History
Exploring "Why" questions about History
491 articles
Why don’t rockets tip over when taking off?
A rocket has two different rotational centers. The center of mass is the point where the rocket balances. The is the point it would rotate around if it were in a vacuum, and as the fuel burns from the
why the American Civil War happened.
The Northern States and the Southern States had incompatible business models. The Northern states were opposed to slavery, an essential part of Southern agribusiness, but they were not willing to comp
Why didn’t African Americans and others displaced from slavery get their own state like Jewish people got Israel?
It did happen. You are describing Liberia. The country's very name reflects that it was a place where liberated (freed) people could live.
Why a group of people sounds loud even if every single person is speaking at a normal volume?
Because it is louder. At least some of the sounds create "constructive interference" resulting in the actual sound wave to your ear being louder than each individual voice.
Why does my inner shower curtain always insist on attacking me during my shower?
It is caused by both the Bernoulli effect and driven cavity. Driven cavity seems to be the largest effect. The water droplets falling from the shower head (because of gravity) cause aerodynamic drag o
Why does smacking an unresponsive remote control make it work?
Your remote control may have what's called an *intermittent contact* where some of the metal bits may no longer touch each other well enough to transmit electricity. Smacking it can make them touch be
Why is Walter White’s meth blue in breaking bad?
> Walt's methamphetamine becomes blue when he switches from pseudoephedrine reduction to reductive amination. **The blue color is apparently a plot device, introduced by the show's writers to make
Why does Google Drive default to 11 point Arial instead of 12 point Times New Roman
Probably to match Word, which uses 11 point Calibri as the default, which is pretty similar to Arial. 12 point Times New Roman hasn't been Microsoft's default for eight or nine years now.
Why the Winter War happened
Relations between Russia and Finland had been strained since WWI. Russia felt that Finland was weak, and that they would be able to easily seize a decent chunk of territory. Most of the rest of Europe
Why does British seem to be the go-to accent for movies/TV shows with fantasy/medieval themes?
High fantasy was largely codified by J.R.R. Tolkien's books set in Middle Earth. Much of the feel of it was set in a kind of medieval England or medieval Europe, and it borrows liberally from English