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1500 questions
48
votes
9 answers
How did the Nazis plan to defeat America during World War II?
Yamamoto famously advised against a war with the United States, because he could tell how powerful they would be once they got going. The Nazis, however, declared war on the United States of their own will, as I understand it, fulfilling their…
Nerrolken
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47
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1 answer
Where did Asian Americans go to school during the 'separate but equal' era?
I know that Brown vs. Board of Ed. desegregated schools. Reading Through History has a great video that clearly summarizes what this landmark case was about. However, everything I've heard about Brown vs. Board of Ed is about African Americans. I…
Burt
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47
votes
18 answers
What is a major historical event historians are deeply divided over?
I am teaching a middle school history class and need an example of a historical event that has legitimate historians highly divided into at least two camps.
My goal is demonstrate that, though historians often have ample written records, they still…
Village
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47
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6 answers
Has any country ever diverted an international flight in order to arrest a wanted person?
Belarus recently came under scrutiny for forcing a Ryanair plane to divert so they could capture a wanted person on board:
A Ryanair plane from Greece to Lithuania was diverted to Belarus for
several hours on Sunday, with activists saying it was…
JonathanReez
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47
votes
4 answers
Why did the Germans use the Enigma machine rather than the far superior "Lorenz" cipher machine?
Basically, the only good thing about the "Enigma" cipher machine was its name. Other than that, it was grossly inferior to the "Lorenz" one, apparently only used by some of the main, top-ranking persons.
If they did have a much stronger cipher…
Daphne Kantor
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47
votes
3 answers
Has the United States ever had a non-Christian President?
If Bernie Sanders won the 2020 election, he would be the first Jewish POTUS in American history, regardless of how 'cultural' his Judaism may be. Given this, would his being the first Jewish POTUS also make him, more generally, America's first…
Tirous
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47
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5 answers
How do we know baroque art depicted obese ladies because of a different ideal of beauty?
I've often heard that the obesity of women in baroque art signs that such women were the ideal of beauty. How could we know that? And how could we know it wasn't just "cultural rationalization" of a standard physical appearance of higher classes?
Probably
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47
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9 answers
Aside from the Pyramids, what is the tallest man-made structure still standing in Europe & the Near East from ancient times?
In the Americas, there is La Danta Temple (built c300 BC, 230 ft / 70.10m) in modern-day Guatemala. In Asia (Far East and South Asia), there is the Ruwanwelisaya (built c300 BC, 300 ft / 91.44m) in Sri Lanka. What is there in Europe?
The Wikipedia…
Lars Bosteen
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47
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9 answers
Why did navies abandon armour?
Over the Cold War the many navies of the world moved away from significantly armoring their ships besides splinter protection for some vital spaces, with a few exceptions. What prompted the shift from armoring the ships even though the weapons of…
SMS von der Tann
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47
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5 answers
Where did Hitler get the funds to invest in economic development programs such as the autobahn when the German economy was in a depression?
Where did Hitler get the funds to invest in economic revitalization programs such as the autobahn and weapons' production when the German economy was in a depression?
m j meek
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46
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2 answers
Did the leaflets from the US to Hiroshima/Nagasaki civilians on bombing cities reduce the civilian casualties of the two nuclear bombs in August 1945?
I read on Wikipedia
Various leaflets were dropped on Japan, three versions showing the names of 11 or 12 Japanese cities targeted for destruction by firebombing. The other side contained text stating "...we cannot promise that only these cities…
Franck Dernoncourt
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46
votes
8 answers
Why didn't Aboriginal Australians invent agriculture?
From what I've gathered at a glance, Aborigine Australians have about 50000 years of history on their continent, roughly equivalent to that of people on other continents. Yet from what I can gather, aborigine civilizations had less advanced…
Ivan T.
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46
votes
7 answers
Was there ever a treaty between 2 entities with significantly different translations to the detriment of one party?
Inspired by an answer to When translating the law, who ensures that the wording does not change the meaning of the law?
When 2 different entities that speak different languages have a treaty, there are 2 versions of the treaty, one for each…
Nzall
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46
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3 answers
Why did English adopt Kamikaze (神風) as a loanword instead of Tokko (特攻) during/after WWII?
Kamikaze (you know, the 'crash plane into boat' thing) is, for Japanese learners like myself, initially a very confusing word. In Japanese it's 神風, 神 meaning god, gods, divinity, etc. And 風 means wind, or things related to wind (it can also mean…
Tirous
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46
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12 answers
Where did the Gaels originate?
The origin and spreading out of the Celtic peoples is a topic shrouded in mystery, at least to my mind. While the Germanic migrations occurred during the late Imperial Roman period and Early Middle Ages, the Celtic migrations generally occurred much…
Noldorin
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