The Feed

Posted by /u/ArgentineBeauty

Nigeria has completed 23 solar mini-grids with UN development support, and they are now 100% operational, bringing electricity to 50,000 people across more than 20,000 households and powering rural businesses, schools, healthcare facilitie…

Posted by /u/yaymukund_

I read a thing that said South Indian languages (e.g. Tamil, Kannada, Telegu) have curved scripts because they were written on leaves and writing straight lines was more likely to tear the leaves. Is that true?

Posted by /u/FunYesterday4511

How did the Nazis identify Jews if they didn't the wear Star of David badge?

I know that during WW2, Jewish citizens were forced to wear identifiers on their clothing to show that they were Jewish. How did they (the Nazis) know which people were Jews and how did they enforce the wearing of the star? And if they refused to wear the star, how would anyone…

Posted by /u/bo-bebop

META: Historians of the Bronze Age/Mediterranean cultures, how are we enjoying this sudden influx of Odyssey-related questions?

What are people getting most wrong? Are there any questions that haven’t been asked you’d like to deep dive into? Any thoughts on the movie?

Posted by /u/hisholinessleoxiii

In shows like “The Gilded Age” or “Downton Abbey”, they sometimes say that men are staying/sleeping “at the club”. What kind of clubs were these?

Were they charitable/social organizations similar to the Elks Club today, or were they more like country clubs? Did members have assigned rooms, or did they just get an empty one? The way they describe it they always sounds like the club is a kind of hotel they can stay at on a…

Posted by /u/Mocha4040

When did the modern concept of staying hydrated develop?

I notice that even though I can extremely easily have access to clean fresh water, I often forget to drink water for hours until I start feeling bad. In the past, people didn't always have the same kind of easy access, didn't work in environments with clean water available etc.…

Posted by /u/morango_verde__

At what point in history could chicken nuggets realistically have been made?

I’m not asking when chicken nuggets were actually invented. Instead, I’m wondering when they could have been made if someone had come up with the idea. At what point in history did humanity already have all the necessary ingredients, tools, and culinary knowledge? For example, d…

Posted by /u/ArgentineBeauty

In 2013, Rachel Ikemeh saw Niger Delta forests devastated by oil spills and logging. She worked with local communities to create a 1000 hectare protected area that doubled the critically endangered red colobus monkey population, improved 2…

Posted by /u/ThatOneBLUScout

Did old engines get compared enough to horses to actually standardize "Horsepower" as a metric, or is there more of a story behind "Horsepower" becoming the standard metric for engines?

Horsepower is the standard for gauging engine power nowadays, but the term has always slightly felt a bit archaic, especially for modern engines. I don't know why I need to know that ~250 horses would be the equivalent of one engine nowadays, yet that is the standards, so I was…

Posted by /u/NeitherBarracuda

Giving up.

I think I am giving up on becoming catholic due to OCIA/RCIA scheduling conflicts. I am a young mom and my son is 18 months old. I work full time. I have called 7-8 parishes near me and they all have classes and required mass at times that do not work with my family's schedule.…

Posted by /u/WavesAndSaves

In 1699, the Christian Holy League defeated the Ottoman Empire in the Great Turkish War, a war sometimes called "The 14th Crusade". By the 1800s, European states were intervening in wars explicitly to aid the Ottomans. When did Islam and t…

Posted by /u/Daedric_Prince07

Rosary before Mass

I arrived at Mass about 20 minutes early to find the laity praying the rosary out loud with one person starting the Hail Mary while the rest of the people finished it and they did this for the entirety of the time before the Priest walked out. Is this a normal practice?