texts: Are records on the meetings of the Japanese war council during 1945 publicly available?

texts:
There is lately some interest to the question of the Japanese surrender in august 1945 and the motivations of the Japanese government for doing so and doing it in the way they did. E.g. it is voiced sometimes that the Japanese post-war narrative that "Especially the A-bombs did push Japan to surrender" is fabricated by the Japanese elite in order to deflect blame from their own "misconduct" of the war.

To find the truth in this regard, we ideally need access to meeting minutes reports of the Japanese war council in the course of 1945. Do these exist? If so, are they publicly available or can these be requested somewhere under a kind of freedom-of-information principle?


texts: Why didn't the European Christians take back Constantinopole?

texts: Constantinople was the focal point for the Fourth Crusade. The Christians lost and Constantinople went to the Ottoman Empire. Then, the European Christians became stronger and went about colonizing the rest of the world. In the meantime, the Ottoman Empire grew weaker. Yet, despite the Europeans' territorial ambitions as colonists, why didn't they try taking back Constantinople? The Ottomans have weakened, so it shouldn't be too difficult. Constantinople is present-day Istanbul.


texts: Why didn't the Greeks or Romans have an Industrial Revolution?

texts:
The Industrial Revolution started in Great Britain in the 18th century. The precursor to the Industrial Revolution was the Enlightenment. This occurred when European scholars rediscovered Greek and Roman ideas. One outcome was the discovery of the scientific method, as well as an overall "rational" viewpoint towards scholarship, and Europeans applied it in their home countries with great results.

Great Britain seems to share many qualities with the Classical ancient societies of Greece and Rome, so I wanted to know what was specifically different about Great Britain that allowed it to develop the Industrial Revolution. The following are a few things that were the same:

1) Empires with wide trading networks

2 ) "Rational" science,    technology and philosophy

3) Rome had a strong legal system. The
   British legal system was based on the Roman one and is an explanation
   for its protections of property rights.

4) "Democratic" societies
   (even if not everyone could actually vote)

5) Urbanization

6) Rome
   understood the concepts of an assembly line and specialization, which
   Great Britain rediscovered through Adam Smith

The following are things I believe might be dissimilar:

1) The invention of the internal combustion engine/ mechanization through steam power

I feel I am either overgeneralizing or have left things off the second list.


texts: What specifically did Einstein have in mind when he called the Israeli Freedom Party fascistic?

texts:
In a blog published in the TLS, May 2016, Toby Lustig points out that Einstein in a letter to the New York Times, a few months after the declaration of Israeli idependence:

  wrote to complain of 'one of the most disturbing phenomena of our times' - the new Israeli Freedom Party, (also a precursor to today's Likud) which he described as 'closely akin in its organisation, methods and political philosophy and social appeal to the Nazi and Fascist parties'.

Toby Lustig himself was writing in the aftermath of a political scandal where Ken Livingstone had stated that the Nazi party had supported Zionism; In his blog, he points out there is evidence that justifies such a claim, but not categorically so; the Nazi Party supported Zionism, in so far as it lead to emigration of the Jewish people out of the nations of Europe but not so far as for them to establish an independent Jewish state.

My concern is with what specifically prompted Einstein to make the complaint that he did; did he refer to this in his letter, or is it made clear in any later correspondance or articles Einstein wrote?


texts: What language did Nazi German occupying forces speak in France?

texts:
I am watching the TV series "Das Boot", playing in La Rochelle in occupied France during the second world war.

Partially, the German occupying forces are speaking English when working together with the French police, especially when no translators are at hand. Is this historically proven?

Which languages were in use during the occupation?


texts: What is this metallic object with teeth in mouth, screw to tighten and a handle? I can't find out anything about it.


texts: Did Imperial Japan persecute Slavic people, as European fascists did?

texts:
Over the interwar period, fascist governments in Europe heavily promoted anti-Slavic propaganda. In Germany, they were labelled as Untermensch alongside the Jews, and in Italy, Slavic media, languages, and businesses were banned. During the war, the persecution evolved into an outright genocide, with millions of Slavic civilians and POWs being massacred in concentration camps.

Was there any similar attitude or activity against Slavs in Imperial Japan? I doubt that Japan ever found enough Slavic people to make something like the Holocaust possible, but were there other forms of persecution? Unlike Germany, Japan occupied part of Russia in the interwar period (see this and this). How were the Russians living here treated? Were Eastern European expats and POWs in Japan discriminated against because of their ethnicity?


texts: Using a lance while on a charging horse against ground based enemy

texts:
In historic light cavalry, if a rider was using a lance, how many times could it be reused? How long before it became a liability by getting someone stuck on the end of it, or got snagged on a body and ripped out of his hands, possibly destabilizing the rider in the process?

I read a scene in an unfinished fantasy novel. In it he had a guy using a lance against multiple enemies while on a charging horse. My brain hiccuped at that, which usually signifies the need for an editor note, but I wanted to double check. A Google search provided mostly information about that scenario in a table top game.

In this case, it's a rabble near a dock facing a different enemy who has now been surprised from behind by light Calvary. The writer had the lead horseman making it all the way to the dock, using his lance as a weapon to "take down anyone not fast enough to get out of the way". But if the horse is moving at a brisk pace, isn't he going to lose the lance after only a few pokey pokey stab stabs?


texts: Are there notes by the Founding Fathers which indicate why DC citizens were denied a vote in Congress?

texts: Are there any records from the Constitutional Convention that establish why the District of Columbia was denied voting representation in the Senate and the House?  Was there even any expression of concern that in DC there would be taxation without representation?


texts: What are the origins of knife and fork language etiquette?

texts:
There is an etiquette of placing knife and fork on a plate while resting or after finishing. For example this cheat-sheet (there are a lot of texts and images like this on the web):

I found this tradition mentioned in a 1858 year book:

  On another occasion she refused to be introduced to a gentleman because at a dinner party in handing his plate to a waiter he had laid his knife and fork straight, instead of crossed, upon it; and after concluding the meal, instead of placing his knife and fork in parallel lines beside his plate, he had been so vulgar as to leave both knife and fork crossed upon his plate.

So I assume it is an old tradition. What are its origins? Are there any written sources of it?


texts: How much of "Russia" was actually occupied by the Germans in World War II?

texts:
I am well aware that the German invasion of the Soviet Union, as depicted on maps like these, showed large German gains in 1941, and subsequently on the road to Stalingrad in 1942.

My understanding, however, was that these gains were mainly in the Baltic States, Belorussia, and the Ukraine, and that only a little of "Russia" proper (as we might define it today) was occupied by the Germans, except for the seesaw fighting on the road to Moscow from October 1941 to say, March 1942, during which almost 100,000 square miles of the country was captured and liberated. A similar "exception" can be made for land between the Don and Volga Rivers in late 1942 that the Germans occupied for a few months before losing the battle of Stalingrad.  If anything, Russia gained troops, civilians, and factories that were withdrawn from the non-Russian part of the Soviet Union in anticipation of German occupation to compensate for lost territory.

How much of "Russia" (of 1941) was occupied by the Germans at 1) its maximum extent in December, 1941 and/or 1942? and 2) after the successful conclusion of the Russian winter counteroffensives? (Please use Germany's March 1943 recapture of Kharkov as the end of the Russian 1943 counteroffensive.)

My problem is that I am not sure how to define "Russia." I want the 1941 "predecessor" to today's Russia (post war changes probably mean that they are not exactly the same)." My best guess is that the best proxy for "Russia" is the Russian Federalist Soviet Republic, assuming it is in fact the best "predecessor."

Put another way, the question is how much of German-occupied territory was "Russia" (however defined) as opposed to the rest of the Soviet Union?


texts: Did any native US-Canadian tribes have written language before the advent of the Europeans?

texts: I know some peoples in more southern parts of the Americas had forms of written language, however, I was unsure as to whether this is something that had also developed among groups living in modern America-Canada prior to Columbus.


texts: Who was the 18th century French eccentric who proposed the Dutch colonize SW Australia?

texts: Some time ago, I read a story on the internet about a French eccentric/scientist living in the 18th century who had studied climate zones on the Earth. He came to the conclusion that there were a number of regions on the southern Hemisphere that were ideal for European settlement due to their Mediterranean climate. Among these was the southern part of "New Holland" and that at the time had not yet been claimed by any major powers. So he went about contacting several officials of different countries with this proposal for settling this area, one of whom was a board in the Netherlands of high-ranking people. They eventually turned the proposal down...


texts: What factors contribute to the fact that only a handful of countries manufacture aircraft jet engines?

texts:
The USA (GE, Pratt & Whitney), Russia (NPO Saturn, Klimov), France (Snecma) and the UK (Rolls Royce) are the only countries that have aircraft jet engine manufacturers. What factors might contribute to the reasons that there are no German, Canadian, Israeli, Spanish or Italian companies doing this?

I heard the allied countries of WW2 captured German engineers and developed their industries.

Is there any documentation in the final treaties to indicate that this might be connected to WW2 somehow?


texts: Can history shed any light on the "secret arts" of the Egyptian magicians who turned their staffs into serpents as claimed by Exodus 7:11-12?

texts:
The biblical story of Exodus 7:11-12 talks about the alleged existence of some "secret arts" that the magicians of Egypt made use of to accomplish the feat of turning staffs into serpents:

11 Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they, the magicians of Egypt, also did the same by their secret arts. 12 For each man cast down his staff, and they became serpents. But Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs.

Of course, the point of this question is not to discuss whether this particular story and its alleged miracles actually happened. Rather, I'm interested in the historical background of the Egyptian "secret arts" that the text claims to have existed at the time. From the viewpoint of secular history, were there in Ancient Egypt magicians that claimed to possess "occult knowledge" that would allow them to perform preternatural acts such as converting inanimate objects into animals or anything of that sort?
Notice that I'm not looking for historical evidence that Ancient Egyptians actually did this, but at least that they claimed that they were able to.


texts: Why did India use Soviet military hardware during the Cold War?

texts:
A former British colony, I'd have thought that India would use Western military hardware during the Cold War. In fact, they fought shoulder-to-shoulder with British soldiers against the Japanese. India was a natural ally of the West.

