texts: Why Did the Founding Fathers Create the Electoral College?

texts: I am familiar with the problems with the electoral college in America (I wrote a six page formal academic essay on it), but I am still confused as to why the founding fathers created and implemented it instead of a national popular vote. Some sources say that it was a compromise between large and small states. Others say that the founding fathers didn't think the average citizen was qualified to vote.


texts: Tracking down fifteenth century French and Italian coats of arms

texts:
I'm trying to track down coats of arms for the following people:

Catherine of Taranto

Tristan de Clermont

But I don't know even where to start. Any ideas, even in general of where to look for fifteenth century French and Italian nobility?


texts: Why was Madagascar settled by far-flung Austronesian seafarers?

texts: I have found that seafarers from Oceania were the first to inhabit Madagascar instead of the much closer Africans in what is today Mozambique. Why is this so?


texts: Why did wagons in the frontier era travel at night?

texts:
I'm currently reading 'The diamond diggings of South Africa' by Charles Payton, a first-hand account of a visit to the diamond mines in 1871.
On page 80 it says

For the first fortnight from leaving Algoa Bay we use to "trek" chiefly by night, seldom traveling after 8 a.m. till about 4 p.m., then perhaps moving on till 9, "tying up" oxen till 12 or 1 a.m., and then going on again till daylight.

And on page 83

When at length, on the evening of the 30th May, after a rather rough crossing of the Modder River in the dark...

It seems to me that it's one thing to travel at night in a modern vehicle with headlights on modern roads which often have streetlights and enough general illumination from nearby cities to see where you're going. But in the frontier era, with no headlights, no city lights to speak of, it would be pitch dark at night; how was travel at night possible? How would you manage to stay on the road, even?
And why? I could understand if the daytime temperature were unbearably hot, but late May in the southern hemisphere is early winter, and the rest of the text confirms that the temperature in that time and place was if anything uncomfortably chilly. What benefit was gained from traveling at night?


texts: How would 19th century Janissaries remedy the Ottoman empire?

texts: What would a Janissary suggest to be done to the Ottoman empire to fix problems that started the modernization?


texts: What did it mean that Italy was an Empire?

texts: The caption of a picture here says that "The session of the Grand Council of 9 May 1936, where the Empire was proclaimed". What did it mean in practice that Italy was proclaimed an "Empire"?


texts: How did the Chinese crossbows that shot bullets work?

texts:
It's commonly accepted that East Asian people invented the crossbow. However, it seems they had crossbows that shoot bullets as well. As an example, Jing Fang uses this description when explaining his model of solar sustem and eclipses:

  The moon and the planets are Yin; they have shape but no light. This
  they receive only when the sun illuminates them. The former masters
  regarded the sun as round like a crossbow bullet, and they thought the
  moon had the nature of a mirror. Some of them recognized the moon as a
  ball too. Those parts of the moon which the sun illuminates look
  bright, those parts which it does not, remain dark

I wonder if there's a graphical depiction or reconstruction of such mechanism. Could it be some sort of primitive rifle?

Additionally: Did western crossbows (since Roman Empire) evolve from Asian ones, or did they evolve from the gastraphetes? Roman crossbows are way more similar to Asian ones, but they were close to Greece and I didn't find anything about the Western x-bow evolution.


texts: How did Henry Knox retrieve the cannons that fell into the river?

texts:
During the winter of 1775-1776, Henry Knox undertook an expedition to Fort Ticonderoga to retrieve quite a few cannons to bring back to Boston to aide in the Revolutionary War efforts.

On the way back, twice a cannon fell through ice into a river 10-30 feet, and both times Knox successfully retrieved the cannon from the freezing water.

How on earth was this possible with the limited technology of the time?? Nobody could dive into the water, so how could they have fastened anything to the cannons with which to pull them up?


texts: Is there a Chinese Intelligence Agency? Why is it not well known?

texts:
I'm curious to know why we never hear of an intelligence apparatus of China, as we do of CIA or KGB or FSB (Russia). British MI5/6, Mossad even Indian RAW make headlines or at least one finds them mentioned in news.

But never CIA (China Int. Ag., pun, of course). With China's rise, surely, they must be investing in that direction. From purely espionage view point, where do they stand?


texts: Chronology of Political Party Alignment with "Left" and "Right"

texts:
I once heard it said that U.S. political parties (Republicans and Democrats) have both spent the last century becoming increasingly liberal, such that 21st century Republicans now hold the same left-leaning or liberal outlook as Democrats once held in the mid 20th century.  Similarly, the Democrats allegedly are more liberal now than ever before.

What sources or books should I study to validate or invalidate this idea, and study it further?


texts: How did people die in Nazi extermination camps?

texts:
Before I get to the question, I'd like to point out that this is a particularly sensitive topic so thanks for letting me ask and hopefully remaining serious.

I know that at least 6 million people (1) were murdered in the Holocaust. The Wikipedia article for Zyklon B says that it was only used to kill 1 million people (2) (though this figure is unreferenced).

Is this "1 million" figure correct? If so how did the other 5 million (or more) people die and what are the tolls?

I've tried to look for some more reputable (non-Wikipedia) sources but I'm not a historian and I wouldn't know where to start. If anyone could point me in the right direction, or provide a reference for the "1 million people" figure, I'd appreciate it. Many thanks.


texts: What is the history of the university asylum law?

texts:
I fear this question may be rather broad and I would like help to narrow it down. Currently a debate is ongoing in Greece regarding the law preventing police from stepping into university campuses. The law was put in place after the fall of the military junta in 1974 which had violently suppressed a student rebellion. Such a protection was meant to safeguard students and freedom of speech. I was reading the New York Times article and the following claim was made at the end:

  Odysseas Zoras, the top official of the University of Crete, said both academics and society were ready for an end to an antiquated concept, introduced in Bologna in the 11th century to avert the church’s intervention in academia.

However, I have been unable to find sources related to this claim. The Wikipedia page on the University of Bologna as well as the history page of the actual University don't mention anything in this regard.

Additionally I note that many US universities have their own police forces which this article links with the 1960s protests. Therefore what I would like to ask is this:

Is there confirmation of an asylum law in place in the University of Bologna and what was its scope?
Were there other instances throughout the history of universities were similar laws were put in place and if yes when/why were they abolished?
Why do universities prefer to have their own police force?


texts: Historically accurate films about the English Civil War

texts: Last night I saw Cromwell which is good drama but absolutely grossly inaccurate. Do you know of other good films on the subject that do more justice to the history?


texts:
As a concrete example, the Wikipedia article on the historicity of King Arthur quotes historian Thomas Charles-Edwards as saying that "at this stage of the enquiry, one can only say that there may well have been an historical Arthur [but ...] the historian can as yet say nothing of value about him."

I am wondering why the historian can "as yet" say nothing of value about King Arthur. It seems to me that for us to learn details about King Arthur's life, we would have to read about it. All the texts of the period are already known, so unless a new text is discovered (seems unlikely especially given literacy levels in those days), there would be no way to find out more about him. Archaeology could conceivably reveal something about the general history of the period, but not anything specific to Arthur.

In other words, Thomas Charles-Edwards should have said "... but the historian cannot say anything of value about him." Similarly, historians are presumably unable to say anything of value about e.g. the Song Dynasty that hasn't already been recorded in the Song history books.

Am I correct? If there's a chance for historians to say more about King Arthur / the Song Dynasty etc, how will they have discovered more about these long-ago periods that today's historians don't know?


texts: What literary or philosophical works did the ancient Egyptians have that have influenced ancient civilizations or the modern word?

texts:
We all know of the Roman and Greek literary and philosophical works which still resonate to this day and read by many. As a an ancient and long old civilization, what works of equal importance do we have from such great civilization? I only know of the "Book of the Dead", which is quite a mythology/religious work.

Secondly, how did the the ancient Egyptians (if they did) influence the neighboring civilizations or the Greeks in the Ptolemaic Period? Did their works affect the west?


texts: Did all of Egypt, or just the Ptolemies decline?

texts:
From mainstream internet sources, I've had difficulty understanding the reasons for the decline of the Ptolemies. Ptolemy's kingdom was the most well position of all the Greek kingdoms, and subsequently dominated affairs in the Eastern Medditerranean. The zenith of their power was around 250, and within 25 years they are viewed as an impotent vassal of Rome. They did, however, briefly
control Syria  in 160 B.C.

The main reason given for their decline is a resurgence in Egyptian society. This was especially so after the Battle of Raffia (one of the biggest battles in ancient history?), when Egyptians were used for a Ptolemaic victory. Subsequently, upper Egypt broke off. Another reason is the chronic Syrian Wars, but this does not seem to have kept Antioch from reestablishing the Seleucid Empire, c. 220. Somehow, they charged forward while Egypt did not.

Did all of Egypt, or just the Ptolemies spiral downward in the last decades of the 3rd century? Was the later victory in Syria c. 160 B.C., by a whole different, Egyptianized monarchy?


texts:
I've just started learning about Ancient Egypt, and it's fascinating, but it's making me wonder about the reliability of my information. For instance, it is claimed that the Ogdoad governed the four primordial elements of water, infinity, darkness, and hiddenness. This is wonderfully appealing, and I don't doubt that some ancient mind could have had the thought, but it's hard to imagine a mainstream religion at an time holding a doctrine so esoteric.

I don't want to get bogged down in this particular claim (although I would be interested to hear more about it). I just wonder, generally, how much Egyptologists have had to reconstruct these kind of beliefs, and how much they can be read unambiguously from the primary texts.


texts: Was 2019 the first state of the union to have sung happy birthday?

texts: I watched the state of the union and they sang the happy birthday song to the holocaust survivor because it was his birthday. Has something like this ever happened before?


texts: When did the Chinese begin using night soil as fertilizer?

texts:
Farmers in China, Japan and Korea use human waste as fertilizer.  But farmers in other parts of Asia where the main crop is paddy rice, like Thailand and Malaysia, do not.

