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30
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5 answers
Biggest successful secret project in history?
Many conspiracy theories rely on a powerful organisation (government agencies, secret societies, etc.) hiding the truth from public view. A prime example are alien conspiracies.
To the known record, what is the biggest secret project that was…
Rexcirus
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3 answers
Why were Royal Navy ships forbidden to attack the ARA Veinticinco de Mayo in Argentinian waters?
I watched this video on the British hunt for the Argentinian aircraft carrier ARA Veinticinco de Mayo, during the Falklands war.
Involved, among other ships, was the Royal Navy nuclear submarine HMS Splendid. The narrator relates that the carrier…
fgysin
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30
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2 answers
Why did Persia adopt the movable-type printing so late?
According to Iranica, the first books in Persian characters were published in Leiden in 1639, almost 200 years after Gutenberg's invention, and in Asia it was used even before that.
Given that Persia was quite advanced in sciences and literature and…
Yulia V
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30
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1 answer
In what way were Renaissance battles like chess matches?
I have been reading Ross King's Brunelleschi's Dome: The Story of the Great Cathedral in Florence. Although the book is well documented, it has an astonishing passage for which the author provides no source. The context is a war between Florence and…
José Carlos Santos
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30
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1 answer
What were the logistics of whaling in the 1800s?
I have read Moby Dick, and watched "In The Heart of The Sea". It's absolutely fascinating but what I can't figure out is the logistics of whaling in the 1800s.
In the movie I mentioned, you see them on the deck of their ship with their slain whale,…
Duke Leto
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30
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7 answers
Is this depiction of command hierarchy, with the chain of command standing next to each other, historically accurate?
Screenshot's from 1:08:19. I transcribe:
2: Order the 58th to withdraw.
1 to 3: Fraser, order the 58th to withdraw.
3: Yes sir.
I don't understand this command hierachy:
Similarly, an officer is usually expected to give orders only to his or her…
user8309
30
votes
5 answers
What is the object moving across the ceiling in this stock footage?
It's a large cuboid box, looks to be around 2 feet by 1 by 1, tapered/bevelled at the edges, moving across an office ceiling at roughly 1 metre per second on a rail. The narration accompanying the footage talks about federal investigators looking…
ledge
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30
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10 answers
Why was Germany not as successful as other Europeans in establishing overseas colonies?
French, British, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch.. they all had vast outreach across the globe on multiple continents.
Why did Germans not have this much outreach?
Samid
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30
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3 answers
Why does a Star of David appear at a rally with Francisco Franco?
In this web page, a photo from a repertory of photos from the Spanish Civil War, at the website of the archive of Italian Istituto Luce, shows a rally with Francisco Franco within a theatre. From the balconies several flags hang, among which are the…
DaG
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30
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6 answers
What are the text and subtext of this 1949 Soviet cartoon?
Over on Wikipedia, we find this cover from the March 1949 issue of Soviet satire mag Krokodil:
The person who uploaded it to Wikipedia captioned it "Antisemitic caricature of rootless cosmopolitan." On the talk page, someone asks:
How is this…
Quuxplusone
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30
votes
2 answers
Were Egyptian Pharaohs literate?
This video says scribes read letters to the king as the king was not literate. Can anyone comment on this
Hao S
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30
votes
3 answers
Why weren't army snipers used at the Munich massacre?
I was reading about the history of the GSG 9 and found the following statement on Wikipedia:
"Police did not have a specialized tactical sniper team at that time.
The army had snipers, but the German Constitution did not allow the
use of…
physicss
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2 answers
Was a passport needed to travel between UK and France in 1972?
In Hitchcock's 1972 film Frenzy (at about the time 00:54:55) a character says: We can get a day trip to France. You don't need a passport. (He is a commoner, no diplomatic status etc, in fact a fugitive from justice, unjustly accused...)
I think…
user8690
30
votes
2 answers
Why did early attempts to transport milk to London by rail meet with 'much criticism'?
According to the Wikipedia article on milk (referring to transporting milk to London by rail),
The Great Western Railway was an early and enthusiastic adopter, and
began to transport milk into London from Maidenhead in 1860, despite
much…
Lars Bosteen
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30
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3 answers
Did the Persian Immortals instill fear in their Greek adversaries?
The Persian Immortals were an elite combat unit during the First Persian Empire, also known as the Achaemenid Empire.
They were known for being at ten thousand strong at all times for which they actually seemed to be technically immortal.
From Hdt.…
The Sardaukar Knight
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