texts: Are there any major library fires reported for the middle ages?

texts: With nearly all books made from parchment, I wonder if anything combustible was around after papyrus was phased out and paper not in use yet.


texts: Why did South Korea not go the same way as South Vietnam?

texts:
Currently, democratic South Korea is separated from communist North Korea, while Vietnam is united. These two countries had seemingly similar situations. Their former rulers, Japan and France respectfully were chased out in the mid 20th century, and both countries went through a war of communism versus democracy. However, while South Korea remains a democracy, South Vietnam fell to the hands of the communists.

Apart from the fact that the US forces left South Vietnam, I would like to investigate why these two countries ended up so different, especially in political and economic climate. What are some specific reasons as to why this is so?


texts: How many wives did John Thurloe have – or did he have a mistress?

texts:
John Thurloe - Cromwell's Spy Chief
Most sources say two, but I suspect these all derive from the introduction Birch edition of the State Papers being “a lady of the Peyton family”- first name unknown (could be related to Sir Robert Peyton – of the Peyton Gang fame ?), then Ann Lytcott.

But Mark Noble’s “Memoirs of the Protectoral-House of Cromwell” (1787) gives a third – of the family of Cooke, from Chissel in Essex. I checked Wikipedia which lists a windmill at Great Chishill being owned around that time by “The Cooke family”. The Rev. Noble was been heavily criticised by his contemporaries for the inaccuracy of this work – although I not aware that this was a point at issue.

Now here’s the thing – John Thurloe died in 1668 and Ann died after 1674, and they were not divorced,(because there were only 2 divorces during the 17th century, so any third “marriage” would have been bigamous – if they were in fact married as such. Thurloe split his time between his family home in Great Milton (now Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons” and his law offices at Lincoln’s Inn/Chancery Lane. It would not be unusual for a man in his circumstances to have a secret “wifelet”.

Thurloe read everyone’s post during the Cromwell period, so it is hardly surprising that his personal correspondence is particularly sparse (we do not even have his first wife’s name nor their 2 sons dead in infancy)
 Can you help out here?


texts: What was the architectural predecessor of Roman triumphal arches?

texts:
Roman triumphal arches (fornix, ianus, then arcus triumphalis) are generally categorized into two main types: those with a single arched opening (e.g. Arch of Titus) and those with three openings (e.g. Arch of Septimius Severus), though exceptions such as the four-way tetrapylon (arcus quadrifrons) in Leptis Magna also existed.

What I am curious about, and have not been able to find a satisfactory answer to, is whether there existed some sort of developmental pattern between the two types. By sheer enumeration of extant Roman triumphal arches, it is clear that those with one opening are far more common, but that result may simply be a reflection of the fact that three-arched arcus were more elaborately decorated with pictorial reliefs, thus requiring more resources to construct.

In terms of typological development, it is not clear to me whether the two types were related iterations of a shared prototype, or rather had dissimilar origins. This question could be further broadened to an inquiry into the architectural origin of Roman arcus triumphalis.


texts: Were Christians prohibited to pass Golden Horde - Rus border immediately before Black Death?

texts:
Note: this question is similar to earlier Were there any travel restrictions during the Black Death pandemic?, but asks about travel restrictions existing before the epidemic.

Wikipedia article on Black Death includes a map of plague spread in Europe:

It comes from an article “The origin and early spread of the Black Death in Italy: first evidence of plague victims from 14th-century Liguria (northern Italy)” by D. Cesana , O.J. Benedictow , R. Bianucci.

The map claims that the border between Golden Horde and Russian principalities was closed for Christians. That helps to explain why plague arrived to Rus relatively late, and from the West. From the context it seems that the restriction was established before the epidemic, not because of it.

However, the article focuses on Italy, and mentions this border only on the map, without elaborating in article text.

We know that Golden Horde was recently converted to Islam by Öz Beg Khan, but I’ve never heard about such border restrictions. It sound counter-intuitive for the Horde to close the border with their vassals, playing into the hands of potential separatists. Is there any more information on this?


texts: Did Truman play the piano in Potsdam to annoy Churchill with Chopin?

texts:
I'm listening to a radio show with many interesting guests on themes that somehow connect to current politics. But this apparently prominent historian claims that during the conference in Potsdam 1945, president Truman deliberately played Chopin on the piano because he knew that Churchill hated Chopin (me too) and that Stalin loved it. Come on! Did that really happen?

3:50 into this radio episode


texts: Why was Highway One routed right through Fort Ross?

texts:
California's coastal Highway One was completed in the 1930s. Until about 1970, the roadway actually passed through the stockade of the Russian colony, Fort Ross. Later the Fort became a state park. Today the highway is a bit farther away, still right near the rebuilt fort. Look up 19336 CA-1 Jenner, California, for the road view onto the fort.

Why it might have been moved away seems obvious. Who made the original decision to run the highway through the fort, and on what basis?


texts: Was Walden Pond ever the primary source for rail transported ice?

texts:
In his survey of global railway history, Blood, Iron, and Gold, Christian Wolmar, lists ice among the many surprising commodities transformed by rail transport:

Another somewhat bizarre example, which illustrates how technologies first require and then outgrow the demand for railways, was ice. Starting in the 1860s, ice, mostly from a particularly suitable pond in New England, was transported in huge quantities to warmer climes on the eastern seaboard of the United States, and later, with the completion of the transcontinental, from even further afield. It was a massive business that at its height provided two-thirds of a ton of ice for every person living in a major U.S. city.

In a footnote he identifies this "particularly suitable pond in New England" as Walden Pond. Is this correct? While (according to Thoreau himself) ice was indeed harvested from Walden Pond, among many others,  was it "mostly" harvested from Walden Pond? Doesn't Wolmar mean Fresh Pond, which had both a direct rail connection (to Charleston shipping) and warehouses constructed specially for the the transport of ice, and which is much larger (more than twice the surface area) than Walden?


texts: Why were Japanese escort ships not numerous at the battle of Bismarck Sea?

texts:
During the battle of Bismarck sea, Allied units performed air attacks that resulted in the nearly destruction of Japanese fleet.
I understand the reasons why the Allies obtain such a success, namely:

Anticipation with the help of radio interception and code-breakers
New tactics to enhance the efficiency of air attacks on boat (low level attacks)

However I do not understand why the Japanese let their forces go with only 8 destroyers (besides the 100 aircraft) as escorts?
Condidering the path of the fleet, there was no heavy naval threats from the Allied fleets (the path was far north).
But the Japanese knew they were to face air attacks, so why didn't they:

Send more destroyers alongside the convoy? Possibly they had not that much left, because there was no big naval battle at the moment
Send cruisers, or even battleships? At Truk they still had some held in reserves (Kongo...)


texts: Why does Charles Lindbergh appear to avoid England in 1927?

texts: If you look at this (admittedly poor) map you see that Charles Lindbergh appears to skirt the English coast on his way to Paris but never go into English "airspace" (not sure such a concept existed at the time?). Were there diplomatic reasons? Or was Lindbergh not welcome in England for some reason?


texts: Where does the Kurrent letter-form for E come from?

texts:
The old German cursives, both Suetterlin and Kurrent, have several peculiar features compared to modern German cursive handwriting. One is a double-stroke letter-shape for E. Most introductory treatments, including the Wiki page, describe Kurrent as originating from some mediaeval cursive writing style.

I know that some specimens of Old Roman cursive also show this peculiar double-stroke E (especially on wax tablets; see eg page 14 of this manual). Is this a coincidence, or is there any continuity between Old Roman cursive and Kurrent that would explain the odd two-stroke E?


texts: Was the Soviet Union in 1945 seeking to capture German soldiers and civilians, or drive them west?

texts:
The latter part of Prit Buttar's Battleground Prussia deals with the desperate attempts by German soldiers and civilians to escape from the ports and peninsulas of East and West Prussia in early 1945. Mostly these areas had been bypassed by the Red Army as it swept on through Poland and on towards Berlin.

Buttar's book bleakly narrates how overloaded transport ships were torpedoed, how embarkation points were targetted and bombed, and how right up until the very hour of the armistice Soviet motorboats were pursuing Denmark-bound escape craft and sinking them or hauling them back to soviet controlled ports. After the armistice Sweden, famously and controversially, was pressured into handing over to the Soviets those Germans who had escaped across the Baltic at the very end of the war. Those soldiers who attempted to "break out" westwards by land were almost never successful. As we are talking about the last week or two of the war there can be no question of the Soviet authorities fearing that evacuated soldiers would regroup and become once again militarily viable.

So, the Red Army wished to cast a wide net, and that seems reasonable enough. From a judicial point of view you can see that they would prefer to "process" German soldiers themselves rather than trust to the western allies. War criminals could be identified. Captured German soldiers (and even civilians) could be put to work both locally and back in the Soviet Union itself.

Yet, Buttar's account is somewhat contradictory. Surveying the failure (apart from submarines) of the Soviet Navy to interdict the Baltic evacuations he writes

  Stalin was very aware that Germans were fleeing to the west, and that the conduct of the Red Army did much to bring this flight about. It is conceivable that Stalin wanted the flight to continue, so that the residual post-war German population in territories that were to cease being part of Germany was reduced as much as possible

And certainly you can see that politically Stalin and his Polish communists had much to gain from being rid of the Germans even before the end of the war, so that the huge westward shift in the German frontier which they wanted to impose on the western allies ... could be made a fait accompli.

So did the Red Army want to capture Germans or not?


texts: Can an average Arab read the Arabic of 1000 years ago?

texts:
I am Chinese and I have difficulty reading Chinese texts from 1000 years ago. The average Chinese would find it even more difficult than me. The point is that, about 100 years ago, there was a cultural revolution in China.

So, was there any thing similar in the Arabic world?

Can an average Arab read Arabic texts that were written in 1000 AD?


texts: Why is the US Independent in 1776 but the first President isn't inaugurated until 1789?

texts:
I'm reading a book1 covering the events around The Independence of United States from Britain, which happened on 4th July in 1776. However, the first US president was George Washington and he was in office from April 30, 1789 till March 4, 1797.