Some sources (like King 1911) argue that this was necessary in order to maintain soil fertility and support large populations over centuries of continuous use of fields.  But online sources are quite vague about when the practice started – the Wiki entry on night soil mentions the 9th century in Japan, and McGarry gives the Yuan dynasty (circa 13th century).  Often it’s just “thousands of years.”

Do we know anything about when precisely the use of night soil began?  Presumably it originated in China.  It would be interesting if we could show that this was an innovation that resulted from population pressure or some other change in the ecosystem.

References from this page:  http://www.agroecology.org/Case%20Studies/nightsoil.html


texts:
Wikipedia says

  By the end of the 3rd century the rectangular scutum seems to have
  disappeared.

Why did the rectangular scutum design fall out of use? Why was the shield design not commonly used by anyone else later in history?


texts: When did Josef Wissarionowitsch become "sexy" Stalin?

texts:
According to KnowYourMeme, among others, a relatively young Stalin is so good looking in a certain picture that he is often referred to as "sexy Stalin":

This is indeed a pretty picture of a young man with quite a smooth face (1902, 23 years old). There is however a problem with this picture. It has to be a doctored photo. Although this photo is often judged to be "authentic", the face is a bit too smooth. He had a quite disfigured skin due to smallpox or chicken pox, depending on which version of Wikipedia you trust more. Regardless, the result of this childhood infection was quite a scarred face:

  From: Dermatologie Stalin: Psoriasis and Facial Scars (from Smallpox)

While it is a hopefully well-known fact that after he really came to power in the Soviet Union, many photos were retouched to make him look more attractive, more friendly, closer to Lenin, etc.

What I want to know is:
when was the photograph of "sexy Stalin" altered?

Was that a service offered by the original photographer in 1902? If so, then that seems to be a wide spread/standard service? In the case for this picture that is quite unlikely, as it is a mugshot (but compare another one from 1911) taken by the police from Batumi. Was it done after the fact that he came to power? If so, did they really get their hands on all of those photos to retouche them?

The latter seems quite unlikely. Given that the StalinMuseum has some less obviously altered images of him (example), the museum still only has this "sexy Stalin" photo from his 23rd year.

  Apparently the photo as is on display offline at the museum

Or is there an unaltered version of this picture somewhere?


texts: How did close-knit and urban society function before the advent of daily bathing?

texts:
I was watching a fictional drama about 1920 and, seeing the characters fighting and sweating and dressed in heavy woolen clothes, it piqued my interest about human bathing.

How did societies cope with, and mating/relationships occur, prior to the advent of daily bathing?   When did the Western hemisphere adopt daily bathing as a practice and how did it grow in popularity?


texts: Plans for More Nuclear Warfare in Japan during WW2

texts:
When reading about Operation DownFall I noticed that if Japan had not surrendered following the nuclear bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki there could have been at least 7 more Nuclear Bombs ready for the invasion.

I am unable to find any information about the plans for these bombs or any plans regarding more bombs to be used before an invasion of Japan.

With Operation Downfall being developed it seemed that there was thought that a few nuclear attacks would not force Japan to surrender. I was wondering if there is any information about other nuclear bomb targets, before, during, and after an invasion of Japan?


texts: Why was the Federal Reserve District in the United States so skewed in division?

texts:
I am always wondering why the Federal Reserve district in the United States is so unevenly divided. Is it by the population? Any historic reason?
As see on image here

I initially thought it was by assets, but in the asset history, it is even more skewed, St Louis has a big lead over the other districts.
Any one know about this district division reason?


texts: What was the most recent country to be conquered and disappear?

texts: In the Old Days, one country would conquer another and add it to its empire. What was the most recent country to be conquered and cease to exist as a country?


texts: Missing link in the German tank development?

texts:
As you know, the Leopard 1 was not the first tank of postwar Germany. Germany work on different new tanks. There are prototypes as medium tank Indienpanzer (later developed into a Swiss KW30 and its successors Pz.58 and Pz.61), light tank RU 251 Prototype SpPz mit 90mm BK, early prototypes of the Leopard-1 MBT. On some forums I've seen mention about a strange Argentinapanzer - stage between Indienpanzer and prototypes of Leopard-1. However, I have been unable to find the details about this tank. It's definitely not a TAM, TanqueArgentinoMediano is subsequent and is not related to the Leopard-1.

Theory looks pretty good, after all, Germany and Argentina were close military-technical cooperation.

Does anyone know about Argentinapanzer, a german prototype tank for Argentina from the 1950s?


texts: Primary sources for ratification of Constitutional amendments

texts:
How would I know that Constitutional amendments were ratified on certain dates? What evidence would I have?

For example, a search result from the Library of Congress website states that the 15th Amendment was ratified on Feb 3, 1870.

But why should I believe it? After all, the search result also says that Secretary of State Hamilton Fish issued a proclamation of the 15th Amendment on March 30, 1870 (not Feb 3, 1870), and that the public began to recognize the amendment afterwards.

The Article V of the Constitution says that a proposed amendment is ratified when 3/4 of the states approve it. So then, shouldn't there be a record of someone officially validating the 3/4 poll of the states?


texts: May I ask if the painter Cimabue also painted the Last Supper? I am trying to draw some comparison between the different paintings of The Last Supper in different eras... But Cimabue (1240-1302) has many famous paintings, but I cannot find any evidence of his artwork of the last supper besides the tag in Wikipedia. Please confirm this thanks


texts: Are photos of WWII US Navy damage reports available online?

texts:
I have located a PDF of the USS Marblehead's Bomb Damage Report from 4 Feb 1942. The report lists plates of photographs which are not included in the report I have found.

Do copies of this report exist online that include the photos? I have found for-pay sites that also host the report but am reticent to make a purchase without knowing for sure that the photos are included.


texts: Why does Retsö claim that only members/clients of Arabian tribes were considered "real Muslims" in the Umayyad Caliphate before 750?

texts:
In his book "The Arabs in Antiquity: Their History from the Assyrians to the Umayyads", Professor Jan Retsö writes:

The conflicts were aggravated by the fact that the tribes identified
the tribal federation with the Islamic community, so that only members
of those tribes belonging to the federation or their clients could be
considered real Muslims.

How does Retsö arrive at this conclusion? What historical sources, if any, state that an individual couldn't be considered a real Muslim in the Umayyad Empire before 750 CE if they neither belonged to an Arabian tribe nor were a client of such a tribe?


texts:
I have been researching this (online) for a while with no success. I know for sure that the weekend in Jordan was changed from Thursday/Friday to Friday/Saturday. But I was not able to find any reference on when this change was made. There is  one website that seems to indicate that the change occurred in early 2000, but not clearly.

The question is: are there any references at all that indicates when this change took place?


texts: Is biblical Joseph story historically valid?

texts:
What are the non-scriptural evidence (if any) on biblical Joseph story, where he becomes Grand Vizier of Pharaonic Egypt in 15th century BCE. I know that the pharaoh is unnamed, and the era is close to the second intermediate period which was chaotic and lacking of official documentation.

If there is no evidence whatsoever, can this story be called a legend and in fact false ? From a historical point of view.


texts: Is there any evidence the Mongols expanded into northeast Asia?

texts: There is plenty of recordings of the Mongol empire moving west, but is there any evidence of them expanding northeast towards the present-day petroplavlosk-kamchatsky area? Or were there factors that prevented them from expanding there?


texts:
I’ve read that the American Revolution started at Lexington and Concord with what Ralph Waldo Emerson called, “the shot heard around the world”.

  Battles of Lexington and Concord
  The Battles of Lexington and Concord, fought on April 19, 1775, kicked off the American Revolutionary War (1775-83)

.

  The Concord Hymn - Ralph Waldo Emerson(1837)

  By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
  Their flag to April's breeze unfurled,
  Here once the embattled farmers stood,
  And fired the shot heard round the world.
  The foe long since in silence slept;
  Alike the conqueror silent sleeps;
  And Time the ruined bridge has swept
  Down the dark stream which seaward creeps.
  On this green bank, by this soft stream,
  We set to-day a votive stone;
  That memory may their deed redeem,
  When, like our sires, our sons are gone.
  Spirit, that made those heroes dare
  To die, and leave their children free,
  Bid Time and Nature gently spare
  The shaft we raise to them and thee

.

I also read the American Revolution started after the Stamp Act from Britain as the American colonists resisted taxation without representation.

  The Stamp Act
  The issues raised by the Stamp Act festered for 10 years before giving rise to the Revolutionary War and, ultimately, American independence.

Which of these is true? If none, how was the American Revolution started?

Sources:

The Concord Hymn
Battles of Lexington and Concord
The Stamp Act


texts: Can anyone help me identify these swords?

texts: I'm not entirely sure what they are, but I don't want to give them up. They look really neat!


texts: Why was the Titles of Nobility Amendment proposed?

texts: Why is it that the Titles of Nobility Amendment was proposed in congress? Were there instances of Americans accepting foreign noble titles?


texts: What are laws regarding corruption in China, and how effective are they?

texts: I'm wondering how effective the government is at keeping corruption to a minimum, the laws regarding corruption, and how corruptible the police are. I'm fine with either information on a specific province or overall information. Any amount of information on any of the questions is fine, I'm just curious. I'm not really looking for a "one answer covers it all" type of thing, probably small contributions from people who happen to know a thing or two or are willing to spend some time doing research. Thanks.


texts: Was prostitution legal in the Kingdom of Israel during the reign of Solomon?

texts:
The wikipedia article is not clear:

  Prostitution was common in ancient Israel, despite being tacitly
  forbidden by Jewish Law.

What was the law forbidding prostitution?  Given that prostitutes could take professional disputes to court, what was the legal role of prostitution?

I can't simply google up this type of question. This question is controversial due to it's political significance.

Most sober historians would argue that, as some of the comment says, that the Torah only prohibits cult prostitution and not regular entrepreneurs.

Most "born again" Christians would argue that it's always been illegal.

Also what constitute marriage and prostitution may differ in ancient Israel than what's now.

Now, we probably decide based on 2 things. Whether the marriage is registered at the state and whether an explicit contract of sex for money is involved.

