texts:
The film "Valkyrie" (2008) depicts that while Stauffenberg was on his way to Berlin, Friedrich Fromm called Keitel to ask him about the rumors circulating in Berlin about Hitler's death.

  Fromm to Bendlerblock operator: Yes, get me the Wolf's lair.
  Fromm to Wolf's lair operator: Yes, general Fromm ; field marshal Keitel ; urgent.
  Keitel: Keitel.
  Fromm to Keitel: Yes, I am, I am sorry to, a, disturb you sir but I wonder if you could tell me what's happening; most incredible rumors are circulating in Berlin.
  Keitel: I don't know what you mean.
  Fromm to Keitel: There is talk that the Fuhrer has been assassinated.
  Keitel: Another failed attempt - the further was never in danger; by the way - where is your men Stauffenberg?
  Fromm to Keitel: Stauffenberg, he, he('s?) on his way back to Berlin I would think.
  Ketiel: Let me know when he arrives, I'd like a word with him (hangs up).

The following depicted phone call is very "cold" ; no hello, no goodbye; just "yes" for start and hanging up without further notice of finishing conversation.

I don't know about phone call manners in the 40's anywhere, but:
Did the Nazi Army have a telephone conversation pattern?

That is to ask; did officers avoid starting with "hello" and finishing with "thank you" and "goodbye" in the end of phone calls in general and if so was it because of a "commander-commanded distance" and maybe also other reasons?


texts: Why was health insurance not included in the Social Security Act of 1935?

texts:
The United States has spent much of the last two decades, for
  instance, arguing about how best to reform the odd public-private
  health insurance scheme that grew up around Franklin Roosevelt’s
  decision not to include health insurance in the Social Security Act of
  1935.

Source

The question is: why?


texts: Was the Confederacy (effectively) down to six states after the capture of Vicksburg?

texts:
The Union capture of Vicksburg (and Port Hudson) in July, 1863, gave the North control over the whole Mississippi River, isolating the Confederate states west of this river: Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas. In addition, the Union controlled most of Mississippi and Tennessee by this time. This accounts for five out of the original eleven Confederate states.

Did this effectively reduce the "Confederacy" to the six states east and north of Mississippi? Or did the five western states somehow manage to send troops and supplies to the six eastern ones and thereby remain active in the war? Or did say, the three states west of the Mississippi River at least form a defense perimeter and fight on "locally," independently of the others?

Put another way, had a situation been created where defeating the six eastern states automatically meant winning the war?


texts: Is there any evidence that Sally Hemings' relationship with Jefferson was consensual on her part?

texts: I've been reading some different sources about the relationship between Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings and some authors seem to emphasize that she was essentially a sex slave, while other authors make it seem like it was consensual on her part. Is there any solid evidence either way? Obviously she couldn't exactly say no, but has anything been recorded that says she didn't want to enter into the type of relationship she had with Jefferson?


texts: What colors were used as paint in the construction of the ziggurats in early Sumer?

texts:
I remember many years ago going through a book about ancient civilizations in Mesopotamia. In the passages where the ziggurats were described there was a mention that each level of the pyramid was dyed in red or white. I memorized the colors because they seemed a bit odd choice to me.

Not long ago it crossed my mind that this choice of colors might be linked to the type of government in the early Sumerian culture - one lugal(priest king) and upper chamber of the elders(whose color was white) and the lower chamber of the young warriors(whose color was red).

So I've decided to do a little research on internet. But all I found was description of ziggurats after Semitic tribes had gained control over the area(the ziggurats in Assyria and Babylonia). Apparently, during this era the colors had some kind of astrological meaning, for instance: each level of the pyramid was linked to a certain planet and was painted with the color that represented that planet.

Now, ancient history is just a hobby for me, so I might be on a wrong track here due to lack on information or reading something that is not entirely true.
But I still wonder which one is true - were the ziggurats in early Sumer pained in red and white or were they dyed in all the colors of the rainbow?


texts: How is historical "average calorie consumption" data from eighty years ago estimated?

texts:
I read an article in a German news magazine today about the German post-war "hunger winters" of 1946-48.

The article cites very detailed statistics about average calorie consumption in Germany in 1936 (3,300), and from the chaotic post-war period (down to 770 at times) with slightly different data for the major cities.

That seems awfully detailed. How is this possible? How are these data calculated or estimated? What other data (food production, purchase data...) are they based on?


texts: Did Japan make a contribution to World War II way out of proportion to its nominal relative GDP?

texts:
I was surprised to read these 1938 figures (admittedly estimates) of 1938 GDP for the major combatants of World War II.

In round figures, the U.S. had  $85 billion, the Germans $42 billion, Britain $28 billion, Italy $9 billion and Japan $6 billion. Japan's GDP is about 7% of the U.S., 14% of Germany's, less than a quarter of Britain's, and less than Italy's.

Yet, most people would agree that Japan was a larger factor in the war than Italy, because the Allies obtained Italy's surrender in September, 1943, and Japan's two years later. And many would agree that Japan's contribution to the war "approximated" (was half or more) of Britain's, and was a decidedly larger fraction of Germany's (one third to one half) than 14%.

For instance, the Japanese army was larger than the British army (and beat equal or larger numbers of Britishers in battles all over Southeast Asia). If you include British "colonial" forces, e.g. Indians and Africans, and Japan's "colonies" in China and Southeast Asia, the numbers of "British" and Japanese population and troops were about the same. The Japanese navy was about the size of the British navy (and actually stronger because of a larger number of modern ships).

Is it reasonable to assume that my linked figures tell the true story, that Japan did the above with "only" one quarter of Britain's GDP? Are there other relative GDP figures that are more reflective of Japan's relative contribution to the war? Or is it more likely that the linked GDP figures for "Japan only" understate Japan's true war potential because the "Japanese Empire" was a lot larger than just Japan? (At its peak, it included half of China, Indochina, Indonesia and the Philippines (basically today's ASEAN countries), Korea, Taiwan and other Pacific countries.)


texts: German Government branches during World War 2

texts: During World War 2, what government branches, if any, existed in Germany?  I've always heard about the Third Reich and Hitler, but I never heard about the rest of the government.


texts: Why didn't the Ottomans conquer (what is now known as) Morocco?

texts:
As far as I know the Ottoman Empire stopped its expansion in northern Africa in (northern) Algeria.

Why didn't they try to take over Morocco?

Or did they try to and fail?

What is the reason why Morocco and the western Sahara have never been under Ottoman reign?


texts: Did Romans keep tax records of individuals in Palestine around Jesus' lifetime?

texts:
This question in Christianity.SE asks how would Jesus write his name in civil records. This answer denies (based on the lack of positive evidence) that Jesus ever wrote his name in a civil record. Although there might not be (yet) such evidence, the key issue is whether Jesus might have ever done so, given the context of the period.

In order to further understand the context, I would like to know whether Romans keep tax records of individuals in Palestine during the time of Jesus (e.g. list of individuals liable for a given tax). It seems obvious to me they did, but I have so far no evidence of such tax records, let alone of that period and region. Any expert on the topic?


texts:
The Wikipedia Keys article shows this ancient Anglo-Viking voided key from circa 900AD:

Unlike a tumbler lock which needs cuts at exact depths on the key to align its barrels, this key looks very different. How did it work?


texts:
Are there any historical accounts that those living in the Americas encountered a plague or plagues that proved to be as devastating on the population as that of the Bubonic (black) plague in Europe? Specifically I am interested in sickness prior to contact with Europeans.

NOTE: I am not looking for the Black plague to have existed in the Americas but rather any type of sickness that may have had devastating affects on the population(s) throughout the Americas.


texts: What happens to the corpses after the world wars?

texts: I was reading my history book, and it stated that the Battle of Somme caused at least 20,000 casualties just to British troops, and another 25,000 to German troops. What happens to the dead bodies after the battle? Do they mass bury them, or burn them?


texts: Why was there an increase in literature regarding fire safety in America during the 1970s?

texts:
I came across this n-gram on Google Books:

It shows a substantial spike in mentions of "fire safety" in American literature starting in 1970 and going on until almost the end of 70s. What caused this? Was there an increase in federal fire safety mandates? Did a horrific fire incident lead to increased discussion about fires and ways to prevent them?


texts: What is the meaning of "£10 per cent" in the early 19th century in relation to a wage (30/- fortnight)

texts:
Reading Hammond and Hammond (1919) The Skilled labourer I came across the expression of £10% in the quoted primary sources, ie, at 34:

The Duke of Northumberland wrote to the H.O. on May 26 that work had
been resumed—'the occupiers having made their own terms respectively with
the refractory workmen, and thereby departed from the Union which they had
recently established in their own defence; whilst the original and imposing
Union of the Pitmen is in full authority and force. In many cases new covenants
have been made upon fair and tenable principles, abrogating some hard and
indefensible customs and giving an advance of wages upon an average of £10
per cent. In some cases a precipitate and absolute concession has been made to
the demands of the pitmen more I apprehend in the eagerness of mercantile
zeal than from any positive and impending intimidation'
(H.O., 52. 14).

Given that mining wages were expressed as 30/- a fortnight, or £2/6/-, how am I to read a £10% advance on a yearly bond for £65 pounds.  Naturally I'd read it, as a modern, as an on the spot payment of £6/6/- (or six guineas) to be deducted from future wages.  Further reading indicates that 10% advance probably means 10% increase in the language of the day, rather than a sign-on advance of wages.  The £% is throwing me though, is it an indicator that the per cent. is expressed in money?

