texts: What was the purpose of Nazi extermination camps?

texts: Why did they spend money and effort to build the infrastructure and organization, collect, transport and house the prisoners while execution on the spot would presumably be easier and less costly? I'm  trying to understand the history, no offense or Holocaust denial intended, I tried googling it, it seems that the purpose is to make the killing systematic, but what is the purpose of making it systematic while it seems to just making things complicated and more costly


texts: What was the role of Theon at the Library of Alexandria?

texts: Does anybody knows something in detail about Theon of Alexandria concerning his role in the Library of Alexandria?


texts: Did Nazi Germany suffer hyperinflation during the war? Why or why not?

texts:
I've heard about hyperinflation in Germany right after WW1, and also in West Germany right after WW2. However, I've never heard of hyperinflation in Nazi Germany during WW2.

It seems a very typical government response, when they really need to buy things in an emergency, is to just print more money. So I'm wondering if this did or did not happen in Germany in 1939 - 1945, and why or why not.


texts: Did galley captains put corks in the mouths of slave rowers to keep them quiet?

texts:
I’m reading Sword and Scimitar by Simon Scarrow and there’s this bit about rowers in galleys of the Knights of St. John (Malta). In the story, it is important the Knights' galley keeps silence so that they can surprise the Ottomans they are attacking just before dawn. Because of this, the rowers have corks in their mouths.

  In order to ensure that none of them could shout a warning to the
  enemy as the galley glided towards its prey, the captains of the
  galleys on both sides had adopted the expedient of fitting a cork plug
  in the mouth of each man, held in place by leather thongs fastened by
  an iron shackle. It was horribly uncomfortable and suffocating once
  the men began to exert themselves at the oars. Thomas had seen men
  choke to death after some of the battles he had taken part in.

The book is fiction so I’m wondering if captains of galleys actually did this or if it’s just something the author made up to make the story more dramatic. The review in my link says the book is well researched but that's not very specific and I don't know if the reviewer is a professional historian. Is there some reliable source that says this, like a book or article by a historian? I looked at Wikipedia 'Galley Slave'. It says galley slaves were treated brutally but it doesn’t say anything about corks in mouths.


texts: Was George Washington the thirteenth president?

texts: I recently read in a book called Contrary to Popular Belief that George Washington was in fact the thirteenth president of the US. Is there any truth to this?


texts: How were ethnographic maps in the 19th century made?

texts:
Ethnographic maps are visual representations of the ethnic make up of particular regions. Usually multicultural regions which are controlled by an empire.

Here are some examples of ethnographic maps:

German map of Epirus in 1878

German map of Greece and the Balkans in 1876

German map of Greece and the Balkans in 1847

a lot more on this page

Looking through these various maps one notices that each one shows quite different picture to the others. I am aware that such maps often use different criteria to characterise people (eg language, religious affiliation, self identification, or other characteristics). I am also aware that probably all ethnographic maps are biased in some way or favour one particular political/national cause over another.

What I haven't been able to understand though is how data on these maps were actually gathered. Did cartographers go to every single village in a particular area to get their data? or did they visit one or two villages in an area then make a general conclusion about the rest?

I have been to Epirus and have seen how difficult it is to navigate to remote villages even to this day. I'm sure that the rest of the Balkans had villages which are just as hard to get to yet somehow we have ethnographic statistics on them in the mid to late 1800's and before modern highways. So how did cartographers go about creating these?


texts: Who was head of Academy of Fine Arts Vienna in 1907-1908

texts: Do we know the names of people who would have made the decision not to admit Hitler in 1907 and 1908?  Who was President of the Academy?


texts: Is this wrench from 1881, or is it just a serial number?

texts:
One of my facebook group's member posted these pictures, he found them in their garden buried. He made cleaning, and they look old, but are they from 1880's? If the location helps: it is in Hungary, and many of tools were made in Germany.

So far my research tells that 1880's in US they had square shaped screw heads, not hexagons like today. But I am still unsure.


texts: What percentage of British and American troops were involved in direct combat with enemy in World War II

texts: How large a proportion of British and American troops were involved in direct combat with the enemy in World War II?  What was the casualty rate among those men?


texts:
What factors related to the Eastern Crisis contributed to the outbreak of World War 1?

The Eastern Crisis pertains to problems posed by the decay of the Ottoman Empire. Primary among these problems were the instability in the European territories that had been ruled by the Ottoman Empire. After the defeat of the Ottomans in the Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774), the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire appeared to be imminent. Several European powers engaged in a power struggle to safeguard their own national interests in the Ottoman domains.

More details are available in this discussion of the 'Eastern Question'.


texts: Why did Americans oppose Richard Nixon's visit to China? What "past policies" were Nixon going against?

texts:
Many people opposed Nixon's visit to China. Why? I read an article saying people complained that Nixon's visit to China was going against past policies. What policies were they referring to?

Article Link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/nixons-great-decision-on-china-40-years-later/2012/02/10/gIQAtFh34Q_story.html?utm_term=.ec447d11de8c


texts: Why is the border between Myanmar and Thailand so long?

texts:
The border between Myanmar and Thailand extends all the way near to the northern part of Malaysia. Is there any reason how this came to be?

Given that Thailand and Myanmar has been at war numerous times in history, wouldn't Myanmar be very vulnerable given the need to defend an area so far from the main block of land?

I'm not sure if this should be here or in history, but it seems more about geography than history.


texts: What name was given to this ancient Roman custom involving a broken pot to show a pact between individuals?

texts: I remember reading of a custom in the Roman Republic where a pact could be sealed between individuals with a broken pot, or wax tablet, whereby the pieces could be later be reassembled to show this bond. The name of this tradition, or some other signifying factor would be appreciated.


texts:
I work in a museum, where I research a particular period of history and run seminars that pertain to it. Yet as an institution, historical museums seem to be fairly recent things! When did people first start curating artefacts and displaying them for the general public? When did people first start organising educational tours around such exhibits? In short, when and where did historical museums first come into existence, and why?

Note: I'm referring to these as "historical museums" in deliberate contrast to art galleries. I think that the history of the art gallery is also an interesting question, but it's a separate one, and since artworks possess a more readily identifiable aesthetic value, my guess is that they would be of greater antiquity.


texts: My uncle fought in North Africa, Italy, France and Germany. After he past I found this badge, but don’t know what its for or where it’s from. Can anyone help me figure it out?


texts: How were the day-to-day activities of the French Resistance financed?

texts:
Fighting a war, even as loosely-organised or underground force, is expensive - you need places to stay and keep things; you need to feed and equip people; you need to obtain, maintain and fuel vehicles and so on.

Where did all this money come from, how was it gathered, and how did it travel between parties until it reached the hands of people who needed to spend it in order to engage in the activities of the Resistance?

I'm particularly interested in learning about how the Resistance:

collected
moved
spent

money without attracting unwanted interest. It's the how that I'd like to know more about - not so much where funds came from, as how it actually moved, into the Resistance, within the Resistance, and finally out of it at the point of use, on a practical, operational, day-to-day basis.


texts: Why was Khomeini in France? Who allowed him to leave and why?

texts:
I never knew that Khomeini was in France until I saw What was President Jimmy Carter's role in the Iranian Revolution?.

Why was Khomeini in France? Who allowed him to leave France and why?


texts: How were shields fastened to soldiers' backs?

texts:
I'm researching armor (from all time periods, though most of my reference is from the medieval era) and I found there's little reference for how soldiers traveled with shields. Some shields have a long strap (in addition to the straps used to hold the shield in battle) on their backside. I assume it was used to keep it on the wearer's person, but most of the shields I've looked at don't have this strap.

So, how were shields worn on soldiers' backs? Were soldiers able to sling a shield off their back with ease like they do in the movies?

Thank you for your time!


texts: Why did Japan not withdraw from China as its pacific front was crumbling and the threat of US invasion imminent?

texts: Even in August, Japan still kept garrisons in China totalling around 3 million men. They were second-line troops and poorly equipped, yes, but why did Japan not recall everyone to defend the home islands as the US invasion draws near?


texts: Did people use to marry much younger during the last millennium?

texts:
I've frequently heard it stated that "people used to marry at much younger ages" historically.  Recently, these kinds of statements have tended to show up in sociological discussions about young people choosing to get married later.  Many such studies tend only to trace data back through the 20th century, often stopping at 1960 or so, when age at first marriage was particularly low.

In historical studies of marriage, the more common statistic seems to be the "age of consent" for marriage, which was often lower than today.  But those numbers tell us little about the average age that most people married.

I've come across a few references here and there which have tried to measure actual marriage ages historically, and they often seem to come up with numbers that are perhaps surprisingly higher than we might expect.  For instance, in 17th-century England Wikipedia notes that a survey of 1000 marriage certificates showed the average age for brides was 24 years and 27 years for the grooms.  I've seen a number of other sources which have indicated that first marriage ages were often in the early to mid-20s in parts of Western Europe in the past few centuries.  (Obviously, this can vary significantly by region as well as time period.)

Based on data like this, my sense is that our perception of young marriage ages has been skewed by selection bias: we know more about aristocratic families, and they tended to arrange marriages at particularly young ages for political reasons.

Moreover, at least for the U.S., it seems we may have met a local minimum of median age at first marriage in the 1950s, if these statistics derived from census data are to be believed.

Data like this has made me wonder if our perception of younger marriages on average is a historical myth (or at least needs significant qualification), perhaps based only on our perception that parents and grandparents may have married younger on average than current generations.  But were the mid-1900s actually historical outliers, or at least part of a more complex picture?

IN SUM: Prior to the last century or so, what evidence do we have for the statement "people used to marry at much younger ages," in general? Some historians have asserted that people even used to marry basically upon reaching puberty; is there evidence to support or debunk such claims?  Obviously there are plenty of historical examples of marriage at a young age, but does that also relate directly to a similar trend in median marriage ages (or not)?