I bet ancient Israelites do not differentiate marriage and prostitution that way. I bet most "marriage" in ancient culture is never registered officially anywhere. Perhaps they think promiscuity is the issue?

So the answer to this question is pretty "nuanced"

I asked in history stackexchange because I want a more sober objective answer. I bet laws in ancient Israel isn't much different from laws in pretty much most ancient culture. And perhaps we can make more educated guess on that.


texts: Has ramming ever been considered a viable tanking tactic?

texts: Has any nation's tank doctrine ever used ramming as a primary or secondary means of combat? I'm aware that Soviet tanks at the Battle of Kursk would ram German tanks once they (the Soviets) ran out of ammunition, but this seems to be an emergency measure rather than a deliberate part of doctrine. Is there any nation for which tank-on-tank ramming has been considered a primary or secondary tactic in the field?


texts: Did Zoroastrianism influence some Ancient Greek Philosophers?

texts:
Ancient Greek Philosophy, was never monolithic, that is to say, the diversity of thought represented in the Greek Philosophers is well documented and well chronicled.  However, did the Persian religion of Zoroastrianism-(founded around 600 BC/BCE), have any influence on various Ancient Greek Thinkers?

It is not such an implausible question considering the historical fact that Ancient Greek Anatolia-(much of present-day Turkey), was occupied by the Persian Empire for at least 150 years. Some of the earliest Greek Philosophers-(who were more commonly referred to as, "The Pre-Socratic" Thinkers), originally came from Anatolia.  Figures, such as Thales, Heraclitus "of Ephesus" and Anaxagoras, were from Anatolia. Even Pythagoras-(who was from the Greco-Aegean island of Samos), lived in very close proximity to the city of Ephesus and the Ionian region-
(which, during Pythagoras' time, was under Persian imperial control).

Did the Ancient Greek intellectual concept of Dialectics,as well as the philosophical sayings of Heraclitus extract any type of influence from Zoroastrianism and its Theology of Opposites?


texts: Can anyone identify the regiment and rank from this WWI photograph?

texts:
I am trying to identify the person in this WWI era photograph. I believe it may be my great great uncle John Hunt Marshall born Dec 29 1893 in Motherwell, Scotland. He graduated with a BSc from the University of Glasgow in 1913 and after the war was an engineering draftsman. I am not certain that this is him, however.

As such, is anyone able to identify the rank and regiment from the cap and lapel badges in the photograph taken at Romney, 534 Sauchiehall St, Glasgow?


texts: What is the first recorded instance of jet lag?

texts:
Until recently, people didn’t often travel very far, and when they did, they traveled slowly, taking days to cross multiple time zones.
The phrase “jet lag” obviously arose from the age of fast air travel becoming popular, but presumably before this others had experienced crossing time zones and being out of sync with local time / the sun, causing the symptoms of jet lag
I’m interested to know when this was first observed.


texts: I'm watching a documentary on the Boer War and apparently, during the Victorian era, the British Army commonly employed their infantry in "quarter column".  I've tried to look it up, but can't find any additional info.  What is it?  What is "quarter column"?


texts:
In a former lead mining region of Derbyshire (Just North of Wirksworth) there's this bank of earth running across the side of a hill, with a small "valley" alongside it:

It's about 15-20m long and the "valley" is around 2-3m across and maybe 1m-2.5m deep depending whether you measure to the up-side or the down-side of the hill.
This is part of a former smallholding, and I know it was common for such smallholders to turn their hands to lead mining in Winter months or when there wasn't farming work to do.  I think this bank and mini-valley are likely the remnants of such activity.  Does anyone know if there is some activity which would commonly lead to this kind of feature, or what part of a mine they might be?


texts: Did parties of adventurers actually exist?

texts:
In the role-playing sense of parties of particularly various skilled people going around  and killing animals, killing bandits, sorting out various awkward local political/military problems and finding old places with a considerable unofficial  status. Accounts of such adventurers without a heavy dose of fantasy/myth (confirmed to have existed similar to  the detail but can be larger the life as person and in achievements)  please?
Such as a group with a warrior, ranger, cleric (religious man), magician(maker of burning materials) who only travels on land and wasn't sent for a specific mission alone but rather sought many different missions from people who weren't necessarily a lord or king- though not quite as limited to the four members mentioned and basically mercenaries That rules out a lot of commented adventures.


texts: Was it widespread practice to grant freedom to slaves in early Roman Empire?

texts:
If a citizen owned a slave, he or she could free him / her. The Wikipedia article gives some reasons for doing this:

  Slaves were freed for a variety of reasons; for a particularly good deed toward the slave's owner, or out of friendship or respect. Sometimes, a slave who had enough money could buy his freedom and the freedom of a fellow slave, frequently a spouse. However, few slaves had enough money to do so, and many slaves were not allowed to hold money. Slaves were also freed through testamentary manumission, by a provision in an owner's will at his death. Augustus restricted such manumissions to at most a hundred slaves, and fewer in a small household.

The later paragraph suggests it was later very common practice:

  Already educated or experienced slaves were freed the most often. Eventually the practice became so common that Augustus decreed that no Roman slave could be freed before age 30.

It seems that "Augustus" means Octavian August and it would mean that this was quite widespread before Christianity, if it became a danger to state economy.

Do we have some sources confirming it was a widespread practice? How many slaves yearly were freed? (the text from Wikipedia does not cite any sources)

PS. I understand that there were many types of work, and they who worked in mines, galleys etc. were freed less frequently than those who were writers, baby-sitters etc.


texts: Why were terminal train stations built in Germany?

texts:
I talked to a friend who mentioned reading a theory about the placement of terminal vs passthrough train stations in Germany.

In this theory, the Prussians were responsible for this decision during the Second Reich. If a city was considered "friendly", it got a pass-through station. If the Prussians disliked a city for some reason, they made a terminal train station there, hoping to diminish its chances of becoming an important railway junction and thus subtly depriving it of economical and political importance.

According to this theory, later train stations were mostly built as pass-through stations, because nobody used the building of terminal stations as a political instrument.

Is there any support for this theory? Is it widely known among historians, or just idle musings of some popular science writer? If it is known, is there support for it, and how solid is it? What alternative theories exist for terminal stations?

Explanation of terms: A terminal station is where trains end, they cannot pass through it. The tracks enter the station building and end there. A pass-through station is one which has the tracks beside the building, and trains enter from the one side and continue on the other.


texts: Why did the clocks go back in Shanghai on December 31, 1927?

texts:
If you are a Stack Overflow user you may already have read Jon Skeet's excellent answer that discusses a time zone change at the end of 1927 in Shangai, when the clocks went back for 5 minutes and 52 seconds.

While I understand that time changes are somewhat common, especially with the advent of railroads, I can't find any information on the  political or administrative reasons that lead to this specific change.

Help?


texts: Communist resistance groups in the Nazi German military

texts:
In a recent newspaper article about a Jewish man concealing his identity in Norway during the five years of Nazi German occupation, a reference is made to a "secret Communist group" among German troops stationed outside Oslo. The article in Norwegian is here, the relevant passage is

  Av landhandlerkona Johansens erindringer fremgår det også at flyktningene faktisk fikk hjelp fra to av okkupasjonsmaktens soldater. Østerrikeren Joseph Kraval, leder av en hemmelig kommunistisk gruppe blant troppene i Maridalen, klarte sammen med en kamerat å smugle koks ut av leiren om natten og bære den gjennom skogen til hytta.

translated:

  In the recollections of the shopkeeper's wife, Johansen, it emerges that the refugees actually obtained help from two of the soldiers of the occupying power. The Austrian Joseph Kraval, leader of a secret communist group among the troops in Maridalen, managed, together with a friend, to smuggle coke (fuel) out of the camp at night and carry it through the woods to the cabin.

The shopkeeper, Johansen, is earlier in the article said to have been a member of the Communist resistance, so his wife might have been prone to exaggerating the Communist-ness of the German soldiers. Perhaps unsurprisingly, I found no relevant Google results for the name of the soldier. Wikipedia's article on German resistance to Nazism focuses on resistance among the elite and among those staying in Germany.

Does any documentation exist of Communist resistance groups in occupying German armies (in any country) during the Second World war? I would be interested both in information about successful ventures (also small-scale like in the example above) and in groups that were outed during the war.

I am primarily interested Communist resistance not driven by Soviet interference, though I realize the difference may be hard to tell. I do expect the influence of Soviet agents in Norway 1940-45 to have been very limited, though.


texts: Was the money requested by the French for the XYZ affair really a bribe?

texts:
I know that in history classes, and the American version of the XYZ Affair, that before the French would even sit down to the table with the Americans in order to discuss, basically, the piracy committed by the French against the Americans, that the French requested money from the Americans.

Now, I know that America still owed the French a great deal of money and materiel from what the French loaned America during the American War of Independence.So, is there any extant evidence that states specifically for what the "bribe" was or why they were requesting a "bribe"?

I was thinking that maybe it wasn't a bribe at all. What I mean is, the US owed French a ton of money, and the French, engaged in a war with Britain, needed that money; furthermore, the French helped out the Americans in their war against the British, so I'm sure there was some animosity that the Americans declared neutrality.

So, why is the money requested by the French considered a "bribe." Why is it not seen as, "If you want us to stop raiding your ships, which we do in order to recoup our losses that you are not paying, then we expect a sum of money up-front to show that you are serious."

Basically, my questions are what are the French's reason for asking for the money, who was to reap the rewards of the money (like aristocratic elites, the federal coffers, the war effort, etc.), who was asking for the "bribe" (like the diplomat who would do the negotiating, or the French government, etc.), and lastly, how did/do (past and present, both at the time of the incident and if I were to be taught about the incident in a French classroom today) the French see the affair? Specifically, do they consider it a "bribe" or simply payments for defaulted loans?


texts: Which version of Napoleon's "Europe is a Molehill" quote is correct?

texts:
Regarding Napoleon's Molehill quote, the version I have always heard is:

  Europe is a molehill. It has never had any great empires, like those of the Orient, numbering six hundred million souls.