What happened in this period of nearly fifteen years, from 1776 to 1789, was there another leader/ president2 before G. Washington?

1. Benjamin Franklin - An American Life - by Walter Isaacson.

2. The official list of presidents starts with G. Washington.


texts: Were the popes during the Avignon era still considered bishop of Rome?

texts: The Catholic pope is also the bishop of Rome, since St Peter. However, the Papacy moved to Avignon from 1309 to 1376. Were these popes (seven in all) still considered bishops of Rome? Bishops are required to reside in their diocese, so how would this have been reconciled?


texts: How old is the practice of removing wisdom teeth?

texts:
According to this brief history of wisdom teeth removal, wisdom teeth may have been helpful in prehistoric times, but are now removed due to their general incompatibility with the human jaw. However, the first source only specifies that "tool extraction" originated in Europe in the 1800s, but does not mention the actual origins of the practice.
Wikipedia claims that routine performance of this operation was made possible in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, however it does not have any references for this fact specifically. In the next sentence, a text on dental surgical methods is referenced, but I could not find any content in it regarding the history of the procedure, or whether or not its ubiquity was novel at the time. @LangLangC provided an article about the history of the procedure, but I could not gain access to the full text, and even if I could I do not speak German. They also provided dissertation on the subject by the same author, but this has the same issues.
So when did the practice of removing wisdom teeth become widespread? It seems reasonable to assume that its ubiquity was a result of advances in medical understand in the 19th century, but finding a reliable source that explicitly says this has proved difficult.


texts: Why did the East India Company accept the Government of India Act 1858?

texts:
In 1858, the British Parliament passed the Government of India Act which contained provisions of liquidation of the Company and transfer of assets and governance to the British Crown.

The Act was going to kill the East India Company and the Company had enormous amounts of money and its own army. Why didn't the East India Company try anything against the Act by politics or by force?


texts: In the Film Master and Commander, why do they start towing their rowboats after they beat to quarters?

texts: In the first scene on Master and Commander after the ship beats to quarters they're shown lowering three rowboats and towing them behind the ship. Why do they do that?


texts: How was the naval battle of Guadalcanal affected by Japanese ships loading High Explosive shells rather than Armor Piercing?

texts:
During the first Naval Battle of Guadalcanal an American flotilla of five cruisers and eight destroyers challenged a Japanese group of two battleships, one cruiser, and eleven destroyers that was planning to bomb America's "Henderson [Air] Field."

The Americans were outnumbered and outgunned, but the result of the battle was basically a draw. One disadvantage for the Japanese  was that their ships' guns were loaded with high explosive shells (for bombardment), rather than armor piecing shells.

What difference did the Japanese using the "wrong" kind of shell make in the battle?


texts: How many troops (allied and axis) died at Normandy beach on June 6th, 1944? I've searched all over the internet, but can't find an accurate number.


texts:
The wiki entry about Bar Kokhba revolt has no information or indication about how many Roman civilians died in that conflict.

580,000 Jews killed, 50 fortified towns and 985 villages razed; "many
more" Jews dying of famine and disease. Massive Roman military
casualties.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bar_Kokhba_revolt

My questions are,
How many civilians of Roman empire (except jews) died in the Bar Kokhba revolt?
If no estimates are available, what was the scale of civilian casualties? Was it minimal or massive?


texts: Are there good examples of American frontier gangs terrorizing towns?

texts:
There's a cliche in western cinematography about a gang of bad guys terrorizing a small town. My question is: did such things really happen?

Thought behind my question is that settlers might be tough people, ready for self-defense, and I'd expect almost any person to have a gun, so a dozen of bandits wouldn't have any advantage. But I have no knowledge about real frontier life, so maybe there are historical records known about armed gangs terrorizing settlements.


texts: What does the following picture represent in historical context?

texts:
This is a picture just sent by one of my friends.

He is trying to convey some message. I didn't get him, neither did I get the picture.


texts: What was the role of state sacrifices and music in Ming China?

texts:
I don't understand what is the role of music in their lives and what is the relevance between sacrifices and music?

As a historical ethnomusicologist, I wish I could do fieldwork in the Ming court, observing the court citizens and asking them why state sacrifices and music played such a central role in their public and private lives. The emperors and scholar-officials cannot be reached now, but they have left a wealth of evidence that they found their state sacrifices and music expressive.
"State Sacrifices and Music in Ming China" - Joseph S.C. Lam

"Methodologies for historical ethnomusicology in the twenty-first century" by David G.Hebert and Jonathan McCollum in


texts: What is the history of standing armies in India?

texts:
Specifically, the points I am looking answers to are:

1) What is the first recorded instance of a standing army in the Indian subcontinent.
2) When did it become a general practice to have standing armies.
3) Any information on sizes of the said armies if possible.


texts: What procedures follow the resignation of a minister in the Westminster model?

texts: What are the protocols or procedures that follow a public announcement by a minister of his intention to resign, in the Westminster model?


texts:
I have read that rotation among nine hereditary rulers of provinces determines who is King of Malaysia during a given 5-year term. This seems to stand out from related practices e.g. over the history of the Holy Roman Empire or between emirs in todays United Arab Emirates that tend(ed) to favor a single dynastic family while it lasted.

So my question is this: do we find other examples (in history or contemporary politics) where the most senior governmental role rotated between hereditary rulers of territories, families, or similar?


texts: Was there some deliberate significance to the number of divisions in the proposed post-WW2 joint communist-nationalist Chinese army being 108?

texts:
https://www.britannica.com/event/Chinese-Civil-War
(Search "108".)

It's a sacred number in the Dharmic religions, was the number of outlaws in The Water Margin, and  (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/108_(number)) had some influence in martial arts in China given the buddhist aspect of their origins.

But I don't know if this is coincidental.

If it wasn't coincidental, why was 108 settled on?


texts: Toyotomi Hideyoshi threatened to exterminate all Japanese foxes unless he heard from the god Inari. What was the aftermath (if any)?

texts:
Quoth Wikipedia:

  the 16th-century leader Toyotomi Hideyoshi wrote a letter to the kami Inari:

    To Inari Daimyojin,

    My lord, I have the honor to inform you that one of the foxes under your jurisdiction has bewitched one of my servants, causing her and others a great deal of trouble. I have to request that you make minute inquiries into the matter, and endeavor to find out the reason of your subject misbehaving in this way, and let me know the result.

    If it turns out that the fox has no adequate reason to give for his behavior, you are to arrest and punish him at once. If you hesitate to take action in this matter I shall issue orders for the destruction of every fox in the land. Any other particulars that you may wish to be informed of in reference to what has occurred, you can learn from the high priest of Yoshida.

Googling fails to reveal how this was resolved. Did Inari write back? Did Toyotomi realize that extermination was impractical? Did he simply get bored and drop the whole thing?

EDIT: The story appears to be drawn from Walter Dening's The Life of Toyotomi Hideyoshi (pp 406 print version/page 759 online version). The letter was supposedly written on March 17 (what year?) and addressed to the Inari of Higashiyama. The book also claims that the letter is (or was, in 1888) preserved in Toudai-ji.

The same letter (along with the Toudai-ji claim) also appears in Lafcadio Hearn's Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan (chapter 15).


texts: What is the relevance of the Confession of Augsburg to the Colloquy at Poissy?

texts:
According the wikipedia article Colloquy at Poissy

  Catharine [de' Medici] appointed a smaller committee of five Calvinists and five Roman Catholics. Their task was to devise a formula on which the two churches might unite with regard to the question of the Eucharist. The Cardinal of Lorraine had asked whether the Calvinists were prepared to sign the Confession of Augsburg, a matter of dissension between them and the Lutheran Protestants. The committee drafted a vague formula which could be interpreted in a Catholic or a Calvinistic sense, and was consequently condemned by both parties. The assemblage of prelates refused assent, and the Calvinists would not sign up to the Lutheran Confession.

Why did the Catholics use a Lutheran formula? Does it mean they (or at least the Cardinal of Lorraine) were prepared to accept it?


texts: What is known about the people of Khazaria?

texts: We know that the ruling elite and many other people of the Khazars have converted to Rabbinic Judaism. What happened to these people after the fall of the Khazar state? Why did they disappear?


texts: How much did the culture of Anatolian Gallic settlers differ from their kin in Gaul?

texts:
It is known that some Gallic tribes emigrated to Anatolia in Roman era. In Livy's History of Rome, 38.16 -
 (cited from a reddit article), it is mentioned about their arrival to Anatolia by an invitation of Bithynia King and they settled down Taurus(known as a region around Ankara). This is all I know about these people. What about their lifestyle? Did they retain their habits in Gaul or did they experience change in their culture?


texts:
Recently acquired at an antique store without any information.

Full size photo is at my Flickr site: https://www.flickr.com/photos/photolibrarian/13429182134/


texts: Why was compulsory vaccination abandoned in the UK?

texts:
There is currently talk in the UK of making school attendance conditional on vaccination. Similar schemes operate in various places around the world now.

Vaccination against smallpox was compulsory in the UK from 1853. An anti-vaccination movement existed, too. There was a royal commission in the 1890s which resulted in the requirement being eased, essentially making vaccination voluntary after 1907.

Why was a royal commission required? Was the anti-vaccine movement so strong? Were there a science-based reasons for the change?


texts: How was 'the right to bear arms' understood in 17th-18th century England?

texts:
That the subjects which are Protestants may have arms for their
  defence suitable to their conditions and as allowed by law.

This is from the Bill of Rights https://en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/Bill_of_Rights_1689

Was this defence just against robbers and the like, or was it political? What conditions were relevant, and what law governed the possession of arms?

