I was taking out the trash yesterday, and I immediately thought of this sub-reddit, because I couldn’t place any of my trash in a historical context. Beer bottles? Plastic wrap for produce? Leftovers? It struck me as incredibly odd for a moment, that every almost single human today produces trash on a daily basis, and every household has at least one trashcan in their house and needs to find a way to routinely manage their own trash...

Did trash always exist? What forms did trash take?

If we were to travel a few centuries back - can we expect the average household to be producing something that can only be termed as “trash” ? (i.e. not food scraps that would become fertiliser, or broken plates or items that would likely be repaired, or at worst, not become a daily task)

And if we were to travel even more - to, say, ancient greece or ancient china, would there exist the concept of trash?

(If the scope is too long, let’s pinpoint a time and place in pre-industrial society: 1400s, England. Did households, castles, farms and the like produce any “trash” or have some conception of it similar to what we have today?)

I’ve been watching a pirate show, and like most of these shows, they use muskets first then charge with swords to the other ship. Wouldn’t it be have been better to fire hundreds of arrows rapidly before boarding the enemy ship instead of using a slow reloading musket.

Constitution doesn't specifically mention that it has to be firearms, and you can arm yourself with a wide variety of weapons that aren't firearms (knives, batons, bows, etc). Here in California, the carry of certain knives is heavily regulated and the carry of batons here is almost strictly illegal without a baton permit. Is there any historic case law pertaining to this?

So, in the beginning of the 5th century, a large group of barbarian tribes has crossed into the territory of the WRE across the frozen Rhine river. Now, I read that Stilicho couldn't raise enough men because the state couldn't bare the expense. My question is why didn't Romans abandon an unreliable foedus system and raise local romanised militia or revert to the land grant system for the army like the ERE did 3 centuries later to help against the arab invasions?

I have understood that the Carthaginian army during the Punic wars was composed of people from different nationalities and languages, example: Numidians, Iberians, Gauls etc. So how did Hannibal command his troops? I imagine they met before battle with his high ranking officers that were probably from Carthage and then the troops just had to follow them. right? How would that work?

Disclaimer - there will no doubt be spoilers in this post.

I am 3 episodes away from finishing the Narcos series and was wondering if we could dive into Escobar's life a bit. I want to know more about him and his life. How much of the show is factual? Some of the specific events that I'm interested in knowing if are true include

• Pablo losing all of his money, going to live on his father's farm with his last associate only to find the half million dollars he buried to be rotted.

• Pablo's family living with him during the multiple attacks

• Pablo killing Carrillo point blank

• The anecdote his mother recalls about Pablo being the man of the house by age 7 or 8.

There are a TON of events that took place in Season 1 and 2 that I'd like to know are factual. There are a lot of events that you know are factual because they show the actual footage in the show but I'd love to know about the more nuanced things.

I would also love some suggestions for reading. Books, articles, or anything you have that will give me a more in-depth look into Escobar's life would be helpful.

I have other questions but for now, in a nutshell, they are, how accurate/factual are the events surrounding Pablo depicted in Narcos? And where can I learn more about Pablo's personal life?

I hope this not too scattered as I am really interested to know what you all have to add to this discussion. Take care.

I'm trying to find what I love and want to pursue as a possible career, and I've always loved history as long as I can remember. So I figured why not look into the becoming a professor or teacher as a possible career.

I don't know much about this part surrounding the process and career options, I've done a little research, but I figured I'd come here and see what people have to say.

I was curious as to the difference in qualifications between a high school teacher and a college professor? I know schooling can be quit long and expensive, but what is that experience like and what does it entail? How difficult can schooling be while working a full time job?

I can't think of anymore questions but I'm sure I'll think of some later. If anyone took the time to read this thank you. If you have anything to add whether it be specifically to what I asked or not anything at all would be appreciated. I also hope this doesn't violate any specific rules here...

I'm not a Christian and do not have an extensive understanding of the Bible, nor the history of it, but I've heard from videos and from various articles that there is not any evidence that the Israelites were enslaved by the Ancient Egyptians. Nor is there any supposed evidence that there was a mass Exodus of Israelites out of Egypt into what is Today Israel, Palestine and Jordan.

So is there any evidence whatsoever that early Israelites were, in fact, enslaved by the ancient Egyptians? Or is it more likely the whole story was fabricated for the Book of Genesis?

Italians angrily critiquing nontraditional pasta has become something of a meme (see Gordon Ramsay, Binging with Babish, etc's carbonara videos). One thing that people actually do that is agreed upon as both traditional and the correct culinary technique is salting the pasta water.