I got Napoleon: A Life by Andrew Roberts yesterday (And so far, I find it much better than any other publication I have read on the man). Roberts' version of the quote is:

  For Napoleon it (Order to invade Egypt) represented an opportunity to follow in the footsteps of both his greatest heroes, Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar, and he did not rule out the possibility of using Egypt as a stepping-stone to India. ‘Europe is but a molehill,’ a delighted Napoleon told his private secretary, ‘all the great reputations have come from Asia.’

Given the context (Conquest of Egypt and his personal idolation of Alexander and Julius Caeser), Roberts' version makes more sense. But when one searches for the quote, top results point to the earlier version which makes more sense as to why he used the word molehill to describe Europe, something which I feel Roberts' version doesn't.

With further research, There appear to be two other versions.

  Europe is a molehill. We must go to the orient; all glory has always been acquired there. (Frederick Quinn)

and the more credible, given that it is written by a known associate of Napoleon, who presumably was the man Napoleon made the comment in question to,

  Europe is a molehill. There have never been great Empires or revolutions except in the East where there are 600,000,000 men. (Louis Fauvelet de Bourrienne in his Memoirs of Napoleon)

So which version is correct? If it's the former, then was it really in the context of Directory allowing Napoleon to invade Egypt? If it's the latter, then why did Napoleon describe Europe as a molehill if he was just talking about a chance to gain a reputation to be compared with the likes of Alexander or Julius Caeser? Personally I feel if anyone is accurate, it has to be de Bourrienne but Roberts begins his book by criticising all pre-existing books and memoirs including de Bourrienne's so there we are.

To summarise what I am looking for is:

Which version is correct?
What was the context?
What is the original French if possible?


texts: Has any foreign embassy ever been entered without permission?

texts:
I was just looking at this article: UK 'threatens' to raid Ecuador embassy over Assange

  "Today we've received a threat by the United Kingdom, a clear and
  written threat that they could storm our embassy in London if Ecuador
  refuses to hand in Julian Assange," he said.

Has any nation ever breached the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and entered an embassy without the permission of the embassy? If so, what were the consequences?


texts: Are there any communist leaders without a record of acts we consider as a crime (against humanity)?

texts:
I have taken an interest in dictators a while ago, especially communist dictators and the Cold War in general. As I read through the articles throughout time about these individuals, it came to me that not a single one of them was to be considered a politician who followed the universal conventions regarding human rights, or simply, decency. I can start mentioning a long list of dictators on which I gained information, and why they're not very decent people or leaders, but this strikes to me as irrelevant. Note:

I'm interested in those actually in power, not obscure party members who had different feelings or opinions or politicians who didn't have much to say.
I don't know all the ins and outs on all communist dictators, as I haven't had the time to get to those. Therefore, I ask this question. I'm actually interested in a "good" communist, at least someone who didn't grossly violate basic rights of people and who didn't slaughter political opponents (hypothetical exception: in case of a revolution against the ruling order, if that ruling order is violating human/general rights/abusing power/corrupt/etc).
I consider someone decent when he or she didn't violate human rights, allowed reasonable freedom (of opinion), took a sincere heart in the well-being of his/her people, and so on.

From what I've read, only Ho Chi Minh came across as decent at first, but reading more made me realize his crimes were moderate compared to some others, but still he installed a repressive regime, even though he disagreed with excesses. Can anyone please give me an example of a communist in power who applies to my definition of a decent person or leader?


texts: How close did the French come to digging a canal across the Isthmus of Kra in the 1880s?

texts:
Ferdinand de Lesseps is known to history as the man who pushed through the construction of the Suez Canal in the 1860s.  Later (from 1880 onward) he led an attempt to dig a canal through Panama, but the project failed due to technical problems and the deaths of workers from malaria and other tropical maladies.

Something not generally known about Lesseps’ career is his involvement in a French scheme to dig a canal across the Isthmus of Kra in southern Thailand (then Siam,) roughly concurrently with the digging in Panama.  The British were generally opposed to the French leading such a project, not least because it would have impinged on their sphere of influence on the Malay peninsula, and King Chulalongkorn tended to follow British guidance in such matters.  However, the idea had other influential backers in the Siamese government.

Here is what Bas Terwiel’s ‘Thailand’s Political History’ (pp. 192-3) has to say about the involvement of de Lesseps:

  In June 1882 the pressure upon the Siamese government was intensified by the arrival of Francois Deloncle, employed by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who offered the Siamese the services of the famous Ferdinand de Lesseps.  Eventually the Siamese government decided to allow the French to make a survey of the terrain where the canal was planned.  To prevent international rivalry, the project was handled by the international Suez Canal Company, and the British government agreed not to offer opposition to the concession so long as British subjects and British vessels would enjoy the same rights as those granted to any other nation.  The survey began in January 1883, but its findings were of such a nature that they effectively put an end to the French proposal.

Two questions:

How close did the French actually come to succeeding at getting the project underway?  It seems to me that if de Lesseps hadn’t already had his hands full in Panama, his influence and ability to find funding might have made it a reality.  As it is, he doesn’t seem to have actually visited Siam (although in 1884 he did receive a decoration from the king.)  Any information about how realistic the idea of involving de Lesseps was would be useful here.
There were no hills to surmount in the digging of the Suez Canal, so de Lesseps could build it without locks.  This was a major cause of the failure of the Panama canal project, as landslides resulted when they tried to dig through the hills to create a canal at sea level.  While the Kra Isthmus dig would have been shorter (44 km vs 77 km for the current Panama Canal,) the hills there are slightly higher.  Malaria might also have been a problem, had the project gone ahead.  So, did the concurrent project in Panama (which it seems was only shut down in the late 1880s) influence the technical survey undertaken by the French?  When did it become clear that the methods used to dig the Suez Canal were not applicable in areas with a change in elevation?


texts: Who were Alexander's historians that wrote about Indian social conditions?

texts:
I'm reading Ancient India, and in Chapter 12, it is written that

Alexander's historians also give us important information about social and economic conditions. They tell us about sati system, fine breed of oxen in north-west India.

Who were those historians that mentioned those social systems in India? Is there a specific book to which the above quote is referred to?
The matter is that many historians of that period didn’t mention any such social customs (or they were not interested in social conditions) for example Wikipedia writes:

In contrast, Megasthenes who visited India during 300 BCE does not mention any specific reference to the practice

And my question is not specifically about Sati custom but overall record of social conditions in India during the invasion of Alexander.
Who were those historians that mentioned social conditions of India?


texts: At the end of WWII, were Nazis working on any other super weapon besides V-2?

texts: At the end of WWII, were Nazis working on anything else besides the V-2? If so, what was it, how close was it to completion, and could it have potentially turn the events around for them?


texts: Native peoples of North and South America impressions of Europeans

texts:
Are there any records from the Native people's of North and South America, of what their perception of Europeans were? I know that many of the groups of people Europeans encountered were not literate societies but I imagine there must be some records (perhaps in Mesoamerica) that show what their impressions of the European were.

I understand that it could be the case that the only writings are long after the first contacts were made but I thought I'd reach out and see if anyone has any other information.


texts: When did civilians in Europe gain access to breech-loaded firearms?

texts:
I know European militaries started adopting breech-loaded firearms around the 1840s with the Prussians adopting the Dreyse needle gun. My question is about the civilians.

When did the breech-loaded rifle become more popular than the muzzle-loaded rifle in civilian life? What was their popular use? Did, say, European nobles or farmers adopt the breech-loaded rifle for hunting? Or were the breech loaders adopted for self-defense?


texts: What was the population of the Parthian Empire around (AD) 1 CE?

texts:
What was the population of the Parthian Empire (and its vassals) around (AD) 1 CE?

I've found several estimates ranging from 8 to 30 million. However, I desire a more narrow estimate (±5 million). I appreciate your input.


texts: How did Qing China keep in contact with other places?

texts:
Imperial China received diplomatic missions from other places whenever those places decide to send a mission (for example: Japanese missions to Imperial China). These missions were irregular, and were only done in one direction (i.e. to China, and not from China). The sending country would learn more about China during their mission.

The Qing opened their first consulate in Singapore in 1873 (followed by consulates in Hawaii, Cuba, etc.). But before that, how did the Qing keep in contact with other places? How did they get information about other places if they did not send (regular or irregular) diplomatic missions?


texts: Were women directly involved in national state affairs in Indian kingdoms?

texts:
Movie or TV drama from India show that in kingdoms of India, such as Mauryan, women are directly involved in nation/kingdom affairs, they have significant influence. Was it true or it's just imagination of the directors?

I have watched movies about medieval China, Joseon dynasty of Korea, etc. Kingdom affairs are taken care by the men, women almost have no responsibility to kingdom matters. I know that movies often don't describe the actual history, but as far as I know (based on my knowledge) it was true in China and Korea, even in Europe, except in a little exception, such as Empress Dowager Cixi of Qing. How about India?

Edit

I mean directly involved in the imperial "meeting room" or royal court instead of influencing their husbands (the real leaders) in their houses. I mean women who speak/speech either formally or informally in front of other officials or royal family, while the real leaders are men, but the women are involved in the room, like in TV drama.

I am sorry if some of you grasp/feel it as underestimate to women; not at all. Men and women in medieval/ancient world have their own roles and specializations. I can understand that some or most people view power as honor, so women without imperial power are considered lowly; but not to me. I respect my mother more than my father although she just sit at home taking care of me.


texts: Was the French Commander-in-Chief Gamelin a terrible general?

texts:
While doing some research on France's defeat in 1940, I saw that some harshly criticize the French Commander-in-Chief Gamelin and blame him for its speedy downfall (of course there isn't only one factor, and no person can be entirely blamed for France's defeat, but some feel that disaster could've easily been prevented had there been a good and competent commander, and that Gamelin cannot be vindicated). They blame him for viewing the Ardennes as impenetrable and for sitting and "awaiting events" even when he was aware of German action (and even knew the date of their attack).
Furthermore, the German lines were extremely thin while they were pouring through the gap in the French lines; Gamelin should have done something to break their lines, and they blame him for sitting idle.
In hindsight it is easy blame commanders and generals for not seeing the obvious, but I want to know the truth: was Gamelin really such a terrible commander—meaning that an able commander would've (easily) been able to prevent disaster—or were there other reasons why France fell so swiftly, and Gamelin cannot entirely be blamed for its defeat?


texts: In the High Middle Ages, how did French nobility introduce each other?

texts:
Say two lord, or lord and a lady are talking. Would they start a conversation with a person whose name they don't know? And if so, how would they ask for the other's name/introduce themselves? I'm specifically curious about French nobles in the 10th/11th century.

