texts: Did Hamilton really send Burr an "itemised list of thirty years of disagreements"?

texts:
In the production of Hamilton, during the song "Your Obedient Servant", which imagines the conversation between Aaron Burr and Hamilton shortly before their duel, the following exchange happens:

[HAMILTON]
I am not the reason no one trusts you
No one knows what you believe
I will not equivocate on my opinion
I have always worn it on my sleeve
Even if I said what you think I said
You would need to cite a more specific grievance
Here’s an itemized list of thirty years of disagreements
[BURR]
Sweet Jesus

Is this just a throwaway line from the show, or did Hamilton really write such a list?


texts: Did the Third Rome theory help make Michael Romanov tsar?

texts:
Rome fell apart as the Middle Ages began, and Constantinople, the "Second Rome", was conquered as they ended. Afterwards, a famous religious argument or school of thought in Russia maintained that Moscow was a "Third Rome" (Третий Рим). The clergy had a particular interest in the matter of the Romes because their autocephaly was tied up in the temporary Moscow–Constantinople schism.

In 1613 a parliament representing nobility, clergy, and commoners, selected the sixteen year old heir Michael Romanov (Михаил Романов) as tsar of Russia. His surname came from an ancestor who was the son of Roman. Before you ask, yes, the given name Roman does mean "Roman". The Romanov dynasty ruled into the twentieth century.

Despite the different ways Рим and Романов entered the Russian language, they are clearly related.  Was it a factor in that 1613 election that the name Romanov evokes the Third Rome theory?


texts: Why do the Japanese sing Ode to Joy during the Japanese New Year?

texts:
During the New Years days, the Japanese have a curious custom where they perform Beethoven's 9th symphony. This has produced some stunning sights on youtube

But there's nothing particularly festive or New Year like with this music. How did this tradition come about?


texts: Were British parliamentary seats really advertised in newspapers?

texts:
I have this vague recollection of reading about actual ads in newspapers selling seats in the British parliament (18th or 19th century pocket/rotten boroughs)

Did they actually have ads in newspapers? If so when did this stop? Has anyone got an actual reference or link to such an ad?


texts:
How did Bligh navigate during his open boat voyage after losing The Bounty?

Did any of the men have previous experience in these areas? What did he have at his disposal to aid in navigation?


texts: What limits historiographically valid hermeneutics of exegesis in relation to theories of action or agents?

texts:
Hermeneutics is the field of the problem of reading dubious documents and document sets; Figuring out what actually happened.

Exegesis is the act of producing a reading in a non divinely inspired manner based on close documentary analyses; Telling an honest story of the past as it was.

(Exegesis’ comparator is eisegesis. Eisegesis relies on Gods’ inspiration to reveal how to correctly read. Outside of the proclamations of saints and prophets, eisegesis is normally a term of derision for a reading of texts which bends texts to serve meaning. Exegesis is meant to bend meaning to serve the texts that have been read.)

Historians are deeply interested in questions of “who” did what? In more theoretical terms, who is a social agent? Are individuals? Are institutions? Are social classes? Vibes? Cultures? Nations? Races? Gods? Monsters? Plate techtonics? The stars? Some of these are considered valid agents, others invalid. How do historians differentiate valid from invalid when reading documents to write about who did what?

Historians are deeply interested in the question of who “did what?” In more theoretical terms what is the process of causation of happenstance?  Why do things happen and how?  Geography? Class conflict? Chance? Divine action? Predestination? Heroic individual exertion? Press of bureaucracy? Planning and reserves to overcome Murphy? A total chaos? Some of these are considered valid theories of causation, others invalid. How do historians differentiate valid from invalid when reading documents to write about who did what?

As examples: Herbert Butterfield (1931) The Whig Interpretation of History; Herbert Spencer (1896) The Study of Sociology.


texts: Being a North American country and aligned, by and large with US??


texts: Pre civil-war, did the north ever make any attempts to stop the underground railroad?

texts: Did Northern authorities before the Civil War make any attempts to enforce the Fugitive Slave Act and/or stop the Underground Railroad?


texts: What is the source for the Middle age tale, "Falling off a church and surviving by falling on someone"?

texts:
I'm looking for the original story of a tale I've been told years ago back in high school by my history teacher.
A worker in France was working on a church and lost his balance and fell. He landed on an aristocrat and survived. The aristocrat died instantly. The family of the aristocrat demanded reparations, but it was judged an Act of God and if the family wanted reparations they were given the option to jump from the same church with the worker standing below it. Nobody wanted reparations after that.
If you recognize this story, could you refer me to the source material?


texts: Is there any estimate for expected life of 'ordinary' or 'poor' people in middle ages after surviving infancy?

texts:
I tried to do my own research on this and according to paper I found:

Life expectancy at birth was a brief 25 years during the Roman Empire, it reached 33 years by the Middle Ages and raised up to 55 years in the early 1900s.1 In the Middle Ages, the average life span of males born in landholding families in England was 31.3 years and the biggest danger was surviving childhood.2 Once children reached the age of 10, their life expectancy was 32.2 years, and for those who survived to 25, the remaining life expectancy was 23.3 years. Such estimates reflected the life expectancy of adult males from the higher ranks of English society in the Middle Ages.

But the estimates above are based on historical records from 'rich' people (clergy/nobility) and this is the case also in other papers references mentioned. I understand that there are likely no good records for poor people, but can we make some estimates based on archeology? For example, can it be argued it was substantially lower or perhaps even higher (nobility might suffer from close marital relations (inbreeding) or overindulgence (obesity))?
Also I am mainly interested in knowing life expectancy once children reached certain age (for example above age of 10) because I know the child mortality was very high which can skew results a lot.


texts:
What is/are the central idea(s) underlying the Southern Manifesto of 1956?  Is it a concern with local autonomy vs. federal power?  Is it racism?

I have found out that it repudiated the Supreme Court decision and offered support to the campaign of resistance then gaining force throughout the South. I also found out that it is federal power. I just don't understand in full detail why, and what the main idea is.


texts:
Were there violence before July 3 and July 4 during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests? I heard the protests were peaceful, but I learned recently that there were a lot of soldiers who got injured, so I was wondering if outside of Beijing before July 3 and July 4, and if there were violent protest and soldiers injured before July 3 and July 4. I've read a lot of conflicting views and testimonies so I am trying to understand exactly what happened.

Here are some of them:

https://search.wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/89BEIJING18828_a.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chai_Ling

Footage from a documentary titled The Gate of Heavenly Peace shows viewers parts of an interview between Chai and reporter Philip Cunningham from May 28, 1989, a week prior to the Tiananmen Square Incident. In the footage, Chai makes the following statements:

  All along I've kept it to myself, because being Chinese I felt I
  shouldn't bad-mouth the Chinese. But I can't help thinking sometimes –
  and I might as well say it – you, the Chinese, you are not worth my
  struggle! You are not worth my sacrifice!

  What we actually are hoping for is bloodshed, the moment when the
  government is ready to brazenly butcher the people. Only when the
  Square is awash with blood will the people of China open their eyes.
  Only then will they really be united. But how can I explain any of
  this to my fellow students?

  "And what is truly sad is that some students, and famous
  well-connected people, are working hard to help the government, to
  prevent it from taking such measures. For the sake of their selfish
  interests and their private dealings they are trying to cause our
  movement to disintegrate and get us out of the Square before the
  government becomes so desperate that it takes action....

  Interviewer: "Are you going to stay in the Square yourself?

  Chai Ling: "No."

  Interviewer: "Why?"

  Chai Ling: "Because my situation is different. My name is on the
  government's blacklist. I'm not going to be destroyed by this
  government. I want to live. Anyway, that's how I feel about it. I
  don't know if people will say I'm selfish. I believe that people have
  to continue the work I have started. A democracy movement can't
  succeed with only one person. I hope you don't report what I've just
  said for the time being, okay?"

Something makes me wonder if people caused violence in Tiananmen Square, in Beijing or around Beijing before July 3 and July 4. However, because I don't have the timeline sorted out after reading the article on the protest on Wikipedia, I would like to ask the people here.


texts: Where did the names of these Tyrian kings come from?

texts:
Wikipedia gives a whole list of the kings of Tyre and basically cites as its source Josephus Against Apion, Book I, §18) in the name of Menander of Ephesus, a historian who wrote about Tyrian history (see here). However, if you look at Josephus' work, he only lists the kings from Abibaal to Pygmalion, but not the kings before or after that.

So my question is what is the source for the names of all the other kings mentioned on that Wikipedia page such as Baal-Termeg/Baalat-Remeg, Pummayy (before Josephus' account) and Yakinbaal (after Josephus). Are they attested to in other archeological inscriptions or is there some other historian who also wrote a king's list of Tyrian kings?


texts: I know that Peter is the first Pope, but I do believe that he is called a bishop and is one of several including the Bishops of Constantinople, Jerusalem, Alexandria, and others. Who was the first Pope to call himself by that name? Was it Leo who increased Papal power or someone else?


texts: What is the origin of white mourning clothes in African-American culture?

texts:
I've noticed that in pictures from the funerals of George Floyd and Rayshard Brooks, a large number of attendees are wearing white. I've found a few resources online that suggest this is a specifically African-American tradition, but I'd like to know about its origins and the reasons behind it. Where did this tradition originate?
Some of my sources:
Forum post
Rayshard Brooks's funeral (in the photos of his family, not of the pallbearers)
George Floyd's funeral
I have also found mentions in the "Encyclopedia of Cross-cultural Psychology" but I'm having trouble pulling it up on mobile and will add it when I can later.


texts: How did Islam spread before the invention of the printing press?

texts:
Before the invention of the printing press the Koran must have been quite rare and not a lot of people must have read it.

If so, how did Islam spread so wide. Today most Muslims would, presumably, say that the Koran is one of the most important aspects of the faith and that one would have to read and take literally every sentence.

Between the death of Muhammad and  the invention of the printing press, was about 800 years.

Were there simply a lot of illiterate tribes people calling themselves Muslims but without having much knowledge of what Islam was all about?