One explanation I can think of, silly as it might sound, is:

After World War Two, the US sold weapons to Pakistan. India purchased Soviet military hardware to spite the Americans.

Am I wrong?


texts: What is a good, authoritative source on the history of Tibet?

texts: I'd like to know more about this topic as people often discuss it with me. What is a good book for me to read to gain a better understanding of Tibetan history?


texts:
What is the historical relationship between Yule and Christmas?

Yule is in part a set of secular and religious observances of a festival, arising out of pagan Germanic cultures.

Christmas is in part a set of secular and religious observances of a festival, arising out of a 4th century Roman Christian feast celebrating the claimed birth of Jesus of Nazareth.

Reference to papers related to this question will be most welcome.


texts: Was there actually debate amongst the Norse about the existence or location of Britain?

texts:
In the TV show "Vikings" much is made in the first couple of episodes about raiding to the west. They make it seem as though they didn't know about England.
That seems highly unlikely to me.  The Romans had "discovered" England, conquered it, occupied it for about 400 years, and left - almost 400 years before Lindisfarne!
Am I to believe the raid on Lindisfarne (or other early raids at that time) were discovery expeditions like Columbus's expedition to the new world?


texts: Did the Inca Empire know about the Polynesians, or vice versa?

texts:
I'll split this question into two parts.

Pre-Columbus: There's some evidence that Polynesians traveled back and forth between Oceania and South America before the arrival of Europeans. The sweet potato was introduced to Polynesia from South America around 700 CE, though it's not clear if it was imported, or if it somehow floated across the ocean. Other clues comes from linguistics and genetics.

Is there any evidence that the Inca Empire knew about the Polynesians? Wikipedia implies that the hypothetical contact happened hundreds of years before Inca times. There likely weren't any Polynesian explorers in South America during the colonial period. Still, the Incas had a strong oral tradition, so they might have known.

Post-Columbus: The Inca Empire survived until 1572, though it was only a rump state after the 1530s. This means that the Inca Empire was still around when the Europeans reached Polynesia (see this and this). Did any information about the Incas bleed into Polynesia, or vice versa? Obviously, modern Polynesians and Andeans are aware of each other, so I'll set the question's end date at 1572.


texts: What happened to the King Bar in Saigon?

texts:
Bar in Saigon with playing card designs in the windows (source).
Considered an important location.

It was on Tu Do street, now Dông Khoï street, formerly rue Catinat.
Some links added in comments: picture, Saigon then and now,
slideshow.


texts: Did George Washington‘s investment in the Ohio Company eventually turn a profit?

texts:
The intent of some English and Virginia speculators (including two brothers of George Washington and Virginia Royal Governor Robert Dinwiddie) to open the Ohio Valley (then a French possession) to settlers, led to  the creation of the Ohio Company in 1747, and eventually to the French and Indian War, thus sparking off the Seven Years‘ War.
George Washington‘s active involvement in the early stages of the French and Indian War (Fort Necessity, Monongahela), following his promotion  by Dinwiddie in 1754 to lieutenant colonel and second-in-command of the 300-strong Virginia Regiment, is arguably difficult to extricate from  his vested interests in the Ohio Company.
What became of this speculative venture after the Treaty of Paris (1763)? Did Washington‘s bet pay out?


texts: What exactly is the "revolution from the bourgeois" referred to in flow?

texts:
I was reading the book Flow by Mihaly Csizkszentmihalyi, wherein the following quote is made on page 67:

  “The much more subtle but equally coercive social controls of bourgeois Vienna made Freud’s road to liberation pertinent to those whose minds had been warped by such conditions. ”

This is part of the larger paragraph:

  “When the inhuman conditions of factory labor became the most obvious obstacles to the workers’ freedom to order their own experience, as they were in nineteenth-century industrial Europe, Marx’s message turned out to be especially relevant. The much more subtle but equally coercive social controls of bourgeois Vienna made Freud’s road to liberation pertinent to those whose minds had been warped by such conditions. ”

Which suggests that somehow Freud was a revolution to the Bourgeois, solving a problem facing the people in that class.

What was the problem he solved, and what is the history surrounding it?


texts: What divided the Roman Catholic church from the Orthodox church?

texts:
What incident or reason divided the Roman catholic church from the orthodox church of Russia.

And who decided the differences between the two churches and faiths?


texts: Are there examples of cities planned for urban combat that actually experienced it?

texts: I was under the impression some cities are built to make urban combat more of a mess than it already is. Specifically they are built to have bad sight lines, confusing routes for the enemy and planned areas that could be blocked off. Unfortunately I can't seem to find information on specific city planning of this nature. What cities were planned this way if any and how recently were they planned, also did any of these cities experience combat?


texts: Where, when and why did the practice of proxy marriage originate?

texts:
Proxy marriage is a wedding in which at least one of the lucky couple is absent, with a proxy filling in instead. It was fairly common amongst the nobility in the middle ages to engage in this practice. One intriguing instance that I have read is that between Philip II of Spain and Elizabeth of France, with the Duke of Alba acting as a proxy for the former. The process included a consummation in which Elizabeth and the Duke of Alba went to bed with one leg naked each and touched these legs against each other.

When and where did this practice originate? In the original case, what problem was it intended to solve? How long did it take for the practice to receive official or widespread recognition?


texts: Why was there little nonwhite migration to Europe in the 19th century?

texts:
Migration

This may sound like a strange question, but hear me out.

The 19th century was an age of massive population migration, perhaps the most significant in history according to this economic history course. Large numbers of Europeans (British, German, Scots, Irish) emigrated to overseas colonies, often despite very hostile conditions. Many Asians also pulled up roots and moved vast distances, despite the efforts of white governments to keep them out. For example, the British transported 3.5 million Indian indentured laborers to colonies across the world, Chinese immigration played a role in both the California and Australian gold rushes. But despite colonial entanglements all over the world, few Asians, Africans, Middle Easterners, and Latin Americans appear to have reached Western Europe.

Immigration

Europe then was an obvious source of wealth and innovation, and regularly hungry for cheaper labor. And yet there was very little nonwhite immigration there, prior to 1945. There were slaves before abolition, some Chinese communities that never rose over a few thousand, and small groups of students from various colonies. Ironically, large scale immigration to Western Europe appears to have only begun after WWII and the end of the colonial empires.

> Why was there little nonwhite immigration of to Western Europe before the postwar era? And are there any examples of larger-scale immigration being explicitly considered or rejected?

I half-expect the answer will boil down to racist paranoia, white workers not wanting competition, and the difficulty of surmounting linguistic and cultural barriers. But, at the same time, that wasn't enough in the U.S. or Australia, and it didn't stop the Irish, Poles, or Jews. Regardless, thanks for your time.

(I'd like to add that this question has zero political motivation. I'm an American reading about British, and west European, imperialism in the 19th century, and the question just struck me.)


texts: Why is the Arch of Titus not considered to be anti-Semitic?

texts:
The Roman emperor Titus ran havoc in Jerusalem in the First Jewish-Roman War, when not only resident Jews but also a lot of pilgrims from Egypt and Babylon were trapped in a chaotic siege (Flavius Josephus). Even to this day, this day is mourned by Jews.

To commemorate the Emperor Titus's victories - most notably the Siege of Jerusalem, the Arch of Titus was constructed by his brother.

How come this standing monument to such a brutal massacre is not declared "Anti-Semitic"?

(Yes, I know it has been used for other memories too - but still the major one is of Jerusalem's beseiging, and it's still named after Titus.)


texts: How many times did Germany try to negotiate a peace in WW2?

texts:
I am thinking in a list of all peace negotiations, forced or not, successful or not. So far I can think of several:

Germany annexed Poland.
Peace with Netherlands after invading it.
Peace with Denmark after invading it.
Germany negotiated peace with France in 1940.
Rudolf Hess tried to negotiate a peace with UK in 1941... on his own?
I think Himmler negotiated a possible peace with UK and USA.
German surrender in 1945.

Am I missing more attempts? Maybe this one during Dunkirk battle? Any other?


texts: Why did India release all Pakistani Soldiers captured during Indo Pak War 1965. As India captured thousands of Pakistani Soldiers Why did Indian Govt. Release all?


texts:
While going through Tamerlane's article on Wikipedia I found

  It is also said that when Gerasimov exhumed Timur's body, an additional inscription inside the casket was found reading, "Who ever opens my tomb, shall unleash an invader more terrible than I." In any case, two days after Gerasimov begun the exhumation, Adolf Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa, the largest military invasion of all time, upon the USSR.

The claim was ftom  Mark Stratton's article

Have there been more sources or works appreciating the irony, or presenting it atleast? Or is it just pseudo history?


texts: Were women allowed to study at the Library of Alexandria?

texts:
The closest thing I've been able to find on the topic was in relation to Hypatia, the mathematician, who was born centuries after the library was burned. Is there a list of known people who studied at the library, and were any of them women? Was the library open to the public like it is today, or did you have to be a scholar to access it?

Thanks in advance.


texts:
What was General Franco's disposition towards Islam? He did fight against some rebels in Morocco in the 19-teens, gaining valuable military experience. During the Spanish Civil War, many of the foreign volunteers on the nationalist side were actually Moroccan, so I imagine he was on pretty good terms with Muslims despite being a conservative Catholic.
Can anyone elaborate more about his sentiments about Islam as well as relationships with Muslims, mostly Moroccans?


texts: Why were Law Lords created peers of different ranks?

texts:
I  cross-referenced the men below with List of law life peerages to check that these Law Lords were created life peers, and didn't inherit peerage. Most Law Lords are created as Barons, but note the different ranks on  Lord High Chancellors and Lord Keepers of Great Britain (1707–present).