Was this on an individual basis, in a government-controlled militia, or somewhere in between?


texts: Did the blanket pardon from 'The Three Musketeers' exist in real life?

texts:
In his novel The Three Musketeers, Dumas describes Richelieu giving the following paper to Milady de Winter:

C'est par mon ordre et pour le bien de l'Etat que le porteur du
present a fait ce qu'il a fait.
3 decembre 1627.
Richelieu

Translated into English:

Dec. 3, 1627
It is by my order and for the good of the state that the bearer of this has done what he has done.
Richelieu

So my two questions:

Is it just a literature, or were these kinds of papers given in the real life of 17th century France?

Does the author refer to a particular kind of official paper which could have been given by a cardinal or a first minister to a known set of people according to a law or a custom, or is this just a note?


texts:
The phrase "sell like hot cakes" is a simile for how quick something is selling.  That said, the meaning of "hot cake" is apparently a synonym of pancakes, or before pancakes, corn griddle cake and other varieties.   Dictionary.com lists the date of origin dating back to 1839, where it first appeared.

That said, I'm wonder what's so "hot" about hot cakes?  Was the time period in 1839 a period in which "hot cakes" were all the rage? Is there something about hot cakes that made them so popular that the phrase was coined?


texts: Who attributed to King George II the quote "Will someone please remove these infernal chains?"

texts:
The quote is from Pirates of the Caribbean, but I'm certain an author from the American Revolution era wrote something very similar, and hence the irony of the King George II character's quote (although it would have been even better if King George III uttered the line).

Or am I wrong? I couldn't find any references after a Google search.


texts: Where can I find historical statistics about Catholic monasticism?

texts:
I'm reading a book on monasticism (The World of Medieval Monasticism, by Melville) and the author very often makes statements like "by year X, there were Y monasteries in Europe with around Z members" (sometimes offering sources). I was prompted to search online for historical statistics on monasteries (by order, gender, country, etc). From the book I'm reading as well as online searches, the information (at least to a general degree) seem to be around (e.g. a paper with statistics about women communities for the period 500-1100 AD is here). However, these sources seem to be partial. I was not able to find a resource collating in a systematic way all the information.

Are you aware of any such resource (reference book, database)?


texts: Why were Spain and Portugal neutral / not invaded in WWII?

texts:
Why weren't Spain and Portugal involved in World War II with either side? Was not Franco sympathetic with the Axis powers given the help they offered during the civil war?
Also, given their strategic geographical locations with the ability to limit access the Mediterranean, being a possible landing point for the allies to access France from the south. Or the Germans could have used their access to the Atlantic to build naval bases.  The question is why did not any faction from the war invade the peninsula for their advantage?


texts:
One of the things tourists notice about French houses is the presence of exterior window shutters:

Why do French houses have exterior window shutters? When did they first appear in France? Are they peculiar to France, or did they perhaps "migrate" from other parts of Europe?

Since the question has been put on hold, I have asked it here: https://www.quora.com/unanswered/Why-do-French-houses-have-exterior-window-shutters

In case of deletion, I have archived the content: https://web.archive.org/web/20170309172128/https://history.stackexchange.com/questions/35813/why-do-french-houses-have-exterior-window-shutters


texts: When did the term "liberal democracy" first appear?

texts:
Reading through Western political history (whether Europe or North and South America) prior to the late 20th century, I see many references to "republicanism" and to "democracy".  Getting into the 19th century I start to see terms like "radicals", "democrats", "socialists" and "liberals".  Towards the end of the century, the term "social democracy" starts to appear (basically meaning Marxism).  But I haven't found any references to "liberal democracy".  In contemporary discourse on the other hand, "liberal democracy" seems to be the only democracy in town (though recently people mention something called "illiberal democracy", which is supposedly very bad, or at least not as good).
I'm fairly clear on what people mean by "liberal democracy", but I'd like to know who coined this term exactly, when it first appeared and when it came into widespread usage.  Seems like a mid-20th century term, probably arising from the cold war, but I haven't been able to find any confirmation of this anywhere.


texts: What are some examples of clauses against unifications in peace treaties?

texts:
I have learned in school that the Treaty of Versailles (after World War I in 1919)  contained a clause that forbade unification of Germany and Austria. Presumably it is Article 80:

  Germany acknowledges and will respect strictly the independence of
  Austria, within the frontiers which may be fixed in a Treaty between
  that State and the Principal Allied and Associated Powers; she agrees
  that this independence shall be inalienable, except with the consent
  of the Council of the League of Nations.

What I am wondering is this: do we know about other peace treaties that contain/ed similar provisions (i.e. regulations against unification, not just possible annexions)? If so, which one was signed most recently?


texts: Maintaining the status quo throughout the British Colonies of North America

texts:
Though Nathanial Bacon himself may not have been poor, the rebellion he became a leader of in 1676 eventually proved to be evidence of the class envy that existed in the British colonies of North America. The British were aware of this problem and even expressed concerns throughout the next half century and beyond. The possibility of Native Americans, slaves and poor colonists rebelling and rising up (together or separate) against the elite upper class was a very real threat. The population of the elite class was a minuscule percentage of the total population in and around the British Colonies.

How did the wealthy "elite/governing" class maintain the status quo throughout the British Colonies of North America in the early to mid 18th century?

UPDATE: I don't want the term "poor" to become a hangup in the question. In this case I am referring to those who did not own land and/or those opposite of the elite/wealthy class who governed/ruled. Also in regards to "class envy", I am referring to the discrepancy between those who had and those who did not, and the repercussions felt by the peoples of the British Colonies. I am not opposed to the idea of improving the original question as needed to reflect its true intent even though some people have already have stated they feel the question is fine.


texts: Was there continuity in the political elite between the Confederation Congress and the US Congress?

texts: I mean the Congress under the Articles of Confederation from 1781 to 1789. Did the Constitutional system sweep aside the former class of politicians who made a poor job of government under the Articles and replaced them with a new group? Or did the two groups overlap significantly?


texts:
Wang Mingzhang was a Chinese general of the National Revolutionary Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War. He commanded the defense of Teng County (14-18 March 1938), part of the Xuzhou Campaign, being killed in action.

However, there are multiple dates for his death. Wikipedia says the 14th; this webpage says the 17th, and this webpage says the 15th.

Exactly which day did he die?


texts: Are there realistic Ancient Egyptian artistic renderings of *flames*?

texts:
Do the Ancient Egyptians have any renderings of flames comparable to the flames in the Destruction of Susa (seen atop the buildings and walls)? I need something Ancient Egyptian, not Sumerian.

Update: I was ridiculously wrong in my initial question to think there is any difference in naturalism of the Fowling Scene water and the Lake of Fire's fire. Thus far neither I nor anyone else seems to have noticed. They render water and fire in exactly the same way: with close zag zag lines. The difference is only that the water has black lines on a blue background, but the fire has red lines on an empty (papyrus) background. If the Lake of Fire had used black (or white/yellow) zig zag lines on a red background, and then added some creatures, it would be exactly the same. My original premise was this:
“In the frescoes of the Tomb of Nebamun we have the beautiful Fowling Scene.
Its rendering of water is very naturalistic, and I'm wondering if the Ancient Egyptians have naturalistic renderings of fire like this, such as a scene of hell or a large fire, as opposed to merely putting in the brazier hieroglyph (like the Lake of Fire in the Papyrus of Ani - also depicted here, which does actually have a rather unimpressive but seemingly standard rendering of fire inside, but I'm looking for something a little more wow and naturalistic like Nebamun's water).
I would be happy with something comparable to the fire in the Destruction of Susa, but I need something Ancient Egyptian, not Sumerian.”


texts:
Question
How widespread was the observance of the Jewish Sabbath among Christians during Early Christianity (A.D. 30–324)?
Further Details
As a reminder, the Jewish Sabbath is defined as:

[...] the Sabbath, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the week—i.e., Saturday. On this day, religious Jews remember the biblical story describing the creation of the heavens and the earth in six days and look forward to a future Messianic Age. Since the Jewish religious calendar counts days from sunset to sunset, Shabbat begins in the evening of what on the secular calendar is Friday.

And Early Christianity is commonly understood as:

Early Christianity is generally reckoned by church historians to begin with the ministry of Jesus (c. 27–30) and end with the First Council of Nicaea (325). It is typically divided into two periods: the Apostolic Age (c. 30–100, when the first apostles were still alive) and the Ante-Nicene Period (c. 100–325).[6]

And to be more precise, given that Early Christianity spans about 300 years, it's quite likely that the answer to the question depends on what specific period of time (and location) we are looking at. For this reason, I would rather like to know how the popularity of Jewish Sabbath observance among Christians has evolved over time. Was it very popular at the beginning and then gradually became less widespread as time went on? Were there specific places where Christians were more likely to be Sabbath-keepers than in others?


texts: What was the largest strike, by % of a country's population, in history?

texts:
This week, India had an enormous strike - up to 200 million people. Some links:

Indian Workers Strike in Fight for Higher Wages(Guardian)

Millions Indian Workers Strike(Al Jazeera)

Real News

Indians Staged One of the Largest Strikes in History

200 million is a lot of people. This is about 16% of India's 1.25 billion people; a huge percentage.

It is likely this is the largest strike that has occured when counting the total number of people.

What about as a % of a country's population? Has a larger general strike ever occurred? If so, what % of a country were on strike?  (In order to control for population growth, and the variation in country size, it is the % of the country that was on strike).


texts: How would Chess have been played in England in 1450-1600?

texts:
I'm trying to reconstruct how Chess would have been played at various points in history in England, specifically at three points: around 1450, 1530, and 1610.

What rules would have been used at these dates? What kinds of boards and pieces might have been used? Who would have played and in what kinds of settings?

I have read the confused Wikipedia articles and most of the first several pages of hits from Google, but can extract little of use from them and am hoping there's an expert here who can help.


texts:
Willem the Silent is widely considered to be the father of the Netherlands, but I have found that he was born in Nassau, Germany, which was then part of the Holy Roman empire. His ancestors were born in the Netherlands, but would it still be considered sensible to consider him Dutch AND German?

