I wrote about the volcanic eruption that destroyed St Pierre, the largest settlement in the French Caribbean island of Martinique, in 1902 – killing all but two of the 30,000 people in the town – and explained what is known about the stories of the survivors.

The eruption was by a distance the biggest volcanic disaster of the 20th century, and – in terms of the number of people it is known to have directly and definitely killed – also in the top 3, at least, of all time, so I expected the question to attract some interest, but it seems to have passed almost everybody by.

I contributed to a thread requesting information about the evolution of germ theory: which discoveries were important, what tactics pro-germ theory advocates used to spread awareness, and how public perception changed in both physicians and the public.

Thanks to everyone for all the wonderful answers you've crafted! I've learned a great deal here.

Got a little delayed on this with the holiday weekend but...

/u/rhodis on "Who did Templar knights and Hospitaller knights fight after the Crusades?" and "In a Monastic Order like the Knights Templar, what was the ratio of combat personnel to lay personnel?"

/u/Valkine on "In the Hundred Years' War, the English won several major victories and managed to hold onto French land for over a century. What caused their ultimate defeat? At what point? Was there any real chance of continuing English control in France?"

/u/cdesmoulins on "How accurate is Scorsese’s “Silence” in its depiction of Catholic missionaries in Early Modern Japan?"