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I'm working on a fiction set in 1835, and no website I can find will give me an easy-to-reference list of what's common, what's still being adopted, and what major things haven't been invented yet. I don't need a detailed breakdown of every single thing, just enough to make it not break verisimilitude if I describe a town corner or a rail hub.

Since I'm having no luck finding a website that suits my purposes, I'm considering posting a question on StackExchange. Worldbuilding was my first thought, but on further reflection, I wondered if it might be History, since I'm not asking anyone to help me with any "building" so much as just tell me what pieces I should have available to build with. Can you help me narrow it down?

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Perhaps I am misreading what you're trying to achieve, but questions about "what happened/didn't happen in real history at time X" squarely and completely belong on History.SE

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    $\begingroup$ Isn't, Tell me everything that's happened up until now, an infinite list question? Wouldn't, What tech can't I have in a 1800's setting? be acceptable, here? $\endgroup$
    – Mazura
    Jul 18, 2015 at 18:36
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    $\begingroup$ @Mazura "What tech can't I have in a 1800's setting?" is just a paraphrasing of "List all the technological advances up until the 1800's", which is NOT acceptable here. $\endgroup$
    – Aify
    Jul 20, 2015 at 16:47
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I would say that Worldbuilding isn't quite right, because you're asking a question about the real world. I recently saw a comment about that in a question that was being put on hold. It was along the lines of

I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it is about the real world. We deal with hypothetical worlds here.

I want to attribute this to TimB, but I'm not precisely sure.

You can ask questions about alternate Earths here, sure, and you can ask questions about generic settings, like a generic medieval setting. But asking for the kind of things you're asking about seems to be off-topic. Just by a hair. Perhaps it could be changed to be good, in which case I'd love to see it. (You could try the Sandbox).

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    $\begingroup$ I think in light of your answer I'll probably take to History and see if they can help me. It IS a fictional world, but the question itself is about the real world, because I want to use the real world as a skeleton to build the fiction around. (I'm skinning FATE to run Supernatural around the Halley's Comet / Samuel Colt timeline.) $\endgroup$
    – gatherer818
    Jul 15, 2015 at 23:57
  • $\begingroup$ @gatherer818 Now that I learn more, I kind of wish that we could have it, or a version of it. . . I still think it's off topic for Worldbuilding, though. $\endgroup$
    – HDE 226868 Mod
    Jul 15, 2015 at 23:59
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    $\begingroup$ @HDE I think that's my comment you're thinking of, actually. Here. The exact comment I wrote was: "If you are looking simply for historical fact, then History might be a better fit for your question. We deal with the hypothetical, here. :-) Flag if you want it migrated." $\endgroup$
    – user
    Jul 16, 2015 at 8:38
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I think this should have already been asked, answered and tagged reference. With an extensive community answer, listing the most important technological advances in a bulleted time line (with every century being a header), for all those 'Earth like' questions.

The setting is 1700 AD? No penicillin yet (1897). Steel? not on an industrial level (1856). Definitely no digital electronics (1947).

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