I've tried googling this, but £X% throws results as if for X%.


texts: Which is the first, non-Western, (written) description of the female orgasm? Hildegard von Bingen wrote about around 1100, which is, AFAIK, the first known mention of it, but she was part of the Western tradition.


texts: Has there ever been a case where a tribe/nation tried to reclaim the land they had left before?

texts:
A tribe or a nation (say tribe A) leaves their land for whatever reason (poor soil, threatening neighbours). Another tribe or nation (possibly with the members of the original tribe who were left behind) develops a settlement on this land (say tribe B). Possibly this new tribe overcomes the problem that originally pushed tribe A out of the land. The original tribe comes back to reclaim their land. What is the most recent example of this? Reconquista makes sense however I'm looking for more of a peaceful initial "exodus" rather than invasion. Also with Reconquista it's hard to say that the tribe/nation that reclaimed the land was the same that left it (as far as I understand).

Updated: The correct answer would indeed be "yes". Rephrased the question so it's not a laundry list one.


texts: Were there any drunk driving laws before the automobile?

texts:
I was wondering if before the automobile some places it was illegal to drive a carriage drunk? The first law in the USA against drunk driving was 1910 in Massachusetts. But I don't know if there are instances where they forbade it for people to steer the carriage while drunk.

I would like to know if there was anything before the 1900s.


texts: What was the real innovation of the coach-builders of Kocs in Hungary?

texts:
Many languages use the word "coach" for wheeled vehicles. It's attributed to the town of Kocs. Wikipedia suggests:

  During the reign of King Matthias Corvinus in the 15th century, the wheelwrights of Kocs began to build a horse-drawn vehicle with steel-spring suspension. This "cart of Kocs" as the Hungarians called it (kocsi szekér) soon became popular all over Europe.

These steel springs were probably leaf springs, not coils. The principle of leaf springs had existed since the Egyptians, but apparently it was around this time when it first was used in vehicles.

Insofar as the Kocs outfits built better carriages than their regional rivals, was this because they invented the concept of the leaf spring vehicle suspension, because their local smithies were the first to produce suitable steel springs, or some other reasons?


texts: I recall hearing that in the past in Britain and Ireland, some workers (perhaps miners?) got their weekly wages paid out in the pub, much to the dismay of their wives.  I don't remember where I heard or read it, and I can't find a reference to it now.  Was there any era / branch / area where such was common practice?


texts: Why were North Native Americans less urban than Central or South?

texts: I was taught that the Native Americans (both North, then South) primarily came down from Canada from what is now Russia. Whether or not that is true, why did the Native American civilizations from the Central and South Americas advance themselves into the use of cities, with many attendant improvements in the quality of life, while those in North America never did?


texts: Did the Mexican province of Nuevo Mexico have its own provincial flag?

texts: After the Mexican Revolution, there was a province called Nuevo Mexico, that somewhat is in the location of current-day New Mexico. Did that province have its own provincial flag? If so, what did it look like?


texts: Was slavery economically most efficient system in the ancient/agricultural era?

texts: I mean slavery in ancient civilizations, for example Greece, Rome, Egypt. Not considering moral aspects at all, but considering economic reasons and agricultural nature of economic activity.


texts: Whom did Vernon Jordan help secure affirmative-action jobs in the (pre-)Clinton White House?

texts:
In his book about Bill Clinton -- No one left to lie to : the triangulations of William Jefferson Clinton -- Christopher Hitchens tells the story about the sacking of Dr. Lani Guinier as the nominee for the position of DOJ's Head the Civil Rights Division.
He quotes the following passage from Dr. Guinier's book, where she relates an effort to prevent her sacking:

  Vernon Jordan told me he could be helpful with Senator Alan Simpson. During a relaxed one-on-one meeting in his law office, Vernon had offered to meet or call Simpson on my behalf should that become necessary. When Vernon was subsequently asked to follow up with Simpson, he reportedly said, "I don't do that kind of thing."

page 44

Hitchens then continues:

  Oh but he does, he does...When the rich and spoiled daughters of donors and fund-raisers are given affirmative-action jobs at the White House, Mr. Jordan can't do enough of that kind of thing.

page 45

To which specific cases is he alluding here?


texts: Where can I find an online version of Lorenzo Valla’s latin translation of Histories by Herodotus?

texts:
Where can I find an online version of Lorenzo Valla’s latin translation of The Histories by Herodotus?

I want to read Valla's Latin translation, not a translation into English.


texts: What effect did the Bronze Age collapse have on India?

texts:
There was direct trade between Mesopotamia and India from the 3rd millennium BCE, and indirect trade as far back as the 9th millennium BCE.

I'm wondering what effect the Bronze Age collapse (c. 1200 BCE) had on this trade, and on India in general. The article I linked to says trade with the Indus River valley was disrupted around 1900 BCE, but I find it hard to believe that all ME-Indian trade stopped. Surely, indirect trade routes survived, and maybe direct trade with nearer regions such as Persia continued as well.

I don't know enough about Vedic India to say how much it traded with Mesopotamia, or if it was harmed by the Bronze Age collapse. It seems like this was a time of slow state-building in the north, and continued prehistory in the south.


texts: What was the religion of the Arabic people before conversion to Islam?

texts: What was the dominant religion of the Arabic people when Prophet Muhammed started the Islamic religion?


texts: Where can I find digitised versions of Japanese war documents in original Japanese?

texts:
I was wondering where can I find digitised versions of Japanese war documents in original Japanese?

I can read Japanese but I cannot seem to find any primary sources that relate to the Japanese army in ww2

Any help much appreciated


texts:
As ship's bow is designed to break the waves, the physics (something like hydrokinetics) makes it should look like a wedge. And it really is, if we look from above. This should be also kept if look from side.

This is a picture of the bow of a modern ship (let's call it a 7-shape):

Wikipedia has also different kinds of bows on this picture, but all are very similiar:

Looking at warships bow during historic eras we can notice that shapes have changed.

This trireme bow was designed to operate as a ram and destroy enemy's ships.

A caravel was not intended to touch other ships, so her bow is physically correct:

HMS Africa, which fought in the Battle of Trafalgar, had "normal" bow too:

But in 19th century and early 20th the ships bow was again looking like the one of the trireme, but more C-shaped, having keel longer than the deck:

German postcard comparing losses during the Battle of Jutland:

I think however it is not as long as in ancient galleys.

The RMS Titanic did not have a ram, as she was a civilian ship:

Then again, in WW2 and later, we go back to "correct" 7-shape, for example:

USS Missouri:

Modern USS Bainbridge:

And my question is:

What was the reason of C-shaped bows in 19th century and WW1? Was it the same as a ram in ancient galleys? Why did everybody expect to ram enemy's ship? Were there any successful attempts in the age of heavy naval artillery?


texts: Were Medieval Britons aware of the existence of the Roman Empire?

texts:
I would like to know if the medieval people in Britain, by around 800 AD, knew that there was an empire that ruled Britain several hundreds of years before.

Otherwise, were there any myths, legends, etc related to Hadrian's Wall, Roman ruins, writings, or any significant trace of Romans in folklore?


texts: What publication claimed that Michael Jackson died in a nuclear holocaust?

texts:
I have a question about some paragraph in Finkelstein's Holocaust Industry. He writes that

  Some years back, the parody of a New York tabloid was headlined: “Michael Jackson, 60 Million Others, Die in Nuclear Holocaust.” The letters page carried an irate protest by Elie Wiesel: "How dare people refer to what happened yesterday as a Holocaust? There was only one Holocaust..."

(This passage is from the 2nd paperback edition, pages 45-46.)

My question: What publication was that? And was the letter by Wiesel itself a parody or a real letter written by him. Finkelstein provides footnotes for quite a lot of things, unfortunately, not for this one.


texts:
On the World War 2-era WD AGO Form 53-55 honorable discharge form, there is a reference in Box 33 (Decorations & Citations) which on my Dad's form has 2 lines,  1.) EAMET Ribbon and 2.) Bx Sv Star "Central Europe" What does line 2 mean?
Thanks !!


texts: I found this shell by the sea of Galilee in 1967 and it makes a great door stop. I've not been able to identify it by searching the web. Can anyone tell me anything about it. It is solid iron, 17cm by 5.5cm and 2.77kg. The letter P is stamped on the base, which you  you can see in the photo at 1:10 o'clock.  There are no other markings. From searching the web I would say it might date anywhere from 1850 to 1940.


texts: Should you be pedantic about the clerical errors you see in a History reference book?

texts: I'm currently studying History in a distance learning school where the primary mode of instruction is through online delivery of academic materials called modules. My concern is that most of these modules contain minor clerical errors, which can be easily spotted and corrected with the help of other references. In one module, for example, the last name of the former U.S. senator Stephen Douglas is spelled with a letter "h". Another module claimed that "Palawan", instead of 'Palanan", was the place where the first Philippine president, Emilio Aguinaldo, was captured.  The academic committee responded appropriately when I informed them about these mistakes. But should I continue to be pedantic about the minor clerical errors I might encounter in the future?


texts: Is there any research on specific details of ancient/medieval blacksmithing related to microelements added via plants?

texts:
I have seen the following claim a couple of times before (all in Russian popular science type sources). However, I was never able to find historical OR scientific/technology research directly backing the claims up.

The claim was that old time blacksmiths used specific flowers/plants in their work process that were, at the time, considered magic/ritual; but later on have proven to provide material benefit by introducing doping elements like tungsten/molybdenum into their iron.

I wasn't able to find any references, though tungsten specifically is highly unlikely to have been the case as it is not known to be contained in any biologicals except some rare bacteria. Molybdenum seems to have been doped in by Japanese sword-makers by means of Molybdenum-rich sand, based on some info on the Wiki.

Is there any research supporting or refuting such claims?


texts: When did the parole of prisoners of war become unacceptable?

texts:
Prisoners of war in earlier centuries, especially officers, could be given temporary or permanent freedom in return for various conditions: A parole.

This overlaps with the modern civilian use of parole for criminals. Variations including day-release; occupation or location restrictions; refraining from misdemeanors; restrictions on free association and so forth. Indeed, civilian parole has become a very popular social mechanism.