About what year was it that most Muslims had a personal copy of the Koran that they could read every day?


texts: Is there a meaning in a name marked on the rear of a headstone rather than the front?

texts: I have found a family headstone with the names of the deceased on the front (with many details), and a military cross (for their son) in front of the stone.  On the rear of the stone is a name and age, but no years.  If the person on the rear is who I believe it to be, they would have pre-deceased their parents (who are on the front of the stone) by many years.  I wonder if there is some significance to carving a name in the rear rather than the front?


texts: I'm trying to find a primary source (or some historical authentication) for John Quincy Adams' Toledo War quote.

texts:
"Never in the course of my life have I known a controversy of which all the right was so clearly on one side and all the power so overwhelmingly on the other."

John Quincy Adams is widely credited to have said this regarding Ohio's claim of the Toledo Strip from the Michigan Territory. However, I do not know where or by which medium he said it. Letter? Speech? Editorial?


texts: What race were the invading Turkish armies of Anatolia?

texts:
I only ask because the vast majority of Turkey speaks an Altaic language, but they look completely different from Turkic-language speakers in Central Asia, i.e. Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Altai Republic, Tuva, etc.

It has been said that the marauding Turkish invaders were few in numbers, so it is suspected that they could have looked like the Central Asians of today, but were too few to make any genetic impact, although powerful enough to replace the local language and religion.


texts: Which were the four villages in Attica affected by Cleisthenes' reforms? What happened to them?

texts:
Cleisthenes reformed the Athenian society and the Athenian politics. He organized the Athenian society into 10 artificial tribes, and further divided them into thirds.

I am told that earlier, there were four villages in Northern Attica which traditionally used to function as a united entity in Athenian politics. However, Cleisthenes' reforms made 3 of them go into one of the groups, and the fourth one into another. This was given as an example of how the system divided traditional unities and alliances.

My question is that what were these four villages? What happened to them after the reforms? Were there any protests by members of these villagers to maintain the status quo? In general, any more information about these villages would be helpful.


texts: How did the Swedish army deal with prisoners of war in the Thirty Years War?

texts:
Researching for this answer to another question I found the martial law and "Articulsbrief" (norms for the mercenary soldiers) of Sweden after the reform of the military of King Gustav II Adolf (1611-1632) in a German print of 1632.
In this law there are rules regarding prisoners of war (tit. XIX, §§ 87 ff.; copied exactly from original incl. ortography):

Da vom Feind gefangene eingebracht worden / soll niemand weder hohe noch nidere Officirer / noch die RegimentsProfosen / dieselben uber 36. Stund bey sich behalten / viel weniger ohn unser Vorwissen und Bewilligung loß lassen / sondern dem General-Gewaltiger / oder in dessen Abwesenheit / seinem Leutnant zur Verwahrung uberantworten / es were dann von Uns oder unserem FeldMarschallen ein anderes befohlen.

Alle Gefangene sollen Uns zuvor repräsentirt / und zuhanden gestellet werdern / seind nun etliche Qualificirte darunder / so Wir zubehalten gesonnen / darvon wollen Wir / nach derselben Stand und Condition / eine gebürliche Recompens geben: Die anderen aber / sollen Unsere Soldaten behalten / und deren Rantzionen / die doch allwege mit Unserem und deß FeldMarschallen Vorbewust und Zulassung / bey vermeydung Leibs und Lebens straff geschehen sollen / geniessen.

So soll auch keiner dem andern seine Gefangene unnd gewonnene Leuth mit Gewalt nemmen / oder sonsten entfrembden / sondern sollen sich deß ihrer Irr[?]ungen halber / so deßwegen zwischen ihnen vorlauffen möchten / durch die Obersten und derselben Rittmeister erledigen und entscheiden lassen. In Verweigerung dessen / sollen dem so Gewallt geschehen / die abgenommene Leuth restituiret / und der Gewaltverubet hat / darumb gebürlich gestrafft werden.

My bad translation:

When prisoners of the enemy are made, no one - neither high nor low ranked officers and not the provosts of the regiment [Regimentsprofosen] - shall keep them more than 36 hours, not to mention set them free without our [the King's] knowledge and approval; but shall hand them over to the provost marshal [Generalgewaltiger] or in case of his absence his lieutenants, if not we or our field marshal [Feldmarschall] ordered something else.

All prisoners shall be presented to us. If among them are qualified ones, that we want to keep, we will give a due recompense according to rank and fitness. Our soldiers shall keep the others and get their ransom [Ranzion]. The ransoming shall occur with knowledge and license of us or the field marshal [Feldmarschall] and with avoidance of corporal and capital punishment. [The last sentence is a bit obscure.]

No one shall take away prisoners of someone else with violence or otherwise. But they shall let decide occurring conflict by the chiefs and their riding master [Rittmeister]. When this is violated, the prisoners shall be restituted to the one to whom was violence done and the other shall get a due punishment.

So, some of the prisoners were given to the King and his officers, some were kept by the soldiers. At least the latter are ransomed. But how did this take place? Did small groups of soldiers organize ransoms with the enemy, or was this done on a larger scale? How were the prisoners kept and fed until the ransoming? Where did the ransom take place? What happened to the ones taken by the king?
English Wikipedia only knows release of prisoners with the Peace of Westphalia (Art XVI § 7 IPO). German Wikipedia knows of treaties between the parties of the Thirty Years War on tariffs for the ransom of soldiers of different ranks. But they give no details on the organization.
If there are no sources on the practice of the Swedish army, accounts for other parties of the war are also OK. I suspect the practice was similar.


texts:
One of the many things that have confused me all my life is the concept of wells.

I get that somebody, long ago, discovered that there's sometimes/often water in the ground, once you dig deeply enough. And they therefore started digging wells and putting rocks around the cylinder-shaped hole in the ground, supposedly to stabilize it and perhaps prevent the water from becoming too dirty.

Wouldn't the water automatically become dirty rather than clean, from the dirt in the bottom of the well? (And if the bottom is not dirt, how did any water get into the well in the first place?)
Couldn't any person who didn't like the person living in the house just walk up to the well when they are asleep or away and drop something disgusting down there, ruining the well completely? I assume that this was one of the reasons that wells evolved into pumps, which have no obvious way to contaminate them (easily)?
If wells automatically work from the ground just "doing its thing", how can there be such a thing as a "dried-up well", abandoned because it no longer gives water?

I have tried reading the Wikipedia article, but as usual, the illustrations and descriptions mostly serve to confuse me further.


texts: When did Americans become safe from highway robbery?

texts:
The other day a friend and I were reconciling our memories of "shotgun" rules, the customs by which American teenagers determine who sits in the front passenger seat of a car. The concept derives from descriptions of the Old West, when armed employees rode next to stagecoach drivers.

Ironically, wikipedia suggests the term postdates Westward expansion, but it got me thinking. Cross country travel was, not so very long ago, not terribly safe. Robbery was common enough to warrant hiring armed escorts.

Of course, it's not common now. I'd rank the odds of me being robbed on a lonely Wyoming highway much lower than those of me being robbed down my block. At some point, travel got safer, which can only mean banditry became ineffective or unprofitable. When did Americans become safe from highway robbers, and how did that safety come about?


texts: Are there depictions of horsemen in Roman Republic other than on the coins?

texts:
I wonder if there are depictions of horsemen who sit on the horses, with the horses that have two fore (front) hooves up in the air other than on the coins made in the time when Rome was a republic.

There is a depiction of such a statue on one of the coins (see below), but I could not find any statues, reliefs, mosaics etc. that date before Augustus came to power. There are many that were produced when Rome was an empire.

If indeed there were not any created when Rome was a republic, why? Or were they lost/destroyed?


texts: Identification of radio equipment and its purpose in Vietnam

texts:
The following photograph is from the first years of U.S. involvement in Vietnam. These soldiers are wearing baseball caps and their patches are in color. Later, the patches were olive drab. Obviously, it's some sort of listening equipment, but what kind? And what for?

They are wearing the 25th Infantry Division patch. Their equipment is from the 27th Infantry Regiment ("Wolfhounds"). Thoughts on possible location would be helpful.

Other images from same source: photo 1, photo 2, photo 3.


texts: How many unarmed did Che Guevara kill personally or by order?

texts:
How many unarmed did Che Guevara execute kill or by his order?

I've seen numbers that range from 180 to 14,000 yet nothing official.


texts:
Harems were common in the Orient; the Chinese emperor, the Ottoman sultan, and the Mongol emperor all had many wives.

Roman Emperors did not have a similar custom. Why is the harem common in the Orient, but not in the Western world?  What institutions in the West fulfilled the role that the Harem played in the East?


texts: Was the M4 Sherman used frequently in artillery capacity?

texts:
I've heard the M4 Sherman had instruments on it that allowed it to act as an artillery piece. Is there any evidence to suggest this was effective?

I've heard that the Sherman had of course, its High Explosive ammunition which was mainly used in an infantry support role. However I've heard that it had the instruments on board (High quality radio, elevation/azimuth controls) that allowed it to act as an artillery piece. However I've yet to find any evidence as to how well this was used. Was it just something cheaply added on "just in case" but never really used or was it something that Shermans could oftentimes find themselves in use of?


texts: What is the origin of these WW1 "official history" maps?

texts:
I'm looking for a source, preferably the original atlas or set of documents in facsimile, for the following WW1 maps (and their siblings):

I've only found these fragments, reproduced on the Web and identified as coming from "British Official History", but can find no information that would lead me to a more complete, printed source.

Where are these maps originally from and who produced them? Are they, and others like them, currently available in print?


texts: Josephus writes that the Temple of Onias (Chonyo) in Egypt was built in Heliopoils, however the Talmud (Menahot 109b) seems to understand that the temple was built in Alexandria, not in Heliopolis?


texts: Why did Vice President Bush hide when a reporter asked this question?

texts:
The movie "American Made (2017)" is related to the history of the American  government.

  REPORTER: Vice President Bush, did you know about the Contra aid or not, sir?

Snapshot is real and taken from American Made (2017) movie:

Context: Ronald Reagan is the President.

