History Weekly Newsletter - Friday, November 28, 2014

History newsletter

Top new questions this week: Why didn't Hannibal attack Rome after the Battle of Cannae? Hannibal Barca defeated 8 Roman legions in the Battle of Cannae. At that time Carthage also had control over Hispania. Why did Hannibal not seize Rome at that time? ancient-history ancient-rome carthage punic-wars 3rd-century-bc   asked by Juan Antonio Gomez Moriano 17 votes answered by Semaphore 15 votes How long would the average sword last in the middle ages? Assuming normal wear and tear, how long before a knight had to replace his sword? military middle-ages europe sword   asked by John Meyer 11 votes answered by Mike L. 9 votes Identifying a ship in Sydney Harbour I am trying to identify the ship in this picture in order to date the photograph. The writing on the back says it is "Aquatania" (sic) but when I search for that name on the internet the Aquitania has ... 20th-century australia nautical   asked by Joanne Withnall 7 votes answered by T.E.D. 5 votes Why did Thomas Hendricks win the majority of Horace Greeley's electoral votes in 1872? In researching my answer to Can electors "flip the ticket?", I re-examined the results of the election of 1872. As stated in that answer, 1872 was an interesting election, not for the result (Grant ... united-states president election   asked by Affable Geek 6 votes What was the attitude of Brazil's government towards the Spanish Civil War? I suppose you could argue it's not uber-important what they thought about a war on another continent in which they had no direct stake, but all the other countries in Latin America couldn't afford to ... spanish-civil-war brazil   asked by Ne Mo 6 votes answered by kmlawson 4 votes How were 19th century American diplomats paid? I just came across this line in H.W. Brands' Andrew Jackson biography, explaining why Jackson was initially uninterested in the presidency: "The pay was good, but the expenses of the office ate up the ... united-states 19th-century diplomacy employment   asked by twosheds 6 votes answered by Semaphore 8 votes Can you identify the plane in the picture? Can you help identify this U.S. Air force four engine prop, numbered 2753. military aircraft identification   asked by Photolibrarian 6 votes answered by CGCampbell 6 votes Greatest hits from previous weeks: Why were Spain and Portugal neutral / not invaded in WWII? Why was not Spain and Portugal involved in World War II with either side? Was not Franco sympathetic with the Axis powers given the help they offered during the civil war? Also, given their ... ww2 spain portugal   asked by The Byzantine 14 votes answered by Tom Au 7 votes Why have officers in the U.S. army tended to "top out" at the level of Major? In the U.S. army, something like 75%-80% of newly-commissioned Second Lieutenants are promoted to First Lieutenant (around age 25), perhaps 75%-80% of First Lieutenants are promoted to Captain (ages ... united-states military   asked by Tom Au 10 votes answered by choster 10 votes Can you answer these? Did MacArthur ever consider ordering Wainwright's troops to fight an insurgency war, rather than surrendering? The American surrender of Wainwright's and Sharp's forces in the Philippines, during World War II, was the largest surrender of troops under the US flag in the history of the country. Reports at the ... ww2 warfare   asked by Bruce James 3 votes What was the congressional level of support for Emancipation Proclamation? Wikipedia covers pretty extensively the political details surrounding the 13th Amendment, including difficulties in passing it in the House. However, it doesn't note what the level of Congressional ... american-civil-war us-congress   asked by DVK 6 votes Other examples of Enclave created for protection of a Mixed Race McCluskieganj/McCluskiegunj was a town created out of several villages to secure a place for Anglo-Indians. Disambiguation: By Anglo-Indians I mean it in the way it has been used since the Indian ... 20th-century india race community   asked by Rajib 3 votes

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