Since marriage records, legal issues, and customs in Western marriage have varied by time and region over the past 1000 years or so (i.e., since the beginning of some regulation and standardization of Western marriage), do we even have enough information to speculate on such general trends over time?  How much variance is in the data?  And if we can observe any broad trends, what are they?

(I realize the answers here may vary significantly by region.  I'm particularly interested in Europe, as well as the U.S./Canada, but data on other regions could be interesting as well.)

EDIT: I've edited the question somewhat to try to make clear what I'm asking for here.  I do NOT expect a general history of world marriage ages over the past 1000 years.  (However, if anyone can point to a reputable external resource that surveys such information, that would obviously be a superior contribution toward answering this question.)  I began the question with a common historical claim about an overall marriage trend, and I'm interested in whether actual historical data supports that claim in general -- OR whether there are other general trends, or whether it's all so inconsistent that we can't make any useful general observations.


texts: What is the race of Iranians? Most Iranians claim to be Aryans, is there any scientific evidence to support this?


texts:
Why did the First and Second Industrial Revolutions start in Europe?

Both revolutions were very similar, or at least they were connected. They weren't very far apart (1st: 1760 - 1860 | 2nd: 1870-1914) in terms of years, and revolutionized literally the world.

Both had technological and scientific advancements (see previous link), and had major shifts in the way society lived.

However, why did both of them start in Europe? And why not China for example?

I heard a few points, but I'm still not so sure on them.

Geography

Europe was abundant in natural resources like coal, making it easier for them to develop

Political

Europe at that time could be considered more politically suitable for developments
Limited government involvement also helped ordinary people progress with their ideas

Society (relates to limited government involvement)

Europe's society was experiencing a modernization in some ways, less poverty and more opportunities

Power

Europe had massive power, controlling major trade routes and colonizing valuable land such as the Americas
Europe also indirectly controlled other countries' economies (like opium in China for example)

Other countries lacked these traits. For example, China's poor interest on overseas trade limited their interactions. They also had major economic activity South (near the sea), but their majority of natural resources was North (coal).

However, are these factors definite in deciding the events of a country, or was it just because of coincidence? Could the industrial revolutions have started in another place? Or are the above factors just too solid of a method in which determins where change will take place?


texts: How economically profitable for Nazi Germany were the occupied countries in Western Europe?

texts: Despite the invasions costs, there were at least short-term economic gains as a result of plundering and the confiscation / taking over of resources and factories. Were those benefits so evident in the longer term, though? Were they enough to cover the cost of the occupation, especially in countries such as Denmark, Belgium and Holland which had few resources other than manpower? Did the effects of sabotage, the (presumably) relatively low productivity of a reluctant workforce and the effects of a regional (later global) war significantly the affect the economic viability of the occupation?


texts: Why didn’t Japan attack the West Coast of the United States during World War II?

texts:
In the early months of World War II, the United Stated spent several millions of dollars to fortify the West Coast against possible Japanese attack, going as far as to stretch a gigantic submarine net across the Juan de Fuca Strait and to cover the entire Boeing plant in Seattle with camouflaging wire net to make it look like a residential suburb.

Yet all these numerous fears of Japanese attack never materialized. Aside from sending a couple thousand bomb-filled balloons across the Pacific (all of which fell on sparsely inhabited areas), Japan never even touched the West Coast of America.

Why didn’t the Japanese attempt even a single attack on the mainland? What deterred them from striking such a direct blow on America? A submarine attack would have been easy for them, but they never sent a known submarine beyond the territorial waters of Hawaii.

So what’s the story here? Or were there attacks I simply didn’t come across in all my sources about World War II?


texts: Was any pope imprisoned during his service to Catholic Church?

texts:
On 11 February 2013, the Vatican announced that Pope Benedict XVI would resign on 28 February, due to infirmity from advanced age. Earlier in the history, few popes resigned similar way, probably the most important being Gregory XII, who resigned in 1415, in order to end the time of the Western Schism.

But few of popes made it official, that they automatically resign from their functions if they get imprisoned. Examples are Pius VII in the times of Napoleon Wars and later Pius XII during the World War II.

My question is, if any of the popes were in fact imprisoned by anybody in the time of their service as a head of the Catholic Church?

I don't count Celestine V, who became imprisoned by Boniface VIII, as it happened two years after he resigned by himself of being a pope.


texts: When was tofu invented? Was it specifically for vegetarian consumption from the beginning?

texts:
The Wikipedia page on tofu states that this food was first produced in Han dynasty China.  However, the source cited seems to me quite doubtful:

The oldest evidence of tofu production is a Chinese mural incised on a stone slab. It shows a kitchen scene that proves that soymilk and tofu were being made in China during the period A.D. 25-220.
Source: History of Tofu

Endymion Wilkinson’s Chinese History:  A Manual (rev. edition 2000) is a more reputable source.  Here is what he states about the origins of tofu:

Bean curd (doufu) is first mentioned in the early Song [10-11th centuries AD].  It was imported into Japan and first appears there in a source of 1183.  It was used as a substitute for meat and fish in the Buddhist vegetarian cooking.  [pp. 642-3]

Elsewhere Wilkinson mentions that soybeans are indigenous to China and have been cultivated since the Zhou dynasty (so more than 2000 years ago.)  The soy products from this earlier date are soy sauce and related fermented foods that have a strong, tangy taste, very different from the blandness of tofu.
My questions:

Can anyone provide more convincing evidence about when and where tofu was invented?
The Wilkinson passage implies but does not state directly that tofu originated as a food specifically for vegetarians.  Is there any evidence that this is the case?

Finally, a related question:  Soy milk is now commonly consumed at breakfast along with fried doughnuts in China.  When did this practice come about?


texts: How unfavorable were the terms of Germany's "surrender" in WW1?

texts:
The First World War ended when an armistice was signed between the Germans and the Allies. At that point, while Germany had no realistic hopes of winning the war, they had no enemies within their borders and still had troops in enemy territory.

I believe this apparent "victory" exacerbated the belief that Germany was betrayed by civilians at home (ie: the Dolchstoßlegende). The armistice wasn't officially a surrender, but apparently the terms were not very good for a country that wasn't really defeated.

So, how unfavorable were the terms of Germany's "surrender" in WW1?


texts: What were the most common reasons why draft-age men were not conscripted for the Union Army?

texts:
Based on this question and an answer, it appears that although almost all southern white men of draft age were in the military during the Civil War, only about half of northerners were. For those in the north who didn't serve, I wonder what was the most common reason that they weren't drafted.

Both north and south allowed people to pay for substitutes, although the south ended up drafting those people anyway when it got desperate. It seems unlikely that paying for replacements would account for a very large number of men, since it cost a lot of money. Substitutes seem to have been an emotional issue in the New York City draft riots, but it's hard to believe that it was numerically very common.

Were there exemptions for various reasons in the north, but not in the south? The north had more immigrants. Were non-citizen immigrants not drafted?


texts: Was Operation Kugelblitz really a success for the partisans?

texts: Every source that I have looked at says that the Germans practically accomplished nothing during this offensive. Yet at the same time it is claimed that the Partisans suffered a staggering 9,000-11,000 casualties while the Germans suffered fewer casualties maybe 2,500 from a strength of 75,000. All of this data comes from Wikipedia and the other sources that I viewed basically just copied that data from Wikipedia. So how can this be considered a failure if they inflicted a staggering amount of casualties on the allies? Furthermore Wikipedia claims that the ratio was heavily in favor of the partisans but that doesn't make sense if they suffered 11,000 casualties. Can someone illuminate the events that took place?


texts:
I recently paid a visit to Leed's castle, and was disappointed by the extent to which the manor had been refurbished and modernized.

Importantly:

What castles in Europe are accessible to the public and haven't been altered much, if at all, by modern society? Are there any which are not totally in ruins? How accessible are they and are they a good visit? Older the better! Cheers!


texts:
I have read about the Imperial Lyceum in Tsarskoye Selo, and noticed that starting from 1829 they taught psychology and ethics. I wonder what the 19th century psychology would be like given that even today some regard it as not a fully-fledged science?

What are examples of things they could be taught?


texts: What was the reason the Maronites lobbied for a state of Greater Lebanon?

texts:
I'm currently reading A House of Many Mansions: The History of Lebanon Reconsidered (1988) by Kamal Salibi. In the first chapter he argues that it was initially the Christian minorities of historic Syria that first articulated an Arab identity and awareness. Later the British-backed Faysal would popularize the idea with Muslims in Iraq, Syria and Jordan.

Around chapter 10, after the end of WWI a Christian Lebanese delegation to Paris is lobbying for the establishment of a country of Greater Lebanon (larger than the previous autonomous mountain areas under Ottoman rule) sponsored by a mandatory France.

During the Ottoman era, they shared and ruled the mountain with the Druze, but in an expanded state they would now have to share power with Shiites and Sunnites, especially the urban classes who were a different society than the more feudal societies of the mountain.

My question is about this turnabout which isn't detailed in the book, how did it happen? How did they turn from being early proponents of Arabism and a separate non-Ottoman identity to having a narrower non-Arab Lebanist vision for the country (not only that but an active opposition to an Arab definition)?

And given their political ambitions and standing at the time, why would they want to expand the territory to include people who had a different vision of Arabism and with whom they would need to share power?


texts: Did a fallen-out red signal lens ever cause a railway accident?

texts:
The Straight Dope (Cecil Adams, 1986) writes:

When the first primitive railroad signaling devices were developed in the 1830s and 1840s, red meant “stop,” green meant “caution,” and clear (i.e., white) meant “go.” This system had several defects. One obvious problem was the fact that the white signal could easily be confused with an ordinary white light. What was worse, however, was the fact that the system wasn’t fail-safe. This was tragically demonstrated sometime around 1914. The red lens supposedly fell out of a signal so that it erroneously showed a white indication. This caused a train to sail through the “stop” signal, resulting in a disastrous crash. The railroads subsequently decided to drop white and make green “go” [...]