Why did Vice President Bush hide when the reporter asked this question?


texts: Orphism's alleged influence on Christianity

texts:
I've read in Nils Johan Ringdal's delightful but ill-footnoted Love For Sale: A World History of Prostitution that the apostle Paul was influenced by Orphism when he set out to weaken women's roles in Christian theology to come.

I'm wondering: Is this a respectable theory from the point of historic scholarship and which authorities in the field may Ringdal have cited?


texts: What was the penalty for disobeying flu safety regulations in the 1918 epidemic?

texts: I've been researching the 1918 flu epidemic and its effects in Oregon.  Businesses had to close at 3:30, flu masks had to be worn, public gatherings were prohibited, and households infected with the flu were quarantined for ten days.  What were the penalties for disobeying these regulations?


texts: How was Enguerrand VII de Coucy able to keep his allegiance to both king of England and France during the Hundrend Years War?

texts:
I was trying to do some research on the subject of feudal contracts. I found some example contracts here. This contains two contracts and one oath of fealty which as I understand it is part of the contract. The oath of fealty mentioned in the link settles the matters of allegiance for John of Toul towards his multiple lieges.

I, John of Toul, make known that I am the liege man of the lady Beatrice, countess of Troyes, and of her son,Theobald, count of Champagne, against every creature, living or dead, saving my allegiance to lord Enjorand of Coucy, lord John of Arcis, and the count of Grandpré. If it should happen that the count of Grandpré should be at war with the countess and count of Champagne on his own quarrel, I will aid the count of Grandpré in my own person, and will send to the count and the countess of Champagne the knights whose service I owe to them for the fief which I hold of them. But if the count of Grandpré shall make war on the countess and the count of Champagne on behalf of his friends and not in his own quarrel, I will aid in my own person the countess and count of Champagne, and will send one knight to the count of Grandpré for the service which I owe him for the fief which I hold of him, but I will not go myself into the territory of the count of Grandpré to make war on him

As a matter of fact I found it surprising that such provisions were indeed made.
For example, Enguerrand VII de Coucy who may be the Enjorand of Coucy mentioned in the oath (him or his father), found himself in such a predicament being given lands from King Edward III of England while also being a vassal to the Crown of France. It is mentioned that he diplomatically kept his allegiance to both lords:

Always diplomatic, Coucy managed to maintain both his allegiance to the King of France and to his English father-in-law during the period of intermittent armed conflict between England and France known as the Hundred Years' War. At various times, he acted as a captain, envoy, councillor and mediator during the conflict. However, Coucy resigned all of his English honours on the accession of King Richard II on 26 August 1377.

I would like if possible to get some more specifics on how he managed to pull this off as I haven't found any. How did he mediate the conflict? And did he put some provision in his feudal contract like John of Toul to establish his neutrality?


texts: Was the peak of the NBA aka popularity of basketball in 90's ( or including 80's ) "as I consider" or just my "Old days were good"?

texts:
I always wonder and argue with young boys in my country if today's so called superstar Lebron James remained nothing but a role player had he played in 90's or the 80's because back then there was even a time there was no flagrant foul and there was even an illegal defense and in my opinion, there is no need to mention that Micael Jordan was the Greatest Of All Time. The boys here argue Michael was nobody but an old guy, today's players are muscular than the players in 80's and 90's and well scientifically trained, so on and so forth. What is the general reaction in today's U.S about this?

What I would like to hear is the general air towards the sport, basketball ( if possible toward the NBA too ), compared with the general air in 80's and 90's. Did it decline in the homeland, which is the U.S?

Data the NBA's TV final audience ratings.

Since user @JonCuster started talking about the American football, here is the Super Bowl television ratings. ( I know that the most popular sports in the U.S is the American football. )

Per his claim, the number of TV audience on Super Bowl is rising, contrary to that of the NBA.

If someone shows me the data, and if it's reasonable, I would like to "surrender", otherwise I will hold mine. ( Who wouldn't watch the NBA Finals, which decides the championship of the year, if they are the NBA fans. )

P.S 1 I didn't know if there was a sports SE in SE so please migrate should moderators consider if this question belongs there. Sorry.

P.S2 Considering the simultaneous downvote right after asking at Sports SE, I can't expect any reasonable answer from there, I think. So let me ask here kindly. Thanks.

Thank you in advance.


texts:
Looking at the time zone map on Wikipedia we can see that countries such as France and Spain technically should have a time zone of UTC+0. Wikipedia says:

  France previously used GMT, but was switched to CET (Central European
  Time) during the German occupation of the country during World War II
  and did not switch back after the war.[15] Similarly, prior to World
  War II, the Netherlands observed "Amsterdam Time", which was twenty
  minutes ahead of Greenwich Mean Time. They were obliged to follow
  German time during the war, and kept it thereafter

But Spain was not occupied by Germany… How did it happen that their time zone is UTC+1 then?


texts: How did native Hawaiians achieve such a high literacy rate prior to the 1850s?

texts: For a while, native Hawaiians had an adult literacy rate of nearly 100%. How was this accomplished?


texts: Did the Spartans really taunt Philip II of Macedon with a single word?

texts:
I came across this excerpt that was put up as a "joke" in an issue of the Reader's Digest:

  After invading Greece, Philip II of Macedon sent a threatening message to the Spartans: "You are advised to submit without delay, for if I bring my army on your land, I will destroy your farms, slay your people and raze your city."

  The Spartans replied with one word: "If"

Given the modern-day image of the Spartans being superb, tough warriors, and the hilarity of this "joke" aside...

1) Did Philip II actually send this message to the Spartans? When was this?

2) Did the Spartans actually taunt him with the word "if"?

3) If not the above, did something even remotely similar occur?


texts: Why are some Americans more religious than European counterparts?

texts:
What are some of the historical reasons for why certain Americans are more religious than similar Europeans? For example, there are pronounced differences in Church attendance; Extent of belief in god.

To narrow things down, let us restrict 'America' to Protestant America and 'Europe' to Protestant Europe. (I have written it this way, since historically the majority of early American settlers arriving prior to 1800 have come from the Protestant regions of Europe.)


texts: Why did the American South agree to the compromise of 1850?

texts:
One of the issues that caused  the civil war was the fear that the north ("free states") would ban slavery.

How could they?

Traditionally, the north had more men, so they dominated the house, but there was an equal amount of free states and slave states, so the senate was tied.

Until 1850.

Then, the south agreed (for some relatively minor victories such as the fugitive act) to add a new state to the north. Now, the north had a majority in the House and in the Senate.

But at least not the President.

Until 1860. Then the Republican (abolitionist) party won the senate and the south seceded.

Now, looking back, it's quite clear that the compromise was a failure. But there were some quite smart southern senators. What were they thinking?


texts: What was the Victorian opinion of the American Revolution?

texts:
BACKGROUND
It's pretty remarkable to me, though perhaps it shouldn't be, how much British popular debate there was about the American Revolution. It was often condemned, but sometimes openly celebrated, and there were competing claims about the merit of the revolution, the character of the Americans, and the role of the new nation that emerged after the conclusion of the war. For example, in Life of Johnson, James Boswell recalls debating this with Samuel Johnson, the Tory literary critic.
QUESTION
But getting to the point, I have a small interest in Victorian and 19th century historiography, and as I was reading Life of Johnson I began wondering how these attitudes might have developed during the reign of Queen Victoria, when America emerged as a world power and a trading partner, but also as a competitor in Asia and a destabilizing influence during the Civil War. A couple of googles turned up nothing.
Between 1838 and 1901 what were the dominant attitudes of the Victorians toward the American Revolution as an historical event? And secondarily the founding fathers, the American system of government, and any other aspect of American founding mythology?

Just to clarify, I'm not asking about the Victorian view of contemporary Americans or America, except as it relates directly to their perspective on what the American Revolution meant, both to Britain and as a piece of world history. The question is basically about Victorian historical memory.


texts:
In the Western World, we have woven a cultural motif for our feelings about nuclear weapons. Even Scientific American would go so far as to say, "We learned to fear the bomb".

Now some of this is rational. Many readers would have grown up in the Cold War, a time of Mutually Assured Destruction. To readers in the Western world this is normal and a cultural reality.

It surprised me then to watch this quote performed in a fictional work:

  India and Pakistan have fought three wars in the half-century since they have gained their independence, with God knows how many skirmishes in between. It is about religion, and I can assure you, they do not share our fear of the bomb.

(The context is a brewing war between India and Pakistan in a fictional scenario.)

What surprised me was the assumption that the fear of the bomb is 'somewhat unique' to Western Culture. (I write as an Australian.)

My question is: What evidence is there to suggest that 'fear of the bomb' is culturally specific?


texts: Why were the losses in the Battle of Norfolk so lopsided?

texts:
During the 1991 Gulf War there were a lot of lopsided tank battles where such a large number of Iraqi vehicles got destroyed for very little Coalition losses. For example in the Battle of Norfolk about 750 Iraqi tanks were destroyed against 5 Coalition tanks destroyed (according to wikipedia).

Before you answer "the Americans and the British had better training and tactics" or other high-level explanation, my question is more about how it physically happened? I have a hard time imagining a battle, with almost a thousand tanks on each side, where one side just destroyed the other with such impunity. Did the Iraqis get completely destroyed without having a chance of firing back? Or did they fire back but it did not really hurt the Coalition forces? Neither are easy to imagine when they had almost 1,000 tanks in one place.


texts: What was the fighting style and equipment of 13th century Eastern European Baltic and Slavic cavalry?

texts:
I want to know about fighting styles and equipment of fighting men roughly around 13th century in the Baltic/Slavic area of Europe. I'd particularly like to find out about cultures that were prominent in horsemanship. If anyone has links to pictures or anything that would be great.
EDIT: I brought out the in-question emphasis on cavalry and geography to the title as well as added regionally relevant tags.


texts: Is it true that slavery was banned from discussion on the Senate and/or House floor before the American Civil War?

texts: In one of the latter years of my undergraduate program I read/heard from one of my classes that discussing the slave trade/slavery on either the Senate and/or House floor (I forget which) was banned. Is this true and if so, how could I confirm it?


texts: What was special about ground foods for sacrificial meals?

texts:
To avoid repetition, I use 'pabulum' to mean food products ground for sacrificial meals.