Militaries on the other hand, no longer endorse or utilise parole any more.

So when did parole of prisoners of war fall out of fashion?

Do we know why this shift occurred - considering the millennia of prior tradition?


texts: What is the longest effective range artillery weapon ever built?

texts: What is the longest effective range artillery weapon ever built, regardless of wether it was actually used in combat?


texts: Has a prize ship ever been surrendered to a neutral country?

texts:
According to the Hague Peace Convention of 1907, §13 Art. 3, whenever a belligerent power captures a prize ship in the territorial waters of a neutral power, the belligerent power must surrender the prize ship to the neutral power, and the neutral power must then intern the crew of the prize ship.
Has this provision of the Hague Convention ever been duly followed since its adoption in 1907?  That is, has a belligerent power ever surrendered a prize ship to a neutral power?  Is there any comprehensive list of such actions, or at least a few notable examples?
If no such surrender has happened in history, has this term of the Hague Convention ever been litigated?  That is, has any belligerent power been prosecuted under the terms of the Hague Convention for refusing or neglecting to surrender a prize ship to a neutral country?


texts: Was being in the KKK politically/socially acceptable in early 1900's American South?

texts:
This question was inspired by the movie O Brother Where Art Thou, set in Mississippi in 1937. While the events are clearly fictional, the film draws a lot of historical inspiration from real prople and places.

The climax of the film involves a candidate for governor of Mississippi publicly announcing his membership in the Klu Klux Klan. (He doesn't name the group, but calls it "a certain secret society" that performs "sacred cross burnings"). He then denounces the film's protagonists -- a now-popular singing group -- as miscegenated escaped felons and demands they be arrested.

His speech ultimately results in the crowd turning against him and running him out of town. But it's not clear if his popularity was destroyed by his racist views, or merely because he stopped the band from playing. I would have thought that, in the 1930's, it would still have been relatively safe for a white Southern politician to find himself associated with the KKK, though I believe they were on the decline already.

So, would such an affiliation being made public have ruined the political career and/or social standing of a southern politician?


texts: Are there any archeological finds or primary source drawings of the Chinese "blade shaped" bamboo-copter or rotary fans?

texts:
Bamboo-copter was a toy in China, dated to 400 BC. A Rotary Fan also existed in China around 180 AD. I'm interested in both of those things, as they work on the exact same principle.

Do we have any archaelogical finds of them? Absent that, are there any detailed drawings of them dating from those periods?

I can find tons of pictures of these things online, but they all look like modern versions. I want to see original versions, because it's very critical to see the blade shape. In particular, I want to know if the blades were plain rectangles, or had some curves in them, especially washout twist like you see in modern propellers.


texts: Has there ever been a mass migration of factories comparable to the USSR's in WW2?

texts:
When the Soviet Union was invaded in 1941, the authorities quickly decided to move their factories east across the Urals in anticipation of the Blitzkrieg. This saved a lot of production capacity and helped win the war.

I don't know whose idea it was or how it was conceived, because as far as I know, this is the only mass migration of factories in the history of war.

So I'm here to ask if that's really true. Is there any other instance of major migration of factories in any other war, before or since?


texts: How did McClellan's and Grant's strategies vary when capturing Richmond?

texts:
The two Generals, George B. McClellan and Ulysses S. Grant were very different as leaders of the Union Army.

What were the differences between their strategies when trying to capture the capital of the confederacy, Richmond, Virginia?


texts: Are there historical examples of audiences drawn to a work that was "so bad it's good"?

texts:
The concept of media that is enjoyable because it's incompetently executed is a big market nowadays. Movies probably have the biggest examples (Plan 9 From Outer Space, Troll 2, The Room, Samurai Cop, just to name a handful of famous examples), but the concept also exists in videogames, books, television, and even the occasional piece of music.

What I'm interested in and haven't found any proof of is, how far has this concept gone? Say, during Shakespeare's time, were there theater troupes that managed to attract audiences by doing terrible performances? Or a pennydreadful writer at the turn of the century that did such a poor job of it that people bought the books just to see they were as bad as everybody claimed? Or a famous preacher that delivered such rambling sermons that the congregation came just to laugh?

Just anecdotally, the earliest example I'm aware of is Plan 9, which was made in the 1950's, but even that only got catapulted to fame in the 1980's by getting called out by a modern critic. The Eye of Argon is the earliest I have for when the notoriety started in the 1970's starting shortly after writing, but that's still very recent. My amateur research seems to indicate that this trend really only started in the last 40 years or so, but I can't think of a definitive reason why it couldn't have happened sooner.

Are there any earlier examples of this phenomenon?


texts: Is the adamic alphabet the origin of the Greek?

texts:
The adamic alphabet seems to cover the entire Greek alphabet including even more letters and symbols, like sampi, heta (which I thought was just the origin of eta, but apparently not), yot, koppa etc... From the source:

Adamic alphabet is world's first vowel+consonant phoneme-level script, invented as such by the Greeks, which features both vowels and consonants on equal level, which as such is most suitable for writing world's first human language, known as Adamic tongue. Adamic alphabet is also used for Adamic digit system.

I have found another source here that seems to have studies the background of the Greek alphabet in detail. There is no mention of the adamic alphabet, and their description of the origin is different:

The Greeks were the first Europeans to learn to write with an alphabet, and from them alphabetic writing spread to the rest of Europe, eventually leading down to all modern European alphabets. Incidentally, the Greeks tried writing once before. Between 1500 and 1200 BCE, the Mycenaeans, an early tribe of Greeks, adapted the Minoan syllabary as Linear B to write an early form of Greek. However, the syllabary was not well suited to write Greek, and the exact pronunciation of Mycenaean words remains somewhat obcure. The alphabet, on the other hand, allowed a more precise record of the sounds in the language.
From the shape of the letters, it is clear that the Greeks adopted the alphabet the Phoenician script, mostly like during the late 9th century BCE. In fact, Greek historian Herotodus, who lived during the 5th century BCE, called the Greek letters "phoinikeia grammata" (φοινικήια γράμματα), which means Phoenician letters.

Is the adamic alphabet simply an even earlier precessor to the Greek alphabet?


texts: When did the tilt of the tower of Pisa become seen as a feature instead of a defect?

texts:
The Leaning Tower of Pisa is well-known for its tilt, and while it's a beautiful structure, it's unlikely it would've received such world fame without the poor foundations that caused it to sink and tilt. However, it seems unlikely that the tower's tilt was as appreciated by the original builders and commissioners as it is by the modern folk, because they'd have no way to foresee its eventual fame as a landmark.

When did the characteristic lean become seen as an appealing feature of the tower, instead of just being a botched result of bad workmanship or architecture? Or has the tilt been always accepted as an "emergent feature"?


texts: What do the knight figures in the Kehlsteinhaus fireplace symbolize?

texts:
The Kehlsteinhaus, also known as the Eagle's Nest, is a villa for diplomatic receptions and a mountain retreat for Adolf Hitler built in 1938. There is a marble fireplace in the main room, which was Hitler's birthday gift from Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. The back wall of the fireplace shows two knights and the building completion date.

What or who do these two mounted figures symbolize? Is there a story about them?


texts:
I've asked whether this is in scope: Are draft-dodgers in scope?. I'm not sure,but I'll crack on anyway.

Too what extent did Ted Nugent dodge the draft for Vietnam. He certainly did receive deferments but was there anything that would qualify Draft evasion. Also, the wikipedia talk page suggests he deficated in his pants for a week to this end, based on an interview he apparently gave. Is any of this backed by by evidence and how good is any of that evidence.

Thanks very much, I feel it's weird that his wikipedia page makes no mention of Vietnam and I need to know whether this omission is correct or needing change.


texts: Did the USSR pledge support to Czechoslovakia before the Munich Agreement?

texts:
Did the USSR pledge support to Czechoslovakia before the Munich Agreement (1938 Sep 29 - 30)? If so, what kind of support did it pledge?

The reason I ask is because I recently came across this article. Down a ways, there is a paragraph in which I hilighted the Soviet part:

  The Czechoslovak capitulation precipitated an outburst of national indignation. In demonstrations and rallies, Czechs and Slovaks called for a strong military government to defend the integrity of the state. A new cabinet—under General Jan Syrový—was installed, and on 23 September 1938 a decree of general mobilization was issued. The Czechoslovak army—modern and possessing an excellent system of frontier fortifications—was prepared to fight. The Soviet Union announced its willingness to come to Czechoslovakia's assistance. Beneš, however, refused to go to war without the support of the Western powers.

There's no citation anywhere in that paragraph. Is it true? Did the USSR really pledge assistance? If so then I have to rank this as a shocking revelation to my understand of WW2. Why would Stalin risk early war? My understanding was that the Soviet Union did not feel ready even in 1941 and thus wanted to stall for time as much as possible.

Note also that this was before the Molotov-Ribbentropt Pact (1939 August) and of course just before the British-French-Polish alliance (1939 March).


texts: Was Senegal involved in the 1918 Russian Revolution?

texts:
In the 1923 novel "The White Guard" by Mikhail Bulgakov there is a scene where Russian officers are lamenting that the Senegalese have yet to arrive on the battle front to help them (p. 44). They infer that they are forces from Africa so I assume they mean from the country Senegal.

I have the impression that the novel is a realistic account of the war (I haven't finished it yet) so I wonder if this detail is based on any fact. Did Senegal send forces to aid the imperial regime in the 1918 Russian Revolution?


texts: Are there records of federal courts under the Articles of Confederation?

texts:
The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union were the agreement among the thirteen United States of America to unite under a federal government consisting of a Continental Congress. They were proposed in 1777 and effective upon ratification by all thirteen states in 1781. They remained in effect until superseded by the Constitution of the United States in 1788.

