I'm sorry if it doesn't fit here because it's not a question about an specific event in history. I want to know how can an average person can help preserve history for future historians or ordinary people.

For example, if there's only one narrative on a topic, it could be easy to someone to alter even unintentionally. But if there are several sources, we can get a more comprehensive idea of how events unfolded. This doubt came into mind when reading about one of the most documented historical events and its atrocities, and how there are large amounts of people denying it ever happened several decades later.

I'm an average Joe with a computer, smartphone and internet. Can I keep (legal) copy of local documents and share them over a network? Can I back up documents about other countries' past events being denied in their nations? Is there a way to contribute to it locally ?

Thank you historians!

I imagine it must’ve been confusing and possibly surrounded by folklore/myth as to why sometimes touching a metal doorknob could produce a shock and a flash of light or how blankets could spark when moved around a lot.

Are there any historic accounts as to what people used to believe this phenomena was?

Hello,

I recall years ago hearing or reading a story about Hitler suspecting that the Allies had cracked the Enigma code machine. Testing this, and Churchill, Hitler basically broadcast that the Luftwaffe was going to bomb either an orphanage or a site housing many orphans.

I now cannot find nearly any info about this online but swear that I have heard this story multiple times..

Can someone help me get to the bottom of this?

Many thanks in advance.

I'm not sure if it's a cliché or a fact that every noble or lord or promising prince or whatever they called them back then has this guide, this helper, this advisor that are way smarter then them.

Was that really the case back then? If so, how come? I mean aren't royalties supposed to be the educated ones, ones with the broader visions in any case? Smarter, better. I'm not saying they had to be the geniuses or advisors couldn't have been just simply bunch of smart people but nowadays, almost every tv show for example, has these side characters that are often ignored even though they are clearly smart.

Is it because of their upbringing, their social status? I mean are they smarter because they know about poverty, being a commoner, having limits in their lives so that it give them more perspective? Are royals' or noblemen's judgements doomed to be clouded because of who they are? Being out of touch with their folks and others? What made these advisors so wise that royalties couldn't see what they see and how come? Is it really not a brainer or something to think about?

I do notice that there aren't many big cities in Virginia, but then this does raise the question of why there aren't many major cities in the state.

Story telling is a fundamental human activity, but im wondering if and how early cultures encorporates play into story telling. Thoughts?

The reason I ask this is because while reading the Old Testament of the Bible I’ve noticed that the Hebrews usually say that their god is the most powerful/most deserving of worship, but very rarely do they explicitly take the position of their god being the only one that exists. Let’s use Baal for example. Did the Israelites believe that Baal was real, but easily vanquished by their god, Yahweh/Jehovah?

I admit, my knowledge about Malta is pretty thin. I know the Knights of Malta had it for ages, and then somehow the British have it by World War Two (and I think WWI).

So how did a country not even that close to the Mediterranean somehow get Malta?

I recently decided to pick up Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey and it got me thinking about the Peloponnesian War, which the game takes place in. I have some understanding of the war itself, and I know that there were some events in the war that ultimately led to the downfall of Athens, like the plague that struck Athens and killed Pericles, as well as Athens losing the invasion of Sicily. But I’m curious: Was there a way that Athens could have won the war? Sparta is always depicted in media as a powerhouse when it came to war, so could Athens ever overcome Sparta’s military?

Hello,

I'm a freshman history student from Belgium. My question is actually more of a two-part question. First I want to know where I could find a stemma codicum of Fulcher of Chartres' Historia Hierosolymitana and if there is no such thing I'd like to know where I could find the original manuscript of Fulcher of Chartres' Historia Hierosolymitana? Thanks in advance!

Also if someon would know if there exists a codicological analysis of his original manuscript I'd like to know where I could find that too cause in both Hagenmayer's and Finks' editions (I know Fink based himself on Hagenmeyer) I can't seem to find anything about it.

I know this question isn't the usual stuff on this sub, but it still seems like an approriate question for this sub. What better group to ask such a question than a historian?

I know almost nothing of African history and to my knowledge, there is very little about Africa that was preserved because many African nations did not manage to advance to develop linguistics or primacy sources like letters or documents that made archeological/historical tracing possible.