This story is repeated in a few other places on the Web; e.g. TodayIFoundOut cites the Straight Dope story and embellishes it with an exact date and a second train:

The choice of a white light for go turned out to cause a lot of problems. For instance, in an incident in 1914 a red lens fell out of its holder leaving the white light behind it exposed. This ended with a train running a “stop” signal and crashing into another train.

GreenLightOptics omits the details, shifts the timeline as far back as the "mid-1800s," implies that there might have been multiple such accidents, and incidentally confuses the engineer with the conductor:

The mid-1800s in England saw many accidents on the railways. Because of this, a standardized color system was put into place. The rails would now use red to indicate danger, white to indicate safety, and green to indicate “proceed with caution” [...] To indicate danger or proceed with caution, a colored lens was placed in front of the light or lamp. But, those lenses could shift and fall out of place, leaving a white light blazing. Conductors would think that meant go, and would continue onward causing an accident. It is said this is when railways chose to adopt green for go [...]

This is a beautiful story, but it shows all the classic signs of an urban legend that gets vaguer and vaguer the farther back you trace it. I eyeballed Wikipedia's List of rail accidents (1910–1919) in vain — but there were so many recorded railway accidents that I'm sure I could miss the right one even if I searched every decade back to the "mid-1800s."
Did such a railroad accident ever actually occur?  If so, when and where?


texts: Why was the "first Monday in December" originally chosen as the default meeting date for Congress?

texts:
The original Constitution of the United States did not explicitly specify many dates, but one was the default date for which Congress was required to meet:

The Congress shall assemble at least once in every Year, and such Meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by Law appoint a different Day.
Article I, Section 4, Clause 2

Why was this particular original date chosen?
Note that Clause 1 of the same section left the date of Congressional elections to be determined by state and federal laws, rather than an explicit date written into the Constitution (see this question).  In turn, the date that was eventually chosen for these elections then influenced the writing of the 20th Amendment, which set a new default date for Congress to assemble (January 3rd).  But how was the original date chosen?


texts: Did the Ottoman empire suppress the printing press?

texts: I overheard this conversation a while back that the Ottoman Empire which flourished in all fields during the Golden Age of Islam were left behind after the introduction of the printing press in Europe as the clergy of the Empire said that it was anti-Islamic or a reason of this sort to stop it's popularization in the Ottoman Empire? Is there any truth to this?


texts:
In an interview a senior researcher at Amnesty International explained that

  as far as I know certainly in Punjab and Sind provinces, the two
  largest provinces by population, the hangmen [executioners] are
  Christians.

Do we know if this (if true in the first place) is a coincidence, or specific to modern Pakistan, or if there is perhaps a wider pattern that history can explain by clear evidence? Notice that Pakistan has a Christian population of 1.6 % in 196 million.


texts: Does Amnesty International maintain a list of prisoners of conscience?

texts:
Has Amnesty International ever maintained a list of people they officially designate as "prisoners of conscience" ?
If yes, where can this list be found?

Context: I have recently found this Wikipedia category, which seems to imply there is such a designation:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Amnesty_International_prisoners_of_conscience


texts: Was there a nation/state which conquered other ones to gather forces and fight against an even greater enemy?

texts:
I'm writing a fictional story and basically that's the case of one of the kingdoms there: conquering others to become more powerful and fight another nation. I'm asking this question to get some historical evidence if that could work.

I'll try to briefly explain the circumstances:

There is a group of 6 small kingdoms (in a European-ish medieval setting) that share a lot of their culture, since they were one single country in the past. In my story, a powerful foreign nation (let's call it P) is becoming too dangerous and has the potential to beat all these kingdoms in a war (and go even further).

The ruler of one of these kingdoms, who is a woman, thinks that the only way to have a chance against P is using the forces of all the 6 kingdoms together. Since she knows all the other rulers and knows that they probably won't work effectively as a group or accept to be lead by a female, her decision is to conquer all the neighbors and become a central ruler of them all.

Of course, making war to all of these countries would take a lot of resources, time, and result in many human losses. However, she prefers to play clever as much as possible, probably making use of force at first against the weaker kingdoms and later patriotism (mentioning the greater nation they once were) and intimidation to get the support of the other ones. Whenever possible, she will avoid battles, since the idea is to have more soldiers in the end.

I also assume that currently P is "busy" with other conflicts and so the woman will have some "extra time" to conclude this plan of unifying the nation.

So, my question is: were there similar situations in real History (even if they were not in Middle Ages)?


texts: Why did Canada not join the American Revolution?

texts: America declared independence from Britain and fought a war of independence. Several states joined the fight, however, Canada remained British. Why did the American rebellion and war of independence not spread to Canada?


texts: Early 20th Century Vienna - memoirs of Travelers

texts: I am searching for memoirs of travelers who went to Vienna in 1900-1913. What they saw and did, where they ate etc  and am having a hard time finding anything.


texts: What is the line of descent from from emperor Louis III to Henry VII?

texts:
In this Wikipedia page about the Holy Roman Emperors, it is stated that emperor Henry VII (1275-1313) is a far descendant of emperor Louis III (880-928).

What is the list of people that make the link between these two emperors ?


texts: How did gong farmers see when cleaning out cesspits?

texts:
As in the title, how did gong farmers of medieval(500-1500AD) England, France, etc. see when cleaning out cesspits when their job requires them to work at night with minimal light. Since cesspits are teeming with methane gas, which is highly flammable and explosive in higher concentrations, lanterns or other fire-based sources would be dangerous to use. Also, since fire requires oxygen to burn, there isn't a feasible way of isolating it from the air. Flashlights didn't exist during that period, only being invented around 1898-1899, so what did they use to light up their paths before then?

I have the same question about the sewers of London. How did Toshers see in there without causing a massive explosion? This Youtube video and article claim they carried a lantern, which doesn't explain how the fire (from the lantern) didn't cause an explosion due to the sewer gas.

Sources about the topic are scanty and do not detail the light source that the gong farmers/toshers use.


texts: What happened to Japanese employees after Pearl Harbor?

texts:
I recently read a post from a blog that complains about the nationalistic atmosphere in some country. One comment claims that once a conflict broke out, the employees from enemy state would be expelled immediately.

This makes me pondering just out of curiosity, what happened to Japanese employees in US after the sneak raid of Pearl Harbor? Were they been expelled? Or persecuted?


texts: Why did the German army execute so few soldiers in World War I compared to most other armies?

texts:
According to Alexander Watson's Ring of Steel and other sources during the whole of the First World War the German army only executed 48 of its soldiers, compared to over 300 in the British and 600-800 in the French, Italian and Austro-Hungarian armies.

The mostly Prussian led German army was not, as far as I know weak on discipline, so  why did it find it necessary to execute a fraction of the number of its soldiers as its opponents and principal ally?


texts: What was the first execution by firing squad in history ? Using firearms, that is.


texts: What are good online sources for historical maps?

texts:
I am looking for good online sources for historical maps, specifically the late medieval period (but other periods would be interesting as well). While there are many historical maps out there, few feature details such as city names, names of smaller states or regions within larger states etc.

Let’s share our links!


texts: Where does the tradition of Christmas gifts comes from?

texts: Where does the modern tradition of exchanging gifts from Christmas comes from? I've heard that it's inspired by a similar tradition the Ancient Romans had on one of their festivals, is that true?


texts: What was the first scientific article to give a recognisably "modern" citation to another article?

texts:
It's easy to find online citation indices; however they typically only cover recent articles, e.g. Scopus has coverage since 2004. Indeed citation indices in paper form seem to have been introduced in the 1950s. It's easy to find papers that cite old texts (e.g. search Google Scholar for "Euclid's Geometries"), but rather than the earliest cited publications, I'm interested in the earliest citing publications.

I've been able to find out about when certain citation styles were introduced: Wikipedia describes Vancouver-style citations as "over a hundred years old" but does not cite a source for that assertion. I also know that there is a long history of scientists corresponding with each other and publishing that correspondence in the journals of their societies.

But when was the citation in its current form - an inline reference, footnote or endnote acknowledging the author, title and publication details of the work being cited - introduced? What is the first citation as it would now be recognised?


texts:
In what month of what year did the Great Purge begin in the Soviet Union?

Wikipedia's individual page says it it started in 1934, but if I Google search for "Great Purge" and "1934," nothing much comes up.  Wikipedia's "Timeline of events preceding World War II" page says it started in 1936. According to Boston University, it started in 1935 when Sergey Kirov was murdered, but Wikipedia says that Kirov was murdered on December 1st, 1934, and that "Some historians place the blame for his assassination at the hands of Stalin and believe the NKVD organised his execution, but any evidence for this claim remains lacking."


texts: What do the modern Japanese people think about the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki?

texts:
Japan has been an ally of the USA for a long time now.

On the other hand, every year they observe Hiroshima Day.

Moreover, Japanese people visit Yasukuni Shrine.

Then what is the catch?


texts: Was Transylvania autonomous within Hungary before 1526?

texts:
Transylvania is presented in Romanian historiography in parallel with the other two "Principalities" with which it ended up united in the 20th century - Wallachia and Moldavia. These two had been under Hungarian suzerainty at some point, and the king of Hungary was instrumental in the creation of at least one of them during his fight against the Golden Horde (namely Moldavia).

Both of these two Romanian-speaking states later enjoyed a relative autonomy by balancing allegiances between Hungary, Poland and the Ottomans. Their integration within the European feudal order was problematic, given their non-Catholic Christianity, and their rulers were considered only as "princes", not as kings, although this may have derived more from their heterogeneity rather than their vassal status in relation to a king.

The autonomous principality of Transylvania is a later phenomenon, but when it happened, this statehood had a lot of the characteristics mentioned above with respect to the other two principalities: only relative autonomy (but some poignant action at times, such as taking part to the 30 Years' War in the Protestant camp), only principality and not kingdom, balance between foreign powers, and frequent switching of allegiances.

I suspect nationalist discourse and a projection of the present into the past play a great role in Romanian historiography as far as the similitude between Wallachian/Romanian (future Danubian) Principalities and the Principality of Transylvania is concerned.
But at the same time I cannot help but wonder: Is there  nothing more than that?