I'm aware of changes in 2007 to the Lord Chancellor

  Formerly, the Lord Chancellor was also the presiding officer of the House of Lords, the head of the judiciary in England and Wales and the presiding judge of the Chancery Division of the High Court of Justice, but the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 transferred these roles to the Lord Speaker, the Lord Chief Justice and the Chancellor of the High Court respectively. T

Most Lords of Appeal in Ordinary (1876-2009) are barons save:

Viscount Sumner (serving 1919-130).
Viscount Radcliffe (1949-1964)

Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales

Earl Hadwicke (1733-1737)
Charles Pratt, Earl Camden (1762-1766)
Sir Alexander Cockburn, Bt (1859-1875) wasn't created a Peer! Why not? Did he flub judging?
Viscount Alverstone (1900-1913)
Marquess of Reading (1913-1921). Wow! What did he do to be promoted to Marquess? Did he judge that masterfully?


texts: When was the first known international call between two heads of state or government?

texts:
A number of international phone connections were established a little before or just after 1900:

Paris - Brussles phone line in 1886
England - France cross-Channel telephone cable in 1891
Britain - Belgium telephone service in 1903

Prior to these, the first ever international call was apparently made in 1881 (New Brunswick, Canada - Maine, USA).

With President Rutherford B. Hayes installing the White House's first telephone in 1877 and British Prime Minister William Gladstone doing likewise at 10 Downing Street in around 1884, at least two world leaders saw the potential for rapid communication early on. William McKinley (1897 - 1901) was also keen on the new gadget, being the first to use it for a US presidential campaign.

As the first transatlantic call was not possible until January 1927, these leaders would obviously not have been able to talk to each other but there were other (early) possibilities, most obviously perhaps in Europe. One or more calls between the British and French leaders during World War I seems a distinct possibility but I haven't been able to find any evidence.

Churchill and Roosevelt were phoning each other even before Churchill became Prime Minister in May 1940, but this was 50 years after the first international phone lines were laid down, and more than ten years after transatlantic calls started. There were several major events (not least World War I) during these years and thus potentially plenty of reasons for leaders to want to communicate quickly and personally.

When was the first (known) time the leaders of two countries spoke to each other, either by radiotelephone or telephone?

Note: I'm only interested in spoken communication. In countries with a monarchy, either the monarch or the prime minister, chancellor,  e.t.c. (i.e. Head of Government) would be acceptable as a 'leader' for the purposes of this question. A governor general or representative of a dominion or colony would be of secondary interest.


texts: I always thought it was the Dred Scott decision in 1857, when Chief Justice Roger Taney declared the compromise unconstitutional. But I've also heard it was nullified by the Kansas Nebraska act in 1854. Was one of these events, or some other, more influential in the repeal of the Missouri Compromise?


texts: When did it become acceptable to campaign for yourself for US President?

texts:
I am fascinated by the stark differences between election mechanics/strategies/policies of the early United States when compared to today.

In the early days of the US, it was seen as "ungentlemanly" to campaign before a presidential election.  I know that Washington, Adams and Jefferson all stayed out of the fray; though perhaps surreptitiously directing subordinates to do the campaigning work.

Now, of course, campaigning for president is a more-than-full-time job.

How long did this difference last?  When did it become acceptable to even acknowledge that you want the post?


texts: What was the difference in the minds of the Romans between human sacrifice and gladiator games?

texts: The Romans eventually outlawed human sacrifice to the gods, but gladiator games were practiced until the Roman Empire became Christian. How did the Romans consider the gladiator games different?


texts: What portion of the finance industry was British prior to WWI?

texts:
It's sometimes stated that Britain was the financial capital of the world prior to the First World War, and that it took extraordinary war spending like that in the Great War to shift the capital to America. Example:

  While exact estimates of British overseas investment in the 19th century vary, there is general agreement that by 1914 Britain acquired a historically unprecedented position as a global creditor. Cornell

However, this statement is not backed up by hard data. What portion (as a percent) of the world's finance was British? More specifically:

What portion of global governmental reserves was in the British pound?
What portion of global governmental reserves was in British bonds?
What portion of finance workers globally worked for British banks?
What portion of global wealth was held in British banks?


texts: What is the connection between the rise of modern football in the UK and the shortening of the work week?

texts:
I remember hearing something on Revisionist History that alluded to the rise of modern football in the UK in connection to the shortening of the industrial work week.
From what I can recall the industrial work week was first shortened to half-day Sundays, then later shortened to six days a week and subsequently five and a half day weeks with Saturday afternoons off.
I believe it was with the Saturday afternoon sabbaticals that the rise of modern football in the UK came about.
I'm having trouble finding the exact episode, I thought it was in season four, but I've re-listened to the first four episodes so far and I haven't come across the information I was looking for.
I also can't find much information that talks about the rise of modern football in connection with the shortening of the industrial work week online.
Any ideas?


texts: What is the difference between annexing, occupying and taking over a country?

texts:
Hitler in WW2 annexed or took over Austria, but occupied France and Belgium. What is the difference?
When Hitler took a sliver of Poland, and Czechoslovakia, did he take over or did he occupy it?


texts: What was the Chinese impact on Japanese culture and the arts after ~1750?

texts:
What significant and subtle impacts has China had on Japanese social dynamics and the arts from ~1750 to the early nineteen hundreds?

If at all possible include dates on which changes happened abruptly or when the effects of gradual influence becomes apparent.


texts: When would the Japanese have been able to recognize their archipelago?

texts:
After watching Bill Wurtz's History of Japan video, it got me wondering.

At 4:38, it brings up the Dutch bringing geography to Japan (obviously, this is a humorous video, so I'm sure this is simplified), but it shows a map of the world (presumably) as the Dutch understood it in the mid-17th century.

Would an average educated Japanese person at that time have recognized their island system on a world map, or been able to locate it on a European map?

If not, when would such geographical knowledge have been common?

Wikipedia mentions early Japanese map-making, but it seems to have been mostly local mapping, nothing on the scale of the islands themselves.

All the maps I have found have been European-made, which doesn't tell me much about what the Japanese knew, and the Wikipedia page doesn't have any pictures.


texts: Which European towns or cities are architecturally most similar today to how they would have been in 16C-17C?

texts: Which European towns or cities are architecturally most similar today to how they would have been in the 16th and 17th centuries?  A different way of asking the question: which contemporary European towns or cities would give the best impression of what a city would have looked like at that time?


texts: Aside from the Jews, did Hitler have a final solution plan for other ethnicities/races in the Third Reich?

texts: We know that Nazi ideology explicitly singled out Jews as the main reason for all Germany's problems, and planned to exterminate all of them. Nazis also persecuted gypsies, Polish people, and POWs. Did the Nazis plan to exterminate other races/ethnicities? Were there any indications of this in their writings, propaganda, letters, secret documents? For example, anything against black people? Arabs? Asians? etc?


texts: Does the forearm grip/handshake have a historical basis?

texts: I was wondering where the forearm handshake came from. I found absolutely nothing in Wikipedia, so I have no idea if this is really historically based or just a recent popular greeting. I was led to believe that it may have been used by European pre-roman age tribes.


texts: Why were the some "New Deal" programs cancelled in the beginning of WWII?

texts:
I was reading a textbook on U.S and the time period of WWII. I have read that the New Deal programs like Works Progress Administration, Civilian Conservation Corps, National Youth Administration. The author(s) stated that President FDR essentially said goodbye to "Dr. New Deal" and entered "Dr. Win-the-War."

I'm assuming this is to save the invested money and capital to feed to war but could there be any other reasons? Any more depth into this action?

Sources: American Pageant 13th Edition by David M. Kennedy, Thomas A. Bailey & Elizabeth Cohen


texts: What was the last public school to desegregate in the US? And when?

texts: What was the last public school to desegregate in the United States? What was the date of completion for that schools desegregation?


texts: What were Albert Speer's specialties, and how did he apply them when he led Organisation Todt?

texts:
I know that Speer was the Minister of Armaments and Munitions as well as the head of the Organisation Todt, but what exactly did he do to make the war production so productive?
What changes did he make?
What did he do to make these changes?

Clarification: Were there any decrees or rules he made to make the system more efficient, or was the efficiency already there when he took over?


texts:
I have been trying to find an answer to the above question. In pre-Roman and Roman Britain were the Celtic peoples promiscuous or did they have only one married partner? Is there strong enough evidence to point either way?
I found this so far:

  We fulfill the demands of nature in a much better way
  than do you Roman women,” the Celtic lady retorted disdainfully,
  “for we consort openly with the best men, whereas you
  let yourselves be debauched in secret by the vilest.”

  ~~ Dio Cassius quoting the reply of a Celtic wife
  to a jeering accusation of promiscuity from a Roman matron.

However, there are also stone carvings from Celtic culture that appear to show married couples. Also, see chapter 19 of Cornelius Tacitus' "Germania":

  They live in a state of chastity well secured, corrupted by no seducing shows and public diversions, by no irritations from banqueting. Of learning and of any secret intercourse by letters, they are all equally ignorant, men and women. Amongst a people so numerous, adultery is exceedingly rare; a crime instantly punished. For, to a woman who has prostituted her person, no pardon is ever granted. However beautiful she be, however young, however abunding in wealth, a husband she can never find.

Which is it, or both?


texts: Why do western monotheistic religions seem to be so full of conflict over dogma?

texts:
This could be a totally false premise. But clearly when Christianity was starting (and even to this day) there were serious conflicts about ideology. You had the Arians, Monophysites, etc. all at each others' throats. I noticed that this was similar to the Jewish sects that fought against each other (more than they fought the Romans) in Josephus's The Jewish War. Additionally you can look at Islam and see the various sects (Shiites, Sunnis, etc.) that do not play very well with each other.

In all my time reading history I have never read of such doctrinal conflicts occurring in societies that were polytheistic.

What made monotheism so prone to intra-religion conflict as opposed to polytheism?

To document what I have researched so far is reading the Jewish War by Josephus,  and the Byzantine Empire by Norwich, along with several various web pages. I have not been able to locate anything that talks about intra-religious conflicts among polytheistic religions.

This question was based on a quote from Freud saying,

  "It was strict monotheism, the first attempt of its kind, as far as we
  know, in the history of the world, and along with the belief in a
  single god that religious intolerance was inevitably born, which had
  previously been alien to the ancient world."