The ninth Article of Confederation establishes federal judicial jurisdiction in some cases, including

  "disputes and differences now subsisting or that hereafter may arise between two or more States concerning boundary, jurisdiction or any other causes whatever"

and

  "All controversies concerning the private right of soil claimed under different grants of two or more States"

and some others.  It provides that whenever a case is filed with the Continental Congress, a temporary federal court will be appointed to hear the case.

Is there an account of the history of federal courts under the Articles of Confederation?


texts: When did 石井 四郎 (Shirō Ishii) start medical school?

texts:
石井 四郎 (Shirō Ishii) was a surgeon in the Japanese Army, making the rank of General and earned the Order of the Golden Kite, Fourth Class. He committed war crimes, but made a deal with the U.S. to give what he learned for his freedom. The U.S. accepted. He died of throat cancer.

I am writing a paper about him for class, but can't seem to find anything on his early life, save for when/where he was born. The earliest thing after that is he went to Kyoto Imperial University to study medicine. Then when he was commissioned into the army in 1921.

Do we know anything of his early life apart from what I mentioned? When did he start medical school?


texts: What was the justification of morality in Puritan antinomianism?

texts: As far as I know, Puritans were devout Calvinists. According to Theopedia, it is associated with disobedience to the established authority, so it may be connected with the idea of lawlessness, immorality, or licentiousness. Was this term merely a pejorative adjective for people who disagreed with the established religious authority, like legalism? Or did the Puritan antinomians really have their own theology on justification before God, and if so, how did the Puritan antinomians thought they were justified? What was the purpose of God's moral laws then?


texts: How many soldiers were present in DC for past presidents' inaugurations?

texts:
Recently it has been in the news that Biden's inauguration could feature more than 2,500, more than 5,000, more than 10,000, 20,000, 25,000, or even 30,000 national guardsmen in DC.
It's hard to contextualize these numbers because I'm not sure what is normal.
How many soldiers were present in DC for past inaugurations?
I am mainly interested in the more recent presidents (say, back to Clinton) as I think they will be most relevant in the comparison. I am also interested if there is any specific reason why a president has more or less than usual.


texts:
This question concerns very recent history, I apologize if it is too recent.
I recently saw an episode of the British comedy series Keeping Up Appearances from the early 1990's. In it, one of the characters can be seen reading a magazine called "Classic CD". Apparently this magazine is no longer in existence, and I became curious as to what type of magazine this was, when it started, and when and why it ceased to exist.


texts: How possible was it for colonizers to sail up the Paraná River to today's states of Paraná and São Paulo?

texts:
I know that there was a harbor as far as in Porto Feliz (state of São Paulo) on Tietê river. But I wonder whether it was only for the downstream transport, or also the upstream.

I have searched on Google and Wikipedia (EN, ES, PT) to learn about colonization of Brazil, bandeirantes, Argentina etc. But there are still many questions I haven't found an answer for.


texts: To what extent did the Jewish tradition of debate influence the development of Classical Liberalism in Europe?

texts:
Judaism has a long tradition of valuing debate. My sense is that it is somewhat singular in this regard. Certainly there is debate within Islam or Christianity, but if I understand correctly, Judaism more explicitly values and encourages debate itself as a way of converging on wisdom and truth.
I am interested in the extent to which this value influenced Classical Liberal ideology, which similarly values debate. Most of the big names I associate with Classical Liberalism (JS Mill, Adam Smith, John Locke, Jeremy Bentham) were either Christian or agnostic. Were there important Jewish thinkers in this tradition who seem to have derived their pro-debate leanings from Judaism?
I have posted the same question in Mi Yodeya (the Judaism Stack Exchange) to get the perspective from that stack as well.


texts: Was American slavery economically advantageous primarily due to being able to also sell offspring?

texts:
It seems to me that the cost of a slave, which might have been 800 dollars, was something like 2 or 3 years salary for a Chinese laborer on the transcontinental railroad project -- they made literally 1 dollar a day and I think they paid for meals themselves. The slave owner was responsible for all expenses of the slave and in particular had to give them a place to stay and food. So at least initially, if you were going to start an enterprise, just importing 1-dollar/day immigrant labor would be cheaper than buying slaves. However, the sale of the children slaves had would be a way to partially earn the cost back -- is that the difference that makes slavery more profitably than hiring free laborers?

EDIT: I am questioning the point of this and may close/withdraw it. Obviously, 800 dollars is just one possible price for a slave depending on inflation, time and place and obviously the estimate of the value of the individual. The owner would pay what he thought was a price at which he would turn a profit. This was a poor question, I think.


texts: Is anyone aware of a modern, single-volume published history of Harvard University? There seem to be numerous such histories for Oxford and Cambridge (admittedly, older institutions) but I haven't been able to find one for Harvard.


texts: Were there historical efforts to train apes to do the work of enslaved humans?

texts:
I remember once reading something that suggested that in the Victorian era, there were failed efforts to raise apes to perform menial field labor and replace enslaved humans. Supposedly the hand grip/thumb structure was wrong and most ape musculature geared towards strength rather than endurance. Now I wanted to research the topic a bit, but I can't find any references to it on the internet and can't get to the library due to COVID.
I would be good with even a few starting references, so all information would be helpful, but if anyone knows about this, I'd really appreciate it. If I'm mis-remembering something, that might explain why I can't find it, so similar stories would be helpful to determine if the memory is factual or not. Someone suggested this could have been a work of fiction, and if anyone knows a story based on this premise (other than Planet of the Apes, which implied success), that would also be very helpful to determine fact from fiction or faulty memory.
EDIT: Victor Meunier (https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Meunier) in Les Singes Domestiques proposed just this idea, suggesting that apes could free humans from toil, based on dubious research by R L Garner (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Lynch_Garner) (thank you justCal)
The only reports of people actually using chimps as slaves that I can find are anecdotal; if anyone sees something more solid, please let me know.


texts:
From my knowledge (and please correct me if I'm wrong), horse armour wasn't very thick (0.4mm-1.9mm) according to the paper in the link: How thick was late medieval horse armor?

Even without factoring in quality and tempering, wouldn't that mean that any old bodkin/broadhead could pierce a charging knight's mount with a longbow? Since longbows can deliver 80-120J (or even more depending on the bow, man, and arrow) of energy? And if so, why would a knight bother spending money on hampering and reducing the speed of his steed when less weight would allow him to close the gap between him and the archers faster?

(This is with reference to battles between the English longbowmen and French cavalry).


texts:
I have found, going through stack exchange questions, a pair of links that speak about the presence.

Those links are: Statistics on the number of divisions during WWII and the deployment of a (mostly Indian) corps in Iraq and Persia.

From those information, a question rose: I understand that the British faced true difficulties in 1941 in the Middle East: fights occured in Syria and Lebanon, Iraq and Persia. Italians were also a threat on the Red Sea, with their Somalian and Ethiopian possessions. But by early 1942, all of thos fights were over and all the dangerous territories had been taken (or taken back for Iraq). So I am wondering why the Persia and Iraq Command still had so many troops under him:

Speaking of numbers, it looked like more soldiers, again mostly Indian, were standing still in Iraq and Persia, performing police duties, while the 8th Army, with only the 13rd and 30th corpses, was desesperate to beat Axis's offensives until El-Alamein. I found several explanations for that:

The units in Middle East were defending from the possible threats of a German invasion, if Soviets were to be beaten in the Caucasus (which depended of Stalingrad battle)
Indian units were less trained and experienced than the British, New Zealand, Australian and South African forces fighting in Egypt

But I am not entirely satisfied with those explanations:

Why didn't the Persia and Iraq Command send its forces to help the Russians in Caucasus, instead of waiting for them to collapse and thus offering the Germans an opportunity to beat two forces separately?
Why did'nt the Persia and Iraq Command send its forces to help in North Africa? Royal Navy had plain control of the sea from Turkey to Egypt, it could have been easy and fast to transport them back to Middle East if needed? Actually, it had been done already to Greece
There is an article that wrote that Indian units (namely 2nd, 6th and 12th Indian divisions) were fighting in Middle East in 1941, and later standing still there for police duties. They were already trained and experienced since they had actually fought with success, so the trainin explanation is not correct (not for all units at least)

So the question is:
Why did Allied Command maintain passive, especially Indian units in Middle East during the years 1942 and 1943? And is there a reason for those units to have been Indian instead of other Commonwealth nationalities?


texts: Power over the centuries: spiritual vs. political vs. economic

texts:
I recently attended a presentation on the shift in power over the centuries. The speaker argued that ...

the power in the middle ages was in the churches, i.e., the priests and, thus, in the spiritual centers
in contrast, in the 17th century there was a shift towards the political centers, i.e., the palaces and the kings and princes, alter also a shift towards democratic institutions
nowadays, he argued, the power lies in the economical forces, i.e. the businesses and their CEOs

I suppose that this theory was taken from somewhere, but even with extensive research I could not find any sources for it.

Have you ever heard of a similar theory?


texts: Which ancient text claims that everything has been said before?

texts: Someone commented to me that there is an ancient text talking about how everything has been said before. There are of course more recents thoughts along this line, but to me it was very impressive to think that this was said thousands of years ago, so I would be very thankful if someone knew about old quotes like that


texts: What time was it in Dawson Creek, BC at 1900-01-01 00:00:00 +0000?

texts:
I tried to Google this but I couldn't find a definitive answer.

Dawson Creek has its own timezone. My timezone database tells me that on 14-Apr-1918 @ 10:00am UTC its timezone became PDT (and then subsequently PST, PWT, PPT and finally MST), but I can't find any record of what it was before that.

According to Wikipedia it incorporated as a village on May 26, 1936, but prior to that, that land still belonged to British Columbia, no? B.C. has existed since July 20, 1871 as far as I can tell. Would it use B.C.'s timezone then? But that doesn't really help me either, because I don't have any time history prior to 1918.