  [Etymonline:] [...] immolare "to sacrifice," originally "to sprinkle with sacrificial meal," from assimilated form of in- "into, in, on, upon" (see in- (2)) + mola (salsa) "(sacrificial) meal," related to molere "to grind" (see mallet). [...]

The etymology of the English verb 'immolate' implies the importance of pabulum.  This blog asserts 'barley cake' as the pabulum;  while page 79 of  A Companion to Food in the Ancient World
 edited by John Wilkins, Robin Nadea states:

  The Greek text
  refers to the pounding of the flour of emmer (far) for the sacrificial meals which would be mixed with salt (mola salsa), and the prohibition applies only in the gender relation that assumes marriage between a traditional Roman citizen and a young free girl.

So what were the pabulum? Anything that was able to be ground?
What is special about pabulum? Why did sacrificial meals require them?


texts: Why was it "acceptable" for Prince Charles to marry a divorced woman, when Edward VIII had to abdicate for marrying divorcee Wallis Simpson?

texts:
Heir to the British throne Prince Charles has married divorcee Camilla Parker Bowles without a constitutional crisis. When Edward VIII wanted to marry Wallis Simpson he had to abdicate.

Of course Charles himself is also divorced.

Was this purely a result of differing social attitudes at the time, or were there other factors that made Simpson unacceptable to the government of the day?


texts: Where would I find Graham Bell's kite experiment data?

texts:
I'm looking for experimental data (lift, drag, pull, etc...) of Graham Bell's tetrahedral kite. As he was a scientist and inventor I thought that he might have written some quantitative data down on the kite's performance.

Would anybody know a resource where I could find this? A museum maybe? Some website?


texts:
I'm starting a small project with some friends, but before I got started, I wanted to make sure I had all my facts straight.

My question is about France in 1940, during the Second World War. When France was occupied by the Germans, who did they put in charge of the policing (in both the German Occupied Area, and Vichy France)? Was it just the German Army/Vichy French Forces? The SS?

Thank you very much in advance!


texts: Why does a Star of David appear at a rally with Francisco Franco?

texts:
In this web page, a photo from a repertory of photos from the Spanish Civil War, at the website of the archive of Italian Istituto Luce, shows a rally with Francisco Franco within a theatre. From the balconies several flags hang, among which are the German and the Italian ones, and then one with what seems a light-coloured Star of David on a darker background.

Image source: Istituto Luce / Archivo Luce

Does anyone know whose nation or organisation was this flag, and why it was shown at a Francoist meeting?


texts: What was the Catholic Church trying to do in Spain in the 1930s?

texts:
Right now I'm trying to learn about Spain's transition to democracy in the 20th century. To start, I'm looking at the civil war that took place in the '30s. And the question I'm trying to answer is: what was everybody mad about?

Wikipedia (I know, I know) says:

  "The central issue was the role of the Catholic Church, which the left saw as the major enemy of modernity and the Spanish people, and the right saw as the invaluable protector of Spanish values."

They cite Richard Herr's An Historical Essay on Modern Spain.

What I don't understand is what the Church was doing that was so controversial. What was it that people on left and right were afraid of?

The left side wanted to reduce the influence of the Church. Why?

The right side wanted to keep the church as it was, or buttress it. Why?

Thanks very much!


texts: Were the problems Fibonacci solved in his work "Flos" posed specifically for him?

texts:
According to Wikipedia, Fibonacci wrote "Flos", a work which contained solutions to problems posed by Johannes of Palermo. Did Johannes pose a challenge to all European mathematicians of the time, or were his problems directed at Fibonacci?

Does anybody know what are some specific examples of the problems posed?


texts: What sort of maps did the ancient Greeks make and distribute?

texts:
Context: I am going to be starting a D&D campaign in a world based on ancient Greece, rather than your classic Western European medieval fantasy land. This will probably not be the only question regarding everyday life in that place and period, as I am no historian.

Cartography is a fairly important part of a society, but I'm struggling to grasp how important it could have been for antique civilizations. I've read a bit about bookmaking in ancient Greece, but I was wondering if it would have been any different for maps.

Additionally, what sort of maps would they have drawn? How precise would they have been? Greek philosophers are quite well known for their mathematical accuracy, so would they have been able to calculate distances from city to city just as accurately?

EDIT: After consulting the History of Cartography, here are some additional precisions for the question.

Although the article talks in depths about the Greek's world maps, it never really mentions local / regional maps. Would there have been a handy city map at the Agora to tell you where the nearest taverna is? If you needed to travel from Corinth to Athens, would someone just tell you "follow the coast then take a left when you can" or would you be able to purchase a map with topological and political markers?

Apparently Eratosthenes was the first to include precise mathematical precisions in his maps but, once again, the Wikipedia article only mentions world maps. Even if it were just in "days hiking" / "days on horseback", would distance between cities have been known by / accessible to the general populace?


texts: What happened to the wealth of the Roman Catholic Church accumulated over the ages?

texts: At one point in history, the Roman Catholic Church was the largest land owner in Europe. Given the power of compounding, the length of time for the compounding to take effect plus the huge principal size to start with, the Catholic Church should easily be the world's richest organization today. However, it is not. What happened to the accumulated wealth of the Catholic Church?


texts: What is this griffin-like creature labelling a lunar mansion in the Zubdat al-Tawarikh?

texts:
While looking for astronomy-related things I found out about this Turkish history manuscript from 1583 called the Zubdat al-Tawarikh or "History of the World". One of the first things in it is an elaborate diagram showing the twelve Greek zodiac constellations and how they align to each of the phases of the moon and 28 associated "lunar mansions" it can be found in.

The one that caught my eye was the "fuller" of the two lunar mansions of Capricorn (drawn like a regular goat here), as it looks like some kind of griffin with four bird feet. Compared to all the other humanoid figures that seem to be doing some specific action similar to the way stars were named in Arabic, this felt to me like an odd thing to label a phase of the moon that likely had some kind of small story/symbolism behind it.

Unfortunately, I can't seem to find anything about what any of these lunar mansions were named. I could find Arabic names of lunar mansions, where it seems the griffin phase is named for one of the "Saad" stars, but none of them seemed to match up to any of the outer illustrations here.

It seems like other pages of the manuscript might not be a lot of help because most of those I could find just seemed to be a big elaborate genealogy tree. The constellation wheel does look like it has labels on it that would be readable with a high-resolution picture, but of course I have zero of the language knowledge required to understand the probably very old dialect. If you somehow know how to read it that's probably where I'd start.

Maybe instead of a griffin it's a mother bird with several small birds underneath like plovers do, and the pointy thing sticking out of the breast is a beak?

A teeny bit of info about the manuscript
Image source (wikimedia commons)


texts: Why didn't the Austrian Empire have Household troops?

texts:
In Redcoat: The British Soldier in the Age of Horse and Musket the historian Richard Holmes writes on p. 103:

Most European armies maintained bodies of Household troops - Austria
was a notable exception - in which birth and breeding were prized.

So why not Austria? They certainly set as much store by birth and breeding as anyone else in that era so it cannot have been on any democratic principle. I suspect some crazy quirk due to the Habsburg monarchy being even more patchwork than common but cannot even begin to form a specific guess.


texts: Is there any documentation that indicates the Aztecs were as violent as they are made out?

texts:
The iconography of the Aztecs lead us to believe that they were an especially blood-thirsty culture. But consider the scenario where there was some major catastrophe in the USA, reducing the population to barbarism. A future archaelogical team unearthing all the abortion statistics, the crime-thrillers, the end-of-world science fiction, and the war video games could possibly conclude from this that the USA was a particularly bloodthirsty culture.

Our current perception is that the average citizen of the USA is generally non-violent. It is entirely possible that the average Aztec, during the height of their existence, considered themselves to be generally non-violent, though having certain ceremonies, that might be considered barbaric from a modern Western perspective.

Has any research been conducted that would indicate how the Aztecs perceived themselves, or even how other tribes may have perceived them?


texts: Specialization of labor among the ancient Maya

texts:
How specialized were laborers among the ancient Maya?  Would the same person dig irrigation ditches and plant corn?  Would the same person go into battle and hunt in the forest?  Would jade carvers go to war?  Would architects harvest cacao?

I'm specifically interested in the Classic Maya civilization.

(Edit: Thanks to a clarifying question from Mark C. Wallace, I've given examples of skilled labor along with unskilled labor.)


texts:
It seems that in English 'older times' it was expected for the King or monarch to lead the armies in battle.

My research suggests that this was the case in the 12th century in the civil war between King Stephen and Empress Maud/Matilda (her champion being Robert of Gloucester an half brother).  Note that since she was never recognized as monarch, she is mentioned only as a combatant1.

Both King Stephen and his son were on the battlefield, his son dying there (though note that his son was also never the monarch - due to his premature demise).

Who was the last English/British monarch to be a combatant?
Who was the last English/British monarch to die on the battlefield?

By 'combatant' I mean:

  A person operating close enough to the battlefield that they might be taken captive in the event of 'loss of battle'.

  A monarch does not necessarily need to actually 'draw a sword' to be in that position, but merely close enough to the battlefield that if it goes wrong, they are in imminent danger of capture (or execution/death by battle wounds).


texts: Help me identity the symbols on this relief?

texts:
Could somebody please help me identity the symbols on the relief below?

This is a memorial plaque in Vienna. It shows a former city judge and mayor of the town “Gross-Jedlersdorf” (today the 21st district of Vienna called “Floridsdorf”) called “Ignaz Bernreiter”.

Here is the text underneath the relief:

Bürgermeister, Ortsrichter [translation: mayor, city judge]
Ignaz Bernreiter
1848–1864  1867–1869
Gross-Jedlersdorf

In his right hand he holds a staff. Given his duty I would define this as a judges staff. His left hand is rested on something I can’t define. It seems to be a shield with an emblem (escutcheon?), maybe showing an acorn, which I guess is a symbol for steadfastness. He also wears a prominent hat and a collar, but I don’t know if they have a meaning or are just decorative elements. The collar could represent his wealth.

