It doesn't rain dirt from the sky, so how do ancient buildings get covered in dirt only to be dug up by archaeologists centuries later?
posted by almostwitty
on Mar 22, 2013 -
20 answers
In 2008, due to some personal problems, I closed out a Facebook account I was using at the time. I have since been accused of saying things via that Facebook account that I don't quite believe I would have said.
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posted by Infinity_8
on Mar 16, 2013 -
25 answers
I'm trying to find out how to find out when a particular item was added to the California Penal Code. In this particular case I'm interested in 12028.5, but I'd like to understand how to find such information in the future.
posted by Tell Me No Lies
on Mar 12, 2013 -
3 answers
Help me with my ten year old sons school project !
I'd like to find people - as well known as possible - to whom the adage "power tends to corrupt, absolute power corrupts absolutely" .
So an ideal example would be someone who started off with good intentions and then on gaining power started behaving poorly . Also ideally once they'd turned nasty their actions would not be so despicable that you wouldn't mind explaining them to a ten year old
Thanks
posted by southof40
on Mar 9, 2013 -
38 answers
Can you recommend a good chess book with as much history, context, stories, and culture as strategy?
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posted by suprenant
on Feb 27, 2013 -
10 answers
Can you recommend a good book on papal history that is solid on facts and theology, honest about blemishes, but doesn't revel in scandal? Oh, and I hope I can find it in a Kindle version.
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posted by OrangeDisk
on Feb 26, 2013 -
6 answers
Can anyone give me a original source for this (almost certainly garbled) quote?
"History is divided into two roughly equal parts -- that which probably never happened and that which doesn't matter much anyway". [more inside]
posted by unSane
on Feb 19, 2013 -
2 answers
I'm finishing up The Guns of August, by Barbara Tuchman, and while it's a really good read, it does what it says, and covers the beginning of the war. I'm interested in other books on WW1. What do you recommend? I'd like to read both a good, solid overview of the whole war, then maybe later read more in-depth books on certain parts or phases of the war.
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posted by Ghidorah
on Jan 12, 2013 -
23 answers
Does such thing as an early web emulator exist? My 12 year-old stepson is learning HTML and CSS, and today I was trying to describe the web of yesteryear (for me, c. 1995-96). I'd love to show some visual aids. I have googled to no avail.
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posted by allisonrae
on Dec 13, 2012 -
17 answers
Looking for good, critical books and resources on martial arts and fighting. I prefer them to be academic enough to have survived peer review, but will take what I can get. Anything martial arts related would do, I'm interested in understanding martial arts and fighting in a more general sense.
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posted by Stagger Lee
on Dec 8, 2012 -
10 answers
Does anyone know of any good documentary films about Seattle history? I'm interested in its founding up to the 90s. Not looking for stuff about grunge. Would love it if there were something in a Ken Burns, but I don't expect miracles. Thanks!
posted by letstrythis
on Nov 2, 2012 -
9 answers
30 years ago, next week, my daughter was born. I need a soundtrack for an early life slideshow I have made.
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posted by unliteral
on Oct 21, 2012 -
5 answers
Is there any familial or other relationship between Ioannis Metaxas (the Greek dictator) and the maker of Metaxa, a Greek liquor used in sidecars?
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posted by Blazecock Pileon
on Oct 15, 2012 -
1 answer
Machine for recording research path, pre computer-age? Library books on a waterwheel device? Please point me to the right web page...
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posted by Speculatist
on Oct 13, 2012 -
11 answers
Early next year, I will have a lot of down time in or near places that were visited by the ancient Romans and Greeks. I am a moderate history and language nerd. If I want to read ancient source material related to some of the places I will be visiting, what language should I learn - Latin or Ancient Greek?
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posted by par court
on Sep 25, 2012 -
19 answers
Please help me find examples of athletes who did something completely counterintuitive in terms of the sport (so seemingly wrong) and won because of it. I'm especially looking for those moments that have been captured on video.
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posted by brynnwood
on Sep 13, 2012 -
53 answers
What are your favorite US/World/European history books to re-educate a woefully forgetful 23-year-old mind?
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posted by wintersonata9
on Aug 22, 2012 -
25 answers
Care to recommend some in-depth documentaries (and books, or anything online) about World War One?
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posted by nfg
on Aug 14, 2012 -
10 answers
I've recently been watching Twin Peaks again, and I've been wondering... to people who actually watched it air in its original run, what was it like seeing something like this on TV? Did you have watching parties that I've heard so much about? Was the reveal of the killer and the twists and turns along the way surprising? Did you watch until the end of the second season, and were you disappointed when it got the plug pulled on it?
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posted by codacorolla
on Aug 3, 2012 -
66 answers
What are some things that most scientists once suspected to be true that most scientists today know to be false?
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posted by Lownotes
on Jun 9, 2012 -
32 answers
I'm trying to find information on a half remembered law about movie theaters and the movies they're allowed to show.
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posted by zoo
on Jun 3, 2012 -
1 answer
What are the best small local-history/culture magazines or publications in North America?
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posted by Shepherd
on Jun 1, 2012 -
11 answers
I am looking for book recommendations that might be suitable to read aloud to an elderly man who served six years in WWII as a Marine, he has dementia, but has some very alert periods of time. He loves war movies (and MASH), and is still very much interested in the war.
posted by nanook
on May 18, 2012 -
24 answers
I'm researching ancient Egypt for a Middle Grade book, and I'd love to find an expert or two whose brains I can pick.
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posted by Guy_Inamonkeysuit
on May 10, 2012 -
2 answers
I'm looking for something like game of thrones, but real. Epic, sweeping historical fiction with complex stories, political intrigue, backstabbing, and moral ambiguity.
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posted by Green Winnebago
on May 3, 2012 -
53 answers
How much did long distance telephone calls cost in the late 1970s and early 1980s? I'm mainly interested in hearing about rates for the USA but data from other countries would be welcome as well.
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posted by jason's_planet
on Mar 31, 2012 -
21 answers
Historical brain fart -- help me remember the name of this English custom!!
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posted by mibo
on Mar 24, 2012 -
5 answers
How many soldiers (if any?) survived the entirety of the fighting of either the western or eastern front of World War I?
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posted by curious nu
on Mar 23, 2012 -
9 answers
Does anyone know the history of mining towns and/or horse ranching in the Rocky Mountains, or where to go to research it?
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posted by trollnystan
on Mar 11, 2012 -
17 answers
I want to draw my friend a "Beware the Ides of March" greeting card. Please help me compose an epic depiction of this event that will fit in a 3" x 5" canvas.
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posted by baniak
on Mar 9, 2012 -
12 answers
Help me find resources for elementary age children regarding the modern Native American experience.
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posted by RajahKing
on Feb 27, 2012 -
13 answers
Are there any good novels that use Greek trade in or around the 6th c. BC as a way of exploring ancient cultures? Also, how far did Greeks travel during that time? Did they make into India? To the British Isles?
posted by jwhite1979
on Feb 20, 2012 -
17 answers
Recently, I found out that a now deceased family member worked at a 'gay hotel' in Provincetown MA in the 1940's. I'm trying to find out more about what 'gay hotels' were like in Provincetown, and just generally more about gay life in Cape Cod during that time. Can someone point me toward some good resources? I'm particularly interested in the sexual identities of the men who lived and stayed in Provincetown.
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posted by shushufindi
on Feb 17, 2012 -
5 answers