I guess there wasn't much of a standard back then, but is there any generally accepted time that historians use? Like, they had watches back then, right? If I was a farmer in BC, Canada in the year 1900, what would I set my pocket watch to?


texts: Was World War I a war of liberals against authoritarians?

texts:
An essay by Robert Kagan in the Washington Post, March 14, 2019, argues for rethinking the big theme of 20th-century history as a struggle between liberalism and authoritarianism, and for an interpretation of authoritarianism as explicitly ideological. In particular, he argues that

  World War I, fought mainly in the trenches along the Western Front from 1914 to 1918, was very much a war between authoritarianism and liberalism.

This seems like a very novel interpretation to me, but maybe my high school education in 1980 was biased or is now out of date. Is this picture well-supported by the historical record? Is Kagan stretching a point too far?

My picture of World War I had been that it was not an ideological conflict but rather an unintended consequence of the existence of secret treaties that allowed a trivial assassination to become amplified into a world-wide conflict. I would have also thought of it as being connected to colonialism. I'm an American, and when I think of Woodrow Wilson, I don't think of classical liberalism — I think of the Palmer Raids, hardcore racism and segregation, and the East St. Louis massacres. I suppose World War I was a war to make the world safe for capital in the US and Britain, which does align with the Hayek-style notion of classical liberalism, but Kagan seems to want to disassociate liberalism-authoritarianism from right-left economic policy.


texts: What did typical mid-18th century housing look like in English villages?

texts:
There seems to be a plethora of resources available that describe what mid-18th / early 19th century housing looked like in major English cities, particularly London.

But, I cannot find much information that describes housing and living conditions within the villages and suburbs around and between the cities.

I imagine there were mostly cottages and timber-framed houses, but I cannot be certain. I can only find reference to the houses that are still standing today, but not those that have been knocked down.

What did these houses look like?


texts: How common was decimation in the Roman army?

texts: I know decimation happened a lot in the Roman army, but I find it hard to imagine generals like Marius, Scipio and Caesar, who all had the unwavering loyalty of their troops, practicing it.


texts: Please outline how Philip II gained Normandy from the Third Crusade

texts:
I saw a video which summarized this, but now I can't find anything close to it. I believe that Philip made some type of agreement with Richard Lionheart before they went on the Crusades. Phillip came back early and broke the agreement, by invading Normandy? Then he was able to conquer the Duchy. I am looking for an overview which includes the agreement between them, and what Philip did to claim Normandy.

Added: The point of the video was that it was an effect of the Crusade, which had a decisive turn in Western History. Capetians gained the upper hand against Angevins on the continent, creating what would become France.


texts: How far did Malcolm X get with taking the United States to the United Nations?

texts:
In Malcolm X's original The Ballot or the Bullet speech, delivered in Ohio on 3 Apr 1964, just after he left the Nation of Islam, he outlines his case for taking the civil rights movement to the United Nations:

We need to expand the civil-rights struggle to a higher level - to the level of human rights. Whenever you are in a civil-rights struggle, whether you know it or not, you are confining yourself to the jurisdiction of Uncle Sam. No one from the outside world can speak out in your behalf as long as your struggle is a civil-rights struggle. Civil rights comes within the domestic affairs of this country. All of our African brothers and our Asian brothers and our Latin-American brothers cannot open their mouths and interfere in the domestic affairs of the United States. And as long as it's civil rights, this comes under the jurisdiction of Uncle Sam.
But the United Nations has what's known as the charter of human rights; it has a committee that deals in human rights. You may wonder why all of the atrocities that have been committed in Africa and in Hungary and in Asia, and in Latin America are brought before the UN, and the Negro problem is never brought before the UN...
When you expand the civil-rights struggle to the level of human rights, you can then take the case of the black man in this country before the nations in the UN. You can take it before the General Assembly. You can take Uncle Sam before a world court. But the only level you can do it on is the level of human rights. Civil rights keeps you under his restrictions, under his jurisdiction. Civil rights keeps you in his pocket. Civil rights means you're asking Uncle Sam to treat you right. Human rights are something you were born with. Human rights are your God-given rights. Human rights are the rights that are recognized by all nations of this earth. And any time any one violates your human rights, you can take them to the world court.
Uncle Sam's hands are dripping with the blood of the black man in this country. He's the earth's number-one hypocrite. He has the audacity - yes, he has - imagine him posing as the leader of the free world. The free world! And you over here singing "We Shall Overcome." Expand the civil-rights struggle to the level of human rights. Take it into the United Nations, where our African brothers can throw their weight on our side, where our Asian brothers can throw their weight on our side, where our Latin-American brothers can throw their weight on our side, and where 800 million Chinamen are sitting there waiting to throw their weight on our side.

Do we know how much progress he made on this goal before his assassination 10 months later?


texts: How did the Scottish lowlands get their Gaelic name?

texts:
According to the Wiki page the Gaelic name for the Scottish Lowlands can be translated as, "the place of the foreigner". I'm wondering which foreigners they are referring to. Also, if this actually refers to Celts then who are the native people that created this name?

BTW, if you have a good answer you may want to add to the Wiki page so that others may find this information easier.


texts:
Did medieval Mongol horse archers have deformed arms like English bowmen? And were there other archer inside or outside of Europe in ancient times who suffered the same deformity like English archers?
From skeleton reconstruction:
I also can't find a credible site, but it's pretty much common knowledge about English bowmen that they had this type of arm deformity, also from Gary Chynne's video Medieval archers body transformation. Primitive English longbow; I can't say it's credible.


texts: What was the composition of Medieval European armies?

texts:
What was the class make up of Western European armies of the Middle Ages?

Most cliches tell us that there was usually an elite force of nobles, as knights, a bunch of peasant levies, and sometimes mercenaries.

Reading about some battle results on Wikipedia, they only seem to go into the roles of various parts of the armies (infantry, cavalry...), but not their class or status (professional soldier, noble, mercenary, peasant).

In high school, we were taught that a local lord had to respond to his liege's call to war with his "own" men, but who were these men?

In a "typical" medieval army, who was fighting, and in which proportions?

I'm aware that the "Middle Ages" is a very vast period, so if the question is too broad, then detailing the period of the Hundred Years War will be enough, but I would appreciate more. More realistically, the whole period of feudalism would be nice.


texts: Did the biblical apostle James visit Ireland?

texts:
I remember reading in a magazine that the biblical apostle James the Greater visited Ireland 400 years before Saint Patrick.

Is it true that he went on a mission to Northern Ireland? Forgive me if I overlooked something but if I google anything about the apostle James in Ireland a bunch of Saint Patrick day crap pops up.
Is there a book someone could point me to that tells about this? (optional)


texts: How did British aircraft fare against Japanese aircraft during the Second World War?

texts:
It goes without saying that both the Supermarine Spitfire used by the UK and the Japanese Mitsubishi Zero are iconic fighter aircraft of the Second World War. But how did these aircraft fare when they were flown against each other (ignoring pilot skill and training)?

As a broader question, how did British aircraft fare against Japanese aircraft during this war?


texts: As a bonus were national anthems a result of something particular? Was there a 'thing' that caused them or did they more or less evolved? If I would have been born in 1769, would I have had a concept of a national anthem? What would be a good date for the former question?


texts: Why is such a large percentage of Jewish population worldwide in USA

texts:
Close to 50% of all the Jews worldwide reside in USA.

What were the main historical events and trends that contributed to such a distribution?

A good answer should include both demographics and immigration/natural growth angles (e.g. any answer not mentioning reform Jews in Europe having less kids is not complete); as well a dynamics of the diaspora through history (e.g. marranos, Amsterdam's Jews etc...) and include specific trends for various points in history.


texts: When did the first organ transplant operation occur?

texts:
Is it in 800 AD or 1800 AD. Was it done in Rome? Was it done in India?
What was the name of the surgeon?


texts: What happened to Soviet citizens living abroad?

texts:
Before the formation of the Soviet Union and/or before international travel restrictions were imposed, were there Russian, Ukranian, etc. citizens living legally in foreign countries (i.e., as permanent residents or dual citizens)?

What happened to them when the Soviet government restricted international travel for Soviet citizens?  Were they generally left alone, or were they ultimately compelled to return to the Soviet Union?


texts: How many instances of the Writs of Assistance were there? Are there any documented instances?

texts:
I have been in general frustrated by the lack of easily available documentation surrounding the 1760 Writs of Assistance, and the Writs of Assistance as they appear today in UK legislation, as pointed out below. Readily available is the following:

They were general search warrants issued to combat smuggling
No standard of probable cause was necessary
James Otis didn't like them ("It appears to me the worst instrument of arbitrary power, the most destructive of English liberty and the fundamental principles of law, that ever was found in an English law book.") and gave up his government position to fight them in court
He failed legally, but his five-hour oration was the moment when "Child Independence was born," according to the riveted John Adams.
Today, with small alterations, the Writs are alive and well in the UK.

All of these general statements are fine and helpful, but I can't find out things like:

Approximately how many times the writs were invoked to search private property
Any actual examples of the writs being used, in the 18th century or today.


texts: Help identify this poster of early 1900's movie with a woman sitting on a bench and a man behind holding her arm

texts:
I'm trying to identify the movie of this poster in the front of a movie theater from a picture dated 1904 1917.