As you see, there are a lot of maybes in my definition, as I am just not familiar with this topic. Maybe someone could clarify this for me. Thank you!


texts: Why, and how, was the Catholic Church in Spain reactionary in the early 20th century?

texts:
Right now I'm trying to learn about Spain's transition to democracy in the 20th century. To start, I'm looking at the civil war that took place in the '30s. And the question I'm trying to answer is: what was everybody mad about?

Wikipedia (I know, I know) says:

  "The central issue was the role of the Catholic Church, which the left
  saw as the major enemy of modernity and the Spanish people, and the
  right saw as the invaluable protector of Spanish values."

They cite Richard Herr's An Historical Essay on Modern Spain.

Given that the Church was viewed as defending the essence of the ancient nation from usurping modernity:

Why was the Church reactionary in Spain in the first 4 decades of the 20th century?
How did the Church come to be reactionary?
How did the Church express its political position on the correct ordering of the Spanish nation and state?


texts: What happened to the princes in Tower of London?

texts:
According to Sir Thomas More and William Shakespeare, Edward IV's sons were murdered by their uncle, King Richard III.  But I've heard (in song) that this was a "Tudor propaganda" lie.

If King Richard III didn't kill them, then who did?  Are there any credible theories about the princes surviving after their disappearance?


texts: What is the story behind the tall Northern offshoot on the West Virginia map?

texts: It seems like such a tall thin slice should have a story.


texts:
In the fantasy fiction A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of thrones, during Robert's Rebellion, three battles were fought in the same day, in the same place.
There where particular conditions that lead to this event: Robert Baratheon knew that his enemies would gather in particular place, so he decided to arrive first, and fight each army individually. The goal was not to destroy enemy's army, and as the opposite lords where quickly captured, the rout part could last less.

I wonder if it's historically accurate, as it seems a lot in one day, as I imagine that one battle would have lasted several hours, but I could be wrong.

Has any medieval army ever fought 3 or more distinct battles on the same day?


texts: Allied assistance of the Soviets during WW2

texts:
Why did the Allies share Ultra intel with the Soviets about the imminent Battle of Kursk, and why did the US support the USSR through "Lend Lease".

I understand that at the time it wasn't very clear that the Soviets would be 'victorious', however given that the Allies were already considering the post-war situation, wouldn't it have been in the Allied interest if other allied nations were supported more, or the USSR was even denied intel, since then post war the allies would have gained more territory throughout mainland Europe, and at the most extreme case, would have invaded Russia to displace the Nazis?
Would more resources given to the UK, Netherlands, even be helpful at all? Could the Iberian's have been bribed through economically to join the war?


texts: What were the rules for guards in Schindler's factories?

texts:
Oscar Schindler was able to leverage money for influence to protect the prisoners in his factories.  In addition to barring guards from his factory floor, he was able to influence when a guard could shoot a prisoner.

Is there a historical record of what exactly those rules were and which were influenced by Schindler?


texts: Are the Ramayana and Mahabharatha exaggerated stories or pure fiction?

texts:
I would like to know the opinion of historians on the Ramayana and the Mahabharatha. I can accept that they are excessively exaggerated and glorify people as Gods, but are they totally fiction? Do we have corroborative archaeological evidence to say that they are not pure fiction?

If they are real, what is the approximate time of their occurrence? I seem to remember from John Keay's History of India that Mahabharatha could have predated Ramayana. Is this possible and is there a consensus on this?


texts: Was Marie Antoinette considered a fully legitimate bride for the heir apparent to the French throne in 1770?

texts:
When Marie Antoinette married Louis-Auguste, Dauphin of France in 1770, who later became King Louis XVI of France, was she considered as a fully legitimate bride or was there some sort of political compromise involved? On the one hand, her mother was the Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa, but on the other I don't recall any French Kings who had married Habsburg princesses at any earlier times.

Did the members of the House of Bourbon look down on the Habsburgs or the inverse (or both) for heraldic reasons? Were there any explicit house rules by which French royals had to obey in such matters and at that time? (If memory serves, the Habsburgs would later list approx. two dozen families whose daughters they considered legitimate matches.)


texts: Why were blacks still victimized in the Northern states after slavery's abolition?

texts:
David J. Bodenhamer PhD, Indiana University Bloomington. The U.S. Constitution: A Very Short Introduction (2018). p. 77 Middle.

  A persistent antislavery crusade challenged the constitutional
  and legal contract with slavery. From the late 1780s, reformers
  considered the Constitution corrupted by slavery and denounced
  its inconsistency with the Declaration of Independence. They
  found early success in abolishing slavery in northern states where
  slaveholders and blacks were few. The Northwest Ordinance of
  1787, which prohibited slavery in the territories north ofthe Ohio
  River, further ensured that new states carved from this territory
  would be free states on their admission to the Union.

  Sentiment for equality before the law for all races, however, was
  almost nonexistent. Universal male suffrage generally excluded
  free blacks, and many local and state laws restricted their access
  to housing, occupations, public schools, and even mobility. The
  Indiana Constitution of 1851, for instance, prohibited migration
  of African Americans into the state; other states in the Midwest
  required them to post bonds for good behavior. Most states in the
  North maintained segregated schools, banned interracial
  marriage, and denied blacks the right to serve on juries or to
  testify in a case in which a white person was a party. [I bolded.] At best,
  equality before the law was the rule within legally recognized
  groups, not between whites and blacks.

I can understand why the former Confederate states still discriminated against blacks starting from Reconstruction, but why did the North?
Isn't it inconsistent for Northern whites to have believed earnestly in, and championed, slavery's abolition, but remain racist against blacks?


texts: Was there ever a treaty between 2 entities with significantly different translations to the detriment of one party?

texts:
Inspired by an answer to When translating the law, who ensures that the wording does not change the meaning of the law?

When 2 different entities that speak different languages have a treaty, there are 2 versions of the treaty, one for each language. Has there ever been a case where one of the entities had their version of the treaty be substantially different from the "official" version by the other country, without knowing that the official version was different and significantly to their detriment? I'm talking both about accidental and deliberate translations.


texts: How would you accurately use older British currencies when writing a story?

texts: For writing a story set in the Napoleonic Wars era, how should one use the currencies accurately? I read in novels they use currencies like shilling, pound, guinea, sovereign, four (or six-, etc) pence, etc. What is the conversion rate between these currencies, and when would one use such currency? Also, what would be the equivalent value today?


texts: Does Japan have the constitutional and legal right to have its own army or navy?

texts: After WW2 Japan capitulated and was disarmed. And as I know Japan was not able to have its own army, and its boundary would be protected by the United States.  So, does Japan have the legal right to have its own army or navy?  I was not able to find any worthy information in Google or Bing.


texts: Why, apart from religious reasons, might someone in thirteenth century England give land to a Church?

texts:
In 1285 the following grant of land was made:

  Be it known that I, Robert son of Alan de Waley have given for the salvation of my soul and of  my ancestors and successors to God and the Blessed Mary and to the lamp of the Church of Waley ... that land called Magna Croke at Drudale in pure and perpetual almo so that Henry de Bethinton, his heirs and assignees may have and hold the said land of God etc rendering annually to God etc one penny on the day of the Assumption of the Blessed Mary.

The effect of this seems to be that the land became, in effect, the property of Mr Bethinton, he could pass it to his heirs or assignees (I think that means he could sell it).  The only condition is that Mr Bethinton must pay a penny  every 15th August.

Whatever Mr de Waley's theological opinions a penny a year seems not a great sum for the salvation of himself, his ancestors and successors. If his desire had been to benefit the Church he could have given the land outright to the Church, or at least imposed a higher rental than a penny a year.

Perhaps I am too cynical, but it looks to me as if this may be some sort of thirteenth century creative accountancy or tax avoidance.  I do not know why Mr de Waley wished Mr Bethinton to have the possession of the land, but I presume there was some payment involved from Mr de B to Mr de W.

So, what advantage may there have been in owning a lease of land from the Church,  for a penny a year; rather than being granted it outright?


texts: Why do people refuse to acknowledge the Holocaust?

texts:
A lot of people nowadays are denying the Holocaust as a hoax and overblown Jewish lie.

I read somewhere that Harry Truman (or Eisenhower) thought that people would not believe the Holocaust happened and that he had troops take multiple pictures of the death camps as proof that such atrocities happened.

Neo Nazis, of course, don't believe it happened and always scapegoat Jews for making up the events of the Holocaust, but other people who are students or normal folks who learned much of the Holocaust somehow start to disbelieve it happened and start justifying and defending the Nazis concerning the Camps and brutality against the Jews and such.

Why do so many people refuse to believe what is in front of them and deny the undeniable evidence that clearly show that Jews were being persecuted?


texts: Did Austrian chief of staff Franz Riml say that the only way to correct the Russophile Ukrainians is to exterminate them?

texts:
Several Russian pages claim that Austrian general Franz Riml von Altrosenburg said the following:

  Galician Russians can be divided in two groups:
  a) Russophiles and
  b) Ukrainophiles.

  If it is at all possible, the only way to correct Russians
  is by applying means of unprotected terror. In my opinion,
  all Russophiles are radicals and must be exterminated
  without mercy.

Original Russian text:

  «Галицийские русские разделяются на две группы: а) русофилов и б) украинофилов. Если вообще можно русских исправить, то это возможно единственно при применении средств беззащитного террора. Мое мнение, что все русофилы являются радикалами и их следует беспощадно уничтожать».

This quote is mentioned quite widely in Russian search engine Yandex (5 pages of search results if you enter that quote).

According to Wikipedia (German) Franz Riml was indeed chief of staff in Lemberg and had the rank of a colonel.

Did Franz Riml actually said that Russophies must be exterminated?

If yes, please provide source information.