Edit: eg. Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk. Would he say "I'm Charles Brandon." "I'm Brandon." "I'm the Duke of Suffolk." or just "I'm Suffolk." or something else?


texts: Where was Mao Zedong during the Japanese surrender in Zhijiang (芷江) at the end of WWII in 1945?

texts:
Timeline for context:

9 August, 1945: atomic bomb on Nagasaki.
15 August: the Japanese announced their acceptance of the unconditional surrender (Potsdam Proclamation).
21-23 August: the Japanese surrender to the Chinese in the city of Zhijiang (芷江) in Hunan province (湖南省), China.  There's videos of this surrender on YouTube.
28 August to 10 October: Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong were in Chongqing (重庆) in Sichuan province (四川省) in a post-war peace negotiation.
2 September: the Japanese surrendered aboard the USS Missouri.

During WWII, I understand there was a "coalition government" between the Nationalist Party and Communist Party, so I'm curious as to where Mao Zedong was during the surrender in Zhijiang, and in particular, if he was in attendance.

Question: Where was Mao Zedong during the Japanese surrender in Zhijiang?

Prior to all this, on June 19, Mao Zedong was in Yan'an (延安) in Shaanxi province (陕西省) for the 7th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.


texts: Why did the Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact take 2 years to sign after the Battle of Khalkin Gol?

texts:
The Battle of Khalkin Gol took place in 1939 May - Sep and was the last border battle between Japan and USSR. It was a major victory for the Soviets.

But the Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact was not signed until 1941 Apr 13.

What took so long? I would have thought Japan at least would want to secure the peace so it could hold onto Sakhalin, Kurils, and of course Manchuria. And it's not like USSR wasn't busy in Europe during all that time, e.g., the invasion of the Baltics and part of Poland as per the Molotov-Ribbentropt Pact, and the Winter War with Finland in 1939 - 1940.

I'll also note the Soviet-German non-aggression Pact was signed in 1939 Aug 23, so I don't see why the Japanese didn't happen around the same time. I'll also note that Barbarossa didn't happen until 1941 Jun 22, so it's not like the Soviets waited until the war with Germany was underway to become desparate for securing peace in on their east border.


texts: When was the last US letter of marque issued?

texts: Article I of the United States Constitution lists "grant[ing] Letters of Marque and Reprisal" as an explicit power of the Congress. Are these still being issued? If not, when was the last one of these issued?


texts: Were blue-tinted glasses prevalent in Victorian England and, if so, why?

texts:
Whenever I happen to read Chesterton, Conan-Doyle or some other British writers of the era, there will occasionally be mentioned people wearing blue-tinted spectacles.
Chesterton especially, in his Father Brown stories, mentions them almost exclusively, and very often.
It seems to suggest that blue-tinted glasses were very common, but the question is, whether that's the case and what might've been the reasons for using colored glasses, especially blue ones?
As I understand, 19th century was the time when spectacles came into general use, so it is natural that many different kinds of glasses were experimented with, and it might've been that blue-tinted glass was supposed (or did in fact) hold some useful properties.
This seems to be borne out by the fact that rather a lot of blue glasses from the period are available to buy from antiquarians.
On heritagecostumes site it is casually mentioned that "Colored glass was used and usually for special reasons. Blue or black, were made for people riding the trains in the 19th century." without specifying why would that be considered useful.


texts: Would colonial Maryland have been tolerant to all religions?

texts:
I have heard that Maryland was the birthplace of religious freedom in the US because it was founded by a charter about which Wikipedia says "On 20 June 1632, (King) Charles granted the original charter for Maryland, a proprietary colony of about twelve million acres (49,000 km²), to the 2nd Baron Baltimore.The charter offered no guidelines on religion, although it was assumed that Catholics would not be molested in the new colony."

At that time in the 1600s, would this tolerance have extended for peoples of all religions (Jews, Hindus, Muslims for example)? Or would it have been restricted to those inside the sphere of Christianity?


texts: Does anyone have information about a pre-1859 church in Villers-Bretonneux?

texts:
The current church of Villers-Bretonneux, Église Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Villers-Bretonneux was built after WWI. Before this was a church built in 1859; here is an historic photo.  There was a church in Villers-Bretonneux before 1859. The earlier church was used e.g. in Cassini's triangulation of France (see p. 155).

Does anybody have some information (building time, drawing, position) of the pre-1859 church in Villers-Bretonneux?


texts: Why did the Capetian kings of France come into conflict with the Roman church?

texts:
Beginning around 1250, the monarchs of France slowly rolled toward severe conflict with the Church of Rome; this culminated in 1300 with Pope Boniface being arrested by King Philip.

France, however, was a solidly Catholic country, so this conflict puzzles me. What was the root of conflict between the Kings of France and the Popes of Rome?


texts: How popular, or not, was the Mexican Goverment in the Cristero War (1927 - 1929)?

texts:
The Cristero War was fought in 1927 - 1929 between the Mexican Government and the rebels. The government wanted to abolish the influence of the Roman Catholic Church, while the rebels wanted to preserve it and their freedom to participate in it.

The wiki article claims a strength of about 100k soldiers for the government and about 50k for the rebels (in 1929). This shocked me. At first glance that would imply that the government was twice as popular?

Was the government just using mercenaries, or were the anti-church policies somehow more popular among the Mexican people?


texts:
I'm sorry I cannot add references as 99% of the knowledge I have on the subject is picked off online. Going through my search engine it appears that the ascension year for Artaxerxes I is commonly thought to be 465 or 464 BCE, ending in either 425 or 424 BCE. However, I've also seen that many online history websites state his ascension year as 466 BCE. Is there a valid argument to support this year?

I understand that Xerxes, his father, is documented by Manetho to have reigned 21 years and he 41 years whereas Diodorus states he reigned 40 years. I also understand Ptolemaic Canon and Eusebius both say that Xerxes died either December 466 or 465 BCE and Thucydides says Artaxerxes died either 425 or 424 BCE (I believe this is between December 425 or January 424 but I may be wrong).


texts: Were there any crops and livestock common to both the Old and New Worlds prior to the Columbian exchange?

texts:
The Columbian exchange (this is the correct spelling) transferred a diverse set of crops and livestock animals between the Old and New Worlds. However, I have begun to wonder if there were any crops and animals that were common to both.
Wikipedia provides a wealth of information on the subject of the Columbian exchange, but it only describes what was transferred, with no mention of common crops or livestock to the two regions. Likewise, just Googling anything including the term "Columbian Exchange", as well as variations like "Columbian Exchange common crops" and even "columbian exchange -maize", gave me a lot of information on what was exchanged, but very little on things that were not exchanged, and I have found nothing on common crops and livestock animals.
Were there any crops and livestock common to both the Old and New Worlds, or were all crops and livestock novel to the region opposing their region of origin?


texts: What containers were used for food prior to the industrial era?

texts:
Today, when you go shopping, most of the food is kept in plastic or paper containers (or tin cans).

In the everyday life, what types of containers were used to sell, transport and keep food before plastic and before the industrial era?


texts: What Was the State of German Tank Design In Between the World Wars?

texts:
I am reading about the Spanish Civil War in a book by Antony Beevor entitled "The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939".  According to Beevor while the nationalists were able to control the skies by using superior German made aircraft, the republicans had the edge in tank combat with Soviet T-26's.  He also claims that the Spanish civil war lead to the development of heavier German tanks.

I don't know too much about German tank design, especially before World War II.  What was the technological state of German tanks in comparison to other major armies of the 1920's and 1930's?  Did the Russians maintain superior tank design into world war II (assuming what Beevor said is true)?

NOTE: I understand that "superior" is difficult to define.  For example my understanding that while the tiger tank may have been widely considered "superior" to the American Sherman tank, the American army was able to turn out such high quantities of the Sherman that they were able to overwhelm the numerically smaller German tank divisions (I believe that's the case anyway).


texts: Surrender Ceremonies at the End of WW2: What happened after documents signed?

texts: I understand that the Germans, before the Allies (the Americans, Russians, English and possibly the French) signed the documents and then were very curtly instructed to leave the room after which the Allies celebrated. That the Germans would be part of the festivities seems unlikely (although I think I read that even the Germans were offered champagne and caviar) and indeed Keitel would soon be tried and executed. I wonder if in general, in all such ceremonies, the defeated were instructed to leave after signing. A related question is, were only Germans signing the documents? If so, was this because they had lost all European military alliances at this point and of course the Japanese were still holding out thousands of miles away.


texts: Why wasn't the Treaty of Waitangi framed in terms of a feudal exchange, rather than a surrender of sovereignty?

texts:
So, I've been doing a bit of reading on Wikipedia about the Treaty of Waitangi and the ensuing New Zealand Wars that resulted when members of both sides broke the terms of the treaties, and I saw that one of the causes of those wars was the fact that the treaty was poorly translated into Maori, as the Maori lacked an understanding of the concept of "sovereignty" as the English settlers understood it.
This lead me to thinking about why they insisted on phrasing it in terms of the Maori surrendering their sovereignty, rather than acknowledging Victoria as their feudal sovereign - something that the Maori likely would have understood, since they seemed to have some degree of multi-layered tribal structures, with chieftains recognizing the leadership of other chieftains.
Why didn't the British just ask Victoria (or her representative, the Governor-General) to appoint a Duke of New Zealand (possibly the same person as the Governor-General of New Zealand, or someone that they can trust to manage the Maori chieftains), and appoint the various Maori tribal leaders as Counts and Barons who swore fealty to him? Maybe form a New Zealand House of Lords that they would have had seats in, and tied the land-sales restrictions aspect of the Treaty of Waitangi into the concept of the feudal fief? That would have been a mode of relationship that both the English settlers and the Maori would have understood, right?


texts: Why did Spartacus turn South at Mutina instead of continuing North towards Thrace?

texts:
During the Roman Republic's Third Servile War (73–71 BC), a gladiator named Spartacus lead an army of escaped slaves in revolt against Rome.   Spartacus was a Thracian from an area in Eastern and South-eastern Europe.