Why am I asking this? Let's look at an example of an opposite case. Nobel prize winner Wilhelm Röntgen was born in Germany, but his parents were Dutch. He still is considered a German. He even lived in Netherlands for almost his entire youth. Yet still he's considered German. This is just an example, don't try to base your answer off of this reply.


texts: What happened to the holders of German war bonds after WW1?

texts:
I was just reading about how Germany sold a lot of war bonds to citizens and other entities during World War 1.

Given the dire economic situation of Germany after the war, what happened to the owners of these bonds? Did they mostly get reimbursed, or not?


texts: Why wasn't Iran colonized by any country?

texts: Why wasn't Iran colonized by any country, especially by British empire?


texts: How/why did Plzeň become the "armourer" for Austria-Hungary?

texts:
In 1938, Nazi Germany coveted (the modern) Czech [Republic] in large part for its Skoda Works  which produced something like one-quarter of the arms and ammunition used by the Third Reich.

From what I understand, the Skoda Works produced all, or essentially all of the armaments for the Austro-Hungarian Empire, meaning that what we now call the "Czech Republic" (9-10 million people) had a military importance way out of proportion to their population in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, or in Europe.

Why did Austria-Hungary choose to concentrate its arms manufacturing capability in this place? Were the nearby mountains particularly good sources of raw material for weapons? Was there a concentration of miners/metalworkers, engineers in this area? Was this a remote area in the hills that was easy to defend? Why didn't Austria-Hungary diversify  its arms procurement between two or more sources?


texts: Why did Poland keep Warsaw as its capital instead of returning it to Krakow in the 20th century?

texts:
My recollection is that Krakow was Poland's capital for much of the Middle Ages, having moved there from Thorn(?) shortly after 1000 A.D.

My understanding is that Warsaw, a newer city, became Poland's capital in the 16th century, largely because of the Union with Lithuania (which then included part of Latvia, Belarus, and much of the Western Ukraine), and because Warsaw was at the center of what was then the combined country.

But when Poland was reconstituted after World War I, and again after World War II, "Lithuania" was not part of it. So had Warsaw lost its raison d'etre? Why wasn't the capital moved back to Krakow?


texts: Did the Portuguese Crown sponsor Brazilian gold-seeking expeditions (bandeiras) in the 17th century?

texts:
The end of the 17th century is the beginning of the gold rush in Brazil. Shortly before there were expeditions (bandeiras) of explorers (later called bandeirantes) who were seeking precious minerals in the inlands of Brazil. Some kind of pioneers. What was their motivation?

In Historia do Brasil, by Boris Fausto, it's written that the Portuguese government encouraged them because the Portuguese economy was quite ruined after the years of war for independence from Spain. I wonder, does encouraging mean the sponsorship of expeditions?


texts: Did the Soviets attempt to discredit the Pope because of his outspoken anti-communism?

texts:
According to Ion Pacepa, a former Romanian General and head of Secret Service, Khrushchev authorized operation seat 12 that was designed to discredit Pope Pius XII by, among other things, characterizing him as a Nazi sympathizer.

According to the Wikipedia page, several historians feel Pacepa to be credible although the page notes that his claims have "not been corroborated".


texts: Can a source be considered 'primary' if it is not written by an eyewitness and partly based on another source?

texts:
The example I have in mind is Luke's Gospel, but the question is not about that source in particular, I'm interested in the terms 'primary' and 'secondary' in the technical sense they would be used by a professional historian, not in any other context.
Luke was not written by an eye-witness to most of the events it records, and it is also thought to be partly based on another source (Mark). Do these factors alone disqualify Luke from being understood to be a primary source concerning the life of Jesus?
Of course there are related questions of authorship and the precise date it was written, and my question assumes the author was in contact with actual eyewitnesses, but I'm not interested in Luke-Acts per se, just in the historians definition of 'primary'.
By the definition I found here from princeton.edu, the question would seem to hinge on exactly what is meant by "during the time of study", and "interprets and analyzes":

A primary source is a document or physical object which was written or created during the time under study
A secondary source interprets and analyzes primary sources.

Similarly by the definition in this article (in 7. Primary and Secondary Sources) by Marwick, again it seems to depend on the strictness with which "period" is regarded:

Primary sources, as it were, form the basic "raw material" of history; they are sources which came into existence within the period being investigated.


texts: Why did not the Byzantines attempt to recapture the holy land from the Arabs?

texts: Given the importance of the holy land to the Christians, as well as the importance of many great cities (Alexandria, Damascus and Jerusalem) to the Byzantine empire, why were not there any early attempts to recapture those strategic and religiosuly important land from the Arabs (either by the Byzantines or Rome)? Were the Byzantines so exhausted from their wars with the Sassanids that they relinquished these lands to the Arabs?


texts: Seeking proper terminology for the changes that occur in a text throughout history

texts:
What is the proper terminology for the changes that occur to a narrative/text throughout history?

These changes could include:

interpretation : such as modifying the narrative/text in order to verbally present it, such as a bard would.
transcription error : a mistake made in copying the narrative/text
translation error : a mistake made during translation of the narrative/text
other : there could be other reasons not mentioned here

A real world example includes the changes that occurred to the Bible as evidenced by the differences found in the Dead Sea Scrolls compared to "modern" versions of the Bible.

If this is an inappropriate place for this question, please let me know. Thanks


texts: Was Cemetery ridge named for the National Cemetery that was created there months later? Or was it called that before?


texts: How early did restrictions on hunting start?

texts:
Today in the US you can only hunt certain game during certain seasons.  In medieval England, only certain people were allowed to hunt deer and boars.  Legal restrictions on who could hunt what, where, and when, seem to be very common.

How far back did such hunting restrictions exist?


texts: Which of the participant states was benefited in the long run by the Congress of Vienna?

texts:
Congress of Vienna took place in 1814-1815 aiming to restore stability in Europe after the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars. Each state/kingdom sent their diplomat(s) to the congress in order to negotiate and gain most for the state.

It is true that Metternich was the mastermind, and Austria (re)gained control of parts of Italy, but they lost them within half a century during Italian unification. So which of the great European powers enjoyed the most benefits from the Congress in the long run? Or was it none of them, achieving the "Balance of Power" as it had hoped to?

I can't exactly quantify "benefits", but it should include economic, or territory-wise benefits, or getting access to some key strategic locations or strategic benefits.


texts: When were Roman Emperor's faces placed on coins?

texts: During an emperor's reign, were coins (i.e. sestertii) minted the year they became emperors, the year they stopped being emperors, or right in the middle?


texts:
Isra and Mi'raj is the name of the journey of the prophet Muhammad, where he witnessed heaven and hell, describing their structure as well as the punishment and rewards that lay beyond.

Hell and Heaven are divided in different levels. For instance the damned souls are grouped together based on their sins, and punished accordingly.

This structure appears then in Dante's Divine Comedy.

What is the origin of the subdivisions of Heaven and Hell? Where does this idea come from?


texts: Can anyone help identify the country, rank, and unit this WWI uniform is from?

texts:
I am looking to ID country, rank, and unit shown in this picture.
I have already tried googling the collar insignia with no luck.


texts: Why were La Réunion and Mauritius uninhabited?

texts:
Why were the Mascarenes islands, La Réunion and Mauritius (and Rodrigues), uninhabited until Europeans arrived ?

Many islands off the coast of Africa remained uninhabited until the arrival of Europeans, because, as I understand it, they weren't close enough to be seen from the mainland and the people on the mainland weren't good navigators.

However, the closest land to La Réunion and Mauritius was Madagascar, which was settled by Austronesians, that is, perhaps the best seafarers of their time.

It seems a little strange that they haven't colonized these islands as well, especially since, unlike the desolate islands of Mozambique channel, they have freshwater, and, at the time, abundant game.
Indeed, they are far less desolate than the Chathams, that are at about the same distance from New Zealand as La Réunion from Madagascar, and which the Maori did settle.

They don't seem to have been prevented from doing so by the prevailing winds either.

Also, it is said on Wikipedia that both islands were known to Arab traders before the arrival of Europeans. Now in their case, if they were traders who travelled along the coast, it makes a bit more sense that they wouldn't have cared given their remoteness from the trade routes. Still, it seems that they didn't even set foot on the islands to check whether they were worth something.


texts: How powerful and influential was the "last caliph" Abdul Mejid?

texts:
It is unbelievable to see how a Caliph was so easily deposed by Turkish parliament which begs a question: How powerful and influential was Abdul Mejid II? Was he merely a titular symbolic puppet who was not behaving the way his masters were asking?

And a related question, when and who was the last independent powerful caliph?


texts: Who were the earliest Californian university students?

texts:
In California's Spanish and Mexican eras there was not much formal education. The nearest university was that of Guadalajara, founded in 1792. The Híjar-Padrés colony of 1834 brought teachers who might have been the province's first permanent residents to hold professional qualifications. Richard Henry Dana Jr. visited that same year on leave from Harvard College. In 1846 the U.S. acquired California. The University of California, whose creation became more urgent as more native sons were born, graduated its first class in 1873.

I want to know about the first person or persons from California that went away to university, or studied at one of the University of California's predecessor institutions (the Contra Costa Academy and the College of California), or another school in the state. The sons of established businessmen like Hartnell, Larkin, and Stearns seem like candidates. Perhaps some brainy kid was even sent to Guadalajara decades before.


texts: Was the Granny Smith Apple the first green skinned apple widely propagated?

texts:
In my hometown (Eastwood NSW, Australia) we annually celebrate the Granny Smith Apple, which is assumed by many to be the first green apple widely propagated.

How true is it that it was the first green-skinned apple to be widely propagated throughout the world? In our local stores it is usually the only green variety available.

From wikipedia:

  Widely propagated in New Zealand, it was introduced to the United
  Kingdom c. 1935 and the United States in 1972 by Grady Auvil.