Update 1: Found some references to documents containing Riml's statement in Lemberg, Lwow, and Lviv 1914-1947: Violence and Ethnicity in a Contested City by Christopher Mick (see yellow highlights in the image below):


texts: Was there a massacre in the Algerian war calculated to provoke French reprisals?

texts:
This was something I read in the 70s, about an early Algerian war massacre.  This was in a popular, French magazine (I don't remember the name) - think Readers’ Digest and you’re not far off.

Now, according to this article it was really gruesome.  Took place in one locality, a town maybe.  All in day, this wasn't a series of killings.  About 300 * odd “colons” killed including babies’ brains dashed out on walls. Real ISIS stuff. Except, and unexpected for the magazine demographics, they were very clear on attributing sophisticated motives to the specific Algerian rebel subgroup that did this. They wanted to provoke French reprisals, which they got in spades.

The French army got played, went medieval on the area and any notion of accommodation, such as with native Algerians that merely wanted the right of vote, went out the window as French military sweeps reacted brutally to the atrocities.

* 300 deaths? This is 40 years later on my end, and the magazine wasn’t known for scholarship. Could have been exaggerated or misremembered on my end. The numbers are fuzzy and I don’t want to requote the French kill count of “rebels” but the article claimed that widespread French brutality in reprisals effectively shut the door on any negotiated settlement short of independence and pushed all the rebels groups into harder positions.

Anyone have an idea of what event this might have been referring to?


texts: Has there ever been an attempted military takeover of a democracy in the western world?

texts:
Ignoring the Spanish 1981 and Greek 1967 coups.  Are there any other examples of the military attempting (or even managing) to overthrow an elected government in an advanced democracy in the western world (W-Europe, Japan, Canada, USA)?

The only example I can remember reading about is the 1933 Business plot.

Another example is the Algerian coup against de Gaulle in 1961.


texts: Did the US provide oil assistance to Germany during WW2?

texts: Some Russian guy on BBC Radio 5 (Up all night) just now shouted down a Yank, claiming that the US had helped Germany maintain its oil supplies during WW2. At least that's what I recall of his rant.  I may not have captured this correctly... but there is no truth to this, is there?


texts: What are these hats and the function of those wearing them (worn by the Russian imperial army at Borodino)?

texts:
After the battle of Borodoni Franz Roubaud worked on a great panorama painting of 115 meters long.

looking at the big panorama painting by Franz Roubaud I noticed that some of the Russian imperial army soldiers were wearing what almost seemed like Santa hats.(Mitre caps as explained in answer)

If I am not mistaken this is frame two of the panorama painting.

What are these hats and the function of those wearing them?

My first guess would be they are officers or special units/soldiers, but a search on the internet did not help.


texts: How many times has inclement weather foiled attempts to navally invade the UK?

texts:
Inclusive of situations where inclement or unseasonable weather delayed the ability to set sail long enough that British ships/fleets were able to foil the plan by direct actions, how many times has this occurred in the history of the UK?
In my casual reading I've come across a few famous instances, so I'm curious to know exactly how many less famous times weather has forestalled invasions (or large-scale fleet battles) that would have otherwise caused some problems for England/Britain/the UK.


texts: Was bribery instrumental to the approval of the Thirteenth Amendment?

texts: The movie Lincoln suggests there was a fair bit of bribery involved in the passing of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Are there actual records of this? Any sound history books or articles that discuss it?


texts: How did Spain justify building a major port at San Blas, Nayarit?

texts: The Spanish empire and its agent José de Gálvez founded the port of San Blas, Nayarit in order to communicate with the Californias. However, the site is not particularly favorable and it did not remain an important port. The empire had better Pacific ports at Acapulco, Guaymas, and Mazatlan. What made founding a new port at San Blas seem better than expanding one of those?


texts: What is this military uniform from the 1870s?

texts:
This is a Tintype photo from around 1860 to 1870 time period.  I don't know what country this comes from. The photo was discovered in the United States with a group of pictures tracing a German Surname. The person in the photo is wearing a pickelhaube (spiked helmet) and is holding a rifle with a bayonet.
I would like to figure out what type of uniform this is and the emblem on the helmet. Any help identifying this would be greatly appreciated.

(click images to enlarge)


texts: Are quantitative or mathematical methods becoming more dominant in the 21st century historical research?

texts: Most people think that history is all about reading important events in the form of a story or narrative. Rarely do they associate the study of history with mathematics or any quantitative methodologies. Perhaps this is so because most contemporary historical resources, be they in the form of a book or journal article, appear to be qualitative at least. But will the study of history become more math-intensive or quantitative?


texts: How much cheaper were flintlocks than wheellocks?

texts:
When flintlock firearms came out (they had been around since the 16th century, flintlock muskets only became "the mainstay of European armies between 1660 and 1840"), they were simpler to make and to maintain than complicated wheellocks (dating from around 1500), one of the types that predated them.

I've seen that asserted in many different books, but I've never been able to find any actual prices.

How much cheaper were flintlocks than wheellocks, at a time when they were both available?


texts: Why wasn't sauerkraut used to combat scurvy?

texts: While reading about age of sail, I've read about scurvy and how it was 'cured' by 'acidity' of citrus. It come to my mind - why didn't they try to use sauerkraut? It seems that it should be more familiar to Europeans then some exotic fruit and more available. While it doesn't contain as much Vitamin C as lemons or limes it should be sufficient to prevent at least part of problems. And it was 'acidic' which should allow the 18 c. doctors to make the connection. Finally it was easy to transport and, by design, long-lasting.


texts: Is today (April 8, 2020) the first time the NYTimes has had content superimposed on its name?

texts:
I notice that today's print edition of the New York Times has part of it's front page infographic overlaid on the name of the paper. As a frequent reader, this stands out to me because while this kind of thing is common for magazines, I can't recall ever seeing it in the NYTimes.

I'm aware that infographics are probably a relatively recent addition to the paper (although I can't find a date for this). Has the NYTimes ever had any kind of content superimposed on it's name before--article text, a photograph, or part of an infographic?


texts: Why did Russian Federation declare independence from Soviet Union?

texts: In June 12th 1990, the Russian Federation declared its independence from the Soviet Union, effectively ending the Soviet Union. While I understand that other parts of the former Soviet Union like Ukraine and the Baltics People could declare their independence, I do not understand how it could happen that Russia, which was by definition the Soviet Union declared its Independence from... itself?


texts:
I found this inscription on a Croatian island (island of Cres), on a tombstone.

There were other inscriptions with this alphabet in that very cemetery.

I never saw this alphabet before though. What is it?


texts: Why is Alexander Hamilton considered the father of modern banking?

texts: I've been hearing the phrase recently that Alexander Hamilton is considered the "father of modern banking", but haven't really come up with any explanation or definition that I can really understand how this came to be attributed to him.  From my studies of American Colonial history and after, I know Hamilton was a proponent of industry, debt and a central bank that he fought long and hard for.  Is there a real definition for "modern banking"?  If so, how is this different than other financial systems in use at the time?


texts:
It seems to me that a war have two opposite effects on the post-war workforce :

it decreases the active population because of the deaths
it increases the active population by mobilizing women (who stay on the labor market after the war)

Is it correct ? And which of these two effects prevails in the case of the WWI and the WWII please ?


texts: Can anybody identify this piece of pottery?

texts:
I bought this at a local "picker shop" and need to know if anyone can identify it. I have another picture, but it will only let me upload one per question, and I'd like to make sure this is the place to ask this question before asking a second.

I've not been able to translate the text either, and a close friend of mine thinks it could be a production or line number.


texts: Why did an American-Filipino war follow the Spanish-American War?

texts: Immediately after the end of the Spanish-American War in 1899, a three-year guerrilla war between the United States and its new territory of the Philippines began. What caused this war? The United States had, after all, legitimately bought this archipelago from Spain for $20 million.


texts: Is there a list of all resolutions made by the Arab League?

texts:
I was interested in looking at all the resolutions that were made by the Arab League. I have found a list of sessions made by the Jewish Virtual Library, however I was wondering if there is a compiled list, somewhere, listing all the resolutions taken?

Is it possible that the list above does actually include all approved resolutions, and the numbers assigned apply to each proposed resolution, hence the numbers jump frequently?

EDIT:

I have also found this archived list that does seem to match the list at JVL, probably the latter being based on this one.


texts: Why did Hitler treat the Slavs inconsistently?

texts:
I think it's pretty common knowledge that Hitler viewed the Slavs as subhuman or 'untermenschen'; however; his attitude towards the Slavs as regards the conquests in Eastern Europe seem somewhat haphazard: he made alliances with existing or newly-created Slavic states (Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovakia) whilst others were not even given even puppet-state status (Poland, Russia). Now; Nazi policy in some cases as regards the Slavs sometimes hand waved various groups as 'not being really Slav'; for example in the case of Bulgaria, mention was made of the Bulgarian's origins as a Turkic people who later became slavicised and adopted a Slavic language, and a similar origin story was posited for the Croats, and thus Hitler could . It's also certainly true that the Poles, and Russians were particularly low-down as regards the hierarchy as regards the Nazi's attitudes towards the Slavs: both groups were part of the Nazis' genocidal policies in the east and both were denied their own, even puppet state.

So we can divide the policy of Hitler and the Nazis as regards the Slavic peoples threefold:

Those that were treated on a equal footing with Nazi Germany (and explained away by them 'not really being Slavs'):

Bulgaria
Croatia

Those that were given puppet-state status:

Slovakia
the Czechs
the Serbs
Montenegro

and those that were not even given puppet state status and were to be exterminated and/or 'germanised':

Russians
Poles

I realise that a lot of this was practicality and realpolitik on the part of Hitler, but; given his racist attitude towards the Slavs, why he would be seemingly so 'accommodating' to the Slavs in this respect. I'm particularly interested as to why the second group weren't treated in the same way as the third group (Poles and Russians)


texts: What were tally sticks, and how was it that they they worked for the economy? I understand that they were a form of currency and were of fixed value based on the notches, but how did they work as a currency? Were they used like banknotes and coins are used today - exchanged for one another from the highest to the lowest levels of economy? I can't imagine them being too useful on a small scale due to their size.


texts: Are there any images within the time period of contemporary history (1945 to the present) that had different interpretations by historians?

texts: Or could someone provide me with a certain event that I can search for which will have images with different interpretations? I am currently unable to find any images with keywords such as "different intepretations of contemporary history" and "examples of historical photographs with different interpretations". Thanks!


texts: What is the most number of brothers who became ruler of the same country?

texts:
While researching the Danish monarchy for another question on this site (the life expectancy of a Medieval European monarch), I came across the five sons of King Sweyn II who all became kings of Denmark in their own right (i.e. not junior or co-monarchs).