This revolt lasted for nearly 3 years inside Rome's home territory of Italia.  The Revolt ended when the Roman senate sent 8 legions under Marcus Crassus against Spartacus which eventually trapped his army and defeated it in Southern Italy.

Plutarch in the Life of Crassus claims the motivation for the "War of Spartacus" was to escape captivity.  If we look at the path of Spartacus's army:

We see that in the second year of the revolt Spartacus reached his northern most point, the Roman town of Mutina.  Here Spartacus was confronted by by an army of 10,000 soldiers, lead by Gaius Cassius Longinus who were attempting to block his path north.  Spartacus defeated this army but then turned south anyway.

  My Question:  Why did Spartacus turn South at Mutina?  Why didn't he continue North?  North towards Thrace.  North the only foot path out of Rome.

Comments

  From TomasBy: And Thrace is not north of Italy. It would be a bit of a hike to get there.

The only way to walk to Thrace from Mutina is to head North.  The Italian Peninsula is about 600 miles long and Sparticus's army nearly traversed it twice.   From the city of Rome to Northern Thrace(Bulgaria) is roughly 1200 miles.  Likewise inside Rome Spartacus's army survived another year and a half after turning South at Mutina.   Given the distance Spartacus's army covered Thrace appears to be a realistic goal.

  From TomasBy: Towards the end of the 1st century BC Thrace lost its status as a client kingdom as the Romans began to directly appoint their kings." (wiki)

71bc is closer to the beginning of the first century BC than it is to the end. Under the Roman Empire Thrace was independent and became a province during the reign of Vespasian (69-79 A.D.). Roman Empire - Thrace


texts: Could a lawyer serve as a company officer on the front lines?

texts:
I ask not about lawyers who serve as military lawyers.

The movies Path of Glory (1957) and Thin Red Line (1998) contain lawyers who serve as officers suffering front-line action:

in the former, Colonel Dax, a criminal lawyer, portrayed by Colonel Dax, who blows the whistle before going over the top to lead an infantry assault against the Germans.

in the latter, USMC CPT James Staros (portrayed by Elias Koteas).

Would these lawyers have already been trained or served maybe in the Reserves, before the war and before they were called for duty?
Or could a lay lawyer, entirely ignorant of the military, be trained and prepared only in the short time after a declaration of war?


texts: I was reading a controversial book, Mao: The Unknown Story by Jung Chang and Jon Halliday, and found it quite biased. However, they cite a variety of sources to back up their information. Therefore, I would like to know how authentic this information is. How much is the information skewed? Is anything made up?


texts: When was the last someone was condemned to slavery as a punishment in the United States?

texts:
These question and answer have established than even after the abolition of slavery by the Thirteenth Amendment to the US Constitution, felons have been sentenced to be "sold as slave" for a given time (typically one or two years) and auctioned at least until 1866:

When was the last occurrence of such a sentence: to be sold as slave ?

NB: A sentence to slavery is different from convict leasing, which ended in 1928, and concerned people condemned to prison. I am not interested in people condemned to prison and somehow forced to work while doing their time, but in sentences that explicitely mention the convict to be sold and/or to become a slave.


texts: Are there any palaces, temples or monuments built by the Seleucids surviving through to the present day?

texts: Many surviving classical temples and palaces in the Levant and Asia appear to have been built by the Romans. Are there any notable ones that still survive today that where built specifically during the reign of the Seleucid kings (312 BC- 63BC)?


texts: Anglo-saxon law banning sheepskin covered shields

texts:
The Law of King Athelstan states:

  Fourthly: that no shieldwright cover a shield with sheep's skin; and if he so do, let him pay thirty shillings.
  (http://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/halsall/source/560-975dooms.asp)

What is the cause for this funny law?


texts:
The Zamboni machine has become one of many people's favorite parts of Ice Hockey. Technically this device is called an ice resurfacer, but everyone just calls it a "Zamboni" after the inventer.

Frank Zamboni invented the machine over the period from 1942 to 1949 to help with the time-consuming task of resurfacing his ice rink.

I'm curious what came before this. The wikipedia page mentions ice being manually scraped and watered before, but also stresses how time-consuming this was. Presumably he could afford this as a business owner, but it was still enough of a hardship to motivate the hard work to develop the machine.

If it was really that bad, did a lot of people just not bother? Did hockey games not resurface at halftime (or ever?) If so, how was it typically done? Was there an earlier period where nobody bothered, but just let skaters deal with the ruts? I'd imagine a lot of skating was done on frozen lakes that would have been remote from unfrozen supplies of water.


texts: What is the largest mutiny in human history?

texts:
What is the largest mutiny in terms of people involved (approx.) or the number of days it lasted in the recorded history? -

Mutiny - Mutiny is a criminal conspiracy among a group of people (typically members of the military; or the crew of any ship, even if they are civilians) to openly oppose, change, or overthrow a lawful authority to which they are subject. The term is commonly used for a rebellion among members of the military against their superior officer(s), but can also occasionally refer to any type of rebellion against an authority figure.

Hence, we can exclude wars between kings/kingdom, fights between communities and war on terrorism. And whether the mutiny was a success or failure is no concern and it can be in progress as we speak.

Also, a Wikipedia page lists down some of the famous mutinies


texts: Did people in the late 1800s and earlier really think that there would be, or already exist, "mechanical men"?

texts:
I've very often been wondering about how people used to think "back in the day" about all kinds of technical things.

For example, once it was common knowledge that factories existed, and most people had seen huge steam-powered trains and stuff like that, and maybe even construction machines and maybe a "time piece" or two shown off by some rich gentleman who lets the peasants gaze in awe over its intricate cogwheels and fine details in the ticking "portable clock"... then I'm sure that some people would have the thought of having steam-powered "metal men" who would perhaps work as servants or workers in mines or whatever.

But did they really think that this was "just around the corner", or "may even exist"? I'm no genius by any means, and even with my "modern eyes", I'm still very fascinated with even the earliest factories and crude, large mechanical machines, but even so, there is a very long stretch between being fascinated that a machine can mass-produce something automatically, entire without or with just a little help from human operators, and thinking that they could use the same technology in miniature format to make a human-like "robot servant" who would walk around in your house and serve tea and open the door and whatnot.

I mean, I can easily "understand" the general idea behind a factory machine, even if I can't make one myself or instruct others in detail on how to do it, but I literally have no idea how they could ever make such a robot even today, in the year 2020, since all my interactions with technology, even in this "far future" (from the point of view of the 19th century), have been of frustrations and disappointments. Back then, they obviously didn't have advanced computers like the one I'm typing this on, but then they should have been even more skeptical toward the idea of a "metal servant" than I am today, no?

It seems to me that the computing power required to emulate even the dumbest human servant would simply be impossible to make with cogwheels of the kind that existed in those days, like in one of those fascinating, hand-crafted mechanical watches. An entire grown man's body full of such wheels would not be able to do anything like the tasks expected from a servant, or even be able to detect walls and objects... or even walk upright.

For God's sake... they can't even do it today, 120 years later than 1899. The only robots I've ever seen video proof of have been absolutely pathetic. A big joke. Like the kind which has zero practical use and barely is impressive as a demo if your expectations are anything resembling the most basic kind of servant robot.

I don't like it when people think that people "back in the day" were complete morons and the average person today is so enlightened and smart... because it's just not the case. I think people back then of course fantasized about sci-fi scenarios, but I hardly think that they saw this as realistic or that the technology they had would move so fast forward as to let them have robot servants in their lifetime.

Note that, although my focus is the 1800s, I'm also interested in hearing what you think about people in even earlier times thought about these things.


texts:
I recently came across this question "What decides who goes in the front rank in a line infantry formation?" and while trying to form an answer to it I realised I was making the assumption that the sizing of a formation in modern foot drill, like many modern drill commands, has its origins in the 1700s/1800s.

It is common (I am hesitant to say this always happens as it has been a while since I did any drill) for a squad to be sized as part of the process of forming a squad in marching order. AP818 (The drill manual of the RAF) states:

  The reason this movement is taught is that a correctly sized squad drills betters together and gives a better impression to the spectator.

Stating that a correctly sized squad drills better together is hard to prove, but I can see how it would related to large line formations as used in the Napoleonic era as effective drill was vital.

So, my question is: What are the origins of sizing a squad in modern foot drill? or Does the practice of sizing a squad in modern foot drill originate from Napoleonic Era drill? It's worth noting I'm not necessarily looking for an date or an era but I am unable to find much information on the origins of modern foot drill.

Note: While I refer to "a squad" this method is also used to size a flight, which is a subdivision of a Squadron. Also, this command is (in my experience) common across the RAF, RN and Army.

Note: This post mostly relates to the British Army (with reference to the RAF drill manual - which is based on the Army's drill manual), but is likely to be common across several nations armed forces for this time period. So answers referring to Commonwealth Nations, the USA, France and Germany (to name a few) may be relevant.

Info on squad sizing

  Sizing a squad results with the tallest members to the left and right hand sized of a squad, with the shortest in the middle.


texts: Does the Kimmirut find indicate pre-Viking Europeans traveling to Baffin Island?

texts:
A 2008 article from the Nunatsiaq News claimed there was new evidence of European contact with the Canadian Arctic, saying things like:

  Dating of some yarn and other artifacts, presumed to be left by Vikings on Baffin Island, have produced an age that predates the Vikings by several hundred years.

