs on the battlefield
It seems that in English 'older times' it was expected for the King or monarch to lead the armies in battle.
My research suggests that this was the case in the 12th century in the civil war between King Stephen and Empress Maud/Matilda (her…
Andrew Thompson
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18
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1 answer
Why did the Egyptians wait so long to introduce the leap year?
According to “The Accidental Superpower” by Peter Zeihan:
“The mind-set of eternal stability was so deeply entrenched that when ancient Egyptian scholars discovered that they had failed to account for the extra day in leap years, instead of…
JonathanReez
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18
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4 answers
Has the existence of a matriarchal society really been discredited?
I always thought that there was proof of the existence of matriarchal society in the ancient times but apparently, according to Wikipedia this hypothesis is mostly discredited today. Why?
Wiki cites:
The view of matriarchy as constituting a stage…
MartyVal
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18
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7 answers
Is there a civilization that never believed in God in the ancient times?
I'm not obviously talking about small groups or individuals but about an actual civilization that never believed about the existence of a supreme essence.
Is atheism just a modern concept?
MartyVal
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18
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2 answers
How did Quebec transition from French Law to English Law?
When Britain conquered Quebec at the end of the Seven Years War, Quebec began a transition between French law and English law. How did that transition occur?
Dale
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18
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1 answer
Are photos of WWII US Navy damage reports available online?
I have located a PDF of the USS Marblehead's Bomb Damage Report from 4 Feb 1942. The report lists plates of photographs which are not included in the report I have found.
Do copies of this report exist online that include the photos? I have found…
fbrereto
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18
votes
3 answers
Did early imperial China have a "uniform, multilevel administrative bureaucracy" that the Romans did not?
I'm reading Fukuyama's "The Origins of Political Order", and on pages 92-93 he makes the following claim (emphasis my own):
But most important, the state that emerged in China was far more modern in Max Weber's sense than any of its counterparts…
Trisztan
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18
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6 answers
Was the Napoleonic era cavalry armour effective against firearms?
During the Napoleonic wars in Europe, many heavy cavalry units still retain the use of armours, for example, French Carabiniers-à-Cheval below,
How effective were these to protect the cavalryman against enemy fire, like muskets or rifles? Did they…
Fitri
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18
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3 answers
Did Stalin prevent the partitioning of Bulgaria by the western Allies after WW2?
In connection with an ongoing debate about the fate of the Soviet Army monument in Sofia, Bulgaria, one of the arguments that defenders of the monument put forth is that -- in spite of the 45+ year totalitarian regime that the USSR imposed on…
the.real.gruycho
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18
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3 answers
Were Patton's and/or other generals' vehicles prominently flagged with stars (and if so, why)?
In the movie Patton (1970), Patton's jeep has two large flags attached, each with 3 stars.
This seems implausibly foolish to me as this tells enemy soldiers/snipers/pilots where a very high-value target is.
Did this ever happen, either with the…
user54367
18
votes
3 answers
Would a common person in the 18th century have heard Mozart's music during his lifetime?
Mozart was and is one of the most influential musicians and today nearly everyone knows his name and probably some of his famous compositions.
During his lifetime he certainly was a well known musician at least in the royal courts of Europe.
But…
CKA
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18
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1 answer
Are there any medieval manuals relating to castle building?
I'm doing research on the medieval castle, specifically what was required to build one. I'm particularly interested in learning about this from a medieval perspective, so I wondered if there are any manuals covering the construction of castles? Or…
Kebab
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