Or this quote from Kirsch, which starts to maybe explain why, but never gives a fully satisfying answer,

  "But, fatefully, monotheism turned out to inspire a ferocity and even
  a fanaticism that are mostly absent from polytheism. At the heart of
  polytheism is an open-minded and easygoing approach to religious
  belief and practice, a willingness to entertain the idea that there
  are many gods and many ways to worship them. At the heart of
  monotheism, by contrast, is the sure conviction that only a single god
  exists, a tendency to regard one's own rituals and practices as the
  only proper way to worship the one true god. The conflict between
  these two fundamental values is what I call the war of God against the
  gods-it is a war that has been fought with heart-shaking cruelty over
  the last thirty centuries, and it is a war that is still being fought
  today."


texts: What was the status of travelling perfomers in the Middle Ages (specifically, 13th century Germany)?

texts:
I had previously thought that medieval travelling performers were regarded as being of a low social class, not for respectable people to associate with, but upon researching it I found out that many minstrels, at least, were employed at court, and were - it seems - well-respected. So I am curious, what was their status and how were they treated?

I am particularly interested in Germany - 13th century to be exact - because I'm researching a book, but any information is appreciated :)


texts:
About 1800, Major-General Andrey Somov headed a regiment sent from Irkutsk to reinforce Kamchatka. Soldiers were to take up positions in about five garrisons around the peninsula. Feeding them was a major expense, so they were ordered to try to grow crops on arrival. They brought an epidemic of Typhus fever.

James Gibson held in a footnote in Feeding the Russian Fur Trade that the regiment was sent due to "the Napoleonic threat". Napoleon was not crowned until 1804 but Russia did fight France in the War of the Second Coalition (1798-1802). Action reached Egypt and Syria but none of that war's engagements were any farther from Europe.

Janus Paal wrote that Russia was alarmed about the visits of foreign ships to Kamchatka. Decades previous, Captain Cook's last voyage and La Perouse had both stopped in Petropavlovsk, ostensibly on scientific missions. I'm not sure if there were any foreign visits in the last decade of the 18th Century.

Was Russia truly concerned that France might seize Kamchatka?


texts: When did the terms, 1-point, 2,-point, 3-point, etc... perspective come into use?

texts: It is generally agreed upon that the architect Brunelleschi was the one that discovered the rules for perspective in the early 15th century. I have perused books like "On Painting" by Leon Battista, another early 15th century practitioner of perspective and the terms don't appear there. I am wondering, when did these n-point perspective terms come into use that are so common in perspective books and art classes of the 20th and 21st century?


texts: Did the commonwealth surrender prematurely at Crete?

texts: In the Battle of Crete in 1941, the numbers were around equal but the British have supremacy in the sea and in land equipment. The only advantage the Germans had was air supremacy. So why did the British surrender their forces?


texts: Is there a special name for the beginning of the 20th century?

texts:
The beginning of the 20th century is marked by the rise of several more or less "revolutionary" new cultural, scientifical ideas.

E.g. expressionism in painting and dancing, scientific revolution (quantum mechanics., theory of relativity), new pedagogical initiatives etc.

This was a common opinion in the time I was educated.

Is there a special or common name for this historical period?
Do you know any articles/books that studied this turning point period?


texts: Brass tablet at a museum in Rouen: "A tous les temps, a tous les peuples"

texts:
In the book by Sheppard from 1817
"Letters descriptive of a Tour through some parts of France, Italy, Switzerland, and Germany in 1816, with incidental reflections on some topics connected with Religion"

on page 12

the author mentions a brass tablet about the creation of the metric system.

Is this tablet still there? I could not locate it. Is the tablet itself today in a museum?


texts: Why did the colonies fight Cresap's War?

texts:
I am reading about Cresap's War.  I do not fully understand why colonies within the British Empire had wars with one another. Did the British Colonies in America have independent rules, like the Colony of Pennsylvania and the Colony of Maryland? And if so, which British Colonies in America did not, i.e. were directly under the British Throne.

Also, were the Dutch, Spanish and French Colonies in America around 1730 in the same way independent colonies or were they different?


texts: Why is the Roman emperor Titus known as Titus? Usually we don't refer to a Roman by his first name (praenomen). And it's not as if it serves to distinguish him from his predecessor (and father) or his successor (and brother) - they were also named Titus! How did this come about - and when?


texts: Where can I find information about "stone power" / lapidaire?

texts:
While doing some research about Middle-Ages jewelry, where stones comes from and the economy around it, I found a website mentioning this book and mention beliefs in some magical properties of precious or semi-precious stone.

I am looking for historical sources about the belief in the 'power' of stones in the Middle-Ages.

By "power of stones", I mean the magical properties people in the Middle-Ages thought that special or 'precious' stones had, but mainly separated from the 'medical' aspects often associated with this.

'Power' like "Grant wealthiness", or "make you invincible".

I only found websites about actual "lithotherapie", and a book on Amazon.

Specifically, I'm looking for information about what in French would be called a "lapidaire", from the Middle Ages, and ideally translated, but found nothing on the internet. Apparently some special terms or concepts for this elude me.

The works I found so far:

Valérie Gontero-Lauze: "Les Pierres du Moyen Âge: Anthologie des lapidaires médiévaux" Relié – 10 octobre 2016. (amazon link)
Pierre Genève: "Magie et Pouvoirs des Pierres", Science & Magie N° 59 (PDF) (this is more about new-age spirituality and esoterism. Not what I'm looking for.)


texts: Has this rock been engineered by humans and, if so, what was its use?

texts:
I found this rock in my garden (Cheshire, UK) and wondered whether it had been fashioned by humans for some use. If so what was it used for and what is its history?
The two largest holes on either side go right through, almost like a bead. It seemed too specific to have happened naturally.
The outside of the rock is quite smooth though it has some small holes in addition to the larger ones. These could be weathering. It is quite light, though it feels solid. Definitely feels and sounds like rock rather than a seed pod or other organic material. Light brown, orange in colour. The hole through the centre is not entirely smooth, though it is very nearly a straight line.
Thanks for your help!
Additional note: it doesn't float.


texts: Were there a British 'Négritude' movement?

texts:
Did a movement similar to Négritude exist in the UK or amongst Anglo-Saxon Africans?

Were there British equivalents of French West Africa's Léopold Sédar Senghor, Alioune Diop, or Aimé Césaire - poets and writers who rejected France's colonialism and took pride in their cultural and racial identity?

I know that the British, in contrast to the French, pursued indirect rule rather than assimilation, but surely must have been intellectuals who fought against colonial rule on the basis of affirming African-ism?


texts: Why have wheat and rice been consumed in different forms?

texts:
Historically, wheat has been ground into bread, while rice has been boiled and consumed in "granular" form. Corn has been consumed both ways, "on the cob," and in corn bread.

Why is that?


texts: Do historians agree that most wars are caused by religion?

texts: I'm not a historian, but this is a very common claim that crops up in debates over God's existence and religious scripture. What is the opinion of the community of professional historians?


texts: Did an American soldier stop riots in Iraq by banning food trucks?

texts:
I remember hearing a story once that went something like this:

A behavior specialist for the US Army was sent to a city in Iraq where civil unrest frequently broke out. While studying a major plaza in the city, he noticed a few things:

First, a crowd would gather.
Next, the food trucks would arrive to serve the crowd.
Then, a riot would break out.

So, he decided to try prohibiting the food trucks from entering the plaza. His plan worked - the next day's crowd would gather and simply disperse.

I was unable to verify this story, however.


texts: How come every culture on the planet has a different calendar, yet follow the same system for a week?

texts:
I know it sounds a bit like a silly question. Every culture in the world follow a different Calendar, for instance:

Christians follow a solar calendar following the birth of Jesus Christ (2014. AD currently running)
Muslims follow a lunar calendar (Hijri) based on the birth of Prophet Mohammed.
Hindus follow a luni-solar calendar called Vikram Samvat (among many other versions).

Now the number of months and days in a month are obviously different in each of this calendar. However, how come all calendars happen to agree on the seven day week system (For example, today is a Friday in all calendars) ?

Looks like it should be obvious, I know. But still what makes it possible that they agree on the week and still differ in various other calculations?


texts: Who were the victims of the 1907 Tiflis bank robbery?

texts:
According to Wikipedia's 1907 Tiflis bank robbery, there were 40 people killed during an armed robbery to get funds for the "Bolsheviks to fund their revolutionary activities."

I have found it difficult to find information about the people who were killed during the attack. I suspect many were soldiers but apparently there were also passers-by (from some biography of Stalin found by searching the question on the internet).

There seems to be a lot of information about the perpetrators themselves and sometimes seen as some sort of bandit-heroes, or some lengthy (that I would happily qualify pointless) discussion about the role of Stalin during the robbery, but no word about the dead and wounded people.

I find this rather frustrating. It's like these people were just props for the Bolshevik drama and their lives were just erased from the records.

Do we know what proportion of them were soldiers/police compared to the civilian victims? Is there any record of the people killed during the robbery?


texts: How did scholarly education work in Song dynasty China?

texts:
In Song dynasty China, the Imperial Examinations were held to determine who would become the new government leaders to replace the older hereditary system of power. According to several sources, any Chinese man of good standing could take the test. How did the education prior to taking the examination take place? In addition, did members of lower classes actually have an opportunity to receive an education to prevent the rich from maintaining their high social standing?
I have looked into this problem on several sites before, (e.g. Wikipedia:ImperialExams) but I could not find any good information on it other than a basic format of the exam. How would test takers get their education to take the test and how did government officials ensure that it was fair for the poor? How early would they begin studying for the test?  How early would education typically begin? Would they study at a physical school/university or at home with a tutor?


texts: What plumbing did well-equipped sailing ships have?

texts: Late period sailing ships (around 1800) had potable water supplies and also pumps, at least some with wooden impellers. Water must have been stored low to keep the center of gravity low. What source of power was used to pump water and what kind of plumbing features did sailing ships have?


texts: What kind of heating did Moscow have in the early Soviet Union (1917 - 1930)?

texts: I would like to know what kind of residential heating was prevalent in Moscow in the time period around 1917 - 1930. What kind of fuel was used? Did they have district heating back then? Otherwise what was used for hot water?


texts: Why were the 8th Route Army better at fighting the Japanese than the Nationalists were?

texts:
Numerous sources have noted the (Communist) 8th Route Army's effectiveness in its resistance against Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) occupation; British, American observers, even Japanese commanders have remarked that fighting the 8th Route required more caution than similar National Revolutionary Army (Nationalist) forces.