Hungary (along with Poland and other Eastern powers - see the link above) differs in its feudal order and kingship from  the Carolingian area.

Transylvania was one of the lands of the Hungarian crown. It became separate after the partitioning of the kingdom as a result the defeat at Mohács by the Ottomans on 29 August 1526. The Turkish occupation of Hungary-proper created the conditions for autonomy, confirmed by the Treaty of Speyer (1570).

And so, the Principality of Transylvania existed as a semi-independent state, ruled primarily by Hungarian princes, between 1570 and 1711, when the princes of Transylvania were replaced with Habsburg governors. But were there any such princes before that? How did the King of Hungary administer this territory before the catastrophic defeat against the Turks? Was it a appanage of the king? Was it that of a prince, duke or other lord?

Was there any tradition of autonomy of Transylvania within the Kingdom of Hungary before 1525-1570?


texts: History of the Levant and Israel - 2000 BCE to the bronze age collapse - where to find info?

texts:
Where can I find information about the period 2000 BCE - 1300 BCE in the Levant with focus on Caanites and (possibly) proto-Hebrews?

Period from the very beginning of the tribal organization of what was to become the people of Israel to the time of Egyptian control over the region but before the bronze age collapse.

It can be chapters in books, websites, scholary papers, ... .


texts: When did nonporous ceramic become widespread?

texts:
Nonporous ceramic (glazed earthenware, stoneware and porcelain) has the advantage that it doesn't absorb water and today it's vastly predominant.

Since pottery manufacturing started with earthenware biscuit (non-glazed and therefore porous earthenware), my question is: when did nonporous ceramic become widespread or dominant? (i.e. used more than earthenware biscuit).

Switching from pottery that's not usable for holding liquids to pottery that is good for that looks like an important point in history to me.

Widespread is a relative term but I think it is possible to build a consensus about what widespread use of a certain object in history means (e.g. the Bronze Age is characterized by widespread use of bronze).


texts: How big was the kapa trade out of Hawaii?

texts:
The production of kapa bark cloth was a major industry in premodern Hawaii.  Once Hawaii was opened to the outside world (1778 and onwards), was kapa exported from Hawaii?  Was it a significant trade good, or was it simply a curiosity?

Wikipedia says (at present):

  After the European discovery of the Hawaiian Islands, Western traders travelled to Hawaiʻi especially for kapa.

but there's no source.


texts:
I have heard that Russia has been fighting with the Chechens on and off for about 300 years, occasionally losing control and reconquering. What exactly does Russia have to gain by retaining control of Chechnya?

I am not sure how Russia benefits by holding such a small nation. It is probably a huge economic burden to keep fighting to hold it.


texts: Age of Finnish soldiers in Winter War and Continuation War

texts:
During World War 2,

A. By what ages where men/women allowed to voluntarily join the Finnish army (upper and lower bounds if there was any, differences between men and women)?

B. By what ages was service mandatory?

this winterwar.com/.. states something vague:

  The Army of Independent Finland was formally born during the War of Independence, when the year 1878 Conscription Act was carried again into effect on February 18th 1918. This act enabled that virtually all healthy young males could be called up for armed service. In 1932 a new Conscription Act was carried into effect, that prescribed that the basic conscription service would be 350 days, and 440 days for the officers and NCO's, after which they would be included into the reserve. In addition to the conscription, all reservists could be called for refresher training.


texts: Did other British colonies at the time have seats in parliament

texts: I know the American colonies didn’t have a seat, but what about the other British colonies. Did some have it. Like Australia, and the places in Africa.


texts: During WW2, did the merchant marine also return to Canada in convoys?

texts: During WW2, a lot of cargo ships sailed in convoy to Britain. I am wondering, if they also made the return trip in convoy? If so, were such return convoys also escorted?


texts: How did sailing technology improve during the Age of Sail?

texts:
Wikipedia article on the Middle Passage says:

  while an average transatlantic journey of the early 16th century lasted several months, by the 19th century the crossing often required fewer than six weeks

What were the technological improvements that allowed that advance? When did they happen?


texts: What is the back story behind the Baja California towns of "Purgatorio" and "Providencia"?

texts:
I'm reading a book on Mexican history, and noticed in a map that there are two towns or cities next to each other in Baja California, one named Purgatorio (purgatory) and the other Providencia (Providence).

There is a Providence, Rhode Island, and a "Purgatory" (Purgotoire, or "Picket Wire") river in the U.S., but they are not close to each other.

What is the story behind these two place names? There's got to be something interesting here. I googled/binged, but could not find it out.


texts: Which cultures considered dual-gender sacred

texts: Which cultures have historically considered the manifestation of two or more genders by one individual to be either a divine trait (being a deity) or to be an indication of divine favor or association (being a priest or prophet, etc)?


texts: What is the band beneath Nefertitis crown?

texts:
I'm sure I read somewhere that the yellow band at the bottom of the crown was a sweatband and not part of the crown itself.  Is this true?

Would this be linen that is wrapped around the forehead and then the crown placed on top?

I have seen artists renditions of Nefertiti which show the band in gold but I assume this is artistic licence?


texts: Why weren't aircraft carriers utilized during D-day?

texts: Why were aircraft carriers not used during and following D-Day?  They could have added a great deal of range to the air support operations.


texts: Chola King Rajendra Chola's copper plates indicate that the Cholas were descendants of the Solar Dynasty Kings of India. Are there any other evidences available and is there a dynasty tree available?


texts: What were the military justifications for the bombing of Dresden?

texts:
I have seen an assertion that Dresden was the only major German city no to put up a protracted resistance to the Soviet Army. The person who asserted this declined to provide references; I still do not know if his assertion is true.

The debate on the bombing that started post war is thoroughly documented, I'm not trying to restart it, I'm more interested in how was the bombing justified from a military perspective at the time.


texts: Historical examples of an elected absolute monarch:

texts:
The Pope of the Catholic Church is an absolute monarch - Head of State of the Vatican City State. He is granted this title through an election by the College of Cardinals. See: The Pope...is currently the only absolute monarch in Europe..

What other historical examples do we have of such a system of government being successfully implemented: An absolute monarchy where the monarch does not inherit their title, but acquires it by virtue of election, when the previous monarch dies, or abdicates; or perhaps even a system where a true monarch is elected for a term of office?

Clarification: I agree with the comments: The term 'monarch' here is unclear.

  Monarch is from the Greek: < Greek monárchēs  sole ruler; see mon-,
  -arch -

So an absolute dictator could also be called a monarch in that sense. On the other hand, modern usage seems to reserve the term for someone who inherits their position - "Royalty", although they may have little temporal power.

In this context I will distinguish between a "monarch" and a "dictator" or "despot": Monarchy is an agreed upon institution of a sovereign state, established by long standing tradition or constitutional process, as per Edmund Burke's principles. This reflects Mark C. Wallace's comments "a monarch has legitimacy and accountability" - not simply an individual who seizes power for the moment.

As for "absolute", let's go with the vernacular of "Their word is Law". Or to take it to extremes, as has been attributed to Louis XIV: "The State? I am the State!".


texts:
This TOI article says ' trams started operating in Delhi on March 6, 1908, at the behest of Lord Hardinge.'

But Lord Hardinge became Viceroy of India in 1910. And it was Lord Minto who was the incharge of India in 1908.

What am I missing?


texts: Is this true that the Soviet Army soldiers had no helmets in the beginning of WW2?

texts: Is this true that the Soviet Army was so poorly equipped by the WW2 that soldiers had no helmets?


texts:
I have read some of Pythagoras' commandments; they are strange. Any idea why he considered that eating beans was a sin?

The book from which I took the data is 'history of western philosophy' by Bertrand Russell, p 50&51 and 74.


texts: Can anyone identify this possibly Czechoslovak uniform?

texts:
I have this photo of my Great Grandfather Antonin Hošek and his wife Elisabeth Hofrichter with my Grandma as a baby Alzběta Hošková. I am trying to find out more about my family's past and I'd love to know if anyone can identify this uniform? Where from? What is the rank? etc. It is most likely to be Czechoslovakian around 1926.

I also have a knife and sheath from him. New photos attached.

I also have a certificate - can anyone transcribe it for me, please?


texts: Did the Germans lose the U-Boat war in World war II because of a shortage of quality, rather than quantity?

texts:
In the "Battle of the Atlantic" the Germans lost almost 800 of their 1200 submarines (nearly two-thirds) sinking 3,500 Allied merchant ships and 175 warships.

Some 30% these "kills," were accounted for by 30 veteran captains or "aces" who had experience in World War I, while about two thirds of the submarines (800 out of 1200) sank nothing.

One veteran World War I submarine captain was an Austrian named Georg von Trapp. The whole focal point of the "Sound of Music" was whether or not Captain von Trapp would become Germany's 31st submarine ace. (Von Trapp and his wife Maria were real people, and while the "seven children" existed, they were fictionalized by the movie as being younger than they really were, to allow "Maria" to be their "governess.")

Are there any historical accounts or naval doctrines that suggest that "quality is more important than quantity" in submarine warfare? That is, that 100 more "Captain von Trapps" using the same or fewer ships would have been more useful to Germany than 1000 more U-boats manned by random crewmen?


texts: What were the main clans of the Sengoku period?

texts:
I'm looking for some kind of authoritative list of the main clans operating during the Sengoku period, if possible with each clan's kamon but most importantly which geographical areas they controlled.
I know I'm asking for quite a lot but I have difficulty finding anything I can deem reliable.


texts: Relation of Arya and Dravida with Hindu scriptures like Veda and Aagama

texts:
I don't know much about the history of Arya and Dravida:

I've heard that word Arya is found in Hindu Scripture (Veda) and Arya is related to Indus valley civilization while Dravida is related with south India.

