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1500 questions
36
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8 answers
Did Heisenberg undermine the German atomic bomb by deliberately hiding his expertise from the Nazis?
In his massive book Heisenberg's War: The Secret History of the German Bomb, Thomas Powers says that Heisenberg, who never became a Nazi and balked at the immorality of building a bomb for Hitler, did what he could to guide "the German atomic bomb…
user2237
36
votes
2 answers
Was climate a factor in the spread of Islam?
Pasted below is a google maps image that spans much of Europe, Asia and Africa. Note the lack of vegetation in a belt cutting across this image.
The question now is as follows. Why are the places with Islamic majority population highly correlated…
Rahul Madhavan
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When were 'time zones' (or at least time difference) discovered?
I wonder when was the concept equivalent to our modern 'time zones' discovered, or at least that the time at one place is not the same as everywhere else.
Meaning that people became aware of differences for 'local true high noon', or in other words…
Fredy31
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How common were marital duels in medieval Europe?
On social media, I came across a post claiming that in medieval Germany spouses could settle a divorce outside of court, civic or religious, through trial by combat! Naturally, I was shocked (the middle-ages just keep surprising me) and tried to do…
YokedSinger8062
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36
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2 answers
Did Aztecs know how many continents there are on earth?
I was leafing through an old French magazine, Historia, and read something that caught my attention. The author of a small article on Aztecs games mentionned a god, Xochipilli Macuilxochitl, who was crowned with five flowers. According to the…
atrefeu
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Why weren't pickled fruits and vegetables part of (European) rations during the Age of Sail?
Why were pickled fruits and vegetables not part of sailors' rations during the Age of Sail? This question is an extension of Cooking.SE:How is sauerkraut rich in vitamin C?
You do not need know or understand Vitamin C and scurvy to want to bring…
DKNguyen
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2 answers
How were drawbridges and portcullises used tactically?
How were drawbridges and portcullises used tactically?
I was recently asked why medieval castles would have both a drawbridge and a portcullis. After giving an explanation, I realized that it was just an assumption, and I had no sources for what I’d…
ConanTheGerbil
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When and why did the use of the lifespans of royalty to limit clauses in contracts come about?
I am in the process of attempting to buy a house in the UK; as it has stood for about a hundred years, the deeds feature some unusual clauses. For example, this conveyance from 1921:
(Subject to any necessary consent of the local authority) The…
Gray Taylor
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2 answers
Has there been a naval battle where a boarding attempt backfired?
In the War of 1812 battle between the USS Chesapeake and HMS Shannon, the Shannon outgunned the Chesapeake decisively, then closed to board the enemy ship. Hand-to-hand fighting ensued before the USS Chesapeake was taken.
Reading the account made me…
Allure
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3 answers
Why wasn't Monaco unified with France?
Why wasn't Monaco unified with the Kingdom/Republic of France during the unification? I understand France used to be a very decentralized kingdom with many areas ruled by vassal or smaller rulers, and as the King got more powerful, more area gets…
Louis Rhys
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36
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6 answers
What was the point of horse armour?
From my knowledge (and please correct me if I'm wrong), horse armour wasn't very thick (0.4mm-1.9mm) according to the paper in the link: How thick was late medieval horse armor?
Even without factoring in quality and tempering, wouldn't that mean…
BobSpongepantssquare
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6 answers
What was the reason for Soviet troops to withdraw from Yugoslavia in World War II?
For all these countries that the Red Army entered (Poland, Romania, part of Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary), the procedure was straightforward. Once the Soviets beat the Germans they become de facto occupants and could establish a government of…
kubanczyk
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36
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4 answers
What is the difference between the Ancient Greek religion and the Ancient Roman religion?
What is the difference between the Ancient Greek religion and the Ancient Roman religion?
My question is about, not cultural differences, but conceptual differences." Wikipedia doesn't compare them. I find no link on the internet making a critical…
Quidam
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What was the function of the walls of Jericho?
The walls of old Jericho have been dated to around 8000bc. This is thousands of years before the nascent civilisations of Babylon and Egypt built similar fortifications and thousands of years before organised warfare made such walls useful for…
Bob Tway
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What pretext did Hitler use to justify Operation Barbarossa?
At the beginning of WW2, Nazi Germany orchestrated the infamous Gleiwitz Incident, which was used by Hitler to publicly declare, that since 5:45 we are returning fire.
The invasion of Poland triggered the UK and France to declare war on Germany. The…
Dohn Joe
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