The Time Machine

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3:58 AM

Q: Why did the First and Second Industrial Revolutions start in Europe?

Why did the First and Second Industrial Revolutions start in Europe? Both revolutions were very similar, or at least they were connected. They weren't very far apart (1st: 1760 - 1860 | 2nd: 1870-1914) in terms of years, and revolutionized literally the world. Both had technological and scienti...

industrial-revolution

T.E.D.

4:25 AM

That was interesting. I got a new badge: Announcer.

The text is kind of confusing, but apparently...

As a bit of background, and I didn't know this, when you hit that "share link" button on a post, the mangled URL contains some UID-identifying information. Someone who knows the code could figure out who first shared a particular URL.

So the badge happens when 25 people follow a link to a specific post from outside the network (eg: somewhere like Facebook, Twitter, Slashdot, etc), and the link they used shows you were the one who generated that share link.

So I can know what post it was I was linking, but I haven't a clue where I shared it.

1 hour later…

The Historian

5:43 AM

Q: When was the 50 billionth human born?

I don't know if this question belongs precisely at History.SE, but I can't think of a more fitting alternative. I've heard the estimate several times that about 100 billion humans have existed throughout human history. (I guess this depends somewhat arbitrarily on when you start counting our anc...

prehistory anthropology population

3 hours later…

LаngLаngС

9:04 AM

@T.E.D. That's because it is a bug. Probably. On Apple alone I got I bagful yesterday. As that happened before and I saw others 'complaining' about such ehaviour, I guess they didn't fix that one?

1 hour later…

The Historian

10:32 AM

Q: Military weak but independent

Are there any good examples in history when a military weak country situated among some superpowers (like between USSR and Third Reich for instance) remained independent thanks to its cunning politics? Something like Terminus in Asimov's Foundation.

independence

sempaiscuba

10:59 AM

@T.E.D. @LаngLаngС The recent rash of those badges is because a bug was fixed. There's an answer on Meta:SE that explains more.

2 hours later…

LаngLаngС

1:21 PM

@sempaiscuba That may explain a lot of the recent rash. But there were at least two other such 'adjustments'. Frankly, I probably got >90% of those badges undeservedly. I remember perhaps posting three links to SE posts elsewhere. But never once did I use the 'share' button (plus all of this 'social' 'functionality' is blocked on my end, certainly on my personal machines and my SE browser…)

2 hours later…

The Historian

3:00 PM

Q: Was there ever a war between Slavs and Germanic tribes?

So is there a actually proven war between Slavs and Germanic tribes by archeology or some writings by Roman or Greeks? Sorry about grammar.

ancient-history war

1 hour later…

The Historian

4:23 PM

Q: What did ancient women in patriarchal societies think of patriarchy?

Are there any sources describing what women in ancient patriarchal societies (like Greece, Rome, etc.) thought about the patriarchy? I've heard of feminist movements throughout history; this Britannica article mentions women barricading a Forum in Rome to overturn a sexist law. But what did the a...

ancient-history cultural-history women

4 hours later…

The Historian

8:10 PM

Q: Was it common to address politicians by their first names / nicknames in the past?

To me, it seems like politicians are increasingly more frequently being called by their first name (Bernie, Hillary, Donald) or they're being reffered to in the name's more familiar form (Jo Swinson, Joe Biden). Is this just my feeling or was this truly less common in journalism in the past (say...