Example claim:

  Miss Spurway was the great grand-daughter of Maria Ann ``Granny’’
  Smith, the woman who inadvertently grew the first green apple


texts: How kind were the Muslim occupations of North Africa?

texts:
I grew up in Egypt and although I was raised in Muslim-majority country, I am atheist now. In history classes we were told a doubtful story:

The Muslims would have been kind and merciful invaders that treated the peoples of the invaded countries kindly, the indigenous people would have loved Islam and would never have revolted against Muslims. Eventually lots of them would have accepted Islam without any forced conversions. The Muslims would have been so much just and fair and they would never have forced anybody to accept Islam nor used violence towards the peoples they invaded.

The history I studied is about the Muslim invaders in Egypt, Libya, Morocco, and the rest of North Africa and their alleged kindness and justice.

How accurate is this history I studied in the school ?!


texts: How was money transferred before digital transactions?

texts:
Take, for example, the late 18th century and pre-French Revolution. The American War of Independence (1775 - '83) and the Seven Years War (1754 - '63) were financially ruinous for Louis XVI's France, due to his knack of borrowing large sums of money to fund these wars, leading to greater expenditure than income, and therefore deficit.

How was money transferred in times like these? There was no such thing as digital transactions, and surely the sums of money would have been far too large to physically transfer. Could it be that when one borrowed money, it was more of a statement of 'we have this much money', so long as there was proof that those who borrowed it had the money to spare?


texts: Where was the site of Mary Seacole's store in Aldershot?

texts:
Mary Seacole is best known for running a boarding-house for officers and their families during the Crimean War. I have found a few reliable sources suggesting that on her return to England she briefly opened a canteen at Aldershot, but this business soon failed (see, for example Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, and Mary Seacole Information), but other sources, like the Florence Nightingale Museum fail to mention this;

The Wikipedia article claims she merely considered doing this and never actually followed through, but provides no source for this claim.

We have an opportunity to visit Aldershot in the near future but I can't find any information about where this business was, or even if it was in the town centre or on the army base.

Is there a record of its location?


texts: What are the origins of the "News Reel Voice"?

texts:
A commercial came on the radio last night while I was driving home that was a spoof on the old news reels of the 30s and 40s. And, being radio, the spoof was entirely centered on the iconic 'voice' of those old news reals...quick talking with an inflection unique enough that when you hear it you immediately think "ah, news reels!"

That got me wondering what the history of that voice is. Did news reels typically sound like that? Or is that a stereotype that, overtime, has become emblematic of those reels even if not entirely accurate? If news reels did sound like that, was that a general style adopted by narrators, or was it something that came from one prominent/prolific narrator in particular?

If you look through old newsreels on YouTube, they definitely do not all share that iconic narration voice, so I'm assuming this was a fabrication at some point in time.

(PS, I wasn't sure which site to post this on...perhaps this would be better asked on Moviews/TV?)

UPDATE:

Trying to find some specific examples. The one I heard on the radio was actually a Geico commercial. But can't find that.

The Legend of Korra uses this stereotypical news reel voice as a recap for each episode. You can see an example here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bigqWlscHYc It's not quite as over-the-top as you find in more satirical uses but seems to be fairly consistent with the style elsewhere.

If I had to describe the style I'd say it's"

fast talking
un-natural inflection
'showmanship'
a trace of an accent...maybe New-Englandish?


texts: What were non-Communist contemporary reactions to Stalin's purges?

texts:
Stalin had people such as Kamenev, Zinoviev and Bukharin and many others convicted of trying to overthrow the Soviet Union, something which we know to be untrue.

Abroad, foreign communist parties denounced the 'traitors'. Trotskyist movements protested against the trials. But did non-communist governments and groups say that the accusations had any truth to them, or not?


texts:
What is the story behind this photo?

When was this photo taken? Who are the models?

This photo, in many places on the internet, even in this article on "Chinese wikipedia", is shown as an example of a Lenin Jacket (列宁装). It is shown as an example of a particular type of fashion, the Lenin Jacket. Apparently, the 1950s were years of strong Soviet influence that extended into the realm of women's fashion. From what I read, this was a fashion trend important to Chinese modernization.

Here are the specific questions:

In what year was this photo taken?
What is the context of this photo? (eg, fashion, work photo, uniforms, news article, personal photo)
Who were the people? (fashion models?, employees?, cadres? names, if possible)
Was it published? If so, where?
When did it start circulating on the internet?
What is its copyright status?
Where was it taken? In a studio with a backdrop, or outdoors? In what city, country?

Edit: Please note that this jacket, which is named "Lenin Jacket", and Vladimir Lenin are completely unrelated, except for their name. It is the name of a jacket. It is also unrelated to John Lennon of the Beatles.

Additionally, I am not asking about Vladimir Lenin or about Chinese Women's fashion; the link in the question to Antonia Finnane's book provides a ton of information about Lenin Jackets and other Chinese fashion topics. There are many other resources available. This question is specifically about this specific photo.

Extra Info:

This photo shows a woman in a light colored lenin jacket as does this photo. They clearly show that it isn't a Mao suit. It closes at a position offset from center,  and is of a different, more feminine cut than a Mao suit.


texts: Historiography and the uses of history in the Second French Empire?

texts:
The Pre(r)amble: Over the past few months I've gotten interested in the development of history and historiography in Victorian England, and how the Victorians saw themselves reflected in and contrasted by past societies. I've read several historians who claimed that the nineteenth was a uniquely 'historical' century, in which rising secularism, the idea of progress, and other broad trends pushed historical explanations to the fore, so that they increasingly supplied the "just-so" stories of the new generations. To give an example, as the British Empire reached its height there was a resurgence of interest in ancient Rome, which was used to analyze, support, and critique British imperialism.

This in turn got me wondering if there were comparable movements in  nearby European countries during the second half of the 19th century, particularly in France and the German states. For this question I'd like to ask about the French.

My Question: Was there a comparable interest in history in France during the later half of the nineteenth century? If so, what periods were of interest, and what uses were they put to? Did history make itself known in art and literature? Was it used by or against the French state, or in relation to French colonialism?

Important Caveats:

I suspect that history in France under Napoleon III would have been dominated by the shadows of Napoleon Bonaparte and the Revolution, so I want to be clear that I'm asking about how the French used history outside of their own living memory. An answer about, say, the attitude of the Second French Empire to the French Revolution, is not what I'm looking for. But if there were French historians commenting on the Revolution in the guise or context of, say, Greek classicism, that would be a perfect fit.
Finally, though I've used Second French Empire as a conveniently narrow frame of reference, I would be very happy with answers that touched on the adjoining Second and Third Republics. My main area of interest is the second half of the nineteenth century.


texts:
I study maths and torii come up a bit, and same goes for physics with tokamak fusion reactors, for instance. In popular science talks, sometimes people say "torus" but most people are familiar with them as "doughnuts" or occaisonally "rings". So I'm wondering, is it just a brilliant coincidence that there is a mainstream "western" food of such value to maths communication?

Apparently Jews eat Sufganiyah during Hannuka, and from my research the spheroidal shape is advantageous as filling can be injected to a higher pressure with less chance of a leakage, such as would occur at corners on something with faces. Ok, I can acquiesce for that, but as far as my (very limited, Australian) doughnut experience goes, there is rarely any filling inside the toroidal doughnuts.

Potential advantages that come to mind is that the hole could've allowed food-stall/vendors to put the doughnuts onto a rack/skewer. Other than that, the only reasonable answers I can think of concern aesthetics, and surface area. A toroidal doughnut has slightly greater surface area than a spheroidal one, and is more compact than a rectangular/linear form, such as that of a churro, but I'm not sure how vital this is.

Do the historians have any insight?

Wikipedia states that Hanson Gregory claims he invented the toroidal doughnut in response to the center of a flatter, spheroidal doughnut not being cooked. Does this explain the popularity? Later the article claims that the "nut" part of "doughnut" was added to the center as it didn't need to be cooked, which feels a little.... contradictory.


texts: The architecture is Greco-Roman, with all the usual attributes. But was it really built in antiquity? It was discovered in the early 19th Century (supposedly), but became a popular tourist destination only in the 1980's. There's sand from abrasive blasting all over the place. Some tool-carrying locals are always fussing inside. Some people have suggested that the whole thing was built as a set for the Indiana Jones movie. Is there any proof that it's genuine?


texts: Did the Allies ever seriously contemplate a "Northern Intervention" in Russia during World War II?

texts:
Late in World War I, Britain and America conducted a Northern Intervention around the Russian ports of Murmansk and Archangel to try to prevent the occupation of northern Russia by either the Germans or the Bolsheviks (thereby helping the anti-Bolsheviks during the Russian Civil War).

In 1941 and 1942, Winston Churchill, at least, contemplated Operation Jupiter,a proposed invasion of Norway that might have required the forces actually used later in Operation Torch. The reason for a Norwegian invasion would be to secure shipping routes to Murmansk and Archangelsk for Lend Lease aid.

Did either Churchill or Roosevelt ever seriously consider the possibility of another "Northern Intervention" to save at least part of Russia in case of a Russian collapse on the eastern front?


texts: How was Russian AFV production affected by the relocation of factories during WWII, after the German invasion of 1941?

texts:
How was Russian AFV production affected by the relocation of factories during WWII, post the German invasion of 1941? They went on to out-produce the Germans by around 3-1 in tanks from 1942 onwards.

Assuming that the Russians hadn't relocated their factories, how would AFV production have been affected on both sides?  Could the Germans have used captured tank factories to produce their own tanks?

Did the Germans consider bombing "Tankograd"?  - It is a ~2k mile round trip from Moscow, so did they even have the capability?  (I am aware the He-177 had nearly that range)


texts: What are the earliest examples in history where one state/people stepped in to rescue another?

texts:
I started wondering about this after watching yet another World War II movie where the European people are freed by Mother Russia and Uncle Sam and also helped in their recovery.

What are the earliest examples in history where anything like that happens, especially where the rescued population is given long term support in economic development, wellbeing, etc. following the war (without necessarily being colonized)?