It's been eight years since this article was published.  Has the scholarly community gotten anywhere with this?  How likely is this pre-Viking contact looking?

Note: If your answer doesn't say anything about finds on or related to Baffin Island, you're probably not answering the right question.  I'm not asking about Polynesians in Peru, nor Welsh in the Midwest, I'm asking about Norse contact with Baffin Island around 1000 AD.


texts:
The key problem in the delegation of authority is to  match the delegatee's character and experience with the tasks appointed to him/her. I got an impression that Churchill's record in this field is less than impressive. Here are some examples of poor choices he made: Ian Hamilton for Gallipoli, Lindemann as chief scientific adviser, Fisher as First Sea Lord during WWI and Dudley Pound during WWII, Mountbatten for Dieppe and SEAC, Wingate for Burma.

Questions:

Are there examples of particularly apt personnel selections by Churchill to counter-balance my list?
Is this issue treated specifically in the historical literature? (We have works on Churchill & X for X ranging over at least {Soviet Union, America, British Empire, Jews} - what about X being Human Resources?)


texts: What cult images are likely to be found in a Second Punic war era Roman field camp?

texts: Were cult images (e.g. statues of gods) carried by a Roman army (or its commander) around 200 BC? If so, which  gods? And were would they be kept while in camp? (I am not referring to items individual soldiers might have, but rather to objects officially belonging to the army, or to its commander personally.)


texts: How far were early grenades thrown in the 17th century?

texts:
Early grenades weighed about three pounds, apparently, and were generally thrown by tall, strong men. I haven't been able to find a figure on how far they were normally thrown, at what range they were considered effective.

Does anyone know how far grenades could be thrown by hand, in the 17th (and early 18th) century?


texts: Why weren't the U.S. aircraft carriers in Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941?

texts: Where were the American carriers and why were they not in or around Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attacked?


texts: Are currently sold versions of "Mein Kampf" censored?

texts:
Mein Kampf was illegal in a lot of countries for a very long time.
Yet, while browsing GoodReads I realised reading it might be very interesting to get some insight in how the horrors of WW2 came to be.

I noticed the year of publishing on said list was 1973. With A. Hitler’s demise being in 1945 that seemed rather difficult to believe, so I am assuming the book has been modified/edited. There were quite a few earlier translations so I am positive it is not simply the year the translated version was released.

So how likely is it that the book has been censored? If a government decides to illegalize it, publishing it with changed contents does not sound very far-fetched.


texts: Did the Maya civilization recognize that it was into an ecological crisis?

texts:
As I currently read so much about pessimistic ecological forecast of today's society, I'm wondering if the Maya or eastern islands society became aware of their heading into or state of an ecological crisis and if this triggered a change of their individual and common behavior? Both are very well studied, the Maya language was deciphered, did archeologists ask themselves my question and try to answer it?

The question to me is rather if they tried to save their civilization by drastically changing their behavior instead of proceedings as used to till the end. Maybe archeologists have identified in Maya scripts at least such notions or changing procedures, e.g. ceremonies at the beginning/end of their crisis.


texts: When did we begin using metal mesh platforms?

texts:
I am trying to find the first time we used metal meshes as platforms, like in the image above. I though that a good starting point would be to find the moment metal meshes were created.

Unfortunately, my usual trip to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesh for answers did not bring any references or further hints.


texts: How long did a letter take from Quebec to Bordeaux in 1929?

texts: Just need this for authenticity for a novel I am writing . Thanks.


texts: Roughly, what percentage of arrows can be reused after a battle?

texts:
The English Longbowman according to some sources can shoot at/above 10 arrows per minute.  Some of the medieval battles would last for many hours.  Back-of-the-envelope math says the number of shots fired by an archer is very large indeed.  Clearly some arrows would have to be reused a (few?) time(s?) in order to maximize firepower in battle while minimizing the need for extra baggage train in the campaign.  However, if I'm shooting arrows at guys wearing armor, then some of the ordinance will get damaged after use and not be reusable in "tomorrow's" battle.

So, on average what percentage of arrows shot in a medieval battle would be reusable in future battle(s)?


texts: To whom does Napoleon refer in this letter to Josephine?

texts:
I was going through some of the letters written by Napoleon to Josephine, and found these lines on napoleonguide.com/lovejos6.htm,

"I send a kiss to your children, whom you do not mention. By God! If you did, your letters would be half as long again. Then visitors at ten o'clock in the morning would not have the pleasure of seeing you. Woman!!!"

Who are these visitors whom he referred to?


texts: Do Manchurian Nationalists want Independence?

texts:
Manchuria existed from the Middle Ages to present-day China.

  The Qing dynasty was founded by the Jurchen Aisin Gioro clan in Manchuria in the late 16th Century. Wikipedia:Qing Dynasty

The Qing dynasty ruled Manchuria and China, but ended in 1912 and succeeded into the Republic of China. Ever since then, Manchuria have had little power or authority over there Eastern China territory. Does this push them to get independence? Have they ever tried it before?


texts: How did the general population of England convert so smoothly to Protestantism?

texts:
The rise of Protestantism among English monarchs from Henry VIII is well documented. However, after a bit of light research, I have been unable to find many resources on how the general population felt about the change, or how it came to be a popular majority position in a relatively short space of time.

Although Henry VIII broke with the Pope, the early Church of England remained essentially Catholic in its practices. During Edward's regency, Protestantism was effectively forced upon the country. But there seems to have been no great outbreak of upset or unrest at this even though when Mary gained the throne, they settled easily back into Catholic practice.

Yet during Elizabeth's reign of 45 years, the country gained a Protestant majority, again with little seeming fuss or protest from the general populace. By the time of Charles, a mere 22 years later, it was established enough and with sufficient devotion to be a major cause in the outbreak of civil war.

I could accept that most of the population simply didn't care enough one way or the other. They just went to church and worshipped as the minister lead them. But if this is the case it would seem to stand in stark contrast with the considerable fervour which Londoners and the urban population in general greeted Charles' vague defences of Catholicism.

How were the general public persuaded to change their religion so smoothly, and so totally, in the space of 70 years?


texts: Why does the Philippines have little fossil deposits?

texts: Is there minimal wildlife in the Philippines during  pre-history? Why does the Philippines have little amount of fossil deposits? I've known that we have some mammoths that live in the area but what about other animals?


texts: Devastating air strike over Middle Eastern country during religious holiday

texts:
I'm trying to remember a historical incident I read about but have a foggy recollection of.

As far as I recall, during a religious holiday, a neighboring country launched an air strike against country X (was one of the countries Israel perhaps?) and inflicted severe damage because the victims were not able to launch planes due to religious prohibitions in effect during that day, similar to the activities prohibited during Sabbath (e.g. do not light fire).

I also have some vague recollection that the event occurred in October.


texts: How close did a Manila galleon ever come to Hawaii?

texts:
Between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries, Manila galleons sailed regularly between Mexico and the Philippines. Consistent ocean currents informed their clockwise route. After the Spanish had been making these voyages for more than two centuries, an English expedition "discovered" Hawaii, a huge archipelago right in between the galleons' eastwards and westwards routes. This was big news to the rest of the world, and Spain never attempted to colonize Hawaii as the U.K. and U.S. subsequently did.

Before Cook's landing in Hawaii, what was the closest that a Spanish galleon ever came to the island chain? Ships' logs of the era may contain answers, but without new primary research, perhaps some voyages were known to be more off-course than others.


texts: Please help identify this medal... German military?

texts: Found this in my late father's possessions. Probably belonged to his father or grandfather. Prussian? German? war related? I have no idea...


texts: What uniform is this French gentleman wearing?

texts: Can anyone help me identify the uniform that this gentleman is wearing?


texts: How did the US/South Vietnam lose the Vietnam war?

texts:
South Vietnam was helped by US. Even when the US was gone, they had a 1 million army.

So why did they lose?

Even without US support, South Vietnam had about the same manpower, higher technology, and was more industrialized. Why did they lose?


texts: How did Nazi Germany finance itself during WW2?

texts: How did Nazi Germany finance itself during the war? They produced a large amount of war material during 1939-1945, but how was this production financed? What were Germany's revenue streams that enabled them to purchase and transport the raw materials of war and pay the workers? I doubt they were exporting goods during the war, so any revenue was likely internal to the country. Given the Depression was still going on in 1939, how did they pay for the war?


texts: When was the concept of Europe as a singular political unit conceived? When did people start to think of themselves as sharing a similar European culture and calling themselves European? For this answer, I don't mean the Roman Empire or Christendom, as these include many areas outside Europe, but specifically "Europe." The EU would be a good example but I'm hoping for something much earlier.


texts: Why weren't Harappan homes built of stones?

texts:
I was reading about the Harappan (Indus valley) civilization, their architecture, in my History book when I came across this line:

  Stones were not used in building houses.

Seriously? Why? What reason was for this. I searched the whole book but they haven't given any reason for it. Their must have been some reason. Maybe, was it costly (it shouldn't be I think). Or was it rare (how can it be?).

Am I over thinking it a bit ? Or missing something?


texts:
Since the definition of cat falls under the name Felidae I will specify my question to the domesticated cat (Felis catus).
These days almost all domesticated cats have a name given to them by their owner/fellow being. Since my last question was about the oldest dog name and got a very well referenced and written answer,  I wondered what might the oldest known cat name be?  I am specifically looking for domesticated cat pet names. Theophoric names would also be acceptable though.
Wikipedia notes that

Cats were first domesticated in the Near East around 7500 BC. It was long thought that cat domestication was initiated in Ancient Egypt, as since around 3100 BC veneration was given to cats in ancient Egypt

Cat worship is made most famous by ancient Egypt, for instance pictured below is the Sarcophagus of Prince Thutmose's cat, exhibited in the Museum of Fine Arts of Valenciennes, France

Sarcophagus of Prince Thutmose's cat by Madam Rafaèle


texts: What did Thomas Mann yield in negotiations with Nazis in 1933?

texts:
The following is from the article on Golo Mann (1909 – 1994) in the German Wikipedia (translation courtesy of Google Translate). Golo Mann was the son of German novelist and 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate Thomas Mann (1875 – 1955).