This can be surprising, since the 8th Route are an extremely poorly-armed peasant army, having to scavenge for weapons, controlling a small, impoverished portion of North China, whereas the Chinese Nationalists had a much larger population and industrial base to draw from.

How is it that such a modest force could be more effective? Did they have natural advantages? Were they superior in some aspect? Or was it purely down to circumstance?

Here are some sources; I admit these look anecdotal and possibly cherry-picked, but I look forward to well-reasoned arguments supporting or rebutting the depictions shown. Some of this looks like poorly-sourced material that's been reposted endlessly among Chinese sites, so if anyone can track down the originals (e.g. untranslated/uncensored Japanese) or prove that these are fabrications/distortions that would be great too.

Japanese / collaborationist sources

  1943年6月日本中国派遣军司令部接到华北方面军报告： “从今年1月到5月与共产军交战次数为5524次之多。……敌大半为中共军。与蒋军相反，在本年交战1.5万次中，和中共的作战占七成五。在交战的200万敌军中，半数以上也都是中共军。在我方所收容的19.9万具敌遗体中，中共军也占半数。但与此相比较，在我所收容的7.5万俘虏中，中共军所占的比例则只占一成五。这一方面暴露了重庆军的劣弱性，同时也说明了中共军交战意识的昂扬。……因此，华北皇军今后的任务是更增加其重要性了。只有对于为华北致命伤的中共军的灭绝性作战，才是华北皇军今后的重要使命。

A battle report for the North China region reads that Communist forces for the year of 1943 consisted of the majority of engagements, enemies encountered, and corpses, but only 1/5th of the POWs, and concludes that this shows the inferiority of "Chongqing" troops (a.k.a. Nationalists).

  伪山西《新民报》1943年载该报随军记者张文心《癸末春太行作战纪评》： “一向即以狡黠著称之共党军，彼等确有不可漠视之独特战法……共产军其所以几年仍未全灭者，实不能不归功于其特有战法，即彼等得意之游击战。……以上所述，皆为狡黠共产党军所用之战法……如中央军者，集则易乱，散则无力，其溃灭尚较为容易，而共产党军集则为整，化则为零，其每个散在之小组皆为有机体……”

An article in the Shanxi Xinminbao newspaper by war correspondant Zhang Wenxin describes the Communists as more disciplined than the Nationalists.

  日本战史刊物《历史群像》2002年第10期回忆录：“我和国民党军打过仗，也和八路军打过仗，论武器装备是国民党军好得多，但八路军极善运动，也就是说对战场的控制力极强，随时随地都会向你发动进攻。和他们作战我们无时无刻不在紧张中。作为战士我们更不愿和八路军交手。……和国民党军打仗，敌人败了就一跑了之，我们可以放心大胆地追击，和八路军打仗，即使撤退，他们也会设下各种陷阱，我们决不敢掉以轻心。”

A memoir in an article in the magazine Rekigun describes the 8th Route Army as a more dangerous foe than the Nationalists.

Other sources

Book excerpt from Pacific War, 1931-1945 by Saburo Ienaga:

  Japanese forces held their own against the Nationalist units, but the Communist Eighth Route Army was a different story. Never in the earlier wars against the Manchus, tsarist Russia, Imperial Germany, Chinese warlords, or Chiang Kai-shek had the Imperial Army come up against troops like those of the Eighth Route Army: they defied conventional military modes of analysis and bloodied the Japanese army. The unique qualities of the Eighth Route Army are documented in the detailed accounts of American Journalists like Edgar Snow and Agnes Smedley and the German Gunther Stein and in General Stilwell's reports.41


texts:
Has Saudi Arabia ever been invaded?
Has Saudi Arabia ever been invaded?


texts: How would an SS officer travel from Auschwitz to Berlin?

texts:
To get to Berlin from Auschwitz in early July 1944, before the attempt on Hitler's life, would an SS officer be apt to take a night train? How regularly would trains run from Oswiecim, i.e. would there be an actual schedule to consult? Would he (or his aide for him) have to buy a ticket? Would civilian passengers sit in the same first class compartment? Would the officer face ticket collectors and border controls like civilians? What is the likeliest route at that time, and how long would it take, aside from possible delays for repairs because of bombing? This is for the novel I'm writing with a flashback to Auschwitz.

In July 1944, Breslau had not yet been declared a Festung, a fortress. If one descended from the train to Berlin at Breslau at this time, would one find a city suffering the privations of war but not much damaged by bombing, or crowded yet with refugees from other places? Would the city have been in blackout mode? Would there have been many soldiers or SS in evidence, or Volkspolizei? ("Privations of war" of course does not cover the transporting and killing of Breslau's 10,000 Jews, nor the destruction of and damage to their property and public buildings.)

I understand that I am not permitted to say thanks to even a supremely helpful answer to my question, for example about Breslau.


texts:
I recall, way back in high school, someone came to describe the American Civil War, show local artifacts, that sort of thing. I remember them mentioning that muzzle-loaded weapons had been found with as many as twenty (I think? memory hazy) balls loaded into them. I took it that this represented some sort of wider phenomenon than a couple of odd weapons found. At the time, for whatever reason, I took away one of these mental pictures:

(1) Terrified by the horror of the situation, the owner of the weapon compulsively loaded it too many times. Perhaps it wouldn't fire, and it's all they could think to do.

(2) Alternatively, they used the excuse of 'needing to load their weapon' to avoid the fray, perhaps because their weapon was inoperational for whatever reason.

I thought back to this this morning, and wondered if there might be other scenarios:

(3) In scrounging for weapons, a soldier would pick up a found weapon and load it. This doesn't make a lot of sense, because I assume this weapon would explode if already loaded.

(4) Maybe, for whatever reason, this weapon was not meant to be fired at that time, but to carry the balls and powder.

Anyway, it's a bit of a riddle to me. Is it a common artifact? Maybe someone has some insight on it?


texts: When exactly did General von Kluck learn of the French Sixth Army?

texts:
The French Sixth Army had been forming in Paris for some time before they positioned themselves to attack the German First Army under von Kluck. According to von Kluck's wikipedia:

  On 31 August Kluck turned his army southeast to support the Second
  Army. In so doing, Kluck created a 30-mile gap in the German line
  extending toward Bülow's stalled Second Army. Critically, the move
  exposed Kluck's right flank in the direction of Paris where (unknown
  to Kluck) General Michel-Joseph Maunoury's new Sixth Army was
  deployed. The French learned of Kluck's change in course on September
  3 thanks to reports from Allied aircraft, and this was independently
  confirmed by radio intercepts.

The Allure of Battle by Cathal J. Nolan states:

  On September 3rd, Moltke also realized that Joffre was massing to
  counterattack north of Paris. … The next day, the French attacked with
  their scratch 6th army: bleu and feldgrau masses crashed into each
  other in a corps vs. corps level fight 25 miles north of Paris. …
  Kluck had no idea the new French 6th Army was there until the blow
  landed.

And finally, from Maunoury's article:

  Sixth Army marched out from Paris on the morning of 5 September.[33]
  Maunoury was to take up positions north-east of Meaux and was due to
  attack the next day along the north bank of the Marne. Instead
  fighting began at 13:00 on 5 September, in an area where French cavalry had encountered no Germans whilst scouting, but which had
  since been occupied by German IV Reserve Corps, whose commander
  decided to attack on his own initiative. During the night the Germans
  withdrew to the east, but von Kluck, commander of German First Army,
  shifted further forces up to face Maunoury's Army.

Does this mean that von Kluck first learned of the French Sixth at exactly 13:00, September 5th? It seems very odd that he had no idea an army was right there until the first blow landed. If Moltke had some idea the French were massing north of Paris, why was Kluck not also aware of this? Are there any letters, journal notes, orders, radio transcripts, or anything else that could pinpoint precisely when Kluck learned of the French Sixth?


texts: Did Japan ever pay Russia war reparations after WW2? Why or why not?

texts: Russia had the largest number of casualties during WW2, and Russia had taken many Japanese prisoners. So, why didn't Russia receive a reparation from Japan to help boost Russia's economy after the war?


texts: What is considered to be the pivotal battle between Caesar and Pompey?

texts: Caesar and Pompey's forces battled with one another on numerous occasions during the Fall of the Roman Republic. What is the earliest battle that is commonly accepted as the one where it became clear that Caesar's eventual victory was inevitable?


texts: How were snipers used on the western front during WW2?

texts:
When the topic of snipers in WWII comes up, it's almost always about Soviet snipers and the eastern front. What about the western front? I'm specifically interested in how or if the British, American, and German armies utilized them. Some specifics relating to the topic:

Were they ever assigned to a squad, similar to a designated marksman in modern militaries?
Were they their own unit, and if so, how many soldiers typically made up a sniper unit?
What was the primary task of snipers? When did command decide a task needed a sniper instead of a typical rifle unit?


texts: Are there any references to the number of men the vikings could muster?

texts:
I am just interested in any respectable source that has an estimate of the size of armies that Scandinavian Kings and/or Jarls could muster based on their power and/or location.

I have read answers on the world building stack exchange about how to estimate the fighting man power of a village/town/city based on population, but I want to know if their is any reference that does not seem to exaggerate on the number of vikings to make the defenders seem heroic.

