What did Mussolini think of Spaghetti?

When would the first computer be open to the public for study/viewing?

When and why did the tradition of identifying the solstices and equinoxes as the "official first day" of the seasons come about? (E.g. Dec. 21 as the first day of winter, March 21 as the first day of spring and so on.)

Have any notable wars ever been commenced with the aggressor not even bothering to offer any sort of casus belli, no matter how flimsy, phony, ginned up, or transparent?

In documents(telegraphs, birth certificates) from the 1920s the fourth digit of the date is often struck out with a dash (eg. 31/7/192-) why is this done?

Could the Anglo-Saxons communicate directly with the Danes and other Norse invaders without interpreters?

What are some previously believed theories for the fall of the Khmer empire that have since been counted out and replaced with more plausible theories?

Prior to the modern era, were there any attempts to intentionally drive any species of plant/animal to extinction? I know there have been some more recently like the Four Pests campaign of the Great Leap Forward which tried to eliminate rats, flies, mosquitoes, and sparrows, but I am curious what earlier examples might exist.

Did Napoleon III have a dinnerware set made from Aluminum?

I thought I saw the set on r/ArtefactPorn a while ago but can't find it again.

I know that aluminum used to be more valuable than gold for a short while with a Danish King having a parade helmet made of aluminum and the top of the Washington monument tiped with an aluminum cap.

When I Google it now, I get pop articles about the set but with no pictures and no sources.

Is there a period in Europe similar to the Three Kingdoms in Chinese history?

Features:

They are divided by the same country

Two countries united against one powerful country

I had a question about how women would be addressed in speech during late-Medieval/early Renaissance France, particularly the 15th Century, and was suggested by r/MedievalHistory to ask it here.

Based on what my Google Fu has led me to so far, the terms Madam (the form Madame not appearing for another century or two) and Mademoiselle had both come into use by around the 12th-14th Centuries, however they didn't develop their modern usage until about the 17th Century, at which point they were applied regardless of class and specifically denoted the age and marital status of the woman.

I just wanted to clarify how exactly they would have been used during this earlier period.

According to etymonline.com, Mademoiselle applied to a woman without rank, irrespective of her marital status. Madam was specifically used to address women of rank or authority.

Where I'm unclear is the part about it being used to address women "of rank or authority," which doesn't necessarily equate to nobility.

Let's say, for example, I have two women who are servants. Both being commoners, that should mean they would both be addressed as Mademoiselle by the Lord, Lady, or other members of the household. But, if one woman is of higher rank than the other, (say, a scullery maid addressing the Housekeeper) would the inferior refer to the other as Madam, since she holds a position of authority over her, even though they are both of the same social class?

In which case, it would work much like English Sirrah, Sir, and Sire, with different forms of address used depending on the hierarchy of the speaker and addressee (IE, calling your superior Sire, your equal Sir, and your inferior — or one of the other two you simply want to insult — Sirrah).

Would this be correct?

In the battle of cannae, where or how exactly did Hannibal hide the two columns of Libyan infantry that ultimately flanked each side of the Roman infantry. Wouldn’t the Romans have engaged them too initially? It seems implausible that they just stood around eating popcorn from the sidelines until Hannibal gave a signal.

Was the Browning Auto-5 semi-automatic shotgun used in the First World War by uniformed combat forces?
If not, was it used by militias or other civilian fighters?

Was the Berlin Wall really put up overnight? How much notice did people have beforehand? Who did the maintenance on the wall over the years, if any?

What is the earliest Audio Recording we have of Hitler giving a speech? What about other NS leaders like Joseph Goebbels?

According to Wikipedia, the only place outside what is now the United States that George Washington ever visited is Barbados.

Did George Washington really never go to Canada?

How many people have have ever been killed in battle in Normandy in history?

And additionally, which place is likely to have seen the most people die in battle in history?

What was a thaler worth in Prussia in 1824? What could you buy with 1 thaler? What could you buy with 30 thalers?

Reading a lot of military history it seems a lot of battles is about encirclement of the enemy. I'm wondering can this be applied to naval battle as well? Has there been any naval battle in history where the tactic was focused on encirclement of the enemy?

Could the romans have built a bridge over the straight of dover?

Hey everyone, I'm from Germany and was just wondering which germanic tribe settled where I live today. I'm living near the city of Hannover.

Is the story of the French Balloon Duel in 1808 true?

I've found many articles on the internet describing the story of a duel between two Frenchmen, Monsieur de Grandpré and Monsieur le Pique, who decided to settle a dispute over a lover by having a balloon duel. The commonly cited sources for this story are an article written 55 years after the fact (“A Balloon Duel,” in Buckingham Advertiser and Free Press, 25 April 1863, p. 2.) and The Book Of Days, by Robert Chalmers, published 1863, page 809 of volume 1.