It depicts what looks like a woman sitting on a bench in a white dress, and a man behind holding her arm. Firstly I thought she was fainting, but looking better, there is a bench behind her, she looks up to the right in the direction of the man. He seems standing up looking down towards her. Maybe a vampire? Maybe they are dancing? Unfortunately the resolution won't help.
The sign also partially reads ?ANTIFE(M)?.
The language is probably Portuguese, Italian or maybe French.

photo from caxiaspormancuso
I know there was not many movies around back then.
Does anyone have a clue what movie is that?
I don't know the genre of this movie, but it's probably a movie. Because it is a movie theater (the object of my research is this theater) and the sign below reads HOJE, that means "Today" in Portuguese (thanks @NJohnny).
I thought I could be fantastical because of the pose of the characters and many movies back then used be fantastical, and there are children at the door, it looks like a vampire to me. But I might be wrong.
In the title I try to describe the image to avoid the use of "this photo" and improve it's searchability.

@Richard suggested it could be Faust and Marguerite by Mellies

But they are in a different position than in that picture.
There is a letter in the front of the mystery word "ANTIFEM". @NJohnny suggested (P R V W). To me it looks like a "K", but at least in Portuguese that would make no sense. This also could be an "A", or less probably, "O" as this is "The" in Portuguese. Looks like there is a small gap between this letter and the next word, indicating this might be a "the". (The antifem...).
"Antifemale" was suggested, but to me it looks like a weird subject for a 116 103 year movie, and if so, the title would be smaller than the space in the poster.


texts: Is there a definition of history separate from the definition of politics?

texts:
I encountered a problem to define something as "history", namely the determination of legal status of Kosovo. The action is so recent, I would say it more belongs to "politics".

For my impression history is something which is no longer discussed by current politics. History always get a new scope, and viewpoints, but in sense of history, not politics.

For example we can consider WW2 as a historical event, since it is ended and interpreted by various historians. On the other hand Kosovo's status is still not clear even if most of the countries recognized it. Same with legal status of Republic of China. Politics would discuss something what is not really closed and still have effect.

Is there a clear and professional definition on what is history and what is politics?
And maybe relevant extra question: What makes a political event become a historical event?


texts: How long would it take to travel from the United Kingdom to America in 1890?

texts: For a short story I plan to write, I was wondering how long it would take individuals to travel from the United Kingdom to America in 1890.


texts: During the Korean War, what B-29 crew roles did the abbreviations IVO, CFC, and VC mean?

texts: I was researching a B-29 crash that my grandfather was in during the Korean War, and he was listed as the IVO on the flight.  I couldn't find what that abbreviation meant, nor could I find some of the others for crewmen on the flight: CFC and VC.  There was an IP on the flight, which is an Instructor Pilot, so I was wondering if my grandfather was an Instructor V-something Officer. Also the crash happened at night, if that's relevant.


texts: Is the story of Plato's arrest at Aegina plausible?

texts:
Diogenes Laërtius tells us that when Plato was transported to Aegina to be sold as a slave, he was arrested and was going to be executed without a trial:

And Pollis took him to Aegina and there offered him for sale. And then Charmandrus, the son of Charmandrides, indicted him on a capital charge according to the law in force among the Aeginetans, to the effect that the first Athenian who set foot upon the island should be put to death without a trial. This law had been passed by the prosecutor himself, according to Favorinus in his Miscellaneous History. But when some one urged, though in jest, that the offender was a philosopher, the court acquitted him. There is another version to the effect that he was brought before the assembly and, being kept under close scrutiny, he maintained an absolute silence and awaited the issue with confidence. The assembly decided not to put him to death but to sell him just as if he were a prisoner of war.
Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers. R.D. Hicks, Ed.

A law that calls for executing Athenians on sight doesn't make much sense, especially in times of peace. Aegina is very close to Athens, and although it had been antagonistic in the past its naval power had declined by Plato's lifetime. I don't see why the people of Aegina would risk retaliation by executing or even putting to trial Athenian citizens without proper cause.
Am I missing something? Is the story, as told by Laërtius, plausible at all?


texts: Were Russians in the cold war era USA discriminated against for their ethnicity?

texts: As a Chinese living in the western world, I am a little bit concerned about the next decades where there might be a war or a series of conflicts between the rising Chinese power and the current world order lead by the US. This made me naturally curious about the experiences of the Russians who lived in the US/western world during the cold war era. Were they treated differently? Were they discriminated against? Is there any book/records on their lives?


texts: Was there a coup in the Netherlands in 1672?

texts:
From 1650 to 1672, the Dutch Republic lacked a stadtholder because the Government was dominated by Republicans who didn’t want William Prince of Orange to become stadtholder.

However in 1672, during a war with France, William was finally made stadtholder and his faction called the Orangists came to power.

Did they come to power by legal means, or was there an armed overthrow of the federal government? Was there a purging of members of the States General or provincial governments?


texts: What became of Nazi Germany's embassies in neutral countries?

texts:
This picture shows the German embassy in Stockholm very near the end of World War II (with the flag lowered to mark Hitler's death).

Germany surrendered on the 8th May 1945. The Flensburg government was dissolved and its members arrested on 23rd May. The Allies formally assumed complete control of Germany on 5th June and arguably the German state ceased to exist.

The embassies in neutral countries must have been one of the few elements of the Nazi state beyond the reach of the victorious allies and untouched by the damage, destruction and civil breakdown occurring in most of Germany. There must have been German officials comfortably resident in neutral capitals and working up to and beyond 8th May. Possibly they tried to continue conducting embassy business up to and beyond 5th June.

At what point were German embassies in neutral countries shut down, if indeed they were? What became of staff, both German and local? Did they continue to draw salaries and who paid them? At what point was an embassy's Nazi paraphernalia disposed of? Who owned the physical buildings after 5th June - was it the four Allies? Or did the Irish, Swedish and other governments quietly seize them?


texts: Were Hitler's anti-Jewish sentiments known at all to those who voted him to power in 1933?

texts:
This is partially related to the issue that dislike of certain groups of individuals had long roots in Europe (such as exemplified by this article).

Anyway, I was looking at this other question which asks how Hitler could possibly have had his own militia already in 1923.

That other question has this quotation about the Munich Post newspaper (from this article):

  As Hitler sought to ingratiate himself with the city’s rulers (though
  never giving up the threat of violence), the Post reporters dug into
  his shadowy background, mocking him mercilessly, exposing internal
  party splits, revealing the existence of a death squad (“cell G”) that
  murdered political opponents and was at least as responsible for
  Hitler’s success as his vaunted oratory.

Based on above it looks like Hitler's "party" had his own "death squad" well before 1933, and at least the Munich Post newspaper was writing about it.

What I wanted to ask is about though are the anti-Jewish sentiments of Hitler. To what degree would his anti-Jewish sentiments have reasonably been known to those who voted him to power in 1933?


texts: In 1947, how many Reichsmarks would 1 U.S. dollar buy?

texts: What was the 1947 value of 7,200 Reichsmarks in U.S. dollars? What was the 1947 exchange rate of the U.S. dollar for the Reichsmark?


texts: Could someone help to identify this Japanese mon found on what appears to be a late Edo Period Jingasa?

texts:
I am trying to identify the following Japanese mon:

My research has hinted that the tortoise-shell shape may be of Shinto influence and that the triune division is a form depiction of the tomoe, but I have been unable to confirm this apart from this very similar looking mitsu-domoe kamon:
https://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/magatama.html
I have also found these close examples:
http://www.taimouhude.com/webcatalogue/kamon/kamon/kamon15.html    (Crest 096-09 三つ色紙台 )
https://www.akinofont.com/shop/item_detail.php?mode=_ITEM_DETAIL&i_xid=4767 (Mitsu Shikishi Dai)
I am hoping someone can positively identify the mon.

The mon is on a Jingasa, a hat worn by samurai that appears to be from the late Edo period. Apparently this mon is called a Mitsu-Shikishi and I believe “Mitsu Shikishi Dai” would roughly translate as “Represents three Shikishi” (Shikishi being square traditional Japanese paper board for poetry and calligraphy). The mon certainly does look like three Shikishi squares. But I still don’t know what family or entity this represents. Maybe not a family but a military unit? My understanding is that the Ashigaru used mons to identify units or regiments.


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The Spanish silver peso was a very common coin consisting of "fine quality silver, assayed at .931 or .916," according to CoinWeek. Under some circumstances one peso coins, worth eight reales, would be cut into slivers to separate those reales from each other. While some sources downplay the coin cutting, saying it's held to have been more common than it truly was, it clearly happened.

How did people cut the coins? Did this require going to a blacksmith, or were they soft enough to snip or chop up with household tools?


texts: The fate of children fathered by US Soldiers in the UK during WW2

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As allied nations speaking a common tongue, I imagine there were a great number of liaisons between British women and American soldiers, airmen and sailors.

Most British men were serving overseas.  Over 1 million US troops were stationed in the UK.

Young, English women had left their home to work in the cities...

How many of these women became mothers and what happened to the offspring?

Did the US allow these children to become U.S. citizens?

Did (m)any of these relationships eventually become marriages?

How did this affect the demographics of the UK i.e. did the loss of thousands of women who left the UK as war-brides negatively impact Britain?


texts: Why did Ancient Greek city-states fight each other and how did they morally justify it?

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I'm curious about why the different city-states in Ancient Greece fought war against each other and how did their leaders motivate their people to take up arms, leave their families and farms and go to war against their neighbours? And how did they morally justify the killing of other farmers and sacking their cities and countryside?

I'm not talking about defensive wars like when the Persian Empire invaded, but rather wars when Greece or the city-states themselves started it. I'm not sure "Greece" was "a thing" back then, each city-state was perhaps pretty much "its own country" so to speak, but I've heard that they tended to team up against outside invaders from time to time.

One reason I can see for a city to attack another city would be if one city is starving and the war is a way of gathering resources for their own survival. If that was the case then I can see how they could see that as "morally justified", fighting for their own survival, and that could be a motivation for the farmers to take up arms and follow their leader into battle. Are there any examples of wars or battles from Ancient Greece that were fought for this reason?