But when I encounter this name, it is always the same that this person was the richest person ever lived.

So how accurate is this claim and if so, how were we able to interpret this with much accuracy given that African sources or sources about Africa are quite scarce?

I often find it a minefield when I’m looking for books on history, particularly recent history. I’d love to find an impartial resource that can recommend great books to read on a particular topic.

Time is insanely valuable and I’d hate to waste it reading a book that’s uninformed, heavily biased or otherwise. Although I can of course see the merit in reading books in the same topic from different biases as long as they’re not playing fast and loose with the basic facts.

I tend to get interested in one particular topic for a while that I want to read about before switching to something else completely different. If I could cut down the anguish of searching for the best books on each topic it would be so helpful. I don’t have massive amounts of free time so I like to make the most use of it when it comes to reading.

Any advice on where to seek out the best books to read would be really helpful.

I'm going to be visiting Norway and I'm looking for books on the history of Norway. Focus on the sociopolitical history, mainly (but not limited to) the time after the Vikings. A quick search returned two books titled 'A History of Norway', and 'Scandinavia: A History', but they do not seem very thorough.

Thanks!

So I was talking to a friend about American interventionism, and he mentioned that one of the primary causes for the US's involvement in the war was out of fear the British, French and Russians would default on their debts if they lost the war. Was the sinking of the Lusitania used as a pretext, like the explosion of the Maine in the Spanish American war, to justify their other reasons?

I knew there was a significant amount of trade between the Allies and the US for materials, but not enough to justify joining such a horrible war.

I should also mention my friend is a diehard Marxist so I'm wondering if this is just an attempt to throw shade at the Military Industrial Complex

Hey there! I just want to preface this by saying I checked the book recommendations on this reddit and couldn't find one quite matching what I'm looking.
Essentially, I am looking for a present for a tutor who was at my school for over 30 years, transformed the lives of dozens of people, and has been forced to retire due to the COVID 19 pandemic. He was an expert in languages, graduating from Oxford, and erudite on German history. Essentially, the book can be in English, French or German and ought to be more than a balanced general book and more of an academic text.

He had a niche interest in Medieval German history, in particular Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II. Do any historians here who are proficient in Holy Roman Imperial history have any recommended books on this person? I ask here as, since he is an academic, he would likely benefit most from an academic's recommendation. I'm a theologian so other than Church histories not sure where would be best to start for a proper text on this person.

Hey all,

I’m about to start reading the third and last book of the “Three-Body Problem” trilogy by Liu Cixin, and I can’t help but think about the questions posed in the subject line. The only references to public criticism of the plaques/records that I have found apparently have to do with the depiction of naked human bodies on them, which is an hilariously petty topic compared to the type of criticism I was thinking of.

As it goes, one of the series’ key themes is the answer to the Fermi Paradox.

Long-story short, and avoiding any substantial spoilers, the possible answer to the Fermi Paradox proposed in the book is that, while sentient life is relatively common in the universe, we cannot find any signs of it because no sufficiently advanced society would ever want to purposefully reveal its position in the universe, as they would have no way of controlling who would listen to said message and what would that other life form make of it. It’s heavily implied that by the time a society would have radio transmission capabilities that would allow it to earmark its world as if it were a flashing lighthouse in the dark, they would have already learnt/concluded that that is not something you should do unless you want to risk extinction.

While Cixin certainly looks like an imaginative fellow, I wouldn’t expect this type of thoughts to completely escape the minds of the people that were involved in the concept of the Pioneer plaque / the Voyager Golden Record.

After all, we do have plenty of historical precedent for this type of events within our own world - pre-Columbian America vs the arrival of European conquistadores, Manikongo and its (ruinous) invite to the Portuguese, China’s Lost Century (clearly another major theme/topic in the series, the writer being Chinese) compared Japan’s successful seclusion and avoidance of European interference... the examples are too many too count.

In other words what I’m asking is: wasn’t anyone even remotely worried that we were including the Solar System’s coordinates in the Pioneer/Voyager plaques? Did no one ever say “murderous, enslaving space invaders” out loud in any of those meetings?

And what about the USSR and other powers, weren’t they concerned and do we know what they thought of it?

Thanks!