Also, as a sub-question, are there any similar examples outside the Western world?


texts: Why was Europe so technologically and culturally advanced?

texts:
In history, why were European populations so advanced, if compared to other populations, such as native Americans?

What's the reason why Europeans were so good in technology and science? Why did Europeans use money instead barter?

Also, was Greece the birthplace of this "technology and culture"?


texts: Did Soviet Influence Improve Women's Rights in the Middle East?

texts:
I'd like to know if my impression is correct: that women in the Middle East enjoyed substantially better rights and respect around the 50s-70s than they did before and after, owing largely to the power of secular dictators supported by the USSR, and thus influenced by their seemingly egalitarian ideology?  I recall seeing documentaries where Egyptian women in the 60s were wearing pretty much western clothing, down to the swimwear, which is unthinkable in today's Egypt.

The main counter point I can think of is that women in Iran also seemed to have it better before the Islamic revolution, and the Shah's anti-communist regime was backed by the USA.  So perhaps it was something in the zeitgeist of the time which was a mix of various liberal and socialist influences?

This article gives a taste of the contrast:

  Why is it that men did not harass Egyptian women when they wore short
  skirts but that sexual harassment has increased against women in head
  scarves? When ultraconservative doctrine dehumanizes women, reducing
  them to objects, it legitimizes acts of sexual aggression against
  them.

I would like someone who is familiar with the subject matter to explain what the reality was, preferably citing something to justify their analysis.


texts: What British WW1 uniform is depicted on this photo from Taunton?

texts:
I am trying to research my grandfather’s WW1 service record. All I have to go on is this photo, which has a Taunton photography studio on the back. I think it might be the Somerset Light Infantry, but the uniform has some differences/oddities and I don’t know what that says about the specifics of rank/battalion etc.

There’s no piping down the front of the tunic and there are flap pockets at his hips. Also the collar and cuffs appear to be the same color or shade as the rest of the tunic. He had a very common name, so any information to narrow down the search would be greatly appreciated!


texts: How was the conflict between Henry II of England and Thomas Becket affected by the Concordat of Worms?

texts:
In my limited reading about Henry II of England and his conflict with Thomas Becket, I don't remember learning about Holy Roman Emperor Henry V.

Is there any evidence that Henry II of England or Thomas Becket mentioned, thought about and/or referenced the Concordat of Worms (or the preceding conflicts)?


texts: Journeys from Gujarat in India to Dare es Salaam in what was then, Tanganyika in 1925 and 1948

texts: I am researching a journey for a novel where my character travels from Gujarat in India to Dare es Salaam in what was then, Tanganyika. The journey happens in 1925 and then again in 1948. Does anyone know of any descriptive accounts; where the ship might have stopped, conditions?


texts:
In his memoirs about his personal life as a slave and slavery in general, Moses Grandy on page 65 claims that:

  The proprietors, though they live in luxury, generally die in debt: their negroes are so hardly treated, that no profit is made by their labor. Many of them are great gamblers. At the death of a proprietor, it commonly happens that his coloured people are sold towards paying his debts.

Is his claim that the horrible  treatment of the slaves caused them to be not profitable correct?


texts: Was there a US state where video games were banned by accident?

texts:
I remember reading about some US state that banned video games up until something like the mid-seventies, not intentionally, but as collateral damage of a vaguely worded law intending to ban slot machines. But I can't find any reference to it; Google keeps thinking I'm asking about individual games banned because of their content.
Am I remembering correctly, and if so, which state was it?


texts:
I am trying to identify the ship in this picture in order to date the photograph.
The writing on the back says it is "Aquatania" (sic) but when I search for that name on the internet the Aquitania has four funnels and this one only has two.


texts: Who are the modern descendants of the Khazar people?

texts:
The Khazars where a people who built an empire centred North of the Caucasus Range, between the 7th and 11th centuries. They are not at all mainstream (at least in Europe), even though, defeating the Arabs, they prevented their expansion in present day Southern Russia.

They were of Turkic origin and (apparently) converted in mass to Judaism.

The meaning of my question is broad: I'm interested in genetic as well as cultural heritage, which includes religion - but please do abstain from discussing the legitimacy of modern day Israel here.
I believe there's plenty of space elsewhere on the internet for such an interesting but different topic. Thank you. If you do not understand the above disclaimer, ignore it.

EDIT: A new study has been published by Oxford UP that revives the Ashkenazim hypotesis. I do not have the means to judge it, but must be serious if it's been published here


texts: How many lives were estimated to have been saved by the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs?

texts:
**President Truman in a August 9, 1945 radio address to the American people, outlined the reasons why we dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima (and later Nagasaki)

I realize the tragic significance of the atomic bomb.
Its production and its use were not lightly undertaken by this Government. But we knew that our enemies were on the search for it. We know now how close they were to finding it. And we knew the disaster, which would come to this Nation, and to all peace-loving nations, to all civilization, if they had found it first.
That is why we felt compelled to undertake the long and uncertain and costly labor of discovery and production.**
We won the race of discovery against the Germans. Having found the bomb we have used it. We
have used it against those who attacked us without warning at Pearl
Harbor, against those who have starved and beaten and executed
American prisoners of war, against those who have abandoned all
pretense of obeying international laws of warfare. We have used it
in order to shorten the agony of war, in order to save the lives of
thousands and thousands of young Americans.

How many lives did Truman's military experts estimate would be saved (on the Japanese/American sides) by dropping the two atom bombs?
How many lives do modern military historians estimate were saved by the two atom bombs?


texts: How were Martello towers supposed to work?

texts:
Having recently seen a Martello tower on the East coast of England, I tried to find-out what the defensive strategy was supposed to be - but the internet seems very short on information.

The South-East coast of England had 103 of the towers covering a coastline of, maybe 500 miles..? This would put them an average of 5 miles apart. I'm assuming that the artillery of the time would not be able to fire a distance of 2.5 miles - and if they could, it would be extremely inaccurate.

If I were an invading Navy, I would give the towers a wide berth, then I would land my ships at a point equidistant from 2 towers where they would not be able to reach with their cannon, then move inland within this narrow corridor, leaving the towers until they surrendered or starved.

I assume I'm NOT the greatest military mind in history, so, what am I missing?


texts: Where can I find open historical map data?

texts:
I am building an interactive map project, that should draw a political map for any given year. Are there any open resources, that give access to such information? Maybe, as an array of points marking the borders, or the pictures, someway sorted year-by-year. Or, at least, the text list of the world's map changes over the time.

P.S. Yes, I know there already are some applications of the kind, but none of them is pleasant to use, they ain't beautiful and also cannot be used on mobile devices.

P.S.S. If the idea to find these data fails, I would draw the maps myself using some sort of computer drawing software over the scans of the different world atlases. However, as a programmer, I would like to have as little work as possible.


texts: What were the thoughts of the Celts, Romans and other ancient European people about the standing stones which survive from prehistoric times?

texts:
All over Europe, there are monuments of stone such as stonehenge, although many are not so grand as stonehenge is. Contra Asterix, the Celts didn't carve out menhirs and things like that. The stones were already there by the time the Celtic culture came into being.

In medieval times people linked them with Bible stories about the giants that used to roam the earth... says Wikipedia, anyhow.

What did people think about them in ancient, historical times? Did the Romans have any thoughts on who built structures like stonehenge, and for what purpose?


texts: How did the central government of the United States finance itself under the Articles of Confederation?

texts:
The Congress of the Confederation couldn't levy taxes. State governments were the ones with the power to control commerce with other states and nations even. It also has the power to levy tax.

If the unicameral congress was the one responsible for maintaining its continental army, and couldn't levy tax, what was the source of its money?


texts: Why were Albanians the only nation in the Balkans who converted to Islam during the Ottoman occupation?

texts:
The Ottoman Empire conquered the Balkans and occupied it for half a millennium. They managed to convert most of the Albanians to Islam, however, all the other nations in the area remained Christian.

What are the causes of the Albanians being predominantly Muslim, while all the other countries in the Balkans predominantly Christian?


texts: Was malaria worse on Hainan Island than elsewhere in south China?

texts:
I’m reading William Skinner’s “Chinese Society in Thailand” (1957).  He notes that of the various speech-groups from different parts of south China that came to live in Siam, the Hainanese were one of the least prominent, yet they were also the first to strike out beyond Bangkok and the coastal areas to engage in petty trading along the northern riverways in the upcountry.

Skinner postulates several reasons for people from Hainan taking this pioneering role, in place of the Teochius, Hokkiens, Cantonese or Hakkas, who tended to dominate in other areas of endeavor.  One of them has to do with resistance to disease:

  The Hainanese had an advantage in their ingrown resistance to malaria and other tropical fevers.  Informants in upcountry Thailand repeatedly told the writer that Hainanese could go into fever-ridden areas where Teochius would die like flies.  Hainan, of course, lies in more tropical latitudes than any other emigrant area in China, and endemic malaria was more widespread there than in the delta areas of the Teochius or Cantonese. (p. 86)

This seems plausible, but can anyone corroborate it?  Was Hainan known as an especially pestilential place?  Presumably this would have delayed its settlement by Han Chinese earlier on.  Also, has there been any confirmation in medical or genetic studies today?


texts: Why did Danish people not "connect" with neighbor nations until Viking Age?

texts:
I was watching the excellent documentary Historien om Danmark and they basically said Denmark (and Scandinavia as a whole) was pretty much isolated until Viking Age starting in late 8th century (Period: 800 AD – 1066).

I was very curious about this: despite the relatively short distances and the fact of being close to Germans and other northern European nations that could be reached by land, basically they traveled by sea, with little contact with neighboring countries.

Also, before the Viking Age in VIII Century, they could have attacked what is now Germany (they did, but I mean extensively), Poland, Belgium, Holland and even Lithuania and France, traveling near the coast, which is much safer. However, they invaded Scotland and England (which are much further away), traveled to Iceland, Greenland and even North America, with many risks.

