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In 642 CE a "last stand" took place at Nahavand in modern-day Iran, where the Sassanid army lost to the invading forces of the Rashidun Caliphate. After this defeat, the Sassanid king Yazdgerd III was never again able to muster the forces to seriously impede the Arab conquest of the rest of his...

A lot has been written about the philosophies of China (Taoism and Confucianism) but I have never seen much attention paid to the gods and goddesses of the Chinese pantheon. Were they conceived as entities to whom sacrifices or prayers were due, or were they just a cosmological backstory to...

If this drug had been approved, what is the conservative estimate of the amount of birth defects it would have caused in the US? How long would it likely have taken for Thalidomide to be confirmed as the agent responsible? Politically would there be a bipartisan determination to reform drug...

Suppose that the police are overwhelmed by the rioting paramilitary groups, leading to mass police casualties and the capture of the Chamber of Deputies. If a military junta then took control to reestablish "law and order", what constitutional and economic reforms could they force to be adopted...

As I understand it, Charles, Duke of Burgundy, was to be crowned king of his domains by the Holy Roman Emperor in 1473 at Trier, but the emperor fled in the night the day before the coronation was to have happened. If the coronation had actually occurred, what benefit would have been to Charles...

Is there really any best time for Islam to take root in Japan through the activities of missionaries, rather than conquerors? I can find almost nothing regarding proselytizing pre-20th century. From which nation or region would these missionaries come from, and which regions or historic notables...

Suppose another fascist party becomes the dominant power in Germany in the early 1930s in place of the Nazis. Like the Nazis these alt-fascists are both anti-semitic and anti-communist. Unlike the Nazis, however, they view Communism as the ultimate evil while Jews are merely considered...

Which South American company or institute do you think, with a POD no earlier than 1920, could become a tech incubator of the likes of Bell Labs or MIT? Bonus points if said incubator produces a substantial fraction (at least 30%) of CPUs for personal computers by 2000.

Suppose you are an ambitious Chinese immigrant living in America between 1860-1900. You are also a practitioner of TCM (traditional Chinese medicine) and have noticed the popularity of patent medicines and "health tonics" among white Americans. Which medicinal herbs would you likely choose for...