For example, while reading the difference between Vadakalai & Thenkalai, I've found:

  The Sri Vaishnava sect has its origins in the works of the Alwars, a group of 12 ancient Vaishnava saints who lived in Tamil Nadu and are famous for their poetry in praise of Vishnu. The 4000 poems of the Alwars were collected by Nathamuni into a book called the Naalayira Divya Prabhandam, which started being thought of as the Dravida Veda, or Veda of South India.
  .......
  .......
  Manavala Mamunigal and his successors believed that words of the Alwars are of paramount importance, and that they contain all the important messages of the Vedas and more, so they started called themselves Thenkalai (the Southern group), because their supreme scripture was the Naalayira Divya Prabhanda, which is from South India. Vedanta Desikan and his successors still believed that Alwars' words were sacred, but they also thought that we shouldn't neglect the importance of Sanskrit scripture like the Vedas. Since they placed some emphasis on scripture that had come from North India, they became known as Vadakalai (the Northern group).

This implies that Sanskrit Vedas are related to North India.

In addition I've heard that Vedas are related to (originated by) Arya, while Aagama are related to (originated by) Dravida.

I'm looking for any historical/archaeological study carried out in order to know the ancient history.


texts: Are there no written records of Sanskrit before Rigveda?

texts: Rigveda is considered the oldest written record of Sanskrit. It has Sanskrit in a very developed form. I wonder if there are any records of Sanskrit before Rigveda which show the language being used for day-to-day activities like accounting etc.


texts: Did "el Empecinado" fight in the Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo (1810)?

texts:
I'm writing a little piece on Juan Martín Díez, el Empecinado (the most famous Spanish guerrilla leader of the Peninsular War), and I need to know if he took part in the defence of Ciudad Rodrigo during the siege conducted by Marshal Ney in 1810.

The Wikipedia article on el Empecinado says this:

  In 1810, Díez was forced to take refuge in the castle of the
  Salamancan city of Ciudad Rodrigo, which the French army besieged.

And in this rather schematic site in Spanish:

  he endured siege in Ciudad Rodrigo (1810)

But the Wikipedia article on the Siege itself doesn't mention him whatsoever, the order of battle doesn't show any of his troops, and all other biographies I've read about the character don't say anything about this.

So, was Juan Martín Díez, el Empecinado, present in Ciudad Rodrigo during the siege by Ney?


texts: Why didn't invaders of India ever cross into Myanmar and beyond (east)?

texts:
All the foreign invaders, coming from the west, that I know of which invaded India (i.e. Delhi Sultanate, Mughals, Suri Empire, Ghurid Empire, Mamluk Dynasty, etc.) stopped around the Bengal area. Same with most invaders coming from the Burmese side. The same also seems to be the case with local empires (i.e. Harsha Empire, Gupta Empire, Maurya Empire, etc).

Only exception was the British Raj and the Bengal Sultanate.

Is there any significant reason for this? Bad terrain? Bad weather?


texts: Leaders killed or removed for reducing the privileges of the rich

texts:
The question is about leaders who reduced the privileges of the rich in order to help the poor. Until now, I've found two examples:

Umar II (682 – 720), an Umayyad caliph, was greatly helping the poor by cutting their taxes and the rich people killed him because they could not digest his policies of justice, simplicity and equality.
Johann Sachs von Harteneck (1664 – 1703), mayor of the German city Hermannstadt (today's Sibiu, Transylvania) was killed because he was asking the rich to pay taxes.

I am looking for more examples of such leaders who were killed or removed from power for reducing the privileges of the rich - or for reducing the taxes of the poor.


texts: Why do old townhouses sometimes have a flat, windowless, undecorated wall on one side?

texts:
In Oslo, I notice that many townhouses built around the turn of the twentieth century just have a large, undecorated, windowless, completely flat wall on one side.
Here is an example. This building was built in 1899.

One possible reason I can think of is that this design made it easy to continue building another townhouse joined onto this, so this design kept that possibility open?
The obvious disadvantage would be that you get no windows in the rooms adjoining that wall. Also, elaborate decorations were common in the architecture of that era, so I find it interesting when I see such completely flat walls.


texts: After the fall of Constantinople, were the Christians who lived in the Ottoman Empire treated fairly?

texts: In my textbook it states that the Christians who lived in the Ottoman Empire received a humanitarian treatment. They were permitted to live peacefully as normal citizens of the state. I believe there is some bias here. Is this true?


texts: Was there a historical figure named Fecund?

texts:
This is going to sound odd, but a Terry Pratchett book lead me to look up the meaning of the word "fecund", and the result included a google ngrams graph of its use in written works.

As you can see, there's a pretty angular increase in its usage in the 1950s and 1960s, I was intrigued by this and looked a little further, I found this more detailed graph.

This was even odder information, because it looks like the increase I was interested in was due to an increase in the use of Fecund with an upper case F.

I've done some research, and I can't find evidence of someone named Fecund being written about in the mid 20th century. It also seems relatively unlikely to be used at the start of a sentence.

Was there someone well known called Fecund? Or perhaps a commonly quoted statement beginning a sentence with it? Why did this clear increase start and end so suddenly?


texts: When did the cats versus dogs rivalry begin in the US?

texts:
In the US people that own pets seem to be pegged as either dog people, or cat people. This cultural phenomenon is so prevalent that Hollywood even made a movie about it.

My question is, when did this rivalry begin in the US?


texts: How did messages get back and forth between ship and shore during the Battle of Cherbourg?

texts: In volume 3 of Shebly Foote's book on the American Civil war, he mentions that once out to sea, Winslow got a message from France about Semmes's intentions.  Does that mean there were boats going back and forth from ship to shore before the battle?  I know there were some Yachts near the battle so they could watch.  Would they have been the source of communication?


texts: How would one have gone about setting up a business during Communist Revolutionary China?

texts:
In 1966, Mao Zedong launched a movement towards Socialism, to, solidify his power after a disastrous Great Leap Forward, called the Cultural Revolution. Though the movement moved towards a total Communism, it was never really achieved. For example, peasants both, owned their own land, and worked on group owned lands. What I am wondering is how did the economics work in Cultural Revolution China, specifically in the cities. I am interested in,

If it was legal, how could someone set up a business; What general rules or paperwork was involved?
How did hiring work?


texts: Did Rafael Lemkin predict antisemitic mass murders before WWII?

texts:
I recall from reading Phillipe Sands East West Street that Raphael Lemkin (who would later term the word Genocide) drew paralells between the Armenian Genocide and the disenfranchisment of Jews in Germany starting in '33, going so far as predicting the  mass murder  to come (or at least seeing the real danger).

However I don't have access to the book right now. I'm not sure my memory is correct, and totally unsure when exactly Lemkin made this prediction, if at all. Both Wikipedia articles I can read on him don't state explicitly what he said or wrote before the outbreak of the war about antisemitism and it's possible consequences in Germany.

This question is in part prompted by reading David Cesaranis The Fate of the European Jews, as Cesarani quotes many German Jews who did not see their lives in danger in the pre-war years.


texts: What is the reason for: "Risk taking must focus on winning rather than preventing defeat" in US Army Operations guides?

texts:
I am posting this question in the hope that 'history' is close enough on-topic to find answer to this question:
What is the intent behind the statement

"Risk taking must focus on winning rather than defeat, even if preventing defeat appears safer."

as it can be found in the US Army "Commander and Staff Officer Guide (ATTP 5-0.1, 1-4)" and "The Operations Process" (ADRP 5-0, 2-83 1)?
I have no military background and I am reading the US Army "Commander and Staff Officer Guide (ATTP 5-0.1)" as I am interested to understand information flow and decision making in different organisations. The fact that this statement appears in both ATTP and ADRP which have their audience at different levels of the hierarchy, makes it seem important. It seems like something everybody needs to understand and follow.
My question aims very much at the intent behind this statement and whether it relates to military decision making only, or if on another abstraction a similar principle could be applied in a commercial setting as well.
So why is it useful to focus on winning rather than on survival? Surely the army does not benefit from a high casualty rate? Does anybody know of examples in history where this guidance was beneficial, or its absence led to failure?


texts: Why did Ong Khan offer Temujin (young Gengis Khan) a position?

texts: Why did Ong Khan offer Temujin (young Gengis kKan) a position? (after Temujin recognized him as his father)  I mean it seems that after the death of Temujin's father, Ong Khan did nothing to help and Temujin did not seek out help from him, but suddenly at some point Temujin recognized Ong Khan as his father and was offered a position.


texts: Is Josephus' account for the length of the Jewish War generally accepted as correct?

texts:
In Josephus' famous work on the subject, the First Jewish-Roman War is depicted as lasting a full number of years,1 inasmuch as it is presented as starting in the month of Artemisius (II Wars 14:4), and ending in Xanthicus (VII Wars 9:1), with the siege of Masada.

Furthermore, a plain reading of the text itself suggests a span of seven years,2 consistent with the (poetical) description of the same events, as related in the biblical book of Daniel (9:24-27), highly praised by Josephus in his other writings (X Antiquities 11:7).3

Now, though it is not entirely unheard of for wars to last an almost exact number of years,4 it is not all that common either, thus leading me to suspect a certain artifice, be it stylistic, mnemonic, or religious, being employed by the renowned historian.5
My question would be whether other authorities in the field have voiced similar concerns, and, if so, what were their doubts and conclusions on the matter ?