Another reason I can imagine is that the leader wants glory and riches, but how then would he go about convincing his people to go along with that, to sacrifice their own life for his glory? Propaganda? How then would such propaganda be distributed before the information age with news paper and stuff like that? Any examples of these kind of power struggles that were purely for the military glory?

Revenge is of course also a classical motif for war, but revenge for what, what started it all in the first place in such a case?

Are there any historical documented sources from city-states leaders leaving a record of their motivations for invading a neighbouring city?

Also, didn't a lot of ancient philosophers from Ancient Greece think a lot about morality and ethics? What were their takes on war against other city-states?


texts: Did some chemical weapons from the military end up in private hands after WWI?

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It is a common, well-documented knowledge, that chemical weapons were widely used during the Great War. It is also quite common knowledge, that soldiers like to take "souvenirs" from the battlefield -  small trinkets, valuables, enemy skulls... and the captured/favourite weapons. So it is easy to imagine, that there would be soldiers thinking "Hmm, maybe I can take a few of those special shells and use them to get rid of rats in daddy's warehouse". Or maybe a civilian could find few unexploded shells after the war and try to use it for something? The fact is, a LOT of military equipment goes missing and it's later found in unexpected places.

Were there any instances, where a military grade chemical weapons ended up in private hands after the WWI?


texts: What constituted citizenship in the year of Jesus birth?

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As Paul's trial was in Rome, because he was a Roman citizen, I wonder why Jesus trial was in Jerusalem, considering his father was taxed by Rome, and was of Nazareth.

As Paul was Saul of Tarsus, did he gain Roman citizenship through trade, and if so, would Jesus work as a carpenter, along with his father's, have made him a citizen of other areas he may have traded in?


texts: When did the Roman empire start to hire Anglo-Saxon mercenary troops to protect Britain?

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For some context, I am currently studying the history of Britain. We learned that the Romans had captured it in 43 CE under Claudius. We also know that when the Roman Empire was deteriorating and stopped paying its soldiers the Anglo-Saxons soon took over. I also know that one of the reasons that the Anglo-Saxons were so successful was that many had been acting as mercenaries, for Rome, in Britain.

My question then is when did the Romans start to hire Anglo-Saxon mercenaries for protection in Britain. As a follow up, why did they do this?

My sources:

Romans: A Brief History
Anglo-Saxons: A Brief History
Overview: Roman Britain, 43 - 410 AD


texts: La Pérouse brought fruit trees and an herb garden on his fatal voyage; his gardener also tended the root cellar. Through the ages, how common or uncommon has it been to cultivate plants aboard a ship?


texts: Did Ted Kennedy turn to the Soviet Union for help winning an election?

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Reading an interesting article in Forbes, I was dumbfounded by the idea that Ted Kennedy might have sought out Yuri Andropov's help to run for president against Ronald Reagan in 1984.  A relevant summary from the article:

  Kennedy's message was simple. He proposed an unabashed quid pro quo. Kennedy would lend Andropov a hand in dealing with President Reagan. In return, the Soviet leader would lend the Democratic Party a hand in challenging Reagan in the 1984 presidential election.

Is there any truth to this?  It seems like a pretty blatant attempt at treason to me, which is why I find it so surprising.


texts: How culpable was Captain Smith for the Titanic disaster?

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There is much debate over whether Captain Smith was guilty or not in the Titanic accident. When the Titanic sunk in 1912 Captain Smith ordered the Titanic to increase speed to make it to New York a day early than scheduled. He was going 26 at the time when the iceberg hit. He later went down with his ship as the Titanic was lost.
Was Smith the cause of all 1,507 passengers who died that night. Did he really  order the life boats lowered when not even half full?


texts: What’s the meaning of the rabbit in the talons of an eagle?

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Eagle House, in Mitcham, south west London, England, was built around 1706, probably for Fernando Mendez a royal physician.
On top of two brick piers at the front of the house is a statue of an eagle with a rabbit in its talons.

Fernando Mendez was Jewish and lived in Portugal. He converted (‘Marrano’). The chosen name Fernando Mendez was an attempt to fit in, was the eagle and rabbit in the same vein?
Was the eagle and rabbit common in Spain and Portugal at that time?
What does it signify?


texts: During WW2, did the USSR re-gauge railways in conquered areas?

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Basically, Germany uses 1435 mm gauge train track while Russia used 1524 mm. I recently came across this question about the Germans re-gauging the track that they could during their invasion of Russia.

I would like to ask the inverse question now. Did the Russians re-re-gauge it (during the war)? And did they re-gauge any railways in West Poland and Germany proper? What about places like Romania and Yugoslavia?


texts: What evidence do we have that disabled people became shamans in pre-historic times?

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Ian Crofton writes in 50 world history events you really need to know, regarding division of labour in pre-historic hunter-gatherer societies:

  Before the coming of farming there was some division of labour. In hunter-gatherer societies the women usually did most of the gathering and the men most of the hunting, while certain individuals, sometimes with some form of disability, became shamans.

Because the book is a short synopsis for a layman audience, there isn't a citation for the evidence to support this claim.

My question is, how do we know that some disabled people became shamans in pre-historic, hunter-gatherer societies?


texts: Is every major culture in the same year?

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In the Western world the current year is 2014, which is the number of years since the birth of the Christian messiah. Given that Christianity is not the dominant religion in every part of the world, I would expect that there are some cultures that are not in the year 2014. I have been unable to find a conclusive answer on this by searching the web, however.

Is every major civilization in the same year? If so, how did the Europeans come to have such a strong influence over the entire planet, even over countries such as China?


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The President of the United States sends proposed bills to members of Congress, that they may introduce the bills on his behalf. There's no provision for this in the Constitution (AFAICT).

What was the first instance of this, and how was it received (i.e., what was the reaction)?
When did it become a common or normal occurrence, and how?


texts: Could China be considered a 3rd side during World War 2?

texts: I mean that China was attacked by Japan, yet they held no well-known contributions to the allies. So could they have been a third side?


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Walls (or physical barriers) appear to be the standard defensive structure for a city in order to keep invaders out. Are there examples of cultures/cities that successfully defended themselves without the use of barriers, and how did they accomplish that? Are there examples of defensive tactics that relied on the attacker being within the city boundary?

Thomas Moore's "Utopia" describes a society that created relationships in order to forestall invaders, which is not the kind of situation I'm curious about. I'm curious about active defense against attack.

I wonder about:

Trade cities
Harbour cities
Cities in areas without strong building materials (deserts, etc)


texts: How were political borders marked during the Middle Ages?

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I have a very specific question regarding borderlands: between 500-1500, how were the political borders identified? Was it a mere furrow on the ground? Did we have any signs? In other words, were such borders formed along physical boundaries?

I imagine, considering that people didn’t know how to read and many people had lands, symbols, icons and heralds were used to make sure no one would trespass (and die).

This question is extremely important to me; any single reference or image (painting) would be extremely appreciated. Thanks!

Ps: excuse me if this is an easy/stupid question. I’m not a native English speaker, so the more specific a topic gets, the harder the research.


texts: How long did men have to serve in the US army until they were promoted to sergeants during WW2?

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During the Second World War men rose through ranks much quicker than they do today due to heavy losses and they went from private to corporal and corporal to sergeant after serving only a small amount of time.

But how much time was that, approximately? A few months? A year? Two years? Or perhaps more/less? I'm interested in the US Army after the US joined the war so think 1941-1944.


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The Bolsheviks took power in 1917 and were able to achieve significant progress in the industrialization and militarization of the country.  Even to the point that Hitler said,
“Had I known they had as many tanks as that, I’d have thought twice before invading.” link to quote

It's been argued that, during the end of 1941, Russia's unpaved roads and "general mud" slowed the German advance.  Early in the war the Russians lacked schooling in mobile warfare but as they learned it from the Germans the Industrialization that began under the Bolsheviks gave them the material they needed to win the war.

How much of the success of the Soviet forces in WWII can be attributed to the modernization efforts enacted by the Soviet/Bolshevik leadership? How different was the country's indutrialization trajectory under the Soviets than under the Tsars?


texts: How important was currency inflation in Fall of Roman Empire?

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Under Roman Republic one unskilled worker typically made one sestertius a day, and it was enough to keep up a modest life in ancient Rome back in the day. But I found data about Rome started to decrease the silver content of the coins denarii and sestertius, so they could mint it out of more common metals like bronze. So the value decreased significally.

Here is a quote

  Like coinage of today, Ancient Rome's coins represented portions of larger denominations. The As, the basic unit, functioned like our penny. And like our penny, through inflation it experienced a loss of buying power. During the time of the Roman Republic, you could buy a loaf of bread for ½ As or a liter of wine for one As. A year's pay for a commander in the Roman army around 133 B.C. was 10-2/3 Asses, by Augustus' rule (27 B.C.-A.D. 14) 74 Denarii, and by the reign of Septimus Severus (A.D. 193-211), it rose to 1,500 Denarii.

source

So until Augustus the coin was relatively valuable, but in like 200 years it's value decreased significantly, which means roughly 2000% devaluation altogether.

source

As the chart shows, the Denarius finally lost most of it's value between 200-320 AD.

Note: the two sources are a little bit contradicting in dates, however whichever is true, the question still valid.

I listened a podcast from Stefan Molyneux (historian-philosopher) who blamed the debasing of currency as a main factor in fall of Rome. Is it accurate statement? Was it a symptom or cause?


texts: Were there any conquests that Ancient Rome undertook explicitly to gain control of a natural resource?

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Was there ever a case when Rome conquered a territory solely for the purpose of gaining control of a specific resource (spice, ore, timber, etc....)?

I'm looking for something backed up by historical evidence - e.g. a document from a military/civilian leader, a public speach etc... admitting to such motivation.