Harald III  reigned 1076–1080
Canute IV   reigned 1080–1086
Olaf I      reigned 1086–1095
Eric I      reigned 1095–1103
Niels       reigned 1104–1134

Sweyn II had at least 15 sons in all: only one was legitimate and he died young. The others were by 'various concubines', so there were a few to spare.
The only other example of 5 brothers becoming king I can think of is from the House of Wessex: the sons of Æthelwulf 839 to 858, the youngest of whom was Alfred the Great), but one of them (Æthelstan of Kent) wasn't really king in his own right, and nor was he King of Wessex like his father and brothers (so this doesn't meet the criteria).
Are there any other examples of 5 or more brothers (legitimate or illegitimate) becoming rulers of the same country in their own right?
As instances of this must be very rare, examples can be from any period and any part of the world (but I'll edit this if my assumption is proven to be wrong).


texts: Did the U.S. actively encourage discord between the Soviets and Chinese?

texts:
According to historian Lorenz M. Lüthi, one of the defining events of the Cold War, the Sino-Soviet split (1960 to 1989) was principally fueled by Mao's interpretation of Communist ideology and his appraisal that Moscow was not sufficiently radical.  In 1969, a border war between the two countries had the threat of going nuclear, leading to a warning from President Nixon to Moscow that a nuclear attack on China could lead to world war.  Andrew Osborn and Peter Foster, 13 May 2010, "USSR planned nuclear attack on China in 1969", Telegraph UK.

A united Soviet bloc was certainaly not in the interests of the United States, and it can be deemed that Nixon ultimately took advantage of the split to open relations with China.  But the result suggests a question:  Did the U.S. help foster and exploit the conflict between Beijing and Moscow from the outset? Did overt U.S. policies lead Mao to lose trust in Moscow?  Have any covert U.S. activities been revealed that may have had that result?


texts: Why was Caliph Suleyman disliked by the noted generals in the Umayyad army?

texts:
Caliph Suleyman of Umayyad Empire was by all accounts a rash man who kept a grudge. He also appears to have had stormy relations with the Army's Walidist generals.

His only apparent support in the Army was Yazid bin Muhallab, who was in Suleyman's debt from the days when the latter's elder Brother al-Walid was reigning (Yazid was imprisoned and tortured by Hejaj bin Yusuf and was safe only after Suleyman interceded on his behalf, making the Caliph order Hijaj to cease his attempts at murdering Yazid).

But on the other hand we see other senior generals of the Army like:

Hijaj bin Yusuf, opposed Suleyman's appointment as heir apparent and advocated succession of al-Walid's sons instead. One of the most loyal servants the Umayyad dynasty ever had, it's curious that he most vehemently opposed Suleyman Umayyad and was so frightened by the prospect of his ascension that he wished not to outlive Caliph Walid.
Muhammad bin Qasim, followed his uncle Hijaj and refused to accept Suleyman as the rightful Caliph.
Qutayba ibn Muslim, opposed Suleyman's appointment as heir apparent and advocated rights of al-Walid's sons instead.
Musa bin Nusayr, views on Suleyman's appointment unknown but held him in little regard as evident by the fact that even though Suleyman ordered him to hold off the triumph parade to celebrate conquest of Spain for a few days so that ailing Caliph Walid could die and Suleyman's reign would begin with victory parades and news of victory in the West, Musa refused to do so and held the parade and presented the plunder to the dying Caliph.
Tariq bin Ziyad, same case as Musa bin Nusayr.

Suleyman, for all his flaws, proved to be a capable ruler. Walid's sons on the other hand, Yazid III and Ibrahim, proved to be very ineffectual in their short reigns (But of course we have the benefit of hindsight which the Walidist Generals did not enjoy - Still it's unlikely that a shrewd Politician like Hijaj messed up in getting the right measure of the Princelings). Suleyman never forgot those men and all of them lost their stations and many their lives for opposing his succession and other offences.

What was it about Suleyman that the most generals disliked? Why is that the most loyal of the Umayyad dynasty's officers felt more loyalty to al-Walid and his sons than to Suleyman?

It is very likely that his short temper may have been part of the reason but I find it very bizarre for the bureaucracy to be against a ruler just because he was bad tempered. A lot of Kings and Emperors used to be very rash and prickly. It wouldn't be the first time either in history of Caliphs. When Caliph Abu Bakir appointed Umer as his successor, a lot of Generals and Officials voiced their concerns that he was short-tempered and strict. Abu Bakr's only reply was that burden of ruling would soften him up. Umar never faced opposition from the army like that. (But of course Umer was one of the leading Companions of the Prophet and therefore commanded respect of most of the people, Suleyman wasn't and didn't.)


texts: How can I find out what the printed numbers mean on the back of an older photo?

texts: I have two color photos from Crete, Greece. Maybe around the 1960-70's? The size of the photo is about 3-1/2" x 5". I believe it had a white border but I think someone trimmed it. There is only a long number that is printed almost the full width (about 2-3/8" across): 034020540 and the other photo 0341001(0, 6 or 8)2. With spaces between each number.  How can the photo be dated closely? Thank you.


texts: Has there ever been non-electoral political decisions made via coin toss?

texts:
I'm thinking of something like this: there are three parties, A, B and C, with leaders Alice, Bob and Charlie. Parties A and B control roughly 30% of the seats each, while C controls roughly 40%. Alice & Bob both detest C, so they form a coalition to take power. However both of them want to be prime minister. They can't figure that one out, so they flip a coin and the winner becomes prime minister.
Has this ever happened? It sounds really random, but something similar famously happened in the Bible, and I'm wondering if anyone (especially religious people who think God directly intervenes in life) has done this to settle disputes.
I'm aware that there've been many cases of tied elections being settled by coin tosses. I'm not interested in those - I'm only interested in cases where a decision not directly related to tied elections was made via coin toss. Another example could be, I don't know whether to vote to support the construction of this dam or not, so I flip a coin.


texts: Why didn’t Herbert Hoover’s residency in London during and after WWI disqualify him from becoming President?

texts: Article II, section 1, clause 5 of the U.S. constitution prohibits anyone who has not been a resident of the U.S. for at least 14 years from being elected President.  Herbert Hoover resided in London during and after WWI, while he was directing humanitarian relief efforts.  He became President about 10 years later.  Why wasn’t he disqualified from the 1928 election?  Was this issue ever addressed during the 1928 campaign?


texts: What is the meaning of a glove on the tail of monsters in illuminated manuscripts?

texts:
I've seen several images from illuminated manuscripts depicting odd-looking creatures with gloves showing two raised fingers on their tails:

What is the meaning if this device?


texts: What's the highest market price ever paid for salt, as measured in gold?

texts:
It's hard to disprove the myth that salt was once worth its weight in gold. Instead, what's the highest price of salt (as measured in gold) we have historical evidence for?

Edit, explaining why I'm asking this question:

I've found many questions and articles along the lines of

"When and where was salt as valuable as gold?" [It wasn't.]
"Was salt ever worth as much as gold?" [No.]

I find questions phrased like this unsatisfactory for a couple reasons. The first one is their answers don't have great citations. Even the Wikipeda Page page has a [citation needed]. Phrasing the question as "did X happen" places the burden of proof on proving that something happened. When something extraordinary didn't happen the answer is "no", and no proof is required.

I would like to know more about from what historical situation this myth originated.  I'm particularly curious where and when salt was the most valuable, along with why.

It's like the difference between asking "Did China discover the Americas" [no] versus "What were the greatest trade voyages carried out in Pre-Colombian China?" I'm curious what historical conditions most likely brought about this myth. Perhaps the Mali Empire's salt-for-gold trade?


texts:
I was reading the Wikipedia page for the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth and this picture was featured to demonstrate the diverse society. It is propably a parody of various pictures called "Lamentation over the dead Christ." What is the "Dead Credit"?

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lamentation_over_the_dead_credit.jpg


texts: How could lower judges ignore the US Supreme Court?

texts:
[Source:] Despite the Supreme Court's decision, anti-miscegenation laws remained on the books in several states, although the decision had made them unenforceable. Local judges in Alabama continued to enforce that state's anti-miscegenation statute until the Nixon administration obtained a ruling from a U.S. District Court in United States v. Brittain in 1970.[15][16]

Was there no punishment for these judges who flouted Loving v. Virginia (1967) ?Why was another lawsuit necessary to constrain and override these defiers, as cited in the last sentence in the excerpt above?


texts: Why did no other empire contest Russia's colonization of North-Asia?

texts:
As far as I know, no 18/19th century empire tried to colonize Siberia or the northern Far East besides Russia.

That sounds implausible to me and I'm curious how could that be?


texts: Did the British really bail out the Americans at the Battle of the Bulge?

texts:
Just read this article on the Battle of Kasserine Pass

America's Most Humiliating Defeat

The author made the following statement regarding British help during the battle:

As at the Battle of the Bulge, it wouldn’t be the last time that the British helped “tidy up” an American disaster.

I seem to recall the 3rd Army riding to the rescue, not the British. He implies there might have been other times too. Any idea what this author is talking about? TIA


texts: How extensive was the slighting of castles in the English Civil War?

texts:
Wikipedia states

  During the English Civil War many castles and fortified houses were
  slighted by the Parliamentarians to stop them being used by the
  Royalists. Most of the destruction was in Wales, the Midlands, and
  Yorkshire e.g. Pontefract Castle. The coastal fortifications were
  spared by the Commonwealth, as they might have been useful for
  hindering a Royalist or foreign invasion.