1 Since Xanthicus and Artemisius are consecutive months, roughly corresponding to the first two lunar months of the Jewish and Babylonian calendars.
2 I am, of course, aware that modern scholarship proposes an eight year time span for the aforementioned events, based on coins found among the ruins of Masada dating to AD 74, rather than AD 73; I can't escape, however, the feeling that seven is the text's intended reading, inasmuch as for an entire year-and-a-half to have passed from the Gorpaeus (autumn) of one year to the Xanthicus (spring) of the year-after-next, and for the ever-so-careful Josephus to have failed to whisper even as much as a single word about it, in order to alleviate any possible misunderstanding(s) on the part of his readers, seems rather unlikely, to say the very least.
3 Further pertinent information on a possible relationship between Daniel and Josephus can be found in a 1994 article by Professor Steve Mason, from the York University of Toronto, published in the forty-first volume of the Studia Post-Biblica, entitled Josephus, Daniel, and the Flavian House, pages 161-191.
4 Thus, the Second World War, for instance, is generally reckoned as starting on September 1, 1939, with Hitler's invasion of Poland, and, from an American perspective, ending on September 2, 1945, with the signing of the Japanese Instrument of Surrender.
5 And by no means the only such (incredulous) artifice; indeed, in yet another chapter, he not only has the Second Jerusalem Temple being burned down on precisely the same date as the former (VI Wars 4:8), but also attempts to provide an (arguably far-fetched) explanation for such a remarkable coincidence, by having the Jews themselves intentionally burn their own holy place to the ground (VI Wars 4:5), since the invading pagan Romans obviously could not have been familiar with, nor particularly interested in, either the events of Jewish history, or the exotic, non-Roman calendar according to which their commemoration was reckoned.


texts: Did Sultan Mehmet IV defeat a Persian champion in single combat?

texts:
From Jason Goodwin's popular history of the Ottoman Empire, Lords of the Horizons:

  At the siege of Baghdad in 1683, when the Persians demanded the
  contest be decided by single combat, they put up a Herculean warrior
  from their ranks, and Sultan Mehmet IV took him on himself, splitting
  the Persian champion's mailed head in two with a single blow.

Big if true! But there's no source given, and, googling around, I can't even establish that there was a siege of Baghdad in 1683. I've found another couple of instances of the anecdote, but nothing with references.

Is there a reliable primary source for this story? If not, is it even plausible?


texts: Seeking explanation about Leicester's "mechanical dolphin" of 1575

texts:
Greenblatt's Will in the World describes elaborate festivities that the Earl of Leicester staged in 1575 for the visiting Queen Elizabeth I:

  In the single most extravagant entertainment Leicester staged for the queen during her long stay, a twenty-four-foot-long mechanical dolphin rose up out of the waters of the lake adjacent to the castle. On the back of the dolphin -- in whose belly was concealed a consort of wind instruments -- sat the figure of Arion, the legendary Greek musician, who sang, as Langham put it, "a delectable ditty" to the queen....

Wikipedia's account calls the dolphin a "float", but whether it floated or was borne in a parade like a modern "float", I can't tell.

Of what was such a "mechanical dolphin" constructed? Could it really have borne musicians and wind instruments while immersed in a lake? What lifted it out of the lake?


texts: What is the source and history of "green on blue attack" expression?

texts:
Every time in the news when an Afghan attacks a US army the news say it is a „green on blue” attack, of course the green being the Afghan and the blue being the US/Nato soldier.

What is the source and history of this expression, and of this color assignment?


texts: Was there any kind of detective in Ancient Rome?

texts: Searching through some Wikipedia articles, I could only find that the city of Rome itself had vigiles (firefighters and policemen), and only in imperial times. There is no mention of detectives, be them privately employed or employed by the Roman state. I am not looking for spies, but for people that helped to find culprits in assassinations or any other kind of crime. Was there anything resembling modern detectives in Roman cities?


texts: Did any of the 50 Destroyers swapped for bases with Great Britain in 1940 sink any Axis military vessels?

texts: In 1940 the United States traded fifty mothballed WW1 Destroyers to England in exchange for land rights in areas of the British Empire. Were any of those fifty ships credited with sinking an Axis military vessel?


texts: When did medieval monarchs start being depicted with ermine fur garments?

texts:
Probably all medieval monarchs wore fur garments when the weather was cold enough.

But what seems to be the normal medieval picture of monarch in civilian dress was to wear a long robe with a cloak over it, often made of richly decorated silk.

Here is a link to a medieval image of Emperor Frederick I (r. 1152-1190):

https://www.gettyimages.ch/detail/nachrichtenfoto/frederick-i-barbarossa-12th-century-holy-roman-emperor-nachrichtenfoto/463894779#/frederick-i-barbarossa-12th-century-holy-roman-emperor-13th-century-picture-id4638947791

Here is a link to a medieval image of Emperor Henry VI (r.1190-1198):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_VI,_Holy_Roman_Emperor#/media/File:Codex_Manesse_Heinrich_VI._(HRR).jpg2

Here is a link to a medieval image of Emperor Frederick II (r. 1216-1250):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_II,_Holy_Roman_Emperor#/media/File:Frederick_II_and_eagle.jpg3

Here is Holy Roman Emperor Francis II (r. 1792-1806) in his coronation robes handed down from medieval emperors:

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/353603008224103162/4

Here is a medieval picture of King Richard II of England (r. 1377-1399) wearing robes and a cloak.  Note that two other figures in the painting wear ermine fir collars around their necks.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_II_of_England#/media/File:Wilton_diptych.jpg5

And here is a medieval painting of the same King Richard II wearing ermine fur:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_II_of_England#/media/File:Richard_II_King_of_England.jpg6

A medieval painting of the coronation of King Charles VI of France (r. 1380-1422):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_VI_of_France#/media/File:Couronnement_de_Charles_VI_le_Bien-Aim%C3%A9.jpg7

King Francis II of France (r.1558-1560) and Queen Mary of Scotland:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_II_of_France#/media/File:Francois_Second_Mary_Stuart.jpg8

King Charles X of France  (r.1824-1830):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_French_monarchs#/media/File:Charles_X_Roi_de_France_et_de_Navarre.jpg9

King George VI of the United Kingdom (r.1936-1952):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_VI#/media/File:King_George_VI.jpg10

So when and why was there a change in the formal dress of European monarchs?

Can anyone point to online discussions or articles about that change?


texts: Did "droit du seigneur" actually exist in medieval Europe?

texts:
Droit du seigneur, also known as "jus primae noctis" (right of the first night), was the supposed right of a feudal lord to sleep with his serfs' brides on their wedding night.

Was it actually practiced in medieval Europe? Was it ever codified into law?


texts: What is the source of quote attributed to W.E.B. Du Bois: "When you have mastered numbers..."

texts:
I'm working on a history of data visualization in which some works from the 1900 “Exhibit of American Negroes” at the Paris World Fair (the Exposition Universelle Internationale) are featured. A nice quote, attributed to him was found at brainyquote.com

When you have mastered numbers, you will in fact no longer be reading
numbers,  any more than you read words when reading books. You will be
reading meaning.

It is a great quote for the purpose, but was challenged by an editor. Any hints for tracking down the source of this quote would be appreciated.


texts: What happened to the belongings of fallen Roman soldiers?

texts:
It seems that soldiers in Rome were very well paid, even after all their running costs and other expenses were removed.

What I'm curious to know is where would a soldier have kept his excess funds, and what happened to them upon death?

If we need a time frame for the example I am talking between 300 and 88 BC.


texts: Was Robespierre in the pay of the British?

texts:
I was looking for interesting books on French Revolution, when I stumbled across this history of British espionage in the late 1700s. The book is several hundred dollars, so I won't be able to procure it unless I take the trouble to hike out to a university library. What caught my eye is that the top review claims that the book shows that Robespierre was in the pay of the British government, who wanted to encourage the Terror in hopes that it would collapse the revolutionary government.

Both claims smell strongly like conspiracy theories. However, at least according to this obituary of the author (I could find little else on her), she was a self-trained but respected historian who based the book on extensive archival research. She had academic publications, and her work was generally well received. Her book is even cited in "Choosing Terror", a very mainstream history.

Of course none of this means she can't be completely wrong, or even a conspiracy theorist. The review might also not be representing her book accurately. All this is why I'd hoped to ask about the claim here.

Is there really any credible evidence that the "sea-green incorruptible" Robespirre was in the pay of the British? Or that the British government wanted to encourage the Terror? If these turn out to be serious claims, how do they fit into the most current historiography of the Revolution?


texts: What do "roses" represent in the history of Protestant vs Catholic conflict?

texts:
My history is a little rough, but I am aware that Ireland's past, particularly that of North Ireland, is wrought with conflict. I know there are multiple causes, but that -- whether as cause or excuse -- the fact that the English and Scottish colonists were Protestant while the rest of the island was predominantly Catholic. Through generations of conflict many atrocities were committed by both sides.

I was recently listening to some Irish folk songs, one of which is a lament of the blind nature of this rift and the lives lost in revenge killings in both directions. At the end there is an unidentified reference to "Roses", as if that symbolized something in the conflict between religious traditions. In fact the name of the song is "There Were Roses" (youtube), but it is entirely about Catholic vs. Protestant relations.

Did the rose symbolize something religious during the North Ireland conflicts or would this be a reference back to the War of the Roses (which was more a struggle for power between two related houses not an extension of Catholic/Protestant aggression).


texts: What was the relationship between science and religion in the European early middle ages?

texts:
What was the relationship between science and religion in the early middle ages of Europe?

Faith and Reason proposal on Area 51


texts: How did Americans know to use smallpox infected blankets, before germ theory?

texts: How did Americans know that Native Americans would be infected with smallpox, from smallpox infected blankets, hundreds of years before germ theory?


texts: Why were some Napoleonic battles fought at sea?

texts:
'The Royal Navy 1793-1815' is all about the different battles that took place in the water'...my main concern is why the navy was involved at all? why couldn't they just fight in the land ?
Is it because the navies were more efficient than the ground forces or is it to prevent the main lands from destruction?


texts:
I am just rekindling my interest in Ancient Rome, and reading Rome:Its people, life and customs by Ugo Enrico Paoli. He goes into considerable detail about tables, but only dining tables. There is a whole chapter on writing implements, tablets, parchment, papyrus, stylii, pens,ink etc, but nothing about writing tables or desks.

It's perfectly possible to write on a tablet or slate either sitting or standing, but not on parchment or papyrus, needing a flat surface and somewhere for pens, ink etc. And -  the Romans wrote a lot - letters, books, laws, poetry, treatises, orders etc. They even had teams of literate slaves writing popular books to dictation. And, not just writing - accounting - one needed a surface of some kind for an abacus or scales.