Please note that I'm only including extractable natural resources here as understood today - e.g things like slaves, extra economy, markets, waterways or strategic territory are NOT in scope.


texts: How "religious" was the average person in the Middle Ages?

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During Europe in the Middle Ages, how religious was the "average Joe"?
Looking at the large scale politics of the time it seems religion was a major part of the elites' lives, with treaties with the papacy, crusades, excommunications of kings etc.
But to my knowledge all this is geared around the upper classes - knights, lords, barons and kings, and was to a large extent realpolitik.
Do we have any evidence that peasants were either insincere in their profession of belief (a profession which was compulsory, I'm pretty sure), or at least any lack of interest or ambivalence in organized religion?


texts: Why did the U.S. place an arms embargo on all belligerents in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war? My understanding is that it hindered Israel more and forced them to buy weapons from Czechoslovakia. Most people don't know this, but the Soviet Union was the first country to help the nascent Jewish state. https://www.haaretz.com/1.4904990


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Anyone know anything about the markings on this sword?

This is a set of photos from a student I work with. Her grandfather gave it to her and said that his grandfather gave it to him. Unfortunately grandfather is no longer with us so we can't ask him anything about it.


texts: Why didn't the Romans use the army to repel the siege of Rome in 410?

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I would like to know why the Romans, the emperor Honorius in this case, didn't use the Roman Army (i.e. Legion).
According to the Notitia Dignitatum, there were still many Legions around the Western Roman empire that could have been used to defeat the Alaric's Goths. However, Honorius had extended and unsuccessful negotiations with Alaric at the point of thinking to flee Ravenna.
This scenario ultimately led to the sack of Rome, but the question is, could this have been avoided by using the army? If that's the case, why didn't the Romans do so?
This question seems to be duplicated with (Where were the western legions when the Roman empire fell?) but I am pointing exactly to the siege of Rome of 410 whereas the other topic addresses the "Fall" of the Roman Empire.


texts: Why did Nepal and Bhutan not become a part of India like other princely states when colonial rule ended?

texts: During the period around Independence, India, under Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel's program to unite the subcontinent, was getting Princely states to accede to Union of India. There were around 570 Princely States. Then why were Nepal and Bhutan, considered, and recognised sovereign nations, and not just another princely state?


texts: How did 19th century European nations arbitrate the process of colonization among themselves?

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Background: During the 19th century the great powers of Europe colonized, and informally dominated, large portions areas of Asia, Africa, and (to a lesser extent) Central and South America. Often, as expressed in phrases like "The Scramble for Africa", colonization was a competitive process, with different nations pursuing their own interests in the same region of the world.

During the 18th century and earlier, this competition sometimes involved war between European nations, both at home and abroad. But so far as I'm aware, this tendency to open warfare declined after the Napoleonic Wars, with the exception of the Crimean War, which I understand was caused in part by fears of Russian colonial expansion. Even then, the western European nations that were involved all fought on the same side.

But the competition for the wealth of the third world must have continued, even if some, like Bismarck, thought that the expenses far outweighed the gains.

The Question: During the 19th century, how did the European nations arbitrate the process of colonization among themselves? How did they censure nations that violated agreements, or skirted the line? What was their course of action if one colonial power pursued a course that threatened to destabilize a region? Or, as with the Belgian Congo, exact an unacceptable human toll?

An Extra Note: I'm mostly interested in the core of Western Europe (France, Germany, Britain, the Dutch, etc.), but the question definitely isn't confined to that. Thanks for your time.


texts: Why did the United States under the Articles of Confederation have a hard time getting funding?

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I see it written in many sources (examples: 1 and 2) that the central government under the Articles of Confederation could only "request" funds from the states. But the text of the Articles seems clear that the congress had the power to demand (not just request) money from the states with a time-limit for delivery.

I've read that the states often failed or refused to fulfill congresses requisitions in full. Were these failures legal, were there barriers to enforcing congress's requisitions, or was there some other cause of funding difficulties?


texts: Who cataloged the ships that visited Alta California?

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I know I have seen a reference to a comprehensive list of ships that visted Alta California in the Spanish and Mexican eras, but I need help finding it again.

Here is an incomplete list without any sources, as published in "Seventy-five Years in San Francisco" (1929).


texts: Why did Henry I imprison his older brother and rival Robert for almost 30 years instead of having him killed?

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Keeping relatives who were rivals locked up was often seen as too risky – even if these relatives didn’t manage to escape, they could easily become focal points for rebellion. The English Kings John, Henry IV and Richard III (probably) all disposed of relatives who had a better claim to the throne. Herod the Great, Cleopatra VII, John the Fearless, Atahualpa (Incan emperor) and numerous others seemed to have had few qualms about dispatching close relatives, including siblings and their own children.

Henry I, on the other hand, kept his brother prisoner in a succession of castles even as he was dealing with rebellions supporting Robert and / or his son William Clito. Although Henry could be merciful to those who opposed him, he was a stern ruler who meted out some brutal punishments at times. Given the obvious risks of keeping his brother alive (and, it seems, treating him rather well as Robert lived to be about 83), why did Henry take the risk of letting him live?


texts: Why were so few Koreans enlisted in the Japanese Army before conscription was introduced in 1944?

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Citing two sources, the article Korea under Japanese rule gives the following figures showing that very few Koreans who volunteered for enlistment into the Japanese army 1938 – 1943 were actually accepted.

Although some would have failed the medical, the acceptance seems far too low for this to be the only reason. Another possible reason is that the Japanese might have been worried about loyalty of these recruits, though even before World War II there were examples of Koreans who had been promoted to officers in the Imperial Japanese Army: Hong Sa-ik - later executed by the Allies for War Crimes - is one example, while Yi Un reached the rank of Colonel in 1935 and Lieutenant General in 1940. Five others also reached the rank of General by the end of the war.

Further confusing the picture is the forum post Koreans in the Imperial Japanese service which (citing specific dates and sources) seems to contradict the information in the Wikipedia article on enlistment, stating that enlistment targets prior to 1944 were not even close to being met.  Referring to 1938,

  Initially, the Army Special Enlistment System targeted "those who are
  better-off than average and ideologically solid"...However, it turned
  out that these wealthier Koreans were for the most part unwilling to
  enlist.

The article also mentions

  blackmailing new graduates, putting pressure on families by detaining
  the father, or tricking them into enlisting by falsely informing them
  that doing so was just a formality.

Further, the article quotes An Outline of the History of the Army System by Masao Yamazaki that some (It’s not clear who the ‘some’ are) also insisted:

  It is not appropriate to carry out this war only at the expense of
  Yamato people (ethnic Japanese) because if the war kills only Yamato
  people yet leaves Koreans, they will, together with their formidable
  power to reproduce themselves, pose a serious threat in the future

Despite the apparent contradictions in these two articles, they do both show that the number of Koreans serving in the Japanese army was low, which brings us back to the main question: why was this the case? Were perhaps those Koreans applying mostly from poor families and thus not the ones the Japanese wanted?

Note: I say 'apparent contradictions' as I'm not sure if I've correctly understood some the points in the second article cited - I'm no expert in this field.


texts: Were New York or Philadelphia ever declared the capital of the United States?

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Most of the information I've read pertains to Congress operating from different locations in the years after the U.S. was established. I believe I read that the constitution did declare New York as the capital but that Philadelphia was a temporary meeting place until Washington D.C. could be established.

It probably goes without saying for the folks here, but I'm interested in the capital (the city) not the capitol (the building). I understand there were arguably several "functional" capitals, but I'm interested in the history of officially declared capitals.


texts: How important were Einstein and Szilard and other scientists to the creation and ultimate success of the Manhattan Project?

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How important was Einstein and Szilard and other scientists to the creation and ultimate success of the Manhattan Project?

I understand that the Einstein-Szilard letter to President Roosevelt prompted the American government to become involved in nuclear research. How significant was this letter?


texts:
The bombing and sinking of RMS Lancastria popped up in the "on this day" Wikipedia feed.

RMS Lancastria

In the article there is this paragraph:

  When German aircraft began strafing survivors in the water[citation
  needed], the fuel oil which had leaked into the sea ignited, and was
  quickly transformed into a flaming inferno[citation needed]. Many
  drowned; others were choked by the oil, or were shot by strafing
  German aircraft.[citation needed]

The frequent [citation needed] sets off alarm bells. I couldn't find anything else on this topic. The Wikipedia Talk page makes no mention, nor do the references cited.

One of the sources mention that it was actually flares set off by survivors who ignited the oil, leading to the inferno.

My question: is there any confirmed information that the Luftwaffe went for targeted strafing of survivors?

Note: this excludes "general strafing" by German aircraft against beaches and vessels to hinder the evacuation of BEF and French forces.

Or is this just one of those Wikipedia things - made up out of whole cloth?


texts: When was the last documented occasion that Arab or Ottoman slave traders abducted people from Europe?

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According to Wikipedia, slave raids continued on a small scale until the 19th century. When was the last time slaves were taken from Europe?

Edit: to be clear, I'm talking about slavery in the classic sense, where a group of raiders arrive and seize a load of people by force, then sell them. There are other things that can be described as slavery, but just because they're morally equivalent doesn't make them the same.

Edit 2: I was reminded that the Ottomans did it too...


texts: Are there any specific examples of NLF efforts to manipulate American media?

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I often see mentions of National Liberation Front (NLF) efforts to manipulate US media during the Vietnam War, but I can't seem to find any specific examples of this happening. Did I misinterpret its importance or perhaps I am missing something?
Elements in NLF Triumph
(7. Shrewd performance on the political and diplomatic fronts)
or NLF & PAVN Strategy


texts: Has an underequipped army ever won a major war?

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This question is inspired by this question, about the supposed lack of helmet usage by the Soviets.

My question is, has a war ever been won by a military force whose equipment would have been seen as way below the standard level at the time of the war?