On the other hand, the "benefits of civilization" also came to Denmark much later than the rest of Europe, prolonging the Iron Age for centuries in what became known as the Germanic Iron Age and Migration Period. Maybe it's possible that dangers that Danish people might perceive were also perceived by other nations. Or simply other peoples did not want to trade or have dealings with them.

Anyway, my question is: Why did they choose this much riskier path when they could have chosen much safer paths? And why were they so isolated from the rest of Europe until the Viking age?


texts: Did Japan have any continental colonies before modern times?

texts:
Imperial Japan built up an impressive collection of colonies on the Asian mainland due to their uncontested navy and comparatively modern army. Did Japan ever hold any colonies on the mainland before this?

Throughout history, Japan has been a seafaring civilization, and such peoples have sometimes held overseas colonies: ancient Greeks in Asia minor, Vikings in Northern Europe and so on. Are there any records of permanent colonies on continental Asia settled by Japanese in the past?


texts: When was the potato introduced to Mexico?

texts:
There are wild potatoes in Mexico, but eating potatoes are generally cultivars imported from the Andes. They became popular elsewhere after Europeans with sailing ships took them around the world. Today they are readily available in Mexico, and on my last visit I was served a slice of raw potato on top of sushi.

The article "La papa: Apuntes sobre sus orígenes y su domesticación" says that the article "The domestication of roots and tubers in the American tropics" says that potatoes arrived in Mexico subsequent to Europeans, in 1519. According to fao.org, "some evidence suggests cultivated varieties were brought [to Mexico] by Spanish conquerors during the 1500s." The book "Strangers on Familiar Soil" describes La Pérouse bringing potatoes from Chile to California in 1786.

What does the evidence show? Is there a date by which Andean potatoes were definitely present in Mexico?


texts: What is the oldest known work of fiction?

texts:
What is the oldest known work of fiction that we know was meant to be taken as fiction?  I mean to exclude mythologies; the audience of these was meant to believe they were true.  What is the oldest work of fiction where its truth was  never considered?

An example of what I'm looking for: Lysistrata is a work of fiction, and it's audience knew that.  The Egyptian creation myth is a work of fiction, but its audience did not know that.


texts: What caused scientific and cultural decline of East Roman (Byzantine) Empire?

texts:
East Roman Empire (later named "Byzantine" by the West) inherited languages and enormous scientific and cultural achievements of Greeks and Romans. And yet hardly anything new came from Byzantine Empire after 6th century or so, apart from architecture.

Byzantines even managed to forget much of the scientific achievements of Antiquity: even though ancient Greeks knew that the Earth was round and had a decent estimate of its size, centuries later Byzantine depictions of Earth were flat.

I can understand why Dark Ages penetrated the West in the times contemporary to the Byzantine empire. But the Empire itself, with all the access to its Greek and Roman heritage - why did it fail to produce scientific progress, or even to maintain the knowledge it had?


texts: Why did non-monarchic rule meet with so little success in ancient China?

texts:
In the ancient world, the states around the Mediterranean were ruled by various forms of monarchy, aristocracy and democracy, each of which had varying levels of success. Meanwhile, in China, monarchy appears to be the only form of government that was ever in practice, or at least the only one that had any measure of success.

Are there any examples in ancient China of aristocratic or democratic rule being used or at least considered? What were the circumstances in China that made it more suited to monarchic rule than non-monarchic rule?


texts: What is the large blue object on the right in this picture showing Greek fire?

texts:
This well-known image showing a Byzantine dromon type ship using Greek fire has a blue object behind or on the ship on the right for which I have not been able to find any explanation:

Image source: Ancient History Encyclopedia (public domain)

The illustration dates from the 12th century AD and depicts the 821 to 822 AD Siege of Constantinople by Thomas the Slav.

It doesn't look like anything I can even imagine (at least, not from the Middle Ages). What is it?


texts: Has the United States ever had a non-Christian President?

texts:
If Bernie Sanders won the 2020 election, he would be the first Jewish POTUS in American history, regardless of how 'cultural' his Judaism may be. Given this, would his being the first Jewish POTUS also make him, more generally, America's first non-Christian POTUS?

America is a young nation — at least compared to its peers — but there are still a lot of POTUS'es, many of whom I don't know much, if anything, about, and I'm just curious if any of them weren't Christian.

I originally asked this on r/AskHistorians, but apparently it breaks their '20 year rule' thing. Thus, I ask here. :)


texts: Why was the arrival of the Hindenburg considered newsworthy?

texts:
Obviously, no one expected that the Hindenburg would explode during the mooring process, so it the expectation would have been that a passenger aircraft was going to arrive, the passengers would disembark, and that would be it.  This wasn't the first time that a zeppelin had crossed the Atlantic;  it wasn't even the first time the Hindenburg itself had crossed the Atlantic.

So why was a reporter from Chicago in New Jersey to report on the Hindenburg's arrival?


texts: Was the Kingdom of Nri truly pacifistic?

texts:
I have been reading about the Kingdom of Nri, a political entity that lasted from medieval times to 1911. It was apparently pacifistic and saw violence as an abomination on Earth. However, it is stated that the Nri would isolate communities that engaged in certain taboos using a form of ritual siege, which to me seems like something that might require some degree of force.
Also, the kingdom existed during a time of fierce colonialism, which makes it seem like it would be difficult for a truly pacifist state to survive and not be conquered until the early 1900s.
Did the Nri ever engage in violent combat or have others fight on their behalf, or are they a kingdom which could have truly been considered non-violent? The Wiki I have linked to mentions the Kingdom was involved in conflicts, but it doesn't describe whether the Kingdom fought directly in these conflicts or not, how the conflicts were resolved (peacefully or otherwise), or provide much information on what kind of fighting force the Nri had.
I would like someone to provide more information on how the Nri settled conflicts and whether the methods of resolution could be considered peaceful (appeasement, communication between leaders to settle borders, having allies protect the kingdom on their behalf, etc.).


texts: What were the advantages of dual power in the beginning of Castro's Cuba

texts: When discussing Castro's rise to power it occurred to me that he, Castro, was the one who initiated the dual power from January 1959 to November 1959, I have been struggling to find sources as to why he would do this? Why wouldn't he take on full power from the beginning, furthermore as he initiated it himself what was the apparent advantages? - as I only can see disadvantages.


texts: How was Galileo's approach to mathematics different than Descartes's approach?

texts:
According to Galileo "the world is written in the language of mathematics," and a natural philosopher must learn to read it. How did this approach differ from Descartes' notion of a mathematical universe?

Here's what I've come across so far-

Galileo

Invented the telescope, looked at planets, and for the first time,
there was hardcore visual proof that not all astronomical bodies
orbited the Earth.
Got branded a heretic (saved himself by recanting) for it, so Descartes stood down with his ideas since he feared that he'd have to go through the same process.
Was slightly accepted after Descartes laid down that God, being a perfect creature, would never try to deceive us, so we can trust our senses. So Galileo trusted his senses and hence trusted what he saw through the telescope.
Galileo was more focused on coming up with the math to solve math and physics problems.

Descartes

Invented the Cartesian coordinate system and the analytical geometry that we have right now.
Descartes believed that Mathematics was the only certain thing in the universe, hence it could be used to reason things out.
Descartes, unlike Galileo, wanted to develop math so that he could reach any truth whatsoever.


texts: Did Spain and the Republic of China (Kuomintang) have diplomatic relations between 1931 and 1939? Were they friendly or unfriendly?

texts:
The Republic of China and the Kingdom of Spain had relations before 1931 (link). Did they maintain these relations after the Second Spanish Republic was established?

After 1945, the Spanish State under Franco had relations with the Kuomintang-dominated ROC, by then confined to the island of Taiwan (link).

After the Republic was founded, but before Franco's victory over the Republic in 1939, did the ROC have relations with either side? Some individual Chinese communists came over to fight on the Republican side, which presumably would have displeased the ROC. Did they respond by helping Franco, even rhetorically?

The Spanish Civil War and the Chinese wars were contemporaneous, and parallels were drawn frequently both at the time and in later history. Some might say that the fact both were locked in a civil war and would have had little to do with each other, but I respectfully disagree. Both China and Spain had more dealings with foreign countries because of the conflict they were experiencing. And as I established Spain, as a moderately powerful European country, had had relations with China for a long time.

There are two ways to look at this, as I see it:

Everybody in the west, including supporters of the USSR and the USSR itself, wanted Chiang Kai-Shek to win against the Japanese. No-one cared about the Chinese Communist Party. Despite being a right-wing dictator, Chiang found himself on the side of the democracies, and was seen by them as the innocent victim of basically fascist Japanese aggression. So Spain would have supported him. Spain was being attacked by an internal faction vigorously backed by Italy and Germany, the allies of Japan. Like the Spanish government, Chiang was a Republican, fighting against against an enemy that included a lot of monarchists in its ranks. So the Kuomintang rooted for the Spanish Republic.
Chiang was a right-wing dictator. He was fighting against the Communists, and had no love at all for either the West or the Soviets; at a later time he described Britian, America and Russia as 'a robber, a hooligan and a bully'. He would perhaps have heard that some Chinese Communists had gone to aid the republic, which would have made him better-disposed to Franco. The ROC had a long history of collaboration with Germany up to the Nazi era, which was only just starting to unravel. For their part, the Spanish Republic recognised Franco in a man like Chiang, and didn't like it at all. They saw someone on the wrong side of history and wanted the CCP to defeat both him and the Japanese. Which one of these is closer to the truth? Are they both wrong?


texts: Why were there no nuclear detonations in 1959?

texts: According to this visualization there were no nuclear detonations in 1959, and only 3 by France in 1960.  Why were there no nuclear detonations by the USA or USSR in 1959 and 1960 but over 50 in each years before and after this period?


texts: What are the most recommended non-biased books on Egyptian History

texts:
I am new to Egyptology, what are the most recommended non-biased books on Egyptian History, Hieroglyphs, mythology, etc... that are not biased and written by experts in the field?