My admittedly small Latin dictionary is no help, it translates "desk" as "scrinium" which then translates as "book box"!

So - did the Romans have desks/writing tables? They were a practical people, they must have solved the problem somehow!


texts: Why did the kingdoms of Scotland and England merge?

texts: I'm from the states, so I'm not so sharp on the history of various European monarchs. Having been told as a child that my ancestors emigrated from Scotland, I've always had an interest in the country. So to sum up, what led up to, and eventually caused the merger of the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England?


texts: What is this old dual-disc metal object with a spindle? [more pictures added]

texts:
[Updated: There are now pictures of both top and side views. Scroll to bottom of post to see the side views.]

While sorting through family artifacts, I found a black metal two-layer disc with a long spindle. One layer (marked "This Side Up") was about 5 1/2 inches in diameter; the other about 4 1/2".  The smaller disc had an inside ring with what appears to be lettering or symbols. See photos (four in all) for various views.

What is the object?


texts: Did they really use these for street lights and warmth in the Victorian London?

texts: I've noticed these in a new tv series, The Irregulars, that's based in the Victorian London. I vaguely remember there was firewood shortage. So did they really use these and that close together? What is it called? Image search wasn't helpful. Searches like "firewood steel mesh victorian london" only gave me modern versions of it. The closest I came were the modern version the metal barrel we can see in some neighborhoods that's burning stuff and Sconce (light fixture) which isn't even using wood nor stand on the ground.


texts: What happened to the stuff stolen from the Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans?

texts:
In the year 66 CE, the Jews in Roman Palestine rose up in revolt against the Roman occupation.  Four years later , the Romans sacked Jerusalem, leveled the city, killed everyone inside, razed the Temple to the ground, and carted off the holy relics as spoils of war.

As demonstrated in a BAR article by Louis H. Feldman, a hidden inscription on the Colosseum itself suggests that the construction of the amphitheater was financed by the plundered booty from the Jewish Revolt.b Vespasian faced a serious deficit when he became emperor, but the spoils of war from Judea—the riches of the Temple treasury, the golden vessels from the Temple, the seized personal treasures of Jewish citizens and the sale of the Jewish captives themselves—provided enormous wealth for the emperor and the plundering army commanded by his son Titus. Thus did the conquest of Judea fund the most recognizable structure of imperial Rome.
These same plundered spoils of Judea are depicted prominently on another monument that still stands in Rome, which is the focus of exciting new research. The marble Arch of Titus was built in 81 C.E. by the emperor Domitian to commemorate the victory and triumphal parade of his brother Titus, the conquering army general, and Emperor Vespasian’s son and successor.
In the most famous of the panels, Roman soldiers carry the Jerusalem Temple spoils on parade, including the menorah, the showbread table and trumpets, which were then deposited in Rome’s Temple of Peace. This panel and the others were recently subjected to high-resolution three-dimensional scans, resulting in stunningly crisp, high-quality images of the relief that are accurate within less than a millimeter and are free from the distracting visual distortions of the marble’s age and discoloration.

In the most famous of the panels, Roman soldiers carry the Jerusalem Temple spoils on parade, including the menorah, the showbread table and trumpets, which were then deposited in Rome’s Temple of Peace. Courtesy Yeshiva University Arch of Titus Digital Restoration Project.

Source
Some people suggest that the relics were brought to the Vatican, where they still remain.  I haven't seen any evidence for this claim, but it is at least possible.
Do we have any information about what happened to these relics?


texts: How many U.S. Founding Fathers knew about Baruch Spinoza?

texts:
I know the founders like Jefferson and Madison were extremely well read. I've heard they were very effected by the enlightenment.

Do we know with any certainty if they read Spinoza?


texts:
In Peter Martyr's De orbe novo decades (Decades of the New World, 1511–25), he thrice compares axi to something he calls Caucasian pepper. The following excerpts are from the 1912 MacNutt English translation:

In First Decade, Book I (1912, p. 65):

  rough-coated berries of different colours more pungent to the taste than Caucasian pepper

In Fifth Decade, Book IX (1912, p. 186):

  Something may be said about the pepper gathered in the islands and on the continent. I mentioned pepper as growing in the forests; but it is not pepper, though it has the same strength and the flavour, and is just as much esteemed. The natives call it axi. It grows taller than a poppy, and the grains are gathered from this bush just as from a juniper or pine, although they are not so large. There are two varieties of these grains, five in the row; one of which is half a finger in length, and its taste is sharper and more biting than that of pepper; the other is round and has no more taste than pepper. Its bark, skin, and kernel have a hot flavour, but not very sharp. The third grain does not sting the tongue but is aromatic. When it is used there is no need of Caucasian pepper. The sweet pepper is called boniatum and the hot pepper is called carribe, meaning sharp and strong; for this same reason the cannibals are called Caribs, because they are strong.

In Seventh Decade, Book I (1912, pp. 250–1):

  Our pepper, of which I sent a specimen to Ascanio Sforza, grows abundantly everywhere in this country, just like mallows and nettles at home. The islanders crush it and spread it on their bread, which they soak in water before eating. There are five varieties, and it is hotter to the taste than the pepper of Malabar or the Caucasus. Five grains of ours are equivalent to twenty of Malabar or Caucasian pepper, and seasoned with these five grains the juices of meats acquire more flavour than with twenty of the other. But such is human stupidity that whatever is difficult to obtain is always thought to be better.

Is it possible to grow pepper (Piper) in the Caucasus and was this ever done? If not, what is meant by Caucasian pepper here?


texts: What were Stilwell's plans had his coup succeeded?

texts:
Joseph Stilwell, the caustic American Chief of Staff assigned to Chiang Kai-Shek, famously clashed with his superior over the prosecution of war in the China-Burma-India theatre. Things came to a head during Operation Ichi-Go when Stilwell, with the support of Roosevelt, attempted a coup to take over command of Chinese forces.

The coup failed and Chiang clung to power but with great loss in prestige and trust with the Americans. But did Stilwell have war plans had he taken over? Did he express how he would do things differently from Chiang?

From fragmentary reading I gather that Stilwell may have wanted to focus on Burma, disagreeing with Chiang when he wanted to withdraw forces to defend China, and that he disagreed with the KMT building stockpiles to guard against the Communists. I would like to know more details if possible, if he had any clear plans.


texts: Why did the US enact compulsory education?  The wikipedia article actually isn't very helpful, at least where the intentions of the people who campaigned for this are concerned.  I seem to remember hearing in high school that this had something to do with the Progressives, and they were concerned that everyone (regardless of their ability to pay) needed a basic education.  Am I remembering any of that right?  I have also heard this was a way to limit child labor.  My real interest is in the motivations: why did people at the time think that children should be educated, and how did their reasons change as the 19th century transitioned into the 20th?  I'm down to read primary sources.


texts: Is there any book depicting British rule in India from the eyes of British?

texts: Frankly speaking, most of the history written from the minds of Indians depict British as the brutal enemy. I am very tired of this view, as an Indian, I wanted to know any book depicting British rule in India from a British point of view.


texts: I've been reading the Diary of a Young Girl, by Anne Frank. Prior to reading it, I always assumed that her story was somewhat typical of Jews living in countries that Germany occupied, or even in occupied Holland, during World War 2, but I'm finding a few signs that things seem a bit unusual. First of all, it seems that the Franks must have had a large supply of cash to be able to afford the food and other supplies during their time of hiding. Secondly, they were hidden within the boundaries of a city, in a warehouse/ office complex. How typical were those conditions compared to other Jews living in the same area, in hiding? I know there were others in hiding, but I'm just trying to gauge how typical their situation was. It seems to me that they were actually fairly fortunate compared to others in their circumstances, excepting of course how the story ends, and I'm wanting to get a further opinion as to how true that might be.


texts: Why did the Romans change Europe's language, but the barbarians didn't?

texts:
When the Roman republic/empire took over the Mediterranean between 40 BC and 20 AD, Vulgar Latin replaced the local languages almost completely. Basque seems to be the only remaining pre-Roman language.

But when the Western Roman Empire fell in the 5th century and was taken over by Germanic tribes, the languages spoken in the territory of the former Western Roman Empire mostly remained Romance, i.e. descended from Vulgar Latin.

What was the difference between the Roman conquests and the fall of the Western Roman Empire that led to the different language aftermaths?


texts: Why did the UK use hewn stone cubes for homes far more often than France?

texts:
Why did the UK use hewn stone cubes (ashlar masonry) for homes far more often than France in the previous centuries?

It would be rare to find this kind of rustic stone (rubble masonry ) in the UK, whereas 80% of old homes in Southern France are built like this.

In the UK even tough stones in remote villages are often hewn into rectangles.


texts: Did French people in 19th century not bathe every day?

texts:
I am currently watching Ikoku Meiro No Croissant episode 4. In this episode, Yune tried to take a bath, but it didn't work out nicely. So in the next morning, Claudel-san said that:

  Only rich people can afford that to do in Paris

Is this based on actual real life circumstances in the period? If so, how often did the French people bathe in a week during the 1800's?


texts: What was the estimated population living in Egypt around 1446 BC?

texts: The biblical narrative in Exodus 11 tells that all firstborn sons of Egypt died in a single night. While maybe there's no historical evidence of that, it would be interesting to know what was the estimated population in Egypt in 1446 BC, so we could deduce the number of (supposedly) killed children.


texts: Are there any records of javelin throwing techniques from antiquity? For example, ancient Greece, such as peltasts?

texts:
I can find plenty of information of contemporary javelin throwing techniques, but I am interested to know if there are surviving records of javelin throwing, particularly from ancient Greece, and particularly in war, as opposed to Olympic javelin throwing. I speculate there may be differences between distance throwing and target throwing.

Also, are there any instances of experimental archaeology focused on javelin throwing techniques?