But not so long ago salt was a valuable commodity! There's no way people would waste 90% of their salt by diluting it in a quart of water and only using half a cup in their sauce, right? So when and where did the tradition come from? Or did salting your water "as salty as the sea" come from literally using seawater?

From an outsider point of view and leaving aside its (quite obvious) musical/sound/asthetic traits, whats called Country music has always kinda meant "north american white folk music", in a short of fake dualism with black people's folk music.

Has that always been the case? Was there a separation and paralel development of those two music traditions BEFORE recodings (the lomaxes, codification and all that) or was it some kind of later development and, in a way, a reactionary move in a time when all American white teens were loosing it for black people's music?

Thanks!

I have always wanted to know why we use it is there a historical reason

During the 800-1300 time span, what caused the rise of one king ruler-ship instead of several kings/chiefs. Basically, the rise of monarchy

The common perception of a medieval executioner is a man in a black mask with a big axe. But why bother trying to maintain anonymity? Surely in a medieval society it would be next to impossible to do so?

Medieval towns and cities were (relatively speaking) small communities and prominent citizens would be well known to most inhabitants. If everyone knew who the tanner or the baker or the farrier was it seems unlikely that people wouldn’t also know exactly who the town executioner was.

Mask or no mask, if your friend Henry is paid by the local lord, works daily in the jail, is often seen sharpening a big axe and is mysteriously absent every time there’s a public execution; it surely wouldn’t take long to figure out he was the one carrying out the execution.

America has a long tradition of strong anti-monarchism with the tradition of 2 terms being strongly enforced ever since Washington. Did the republican opposition during the elections of 1940 and 1944 make this an important talking point? And why was FDR still able to continue his presidency, while after him the 2-term rule stayed in american political tradition?

I recently visited The Hermitage in Nashville (Andrew Jackson Homestead). What kind of qualifications do the people who work there (or any place similar) have? I'm passionate about the American Revolution but I don't have a degree. Could I work at a historic site?

I am looking for a text with particular emphasis on important and relevant military events and battles, and their constituent factors like the strategy and tactics, terrain, classification and evolution of weapons, composition of troops etc. To expand on the title, it would be favorable if this text encompasses all three shogunate eras(Kamakura, Ashikaga, Tokugawa), although I wouldn't mind any single era either.

For some context, I am already reading a related book( Warrior Rule in Japan by Marius Jansen), but it focuses particularly on the governance and feudal aspects over the three eras, rather than the core military aspects I was looking for.

Eisenhower wanted the holocaust documents to be gathered, all of them, because he thought his was too incredible that no one would believe it. But then they use that argument that well, it really is unbelievable, in that it isn't true.

With all we have seen in recent years about mischievous behaviors, people lying, cover ups, all sorts of crimes, Epstein, Panama papers, Iraq WMD bullcrap, etc. , well how can we really argue? Governments do all sorts of things.

Me for example, I take the holocaust happening as true. Because I had it in school. But when I think about it, devil's advocate, I actually am believing something I have not seen nor researched myself. I believe something as fact blindly. (I mean my grandmother was at Auschwitz, and I believe her, but still). But really, how can we unequivocally say to the deniers out there that the documentation is real and it did happen?

Does it really just come down to looking at Jew population before/after ww2 and then we extrapolate from that?

One of the reasons that is often pointed to for Portugal and Spain exploring the Atlantic is that they were searching for a new route to the Spice Islands after the Ottomans monopolized the spice trade with Europe. My understanding is that in response to the Ottoman monopoly, Portugal was able to round the Cape of Good Hope, conquer a number of coastal cities, and monopolize the trade in spices themselves until the arrival of the Dutch in the Indian Ocean. Is this understanding correct, and if so what did the Ottomans do to try to stop it?

Bangladesh used to be East Pakistan and it did not end up well. Why were they given Bangladesh?

I’m Dr Adrastos Omissi and I’m a lecturer in Ancient History at the University of Glasgow, UK. My work focuses on civil war, court culture, and the control of memory in the late Roman period (3rd-5th centuries AD). I have a book, ‘Emperors and Usurpers in the Later Roman Empire’. I write a lot about panegyric (formal speeches of praise to emperors and senior political figures) and how those speeches shaped both contemporary politics and later history. I’ve also written about the destruction of statues and the control of memory in political contexts. I teach Roman history from the 3rd century BC to the 5th AD, including a module on warfare in the ancient world. I’m also really interested in language and language history (my first ever journal publication provided the definitive etymology for the ‘liberty cap mushroom’). Looking forward to your questions – Ask Me Anything!