In January 1933, Adolf Hitler came to power. For Thomas Mann, who had
made no secret of his dislike of National Socialism, and in particular
for Golo Mann's older siblings Klaus and Erika Mann, this was the time
to emigrate. While the parents were staying on a lecture tour abroad,
of which she did not return to Golo Mann attended in April 1933 at the
Munich House, organized the departure of three younger siblings and
brought the bank balances of the parents to safety. Thomas Mann
asked his son bundle of notes and oilcloth notebook - they contained
Thomas Mann's diaries of the Twenties - to stow away in a suitcase and
means of forwarding by rail to Lugano to send with the urgent
request: "I count on your discretion, that you are [not going to read them]."
Hans Holzner, the driver of the family and secret
follower of Hitler, offered to give up the case. Instead, he handed
over the bag of the Bavarian political police. When it was still not
arrived three weeks later, the seizure was near, and Thomas Mann
implored the lawyer Valentin Heins to try anything to [obtain them back]. Golo Mann describes the panic came into his father: "[They] will
publish it in the People's Observer. [They] ruin everything, they'll ruin
me. My life can not be all right." Heins reached in negotiations a few
weeks later [their release].

Do we know what Thomas Mann (via his attorney Valentin Heims) yielded in these negotiations with Hitler's Nazis? (The article cites Golo's Mann's autobiography, which I do not have ready, as source for the last sentence.) I assume its fair to refer to negotiations with Nazis, because the article identifies the driver as a follower of Adolf Hitler. Thomas Mann was about to emigrate to the U.S.


texts: How did Europeans first acquire gunpowder?

texts:
I know that gunpowder was first invented in China around the 10th century, and it seems that gunpowder likely made its way to Europe via the "Silk Road." However, there doesn't seem to be a ton of information on just how gunpowder made its way to Europe, and what led to its adoption.

So, why, and how, did gunpowder makes it way to Europe, and what led to its adoption?

I am looking for a synopsis of specific academic sources addressing the issue on point, or at the minimum, tangential sources that make a compelling argument as to how and why gunpowder came to Europe.


texts: Was there manipulation of racism in the Vietnam war?

texts:
It is fairly well established that racism was taken advantage of by both sides during WW2, especially (from the American perspective) in the Pacific theater (see for example “War without mercy: Race and Power in the Pacific War", or this web page, or Dr. Seuss).

Was there a similar manipulation of racism during the Vietnam war?


texts: What describes the average pre-colonial NA Native American lifestyle (across several tribes)?

texts:
Late last night I found myself in a remarkable argument with my partner - she, growing up in Idaho, had been taught that Native Americans, regardless of tribe, generally lived short, brutish, savage lives of hardship. I argued otherwise, that life was certainly not idyllic but perhaps it was simpler and satisfying in a way modern society isn't, citing my own bloodline and stories told to me by Cherokee elders as I was growing up in communities in Wisconsin (off-reservation). She acknowledged that probably her histories are skewed by colonial perspective, but that I also am not arguing from a strong position. How do I know what life was actually like for Cherokees, pre-colonization, given that no elders are alive from that time? Given that I never experienced it? What about other tribes?

I've done quite a bit of googling here, and my research is turning up abysmal results. From what appears to be undergrad webpages lousy with spelling errors to bite-sized BBC websites with almost no usable information (that just uses "Native Americans" without even mentioning tribe), I can't seem to find any authoritative sources on what life was actually like for the average Native American Cherokee, Kickapoo, Winebago, etc tribal member.

I have a meeting scheduled next week with a librarian at the San Francisco Public Library which should direct me, but in preparation, are there any books of primary-source, or primary-source interviews, that demonstrate life for the average Native American tribemember? Preferably pre-colonization (or very early colonization). Preferably Midwest area tribes (Cherokee, Kickapoo, Winebago). Ideally such a history would also compare across several tribes, but I'll take what I can get and collate on my own if need be.

So far the books I've found are clearly motivated by New Ageism or are relatively unsourced, dubious, yet colorfully illustrated children's books.


texts:
Most discussions of gender differences in hair length seem to argue that men have had "long" hair in many cultures (such as the answers to "When and why did having long hair become associated with women, and short hair with men?"). However, I'm not interested in the question of "how long is 'long'". Rather, it seems to me that, irrespective of how long might be considered "long", in almost every culture I've read about, within that culture, women's typical hair length is normally noticiably longer than men's typical hair length. So, I'm not interested in comparing hair length across cultures, but rather with comparing typical hair lengths for each gender within cultures. Hence, my question: Has there been any culture where men typically have longer hair than women?

The only possible culture that I've read about is ancient Sparta, where apparently men wore their hair long and married women cut theirs short. However, in the brief mentions I've read about this, I've never read anything about how long was the hair of unmarried women relative to that of men, so that anecdote doesn't necessarily prove to be an exception, or if it is, it might only be a partial exception. I have asked specifically about the Sparta situation in a separate question.

EDIT:
I am already aware of the question and answers to Have fashionable hair lengths ever been reversed from their current styles?. However, that question and answer does not seem to generalize to a culture-wide phenomenon. More importantly, there is nothing in the answer that indicates that "long" hair for men meant "longer" than what was typical for women, which is the crux of my question. So, my question is quite distinct from that one.


texts: Why did the Romans only name some months and number others?

texts:
There's a lot of sources on the internet which are happy to tell you that the Roman year originally had 10 months (Martius, Aprilis, Maius, Junius, Quintilis, Sextilis, September, October, November, December) and provide more-or-less authoritative derivations for those names.

However, nothing I've found explains why four (later six) months were named for gods (mostly) and six were simply numbered.  Do we have any explanation for what happened to Quartilis, Tresember, Duober, or Unilis? (pardon the butchery)

Related, why are some of the numbered months -ber and some -ilis?  Is this just Roman grammar, or is there some other reason?


texts: How much did J. Robert Oppenheimer get paid while overseeing the Manhattan Project?

texts:
I am curious to determine how much J. Robert Oppenheimer got paid in today's dollars when he was the head of Los Alamos National Laboratory?
Do we have any HR or accounting documents of the Los Alamos National Lab when it was tasked with the Manhattan Project?


texts: Were there great pow wows that brought together Aztec-Yaqui -Tarahumara with those of the northern tribes like the Zuni -Hopi -Navajo ?


texts: Are there any theories of Tiglath Pileser III's origins?

texts:
Most histories gloss over the low point of Assyria from 800-745. I have become interested in the period because of Shammuramat, the Babylonian regent, and her sons, who struggled for power with an Assyrian general from Aramea, Shamsu Ilu. This went on for decades, until a general named Pulu defeated Shamsu Ilu and became Tiglath Pileser III. Because of his name, and his sons' names which were all changed, it appears he was a foreign usurper. Has anyone proposed where they were from? His son was named Ululayu, aka Shalmanessar V. In Babylon they used their original names.

Edit: Thanks SPC for the overview. I am interested in any compelling theories. At the very least, I'm wondering if anything can be said of the names of him and his sons, even if it's only that they are definitely not Aramaic.


texts: Why didn't the ANZACs charge trenches with some kind of protection?

texts:
In the movie Gallipoli, the ANZACs were depicted charging into machine gun fire, knowingly, without any sort of protection. In other words, it was like shooting fish in a barrel.

If they knew that there would be such heavy fire, as previous unsuccessful waves have demonstrated, why did they continue to send what were essentially suicide waves? I am no expert in warfare, but it seems reasonably logical to at least have the soldiers charge in with some kind of protection in the form of say armoured plates on wheels.

I envisaged a simple U-shaped unit with walls made of thick metal, where men push from inside the U-shape in order to slowly advance safely towards enemy lines.


texts: Where can I find detailed accounts of cash-less payment in medevial and ancient times?

texts:
In his book "Debt: The first 5000 Years" David Graeber writes that during most of the middle ages and antiquity coins were seldom used in day-to-day dealings, at least of the more rural population. He mentions tally sticks as alterantive, and systems where twice a year at harvest etc. debts were paid. He claims (and backs this up some) that bartering material goods was not in widespread use in cash-less societies

Where can I find Accounts of cashless payment systems, or score keeping systems?

The scope is deliberatly broad because I'm mostly interested in the possible ways this could be done (with a mostly illiterate people).


texts: In what way were Renaissance battles like chess matches?

texts:
I have been reading Ross King's Brunelleschi's Dome: The Story of the Great Cathedral in Florence. Although the book is well documented, it has an astonishing passage for which the author provides no source. The context is a war between Florence and Milan. At that time, Milan was ruled by the Duke Filippo Maria Visconti; he is the person mentioned in the first sentence of what follows.

  The following year, as plague raged through Tuscany, his forces defeated the Florentines at Zagonara, in Romagna. There were only three casualties, all Florentine soldiers who fell from their horses and drowned on the battlefield in their heavy plate armour (it had rained heavily in Zagonara the night before). This lack of bloodshed shows that warfare in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, contrary to popular misconceptions, could be reasonably civilized. Most battles resembled chess matches in which opposing commanders sought to outmanoeuvre each other, the loser being the one who conceded that his position was technically vulnerable. These engagements were fought by mercenaries who setted the terms of warfare, rather like sportsmen deciding the rules of a game.

Is this description accurate? If it is, where can I learn more about this way of waging wars?


texts: Language used on a dagger hilt, supposedly of Persian provenance, ca. 1700-1750

texts:
Could anyone guess what language is used in the sign made on this dagger hilt, supposedly of Persian provenance, and dated approx. 1700-1750?

A fellow translator asked if I knew, and naturally I don't know.


texts: Have American urban rioters ever looted residences?

texts: The current (summer 2020) occurrences of looting and rioting are targeting stores and businesses, so I am wondering if houses and apartments might potentially become targets at some point. In previous American riots (eg 1968, 1992), did looters ever enter residences in the affected cities?