I know they raided in relatively small parties and hit fast which would be interesting to see an estimate on that, but the focus is on any mustered armies.


texts: Can the Notitia Dignitatum help identify colors for Late Republic/Early Imperial Roman Shields?

texts:
Traditionally Hollywood has showed us red shields for the Legions, but of course Hollywood only pays historical fact-checkers to say they have one, not to do what the fact-checkers say! The actual historical record is scanty at best until the Notitia Dignitatum, which shows hundreds of shield colors and designs for Roman military units in the 5th century.  Prior to that we have a handful of shields and depictions of shields, mostly red with some hints at white, brown, pink, green, and yellow.  We also know through reputable sources that Roman Legions at the time of Caesar and Pompey could be differentiated based on shields, though if this is because they were different colors, different designs, or both isn't clear.  It could also be that, since it was a Civil War, one side or the other specifically changed their shields to avoid confusion in battle, like the USA and CSA armies early in the US Civil War.  Lastly we have one source indicating that different cohorts had different shield designs within a legion to make command and control easier (I can tell it's VI Cohort because of the blue shields or cross design for example) but it's not clear if the color was different, the symbol was different, both were different, or even if the individual parts of  the Legion retained some overarching Legion identifier. (So all red shields with different symbols, or different colors but same symbol, or same color and symbol with a secondary cohort symbol etc etc).

All that being said, the Legions themselves would exist for centuries.  Tradition is important to soldiers and to Rome as a culture.  Therefor it seems to me that, say, Legions in the 5th century that could trace their history back to Late Republican/Early Imperial Legions might still use the colors and symbols in existence then, passed down through the centuries.  For example the regimental colors of the British army have been roughly the same for each regiment for 300 years.  Has anyone seen or done any research on this?  Is it even possible to associate Notitia Dignitatum shields to their proper legion and trace them back?  Were there any Legions in the 5th century that we know COULD trace their lineage back so far?


texts: Are there any documented examples of wooden ships which were in active service for 100 years or more? If not, what is the longest?

texts:
I’ve found two examples (HMS Rupert at 103 years and HMS Warspite at 105 years, both launched in 1666) but I’m not sure if these should qualify as they were rebuilt, and the Wikipedia entry on HMS Rupert says that

  on 16 August 1736 she was ordered to be taken to pieces and rebuilt at
  Sheerness Dockyard, although by this date the practice of rebuilding
  had become a legal fiction, and 'rebuilt' ships were in practice new
  vessels incorporating a small portion of their predecessor's timber
  into the construction.

There is also the USS Constitution, still afloat and built in 1797 but declared unfit for service in 1881, and HMS Cornwallis, built in 1812 and broken up in 1957 (144 years, but 'only' 52 years active service).

It seems that teak is a particularly durable wood, which is one reason why the British had a number of ships built in India:

  there are several instances of vessels built of this timber, the
  frames of which are sound, after a service of one hundred years.
  (my highlighting)

Unfortunately, there are no examples of these 100-year ships cited which I have been able to verify. Note that by 'active service' I am excluding ships used as base ships, museums / tourist attractions and other functions where they were immobile (but conversion from combat to cargo would be fine).

I'm particularly interested in non-US and non-British ships, and the longest-serving ships from the medieval period even if they fall someway short of the 100-year mark. Best find so far for the medieval period is La Pinta possibly built in 1441 and rebuilt (to an unknown extent) by Columbus before the 1492 voyage (probably not long before). It's fate is unknown after 1493.


texts: Would the USA staying out of WWI have prevented WWII?

texts:
A while back, I heard a historian talking about World War II, and he said that the whole thing would never have broken out if the USA had maintained its original isolationist position during World War I.  The chain of reasoning went like this:

Originally, the United States saw the war as an exclusively European conflict, and stayed out of it.
After the Zimmermann Telegram and ongoing German raids on US ships, the USA changed course and declared war.
At the time this happened, the war in Europe had gotten bogged down and was essentially reaching a stalemate.  American soldiers and materiel managed to turn the tide and turn it into a win for the Allies.
Had the USA not entered the war, there would have been no advantage on either side.  It would have been recognized as the stalemate it was fairly soon, and the war would have been resolved based on that reality.
A different end to the war with no clear victor means no ruinous Treaty of Versailles devastating Germany's economy.
No devastated German economy means no rise of the Nazi Party, no World War II, and no Holocaust.

The first two points are historical fact, and the last two are obviously correct, but I'm not so sure about the reasoning that connects them.  That's what I'm wondering about: was the fighting in Europe building up to an inevitable stalemate before the USA joined in and tipped the scales?  And if so, how likely is it that the political leaders of the nations involved would have been willing to recognize it as such and end the war under less devastating conditions than what actually happened?


texts: Is there some evidence in the Iliad and the Odyssey why Troy was capitol and Holy city? Why was it the Holy city?


texts: When and why did Erasmus ask whether the Pope would govern the east better than the Turk?

texts:
Owen Chadwick says in The Reformation:

  The European powers were more frightened of each other than of the Turk. A certain scepticism began to appear; Erasmus asked cynically whether if a crusade were successful the Pope would be likely to govern the east better than the Turk.

There is no citation, and no context. What was the original context?


texts: How were the modern countries in South America formed?

texts: I do not know much about South America which is why I am here. Since most were colonies, mixtures of many races and cultures and nearly all spoke the same language, how did it end up with so many countries? What separated them from each other?


texts: What evidence is there for inventions by slaves or former slaves in Ancient Rome?

texts:
The article Slavery in the Roman Empire claims that

  Slaves are...reported to have made several important inventions.

A number of slaves and freedmen did achieve some measure of fame and fortune: the playwright Terence (died c.159 BC) is an obvious example, while others include Pope Callixtus I (died 222 AD) and the praetor Tiberius Claudius Narcissus (alive 1st century BC), but the only possible inventor I've found is Cicero's slave (later freed) Marcus Tullius Tiro. Tiro

  ...possibly invented an early form of shorthand.

What are these 'important inventions' referred to by the Spartacus Educational article? Is there any evidence for possible inventions by slaves or freedmen, named or unnamed, other than Tiro's shorthand?


texts: How many people lived in the Mexican territories annexed by the US?

texts: What was the population of the areas annexed by the US from Mexico in the 1840s? Basically, "Texas," "California" and the area in between?


texts: What was Sir John Mandeville's source regarding Beersheba and its chronology?

texts:
After men have crossed this desert on the way to Jerusalem, they come to a city which is called Bersabee [Beersheba] which was once a fine city in habited by Christian men, and still there are some of their churches standing. In that city Abraham the Patriarch lived. Bersabee the wife of Ury [Uriah] founded that city, and called it Bersabee after herself. In that city King David begat on her Solomon the Wise, who was king of Jerusalem for 40 years.
(The Travels of Sir John Mandeville, Chapter Nine, translated by C. W. R. D. Mosely)

Sir John Mandeville here claims that the city of Beersheba was founded by Bathsheba yet a mere sentence earlier he states that Abraham lived there, and Abraham predates Bathsheba by several centuries. In fact, the Bible (Genesis 21:31) explicitly states that Abraham gave it the name Beersheba.
What are we to make of Sir John Mandeville's account? Is this simply a mistake (or deliberate distortion)? Is there, perhaps, an alternative chronology that places Bathsheba before Abraham? Is the naming of this city after Bathsheba attested to anywhere else?
(I am aware that the work as a whole is not considered entirely accurate, but I seek an explanation for this particular claim.)


texts: Can anyone help to identify and date this uniform or the medals?

texts: Found in my late Aunt's possessions. Photograph of unidentified uniform:


texts: What was the contemporary German public opinion on the Herero Genocide?

texts:
The genocide took place during 1904-1907, organized by General von Trotha. Wikipedia says:

  Von Trotha's methods caused a public outcry which led the Imperial
  Chancellor Bernhard von Bülow to ask William II, German Emperor, to
  relieve von Trotha of his command.

However, the source cited in wikipedia does not provide any details of the public outrage. I would like to know what form did it take? Did people write editorials? Did deputies protest in the Reichstag? Rallies? Lectures? Petitions? Demonstrations?

Actually: Was there an outrage at all? I tried to google this but got very little except for a claim that reaction to von Trotha's cruel methods led to the Dernburg reforms (whatever they were). But this doesn't settle the question.

P.S.
The wikipedia talk page shows that user Jboy had raised the same issue in 2006 but got no response there.

UPDATE:
The 1911 Britannica source – suggested by Drux – makes clear that von Trotha was relieved of his command not because he was cruel but because his cruelty just didn't get the job done:

  Meanwhile, the administration of von Trotha, who had assumed the
  governorship as well as the command of the troops, was severely
  criticized by the civilian population, and the non-success of the
  operations against the Hottentots provoked strong military criticism.
  In August 1905 Colonel (afterwards General) Leutwein, who had returned
  to Germany, formally resigned the governorship of the protectorate,
  and Herr von Lindequist, late German consul-general at Cape Town, was
  nominated as his successor. Von Trotha, who had publicly criticized
  Prince Billow's order to repeal the Herero proclamation, was
  superseded. He had in the summer of 1905 instituted a series of
  "drives" against the Witbois, with no particular results. Hendrik
  always evaded the columns and frequently attacked them in the rear.

EDIT: Regarding Rohrbach. I came across his name in an article where it was said that:

  Both Sudholt and Poewe quote from contemporary sources, such as the
  important book by Paul Rohrbach, the German government official in
  Namibia, which unequivocally deplores the attempt to exterminate the
  Herero.

This is footnoted to

  P. Rohrbach, Aus Südwestafrikas schweren Tagen (Berlin, 1906), pp.
  160, 165, 168, 177.

So, it seems that wikipedia's current characterization of him is not correct. It is ostensibly based on the book by  Olusoga & Erichsen which I don't have access to so I can't check wiki's source myself.


texts: How were FDR's economic policies as Governor of New York contradictory?

texts: I have read in a number of Roosevelt's biographies that as Governor of New York, Roosevelt was not so aware of how economics works. He recognized that radical change was needed to respond to the Great Depression, but did not know what changes were needed. How were the reforms that FDR proposed as Governor of New York indicative of how he was "trying out" policies? I read that his policies contradicted each other, but which reforms specifically were contradictory and why?


texts: Were iconic structures intentionally destroyed in 20th century wars?

texts:
I was thinking about this question I just asked, and I wonder whether the potential destruction of such an iconic building is even a realistic fear.
Has there been any incident of deliberate destruction of an iconic building (i.e. it's kind of world-heritage type structure) in an official war between nation A and nation B? What I mean is, during a war between nation A and nation B, nation A is invading / bombing nation B, and deliberately destroys a famous building of nation B? Does this still happen in the 20th century and later? If yes, then how does the attacking nation justify such acts?
Note that this does not include terrorist organizations or internal destruction for propaganda purposes. So incidences like destruction of this Russian cathedral, Buddhist statues, and Nimrud are out.
EDIT. And to make it more clear, let's exclude the destruction of iconic buildings/monuments when there exists a pure military reason. (I mean an enemy using these building for military purposes, like armed people hiding in a temple).
And let us exclude "collateral damage", when there was no intention to destroy an
iconic building. So that Caesar's burning of the Alexandria library would not qualify. And the destruction of the Parthenon will not qualify. The examples will be less abundant and more interesting.


texts: What did the Jews during the First Jewish-Roman War know about other anti-Roman revolts?

texts:
The first Jewish-Roman War started in 66 CE. When I read about it, it sounds so futile: you have a group of zealots (literally and figuratively) revolting against a professional army from the period's superpower.