I haven't been able to find how many castles and fortified houses were affected.


texts:
One thing that always strikes me when the long progression of wikipedia-clicks takes me from something like 'Tumulus' all the way to 'Mixtec writing' or, more specifically, 'Codex Zouche-Nuttall' is the divers array of colors through which the early Mesoamericans decorated and illustrated their documents.
However, I have never before seen any reference anywhere to the ink they used.
Thus, I pose unto ye the following:

From what did they extract their ink?

Did they crush and work lapis lazuli to get blue, as did the Afghans? Did they grow dye plants and extract therefrom their dyes? I am most fascinated by these documents, but the bulk of my fascination is dedicated not to the images themselves, but to that through which the images were created.

Thank you.


texts: Did the Japenese consider the atomic bomb no worse than any other bomb?

texts:
I read another article asserting that the US needlessly dropped the atomic bombs on Japan, but this one had a different spin: the Soviets had already defeated the Japanese. It basically lays out the US had destroyed some 80% of the country and that all the bombings were considered the same at that point. As supporting evidence it offers this:

If Japan’s leaders were going to surrender because of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, you would expect to find that they cared about the bombing of cities in general, that the city attacks put pressure on them to surrender. But this doesn’t appear to be so. Two days after the bombing of Tokyo, retired Foreign Minister Shidehara Kijuro expressed a sentiment that was apparently widely held among Japanese high-ranking officials at the time. Shidehara opined that “the people would gradually get used to being bombed daily. In time their unity and resolve would grow stronger.” In a letter to a friend he said it was important for citizens to endure the suffering because “even if hundreds of thousands of noncombatants are killed, injured, or starved, even if millions of buildings are destroyed or burned,” additional time was needed for diplomacy. It is worth remembering that Shidehara was a moderate.
At the highest levels of government — in the Supreme Council — attitudes were apparently the same. Although the Supreme Council discussed the importance of the Soviet Union remaining neutral, they didn’t have a full-dress discussion about the impact of city bombing. In the records that have been preserved, city bombing doesn’t even get mentioned during Supreme Council discussions except on two occasions: once in passing in May 1945 and once during the wide-ranging discussion on the night of Aug. 9. Based on the evidence, it is difficult to make a case that Japan’s leaders thought that city bombing — compared to the other pressing matters involved in running a war — had much significance at all.
Gen. Anami on Aug. 13 remarked that the atomic bombings were no more menacing than the fire-bombing that Japan had endured for months. If Hiroshima and Nagasaki were no worse than the fire bombings, and if Japan’s leaders did not consider them important enough to discuss in depth, how can Hiroshima and Nagasaki have coerced them to surrender?

This seems inconceivable, but the article also holds that the Japanese took days to get reports from the affected areas, and as such could not have surrendered on the basis of the nuclear bombs that were used (in other words, the cities were destroyed either way). Is there anything historically to back this up or disprove it?


texts: When did singing at work fall in and out of vogue in western civilization?

texts:
As far as I can tell, virtually nobody persistently sings at work. Especially not as in a semi-formal group effort such as a barbershop quartet or a call-and -response sea shanty.

I was taught in primary school that hard laborers in the olden days sang together to keep up moral. When and where did this begin? And when and why did it stop?


texts: Is it true that Plato travelled till Ganges river?

texts:
Plato was the  great philosopher and traveler. In "The Story of Philosophy" William Durant has written that:

  He found his way to
  the banks of the Ganges, and learned the mystic meditations of the
  Hindus.

But he also mentioned that historians had many debates on this. I personally think Its very far distance from Greece to India and it was very difficult to travel if we consider their timespan ( BC 400 ).


texts: Did German spies operate in Austrian territory up to 1914?

texts:
Germany in the years up to and during World War I, had an extensive intelligence network; in the US in particular, even prior to that country's formal entry into the war, they engaged in not only espionage, but some rather aggressive action such as https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Tom_explosion
Did German spies also operate in any of the territories of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, such as Bosnia, in the years running up to 1914? Or did they have a (tacit or explicit) policy of staying out of their ally's turf?


texts: What is the first instance of a Pope denouncing syncretism with non-Christian faiths in the modern era?

texts:
Modern era being 1500 CE and onward. Religious syncretism is an overlapping of faiths. For example, Santa Muerte is a Mexican folk saint that blends a Catholic icon with a native reverence of death. In 2013 her following was officially denounced by the Vatican.

  The president of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Culture,
  Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, said worshipping Santa Muerte was a
  "degeneration of religion".

Similarly, there are practitioners of both Voodoo and Christianity throughout the world, but in 2011 Pope Benedict gave a speech that denounced this overlap. He gave the speech in Ouidah, Benin- a city referred to as the spiritual capital of Voodoo.

Since the 1500's, when did the papacy or an official spokesman first make such a statement? By official I mean either a designated representative of the Holy See or the Pope himself.  What is the earliest example of the Pope formally denouncing such overlaps in faith?


texts: What was the reason that Poland wanted a part of Germany north of Stettin/Szczecin and west of the Oder?

texts:
If you look at the map you see the so-called Stettiner Zipfel (Szczecin lobe) in the west of the Oder which includes Stettin/Szczecin.

OpenStreetMap

How the course of the border is defined is handled by this question, but this is not the actual issue I wonder at.

It is clear that Szczecin is a city which is on both sides of the Odra river, so it is understandable that the Polish administration wanted the city area. So I wouldn't have wondered that the city area is included.

What I do not understand is why Poland wanted this bigger extension.

First it was clear from the negotiations that the Oder would be part of the new border between Germany and Poland. So why bringing up the issue of extending to the West and risking new confrontations between Germany and the allies?
There are no natural resources in the area I know of. Swinemünde/Świnoujście is a small seaside resort and all the other cities are nothing of significance. Pölitz/Police had a fuel factory, but it was destroyed during air raids.
The area is so unfavorable for defense that it could not be hold if hostilities between Germany and Poland would have risen again. Why not using a line from Misdroy/Międzyzdroj and the Oder including the city area of Szczecin in the first place, using the Oder as natural border? Poland knew from first experience how their attempt to defend against Nazi Germany was spoiled from the start by their overlong borders.

So why did Poland actually wanted the Szczecin lobe? Is there a specific idea why it was requested and what is the thought behind that?


texts: What is the truth behind this speech by (Lord Macaulay)?

texts:
Was this speech was delivered by Macaulay in British parliament?
Got many articles saying that this speech was not delivered by Macaulay. Is it true? What are the facts behind this speech?

  I have traveled across the length and breadth of India and I have not seen one person who is a beggar, who is a thief. Such wealth I have seen in this country, such high moral values, people of such calibre, that I do not think we would ever conquer this country, unless we break the very backbone of this nation, which is her spiritual and cultural heritage, and, therefore, I propose that we replace her old and ancient education system, her culture, for if the Indians think that all that is foreign and English is good and greater than their own, they will lose their self-esteem, their native self-culture and they will become what we want them, a truly dominated nation.

And got the quote from here and also reference here.

UPDATE

It is concluded that the above speech mentioned in first in question was not delivered by Macaulay, reasons supporting this conclusion are quite convincing by TED's answer and also the ngrams by Felix also point to the same.

As I got another controversial version of the speech from the links mentioned by T.E.D I thought of doing ngram searches on this version too.
The other version of the speech from the links is:

  I accept catholic beyond the across and across of India and I accept not apparent one getting who is a beggar, who is a thief. Such abundance I accept apparent in this country, such top moral values, humans of such caliber, that I do not anticipate we would anytime beat this country, unless we breach the actual courage of this nation, which is her airy and cultural heritage, and, therefore, I adduce that we alter her old and age-old apprenticeship system, her culture, for if the Indians anticipate that all that is adopted and English is acceptable and greater than their own, they will lose their self-esteem, their built-in self-culture and they will become what we ambition them, a absolutely bedeviled nation.

The results are interesting anyway. Those 1830s and 1840s are really confusing and now I wonder about the source of this one...


texts: Battle which has been decided by an epidemic plague

texts:
Well i think the title say's all but here some necessary details to make some focus:

I would like to know if there's a record of a Battle or a Siege (or War, but only optional) which have been decided due to an epidemic plague: most soldiers, warrior got at least a grave disease?

decided: Ended, either both sides "resigned" or one side could win because the other couldn't really fight!

Focus

As Time Period i would like to take the middle-ages, more exactly 8th-15th Century!
Also i would like to emphasize on battles in which the fighting parties had different ethnic groups!

This is just a Question that came to my mind and as i myself have no idea how many battles could have this special ending i'd say:

This is explicitly an list question, so feel free to provide list answers.

But i'm still open for helpful comments and further inquiries to make the Question more focused!

I only know about a malaria epidemic which weakened the Ottomans during the siege of Belgrade 1717.


texts: When did spotlights begin to be used at lectures?

texts:
I am going to be performing as Mark Twain in 1896, and want it to be as authentic as possible, even to the technology used (I am willing to use a mic when and if necessary, but only if it can be hidden and unnoticeable to at least most of the audience.

That's not what my question is, though, which is about lighting. Specifically, when did spotlights begin to be used to "follow" entertainers across the stage? If prior to 1896, I may consider using that, as I will be moving back and forth across the stage. My guess is that these were probably not used, but am not at all sure.

Any other info about what lighting techniques would probably have been used in 1896 would be appreciated, too.

I have read everything there is, I think, about Twain's performances/lectures, and don't think lighting was ever even mentioned in passing. Most of these occurred at night, so there had to be lighting of some sort...


texts: Were there 'voting irregularities' in early Utah history?

texts:
I'm reading excerpts from Among the Mormons, which is a collection of primary-source documents regarding Utah history from the Mormon migration to, roughly, the Great Depression.

One of the pieces details an election where a coordinated effort among the 'Gentiles' caused large numbers of ballots to be tossed into rivers, while railroad workers voted many, many, times in numerous precincts.

I've looked through a few textbooks, but I haven't found anything that describes this.  I'm wondering if this actually happened and was simply excluded from texts, or is it just a myth?