I am less-so interested in the Roman pilum, but would be interested in other peoples who used javelins.


texts: Why were the Germans and Russians so fixated on an unlikely "separate peace" in 1945?

texts:
Anyone familiar with the history of WW2 will know that the Germans hoped for and the Russians feared the British and Americans in 1944/45 might make a separate peace with Hitler and even join together with Germany and fight the Russians.

The facile answer is that the Germans needed something to hope for when all other hope was lost and the Russians were simply paranoid.

It might also be said that neither dictatorship was equipped to understand that such a thing would be impossible to sell to an electorate even supposing a democracy's leadership wished it.

So my question isn't why might the notion of a separate peace have arisen in Moscow or Berlin, but rather, did the Americans or British give any cause at all to encourage the Germans & alarm the Russians. Were there any secret papers, or diplomatic initiatives which hinted at a separate peace?

I mean, apart from the fact the British and Americans met, planned, collaborated, shared intelligence etc separately from the Russians, which, yes, was a problem for the Soviet Union but still a long way from even coming close to concluding a separate peace with Germany and jointly turning their guns on the Russians.

So far as I am aware the British and Americans never wavered from the doctrine of "unconditional surrender" agreed in 1943 and had never the remotest intention  of joining forces with Germany and driving the Russians out.

How did many Germans and some Russians get it so wrong?

Updated with sources identifying those Germans who believed in or sought a separate peace:

Himmler sought to bargain with Jewish lives in exchange for a
separate peace [Secret Intelligence and the Holocaust: Collected
Essays by Gerhard L. Weinberg, David Bankier]
Canaris and other German officers
Donitz and the rest of the Flensburg government [Hitler, Donitz, and the Baltic Sea 1944-1945 by David Grier]
Donitz and Jodl
Individual SS officers hoped to exploit tensions between the western Allies and the Soviet Union to open negotiations for a separate peace (Holocaust Museum website)
Walter Schellenberg, SS General [The Routledge Companion to Nazi Germany by Roderick Stackelberg]
Otto Ohlendorf, SS-General Felix Steiner, and SS-General Richard Hildebrandt (interrogation of Ohlendorf by British intelligence)


texts: What campaigns did the Mexican army fight against American Indians in the North?

texts: I am seeking information about Mexican Army Operations against Apaches and other Native American militant tribes (such as the Apaches, Comanches, Yaquis, etc)  in the northern part of the country. If anyone can go into details of  this aspect of the North American Indian wars, please share. The only current source that I  know of is Geronimo's autobiography, which describes battles with the Mexican Army that seem to be on the same scale of some of the battles that happened on the Northern Plains. There must be documentation of these campaigns (in Spanish) in Mexican military references.


texts: Who exactly were the Slovene White Guard?

texts:
In World War II, there was a group in Yugoslavia called the Slovene White Guard. Concerning this group, the book If The Allies Had Fallen states that:

  If an Istrian landing was put into effect, the Slovene White Guard (Domobranstvo) would almost certainly have tried to join the allied side.

From what I understand (and from what I can understand on the Internet), they were a collection of anti-Communist collaborationist political groups whose leaders set up the Slovenian Alliance to fight Communism and their local partisans. However, this apparently was just for show, as from what I read, the leaders of this Alliance and of the White Guard secretly swore allegiance to the government-in-exile while putting on a show of allegiance to the Germans.

I’m still unsure of what their story is though, as I can’t seem to understand most of the online sources on them. Why did they agree with the Allies? And were they waiting for an Istrian invasion to switch sides?

If The Allies Had Fallen is sort of a niche book. It’s edited by Dennis Showalter and Harold Deutsch, published by MJF Books. ISBN: 978-1-60671-238-2


texts: What actions did the USA take in 2003 to prevent other countries from coming to Iraq's aid?

texts:
When the US invaded and occupied Iraq in 2003, I believe that neighboring countries and one of their major arms suppliers- Russia- stood down, at best.

What actions did the USA take to dissuade any actions on the parts of those countries, either to assist Iraq (overtly or covertly) or to opportunistically make other moves deemed undesirable to American interests?

For example, were military assets moved into specific locations well outside of the theater?

I'm actually primarily interested in whether the US sent carrier groups to some place like the Pacific as a "show of force" as part of the preparations for war. Or beefed up troops or materiel in areas near the Russian or Chinese spheres of influence at the time. The preparations for the war itself (coalition building, grooming the populace, getting the media in lock-step and so on) are well-documented but I don't see much on any other preparations.


texts: What courses would have been required to get a B.A. in America in the 1930s?

texts:
I know in the early 20th century the liberal arts curriculum was focused much more on the classics, but am interested in knowing specifically what courses were required to graduate during the Great Depression.

Of course that would have varied from college to college.  Ideally I'd love to see a comparison of curricula from a large number of colleges around the country, but if that's not available I will accept the most complete answer after a couple of weeks.


texts: What is the single longest Presidential Campaign run in the United States?

texts:
Looking back to 2008 it looks like Mitt Romney has been running for President ever since he was in the 2008 Republican primaries where he lost to John McCain.  Considering a short stoppage while McCain was the Republican candidate, and supposing that Mitt Romney started his campaign again soon after Obama won, I know it was soon after but don't have the date, that would make him one of the longest running candidates - about 4 years.

Are there any other cases where a Presidential campaign in the US has gone on as long, or longer, or is about 4 years the longest on record?  This should be an individual running non-stop within a single political party, in an attempt to be their nominee for President.


texts: Why are there so many Hungarian family names that have a pejorative tone?

texts: I've never thought about this much since I grew up with it, but my wife is a foreigner and she thinks Hungarian family names are the weirdest thing ever. Common family names include (the Hungarian equivalent of) lame, deaf, blind, devil etc. Did people have no say at all in their family names? Why did such names not prevail in English? I'm interested to hear about the situation in other cultures.


texts: What evidence is there that Lenin died because he was poisoned?

texts: Many historians, such as Massie, mention that Lenin may have abruptly become ill in 1922, and died two years later, because he was poisoned. However, nobody ever mentions why this is thought, who may have done it, or what poison was used. Could someone explain what evidence is used to support the theory of Lenin's death by poisoning?


texts: How do archaeologists date cave paintings?

texts:
Imagine I get hold on 15000 yr old pigments and I draw an iguana next to a bison at "Altamira Caves"... how does one know that that drawing wasn't made 15000 years back? Would people then start saying that there were iguanas 15000 years ago in Iberia?

Same principles I assume applies to engravings. Imagine one finds a bare Sumerian cone... then one engraves cuneiform on it. How can the time of the engraving be aged?

Thank you


texts: What type of defenses did the Pequot use at their fort?

texts:
During the Pequot War (1634-1638), the Pequot built a fort near modern Mystic, Connecticut.  This fort was overrun by the English settlers in 1637 who massacred most of the inhabitants.

What type of defenses did the Pequot fort have?  (Stone walls, ramparts, ditches, wooden palisades, archers on towers, gatehouses, etc.)


texts: What happened to Dada Abdullah & Co, the firm that started Gandhi's career in South Africa?

texts:
Reading the autobiography of Gandhi I just wondered what happened to the company Dada Abdullah & Co, which hired Gandhi to go to South Africa. What is it now?

As given in the book Dada Abdullah & Co was a large company in South Africa when Gandhi went there in 1893. They even had their own steam ship in which Gandhi was even given free tickets in. So for such a large company what happened later like during the great depression (1930), during the world war (1945) and now?

Reference from "The Story of My Experiments With Truth"


texts: What "Treaty of 1785" is referred to in the August 1955 report of the Secretary of Defense's Advisory Committee on Prisoners of War?

texts:
While chasing around various sources of material, I came across "POW, The Fight Continues After the Battle". In this report, as it goes over the history of treatment of Prisoners of War (starting with the Bible), the following paragraph is listed under "The American Revolution" (pgs. 4-5 of the report; 13-14 of the PDF):
"To discourage desertions during the Revolution, the United States established the death penalty for those prisoners who, after capture, took up arms in the service of the enemy. Amnesty was granted to deserters but not those who deserted to the enemy. Duress or coercion was recognized as mitigating only in event of threatened immediate death. This was the first American definition of required prisoner conduct. In the Treaty of 1785 no standard of conduct was prescribed but conditions of confinement, care and parole were defined."
This paragraph confuses me. Is the US's establishment of the death penalty for defectors the 1785 Treaty? I really think it's not for 2 reasons: 1) The US doesn't need to agree to a treaty regarding the treatment of its own defectors. and 2) When talking about the 1785 Treaty, it says no standard of conduct was prescribed, and "don't defect" ("or we'll murder you") is definitely a prescription of conduct.  And I can’t seem to find any treaty in 1785 regarding prisoners of war. Can anyone help?


texts:
I noticed that in medieval movies and TV shows, when there is a big battle happening, groups of archers always synchronize their firing. I was wondering whether this is something that writers made up and was eventually got picked up as how it was done, or whether groups of archers actually did this.

The reason I ask is because it doesn’t make any sense to me that archers would do that, because they’re only slowing themselves down when they could be firing as fast as they possibly can. Maybe there is something I’m overlooking that someone can shed light on.


texts: How and why buttermilk was added to English medieval butter?

texts:
My question engages in the history of butter. I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask but I will give it a try.

I read an old Jewish text (Sharei Dura 78) dated to the 13th century that mentions English butter which was mixed with whey or buttermilk (text is unclear) while discussing its permissibility for consumption. It also relates that the buttermilk could potentially evaporate from the butter after four days, which in turn would make the butter dry.

This made me wonder how the buttermilk was added to the butter, did they actually mix the buttermilk in the butter (meaning that the buttermilk curdled along with the butter and became part of it), or was it something separate in which the butter sat in (similar to cheese in brine), which would somewhat explain the evaporation of the buttermilk? Is there any evidence as to how this process was done in the olden days?

I would also like to know whether the practice of adding buttermilk to butter is still practiced nowadays (commercially or non-commercially)?

If anyone can shed light on any of these points I would be grateful.