It reminds me a bit of Boudica's revolt in Britain, which was only 6 years earlier. Perhaps the Jews had heard news of that revolt? There were other revolts in other places too and, from what I understand, I don't think any really succeeded.

Did the contemporary Jews know about these other revolts — and if so, did they realize how futile their revolt would be?

I understand that many of the moderate Jews wanted to surrender and work peaceably with the Roman rulers, but the more fanatical zealots killed the moderate leaders. But why? Couldn't they guess how futile their revolt would be, and how terrible the price their people would pay?


texts: What did babies eat before the advent of modern blenders?

texts: Modern baby foods are commonly made using various strengths of blender, but what was used before then? I assume something like a potato masher, but that would only work for a few foods. So what was predominately used for baby food in the past?


texts: Is there any historical basis for the red/white color scheme of the Assassins?

texts:
I recently saw a documentary about the Crusades, and during the scene in which Saladin is almost assassinated by the historical order of Assassins, they are portrayed as wearing plain white clothes with red sashes.  This is, of course, quite similar to the clothing portrayed in the Assassin's Creed video game series, especially the Crusades-era character, Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad.

Is there any historical basis for this clothing pattern or color scheme?  It seems odd to have both a video game (which is obviously fictional but which famously includes numerous true-history elements) and a genuine documentary about the period share such a specific trait if it wasn't grounded in truth, but then it could also be an in-joke or a playful nod from the costuming department of the documentary.

I can't find anything in my research, but that's mostly because I just end up finding Assassin's Creed-related images and information, not historical.  (This is the problem when a historical order has such a generic name.)

Does anyone know if the red/white color scheme has any historical basis from the actual assassins of Persia and Syria?  Or was that purely a fabrication for the video game series?


texts: What was an "alower of Society debts" in colonial America?

texts: "Alower of Society debts" - one of my ancestors held this role in Colonial America.  I can find a reference to the role of "tithingman" - but not this... seems self-explanatory, but I thought I'd check.


texts: The Great Compromise, is there analysis on the outcome?

texts: I'm doing a research about the Great Compromise and how it originated from the Virginia and the New Jersey Plan. Has there been any analysis on which side got the better part of the compromise. (The larger states or the smaller states).


texts: What uniforms did each of the American Civil War regiment wear during First Bull Run / First Manassas

texts:
During the American Civil War battle First Bull Run / First Manassas, regiments of both sides turned up in either the gray militia uniform or the blue 1858 regulation uniform, in addition to any zouave or other quaint uniforms. The clear-cut division between Blue and Gray was not present yet.

Is there any comprehensive source for what regiments wore what uniforms in the summer of 1861?


texts: Why is Hue's "Purple Forbidden City" so called?

texts:
Within the Imperial City complex in Huế, Vietnam, is a secondary citadel called in English the "Purple Forbidden City". (Or, per some sources, the "Forbidden Purple City.")

According to my guide book1:

  The Forbidden Purple City, enclosed by a low wall, was the personal domain of the emperor; only eunuch servants and concubines were allowed in.

The Wikipedia page for "Imperial City, Huế" says:

  Within the Imperial City is the Purple Forbidden City (Tử cấm thành), a term similar to the Forbidden City in Beijing. Access to the innermost enclosure is restricted to the Nguyễn imperial family.

I can't seem to find why it's called so. What does the word "purple" in the name refer to?

1: "The Rough Guide to Southeast Asia on a Budget," 4th edition, September 2014. ISBN 978-1-40934-559-6. p. 869.


texts: What was Prince Henry Fredrick's personality towards people of other religions like, especially Catholics, and especially those who were Spanish? I really want to know about his attitude towards the Hapsburg kings of Spain.


texts: Does sati pratha still exist in the modern society?

texts: Sati has been legally abolished, but can still be heard of as being practiced in some parts of India. Is there any evidence of it being illegally practiced?


texts: When did the accusations of convict stain against white Australians stop being culturally significant?

texts:
"White Australians" in the 19th and early 20th century were generally subject to a cultural belief of genetic criminality from other British settler societies, this varied from cultural claims to racial claims in the language of the day that "embodied" perceived moral or cultural deficiencies in the "racial character" of a "people."

When and how did these accusations fade?


texts: Why was the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo signed there?

texts:
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo which ended the Mexican-American War was signed "at the main altar of the old Basilica of Guadalupe", or possibly in an adjacent building. This is a major Catholic pilgrimage site, near the site of the 1531 apparitions of the Virgin of Guadalupe. In or around 1709 the basilica was built. In 1828, the surrounding village was renamed after the independence hero Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla. The villa of Guadalupe Hidalgo was therefore iconic even before the treaty was signed.

Why was this highly symbolic site chosen for the signing of the treaty? Was it the war's losers or winners who sought to attach the names of the great national icons, the Virgin and Hidalgo?


texts: Can anyone help identify this uniform jacket?

texts:
I believe that it is a replica, but I do not know what of?
Does anyone know the nation and time period it is


texts: Why was metal armor phased out after gun powder was weaponized?

texts: I have wondered this question for a long time. The metal armor has enjoyed its heyday through the early human warfare history right into the renaissance. Then guns and cannons entered the fighting scene and all the sudden, soldiers were only wearing uniform onto the battle field. Compare with cotton fabric, metal armor can withstand more damage. Compared to arrows and sword cuts, bullet and cannon balls were more devastating, weren't there even more reasons for soldier to wear metal armor?


texts: Did Egyptians circumnavigate Africa in three years during Nekau's reign?

texts:
I read in an old High School-level History book* that during the reign of Nekau (or Necho II), during the Saita Period, someone called "Hamon" circumnavigated Africa in three years. However the book did not give any source or more details about this voyage or Hamon. Searching for "Hamon" and "Egypt" in Google did not bring any relevant results, except as an alternative spelling of the god Amun.

So, is this claim true? What are the details of this voyage, if it happened?

*The book in question is História Geral by A. Souto Maior, in Portuguese, and published in Brazil (7th edition, 1968).


texts: What was it like to be in first class on the R.M.S. Titanic?

texts:
I'm wondering what life was like on the Titanic? My Great-Great-grandparents went on Titanic. My family has many stories about it. I also have a diamond necklace that my Great-Great-grandma wore. They were in first-class. That's why this is very important to me.
I want to know more and to see if I can connect the stories together. I also have a photo of them at my house. I always look at it and wonder what it was like. I'm also looking for who their maid was because there is no record of her. I know that they had a maid because they never went on any trip without her. They had a "C" deck suite. I'll try to give lots of information so you can trace their maid. They were in their early 50s. I know that their valet died when the ship sank because it was either the maid or the valet. My family has lots of history and the more I know about the Titanic the more I can add to my family history.


texts: What documentary evidence is there that Roman crucifixion victims were completely nude?

texts:
(A few days ago, a user posted a couple good questions about the historic practice of crucifixion in Ancient Rome on the Christianity SE.  Unfortunately, they posted the questions as an answer to this question, so naturally they were deleted.  I encouraged them to bring the the questions here, but they did not so I am doing it now.)

I understand that Roman crucifixion victims were usually stripped of their clothing.  I understand this was done as part of punishment to humiliate the criminal.  However, it is also my impression that someone with only an undergarment\loin cloth would generally be considered "nude" in Roman thought.  As such, how do we know that victims were stripped completely?  Are there any documents detailing the practice that make it clear even the undergarment\loin cloth was removed?  Or is it just a logical assumption stemming from the humiliation aspect of the punishment?


texts: How wide-spread was antisemitism in the USA during WWII?

texts:
Richard Feynman writes in Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman, chapter Who stole the door, that:

  At MIT the different fraternities all had "smokers" where they tried to get the new freshmen to be their pledges, and the summer before I went to MIT I was invited to a meeting in New York of Phi Beta Delta, a Jewish fraternity. In those days, if you were Jewish or brought up in a Jewish family, you didn't have a chance in any other fraternity. Nobody else would look at you. I wasn't particularly looking to be with other Jews, and the guys from the Phi Beta Delta fraternity didn't care how Jewish I was...

I think the official goverment attitude was that Jewish are equal, but this text at least indicates there was a certain hatred among the students at MIT (and also it wasn't about the religion (bold text))

Feynman later explains, that so many Jewish fraternities on universities (the same applies for Princeton) were a result of the Jewish emphasis on knowledge and education (So maybe the hatred wasn't a universal phenomenon).

Although, how wide-spread was antisemitism at the time of WWII among the Americans? And how big percent of the Americans did support Hitler's politics?

Source of the English version


texts: Apart from the White Ship in 1120, have there been any other maritime disasters in which an heir to a throne and/or many notable people died?

texts:
In November 1120, a ship carrying three of King Henry I's children, including his only legitimate son and heir William the Atheling, struck a rock off the coast of northern France and sank.

Also on board were over 150 nobles, including the King's illegitimate son Richard of Lincoln, his niece Matilda FitzRoy, and several key figures in Henry's government. The only survivor among the 300 passengers and crew was a humble butcher. The repercussions of this disaster were enormous and led to almost 20 years of civil war in England as William's sister Matilda and his cousin Stephen (who had disembarked from the White Ship shortly before it set sail) fought over the throne of England.

