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1500 questions
33
votes
6 answers

Has women's suffrage ever decided an election?

I'm curious whether women's suffrage has ever changed the direction of an election. Polls often show differences between men and women, but they are often fairly highly correlated, so I wonder if women's suffrage has ever proved decisive in an…
adam.baker
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2 answers

What is the date and original source of this medieval picture?

While researching the history of chimneys, I came across this medieval image on two different sites, neither of which gives any details. Source: Dark Ages Project. The same picture can also be found here. Questions Can anyone put an approximate…
Lars Bosteen
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33
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2 answers

Did any British working class men have the vote before 1918?

I was watching the film Suffragette recently and she mentioned her husband having the vote. I thought he looked too poor to already have the vote, but this didn't look like a film to just ignore history. Ok the 1884 Reform Act introduced: all adult…
WendyG
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33
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2 answers

Why would graphite have been confused with lead?

I was reading the wikipedia page for pencil, and came across an interesting fact: Prior to 1565 (some sources say as early as 1500), a large deposit of graphite was discovered on the approach to Grey Knotts from the hamlet of Seathwaite in…
spacetyper
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33
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2 answers

When did Canada become truly independent?

I see that Canada became independent in 1867. But someone told me it wasn't truly independent until the 1980s. Is that true? In what sense is it true? I don't see anything about it in that article or in the See Also section.
canada
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33
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10 answers

Why did people have so many children in Victorian times?

I'm looking into my ancestry, and I found out that my great-great-grandfather, born in 1897, was one of fourteen children! Now I know that even for the period this is a large number of children to have, but not exceedingly so. Therefore, my question…
Charlie
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33
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7 answers

When did Germans begin to call themselves "Deutsche"?

Up to 1871, ancestors of today's Germans lived in different states. What did they call themselves in those times? What did Germans call themselves in the 18th century? Did they call themselves "Deutsche" or did they use names derived from names of…
AndrewV
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33
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4 answers

If the Ch’in dynasty was so short-lived, why was China named for it?

If the Ch’in dynasty was so short-lived, why was China named for it? The Ch’in Dynasty, which lasted for only 39 years, was China’s shortest-lived dynasty. (Compare that to the Shang’s 750 years, Chou’s 900 years, and Han’s 400+ years.) But China…
George A. Solodun
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33
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4 answers

Did people in China resort to cannibalism during the reign of Mao?

I have often heard and read this, but I wonder if credible sources can support these claims. I even heard stories of merchants selling human flesh and children under 12 sold to be eaten. I read about this in "comprendre le pouvoir" by Noam Chomsky…
Sami
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33
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12 answers

How to rebut Holocaust denial argument?

I came across a Holocaust denier who claims that there is a plaque outside Auschwitz which says that the Nazis murdered 1.5 million people there (mostly Jewish). However, the plaque used to say 4 million in the 1940's, then it was changed several…
Ovi
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33
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5 answers

Did pirates really drink a lot of rum?

In every movie, cartoon, comic or any other fictional sources I have read or watched that involves sea pirates, it is always shown that their favorite beverage is rum. I want to know why sea pirates are always associated with rum. Is it the truth…
GuruGulabKhatri
33
votes
3 answers

How did people deal with ice on the roads during the horse-and-buggy era?

Before there were cars, people traveled in a horse-drawn carriage, sometimes over cobble-stone covered roads. Back in those days, was anything done to keep the traveled roads free from ice or snow? Were accidents due to ice or snow relatively…
user10356
33
votes
4 answers

Were the living standards in Medieval Europe a lot worse than in the Muslim world?

This comment, tells us that during the dark age, the living conditions in Muslim world were considerably better than that of medieval Europe. Even it this was true for the people at the top, was it true for the "average" person?
Graviton
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33
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2 answers

Who, if any, in JFK's inner circle argued against the plans for the Bay of Pigs invasion?

Political discussions leading up to the Bay of Pigs invasion are a notorious example of 'groupthink' and the failure of a committee in coming to a well-informed decision. Accounts of the decision-making process of JFK's inner circle include poor…
Seth Rogers
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3 answers

Why did Saladin show kindness to Richard I?

Why did Saladin, when Richard the Lionhearted was sick with a fever, send him a gift of fruit? Or when Richard's horse was killed in battle, he sent a steed to be led to his camp?
Daniel
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