By non biased, I mean that they were not written by people who tend to brighten (or the opposite) the Egyptian history (for example if they are Egyptians).


texts: Why did marriage and multiple children make Hurrem Sultan special?

texts:
As far as I have learnt there was a princess named Ayesa (Hatun), daughter of Meñli I Giray of Crimean, who was first married off to Shehzade Mehmed, brother  of Sultan Selim 1. After the death of the prince she was married off to Sultan Selim 1. So, we can say, marriage  was not totally  forbidden  for Ottoman dynasties.
So why is it always  said that Sultan Suleiman broke the marriage rule for Hurrem Sultan?
Ref-Breaking with Ottoman tradition, Suleiman married Hurrem, making her his legal wife (Wikipedia)
Walida Hafsa Sultan had 3 children-Sultan Suleiman and two more daughters and Sultan Suleiman  was the eldest of them.  So we can say that the one son - one mother rule had been broken before Hurrem came. So why is it said that Hurrem Sultan was the first Sultana who gave birth to more children even after giving birth to a son?
Ref-Hurrem was allowed to give birth to more than one son which was a stark violation of the old imperial harem principle, "one concubine mother — one son,"  Wikipedia


texts: Where can I find this paper by Jean Buridan?

texts: I'm trying to make a timeline of momentum for my physics class and I keep running across a paper by Jean Buridan called QM XII.9: 73ra. I don't know what any of this means, and I don't know how to find the work on my own. If someone could help me find it or tell me how to decipher the title that would be great. Thanks.


texts: Is the Western Wall the only remaining portion of the Second Temple?

texts:
I saw a travel blog post recently that claimed that the Western Wall is the only remaining portion of the Second Temple in Jerusalem. At first, I thought this was just a mistake on the part of the blog post's author, but then I found that several other sources (including the Encyclopedia Britannica) say the same thing, though I couldn't find any that cited an academic source and/or explained their reasoning for making that claim.

So, my question is, is there some reasonable interpretation of the claim that the Western Wall is the only remaining portion of the Second Temple that is consistent with current archaeological and historical evidence? And, if so, what precisely is that construction of the claim?

Note that "Herodian-era" in this question means built in the time of Herod the Great, during his expansion of the Temple Mount in the first century BC, which was toward the end of the Second Temple period.

Some sub-questions that would need to be answered to answer that this question:

Is the claim that the Western Wall is the only remaining portion of the actual temple building from the Second Temple period or that it is the only remaining portion of the temple complex from the Second Temple Period?
If the claim is that it's the only remaining portion of the actual Second Temple building, was the Western Wall indeed considered to be part of the temple building? My understanding (having been there) is that the actual temple building is completely gone (demolished by the Romans when they sacked Jerusalem in 70 AD) and stood somewhere near the location where the Dome of the Rock stands today and that the Western Wall, while part of the temple complex, was not part of the temple itself, though perhaps this is where I'm mistaken.
If the claim is that the Western Wall is the only remaining portion of the Second Temple complex, what is the basis for the claim that it's the only remaining portion? How would this reconcile with the seeming continued existence of several Herodian-era (i.e. late Second Temple Period) portions of the Southern Wall and its Temple Mount entrance area and even older portions of the Eastern Wall (some of which, from my understanding, date from the Second Temple period, including both Herodian and pre-Herodian and some of which even date to the First Temple period?) The Western Wall itself is also Herodian-era, as far as I know.

So, a good answer would explain the basis on which the claim is being made and specifically why the remaining part of the Western Wall is considered to be a remaining part of the Second Temple, but the remaining parts of the Southern and Eastern Walls are not, despite apparently being built at the same time by Herod the Great during his expansion of the Temple Mount.

For those who may not be as familiar with the present appearance of the site, this is a relatively-recent aerial photo from Wikipedia. The photo is facing the Southern Wall. The Western Wall is on the left; the Eastern Wall is on the right. The whole area inside the walls is what is known as the Temple Mount.

Image source: Wikipedia

By the way, I'm primarily interested in what is supported by archaeological and/or historical evidence, though if the claim were based primarily on some religious tradition, that would be interesting to know, too.

Given that my question is mostly about the history of the temple complex in Jerusalem, I figured that the History Stack Exchange would probably be a better fit than, say, Skeptics or Mi Yodeya, but please let me know if you think this doesn't belong here for some reason.


texts: What kind of rifle used this shell case?

texts: Please, anyone able to tell me what kind of shell is it and what mean this symbol  on the bottom ?  Is it from 1917?


texts: How important were reprints of scientific articles in scientific practice and communications before the the copier, the computer and the internet?

texts:
Reprints of articles from scientific journals seem to have been an important part of scientific practice before the copying machine and the internet. Authors of articles were given a number of those reprints to share with their peers in times when going to a library and put it on a copying machine or simply downloading a pdf file were not an option.

I am interested in how reprints ("Sonderdrucke" as we call them in German) shaped scientific practice. Were they a social factor? (Probably) Who paid for them and why? What kind of impact had the relative scarcity of reprints in comparison to today?

I would be especially grateful for specific info on that topic around 1900 and for case studies from the history of biology (doesn't have to be from 1900).


texts: Is there any way to find out which unit of the US army of occupation took control of US HQ in Munich after April 30th, 1945?


texts: Are there any records related to the relations between Turkey and USSR in 1920's? I know about the letter from Ataturk to Lenin (in Turkish) but nothing more.


texts: Have there been any lawsuits over gerrymandering outside the United States?

texts:
In countries that use first-past-the-post legislative elections, drawing district maps that have political effects is called Gerrymandering. It is famously seen as shameless but nearly impossible to prevent. In the lawsuit-happy United States of America, lawsuits over redistricting (delimitation) have gone to the Supreme Court repeatedly.

India, the United Kingdom, Canada, Pakistan, and Malaysia also use first-past-the-post and also hear complaints about their district maps (several examples are given in Delimitation in India by Alistair McMillan). However, have these concerns been litigated outside of the United States? Cursory searching suggests not, but surely some disenfranchised minorities in those countries have also sued for redress?


texts: Why didn't China assist in the Vietnam War like they did in Korea?

texts:
In the Korean War (1950 - 1953), China sent in about 1 million troops fairly quickly and actually fought the American and UN forces. In the Vietnam War (1950's - 1975), the only Chinese assistance I could find was a few thousand troops sent to do repair work on military bases. They did not fight the South Vietnamese or Americans.

EDIT 2: I have since learned that the Chinese actually sent over one hundred thousand troops into Vietnam. It appears they did fight the Americans in an anti-aircraft role from the ground. Nevertheless, this does not seem anywhere near equivalent to the ground war in Korea where their goal was presumably to reunite the Korean Peninsula.

Why did China support the one but not the other? They were both neighboring states of China. There are also two facts about the Korean War that I find critical: (1) The US had the atomic bomb in the 50's, but China intervened anyway. (2) Mao Zedong was in power with a "healthy" cult of personality and could have ordered just about any war he wanted, at least with a nearby country. These two facts remained the same in the Vietnam war.

So why did China not assist North Vietnam in a similar scale as they did in Korea? Did they perhaps know the US could never win in such a quagmire and thus didn't have much to worry about?


texts: Use separation papers to identify a US soldier's WWII service in Northern France GO 46 WD 45

texts:
My father was a US soldier in WWII. This is on my Father's Separation Papers.

  William M Boer 32 000 120.

Along with:

  Central Europe GO 48 WD 45.

He was issued an EAME Service Ribbon, 3 Bronze Service Stars, American Defense Service Ribbon and a Good Conduct Service Medal.

I'm trying to figure out the path he took in Europe and the dates, etc.
He was a Supply NCO 821. He was in the Headquarters Battery, 44th Division Artillery.


texts: Help needed to identify this badge, probably from World War Two


texts: What date did Henry Morgan capture his most famous flagship, the "Satisfaction"?

texts:
When Henry Morgan captured the French privateer ship, "Le Cerf Volant" he rechristened it the "Satisfaction" and used it as his flagship until it was lost near Panama in 1671 during a mission to capture a Spanish fort, the Castillo de San Lorenzo. A wreck some believe is the Satisfaction was found in 2011 by a team of archaeologists funded by the Captain Morgan's Rum company.

I cannot seem to find any resources that say when Henry Morgan captured the ship.

What date did Henry Morgan capture the "Satisfaction"?


texts: Little jogs on the western border of Maryland/ WV border

texts: If you look at a map of Maryland and West Virginia. You will see the western border of Maryland is a nice straight line North to South meridian, except for 3 little right angle jogs. One seems to be only about 300 - 500 feet. I have looked at  court decisions on the "Fairfax Line" but I have not found any explanation on these little jogs. There seems to be no physical reason or town or road. To me it is a curious question as to why there is not a straight North to South surveyed border. There is one East to West (Mason-Dixon) Line. Any thoughts?


texts: What was the origin and purpose of the "Montes"?

texts:
Reading History of the Popes, by von Ranke, the author mentions the creations of several Montes (one of them is Monte Pío). Does anyone know what is the date of the first Monte ever created and what were their purposes?

EDIT:

A translation of the the text of The History of the Popes: Their Church and State by Leopold von Ranke is also available on Archive.org.


texts: What did "Propaganda" mean to Germans during WW2?

texts:
The "Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda" was the primary vehicle that the Nazis had used to enforce Nazi ideology and centralise Nazi control of German culture and thinking.
"Propaganda" literally means "biased information often used to promote a political cause".

It seems strange that the Nazi's had bluntly called this division the "ministry of propaganda" given that  propaganda is a tool that seems to work most effectively when people aren't aware that they are being indoctrinated. Are people not less likely to believe something if they are explicitly told that it has been skewed in order to be convincing and manipulative?

Was the understanding of the concept of "propaganda" different in Nazi Germany?
Did calling it "the ministry of propaganda" have no effect on the way the propaganda was received by the population?