There have been many maritime disasters with a far greater loss of life, but has there ever been one where there were so many notable people who died, and where the consequences were so far reaching?


texts: What was the character of the Sylva Sylvarum that differentiated it from previous works?

texts:
The Sylva Sylvarum (1627) is recognized as the first 'treatise on natural history'.  Some regard it as the most-complete work, for its day.

But as early as 70AD, other works existed, such as Pliny's work on Natural History.

Why was the modern of F. Bacon such a landmark?  Did he introduce some style of communicating that was wholly different?


texts: Why were North American indigenous peoples underdeveloped?

texts:
During the Pre-Columbian period of the New World the Incas, Aztecs, Mayans, and many more civilizations roamed the land of south North America and all of South America. They were far more advanced and unified. Their government able to sustain large amounts of people. While the Native America tribes of the United States and Canada were loose bands of small groups with mostly a chief. Most of these tribes of Northern America were almost always at war with one another but their technology far less advanced.
Q: Why were Native Americans much more underdeveloped then their neighbors to the south? Was communication harder or was it the lack to develop due to always being at war?
By underdeveloped, I mean no large civilizations, no trade centers, no hubs, and how they couldn't maintain a large group of people and land.


texts:
I'm aware of the historically importance of rivers for earlier civilizations. Some of the most significant economies of the past were built on the bank of a river.

I would like to know if:

Was it possible to navigate a river against the current on a medieval boat?
If it depends on the river, I'm more interested on the Douro river, starting at Oporto city (Portugal) and going to Spain (Valladolid). What would be the requirements of a medieval ship to get two people to make this trip?
If that was not possible, I would like to know if there was any value on walking along with the flow of the river, and if it was a common practice at the medieval time.


texts: How did steppe-nomad military tactics change in response to widespread firearms in the 18th/19th centuries?

texts:
Please forgive my ignorance of the cultures extant in the Eurasian steppe at this time, but I was wondering how the military tactics of steppe-cultures changed in response to the massed musket tactics employed by Europeans during the 18th and 19th Centuries?

I'm aware that the cultures of the Eurasian steppe were in decline during this period, and subject to attack from Russian armies. But beyond that, I haven't found a great deal of detail for how (or if) they adapted to this new form of warfare.


texts: What was the death toll during the Inquisition?

texts:
I'm researching about the death toll during the Inquisition, I'm particularly interested in what happened from 12th to the 15th century but not exclusively to this period.

One part of this question is to find historical sources covering the the 12-15th century is because it is prior to the arrival of the Protestant church, which historians affirm to have emerged at the end of the Inquisition as direct result of its increasing persecution.

I would like to find reliable sources from both Catholic and Protestant sides regarding their claims about the number of people killed during this period.

I've heard accounts of the Inquisition killing more than 20, 30, 40 million people during the persecution, which to me sounded over exaggerated since the population in Europe at that time was around 90 million around the 15th century.

I'm not interested on a debate between Catholics vs Protestants, just looking for historic reliable sources.

I want to add some notes to this question:

I'm deeply interested in Catholic and Protestants source since both sides hold major antagonistic views to the events and have corroborated with varied of sources, but I'm not interested in theirs exclusively;

I want Protestant Sources;
I want Catholic source;
I also want any other possible sources.


texts: Besides the USO, were there other organizations in New York City during WWll that provided entertainment for the troops?

texts:
I know the USO had the Stage Door canteen in NYC during the war, but were there other organizations that hosted dances/concerts at less permanent venues like at armories or community centers around the city? According to info from uso.org, they had Mobile USO services, but with the canteen, I don't know that they'd do that in NYC. So my question is, what other organizations provided entertainment for the troops and where in the city would it occur?

When I say entertainment, I mean canteen type activities (singer, band, performer), but at a larger venue.


texts: Why did the Merovingians and Pippinids adopt Christianity so fervently?

texts: The Western Church was generally in decline from, say, 400 to 700 AD. Yet, Clovis converted, and more to the point, so did many other dukes. In the end, the Pippinids conducted various wars with the Frisians and Saxons to crush their paganism. They even appointed bishops from outside their realm. It almost seems that their aim was to have a "Christian" land. How true is all this, and why were they so fervent in supporting a religion whose leader was getting weaker by the decade?


texts: What was the status of peasants who left to join the People's Crusade?

texts: The 1096 People's Crusade were joined mostly by peasants, led by the priest Peter the Hermit independently of their lords. What was the status of these peasants' trip? Were they free to take trips and not serve their lords, or did this fall under some exception, or did they violate their feudal obligation by going on this trip?


texts: What was the practical reason for East Germany to reunify with West Germany?

texts: Why did the East German government decide that they should join the West? Was it their economical decline, political turmoil or anything else?


texts: When was the temple of Artemis at Ephesus destroyed?

texts:
The accounts of the destruction of the temple are a little confusing. Jordanes in the 6th century says

  “Respa, Veduc and Thuruar, leaders of the Goths, took ship and sailed across the strait of the Hellespont to Asia. There they laid waste many populous cities and set fire to the renowned temple of Diana at Ephesus, which, as we said before, the Amazons built.”

What remained of the temple according to this article

  ... was quarried by the local inhabitants for its valuable marble and very little is left today. Bits of it have been found in local buildings and Justinian took much of the statuary that survived to his time back to Constantinople.

But according to Cyril of Alexandria in the 5th century, St John Chrysostom was labelled as the "over-thrower of the temple of Diana". Suggesting that he was responsible for the temple's destruction. A similar mention is also given by Proclus of Constantinople who says "In Ephesus, he despoiled the art of Midas". This may allude to the temple of Artemis.

Do we have a definitive answer as to when the temple was destroyed?


texts:
According to English Wikipedia ("Black Monday (1360)"), a severe hail happened on Monday, April 13, 1360
when the army of Edward III was camped in an open field near Chartre. The article says that the death toll was 1000 people and 6000 horses. The reference they give is on a modern book which I have no access to.

  Can anyone give a primary source(s) on this event?

According to this article, and another article "Hundred Years War" in English Wikipedia, this accident had a major influence on the course of the war: Edward decided that God is not on his side anymore, and promised
to conclude a peace treaty. And the peace was concluded.

It is strange however that
French Wikipedia does not mention this hail storm at all. Neither it is mentioned
in the "List of costly or deadly hailstorms" in the English Wikipedia.
And in general, the death toll looks absolutely incredible, when compared with the records of most severe hail storms.


texts: How could an Englishman be forced to fight for Austria-Hungary against his will during WW1?

texts:
I'm writing a novel set during the first world war. One of the characters is conscripted to fight for the Austria-Hungarian army while he is studying art in Vienna. How could this realistically go about happening? The final quarter of the novel deals with him facing political repercussions for this "betrayal" against his country.

He lives in Vienna
He is an Englishman
He is an art student
He is nineteen.
He has no prior military experience.


texts: How did the Nazis justify the differences in the way they treated Jews v. POWs?

texts:
I was reading an autobiographical account of an Army Air Corps POW. He was on a train that made a stop at Dachau to unhook several box cars containing Jews. Although he and his fellow POWs feared for their lives, they were reassured by their guards that the Germans would not treat them the way they were treating the Jews.

What rationale did the Nazis give for the differences in the way they treated Jews v. POWs? A naive perspective might argue that those actively opposing the Nazi regime should receive the harsher treatment. Was it merely that POWs explicitly fell under the Geneva Convention, or was there something more?


texts: Why did Europeans and Asian countries develop much faster than African countries

texts:
There are numerous pages, papers and talks held about this topic. Then ideas conveyed revolved around the ideaology of African countries, varying cultures and most common factor, colonalism.

As a South African, this is part of my heritage, defines my culture and my country. That being said, colonialism, being the prominent factor, was a by product of development of European countries, including trade and exploration, etc.

The Analysis

Let us consider 2 groups of people. Europeans (and Asians) aka Settlers and Africans. (This does generalise, but only for the sake of my question).

Settlers were able to explore the world using boats, ships, etc. They were able to trade with far eastern countries. East Africa, was well known for trading with Arabic countries, Somalia, Mapungubwe, etc and a few others.

The Question:

Why did one group of people develop faster than the other. Once again, this is the development that lead to the era of colonisation and exploration. Why did Europeans and Asians develop faster than Africans, Native Americans, etc?


texts: Why did Ancient Pueblo peoples build their homes in cliffs?

texts:
The Ancient Pueblo peoples are known for their cliff dwellings found throughout the American Southwest, in places like Mesa Verde, Bandelier, Montezuma Castle, and the Gila Cliff Dwellings.

Why did they build their homes in such difficult to reach locations?


texts: Why was the date moved by 10 days instead of 9 during Gregorian calendar reform?

texts:
From Wikipedia:

... the Council of Trent authorized Pope Paul III to reform the calendar, requiring that the date of the vernal equinox be restored to that which it held at the time of the First Council of Nicaea in 325 ...
At the time of Gregory's reform there had already been a drift of 10 days since the Council of Nicaea ...
Lilius's formula was a 10-day correction to revert the drift since the Council of Nicaea ...
When the new calendar was put in use, the error accumulated in the 13 centuries since the Council of Nicaea was corrected by a deletion of 10 days.

However, this article shows that this 10 day shift made Gregorian calendar in sync with Julian between 200 and 300 AD, and the drift between Council of Nicaea (325 AD) and the reform (1582 AD) was in fact 9 days.
It’s simple to calculate that between 325 and 1582, 9 years were leap years in Julian but not in (proleptic) Gregorian: 500, 600, 700, 900, 1000, 1100, 1300, 1400, 1500.
So, why did they choose to shift the date by 10 days? Was it a glaring mistake?


texts:
The other day, I was having a conversation about corruption in Russia under Putin rule, and his use of 'altered' historical narratives according to what would more beneficial to his rule as Russia's President. Putin has stated in official speeches that the collapse of the Soviet Union was the 'catastrophe of the century'. So, I told my colleague that during the initial years of Stalin's rule there was the great famine, that killed millions. He then replied those deaths were akin to what happened in Europe during the industrial revolution.
Hence my question:

In which way are the industrial revolution and the famine during the
first years of Soviet rule comparable? In which way are they not?