The horrible and gruesome experiments conducted by Mengele on Jewish Holocaust victims is well documented. Most notably his experimentation on sets of twins. After the fall of Nazi Germany and Mengele's famous escape to Argentina and avoidance of Nuremberg war crime charges, prosecution and punishment, was any of his notes and findings recovered by allied liberators, and utilized in future, more ethical studies? The horrific nature of Mengele's experiments is unquestionable. Yet one would think that scientific peers could've taken his recovered data - however unethical his experiments might have - and applied it to more ethical branches of science and understanding.

I am writing a fanfiction set in a roughly-Medieval fantasy world, so there is some leeway with historical accuracy, but I was curious as to whether second floor fireplaces existed during that period, even if only for the wealthy elite.

I am planning a scene that takes place on a second floor during a snowstorm, so the question of “how do these characters not freeze to death?” is definitely in mind! If 2nd floor fireplaces were not invented until later, roughly when did that occur? I would also appreciate any resources detailing the materials/design of the fireplace itself. Thank you!

EDIT: Whoever just commented I’m so sorry but I think Reddit ate your reply! Did you read the rules before commenting? The bot says all rule breaking comments get deleted. Though I haven’t seen it, I appreciate you taking the time to answer!

People seem to take those as rather serious. But I was under the vague impression that Dirndls and Lederhosen were not traditional Tracht but basically urban rich people cosplaying as what they thought rural people dressed.

Is it true that Dirndl an Lederhosen were a Bavarian Biedermeier pastoral fantasy and a fashion statement or is there more to it from a historical point of view? It looks too elaborate to be clothing to be worn when doing farm labour. I am specifically not talking about regional Tracht which was worn to church but the colourful variety which we seem to think were genuine.

The reason why I ask is because I regularily come across Americans and Germans who have misconceptions when it comes to this and I don't feel comfortable enough to point out how this was basically a 150 year old fashion statement and as genuine as JNKOs.

I am looking for a good overview of the Royal Navy and its operations. N.A.M. Rodger's two volumes end in 1815 and I am more interested in the 20th century. I know Robert Massie's Castles of Steel is recommended here often but I read his Dreadnought and was driven mad by all his digressions about private lives of this admiral and that politician so I'd like to avoid that.

I was recently in a discussion with someone who told me that, despite being credited with inventing the precursor to computer software, Grace Hopper's actual invention, the A-0 compiler was more a primitive linkage editor, and that her contributions to the field of computing were negligible. Is this true?

I’ve been trying to read about the arab socialism of the mid-20th century but there’s seems to be a lack of quality literature available to me.

How easy or difficult was it for Americans (as tourists) to visit China in the 1960s? What kind of paperwork would be required? Which places could Americans visit and which places were off limits? Would it be more difficult to get into regions like Tibet and Xinjiang? How many Americans were able to visit China as tourists during this period?

Just how much did Aaron Burr and Thomas Jefferson both loom over Adams? If this is an accurate portrayal, what changed over the years that has since made a similar electoral scenario completely unimaginable?

Any time period, but I am especially interested in post-Korean War time.

I’m basically wondering if alternative fashion was a notable thing before the 20th century. Obviously it wouldn’t be what we think of as “alternative” now, but was there a portion of society that dressed in a countercultural way, or is that more of a recent creation? If it did exist, what were the clothes and culture surrounding them like?

It is said that Deng Xiaoping had said to the then Prime Minister Thatcher that he could send the PLA into Hong Kong and annex it by that same evening. In her biography, the former Prime Minister wrote, ''He said that the Chinese could walk in and take Hong Kong back later today if they wanted to. I retorted that they could indeed do so; I could not stop them. But this would bring about Hong Kong's collapse. The world would then see what followed a change from British to Chinese rule.'' The question is, why were the British so militarily powerless against the Chinese army. Why wasn't the Prime Minister who went to war over the Falklands just years earlier, willing to do the same now? Especially considering how much more monumental Chinese control of Hong Kong would be, and the body blow it would deal to the last remnants of HM Empire?

I’m wondering all I see when I look at Fascist Italy was just failures and sad disappointments of operations that would have been very successful if Italy’s army was good. And the failure of defending their coast that led the allies to getting a foothold in Europe

Missouri and Kentucky, although they owned slaves, opted not to join the Confederacy and West Virginia separated from Virginia and joined the Union during the Civil War are often lumped in with the former Confederate states when discussing "the South." Why is this?

What caused the cultural attitudes of these states to become more aligned with the South and have the same"Lost Cause" attitudes other Southern states embraced?

I guess I'm asking because it appears these three states have many memorials, including statues, remembering/honouring the Confederacy despite two of them not even being a part of it, and one of them separating outright. That and how nowadays, these states are often lumped with the Southern states when such discussions come up.

Is it possible that the history of Fascism and or Nazism parallel that of the Taliban and al Qaeda? In order to defeat the Soviets, Pakistan and the Saudis and the CIA, chipped in to fund the fight. Hence, weapons in Afghanistan and the "pipeline" of madrassas and training and to the battlefield. The "blowback" being al Qaeda and like groups. Any higher powers sponsoring communism's defeat in Europe and eventually Germany, lead to Nazism?

At Marathon in 490 B.C. Athenian hoplites showed that heavy infantry could resist massive amounts of missile fire from the archery-centric Persian forces. At Carrhae in 53 B.C. Roman legionnaires were not able to withstand missile fire from the similarly archery-centric Parthian forces. Why were the legionnaires, with their larger shields and more developed formations, seemingly not able to withstand missile fire as well as the citizen hoplites of Athens?

Before modern map making how easy would it be to unknowingly travel to a different ruler’s demesne? Obviously there are geographic borders like the Rhine or the Pyrenees, but surely that can’t be the way they knew every time. What if there was a big forest or field with no obvious markers between two kingdoms? Was there any tight control on borders or the freedom of movement for individual persons between these places?

I’m just imagining as a specific example how absolutely insanely chaotic the 30 Years War, among others, must’ve been from a layman’s perspective. I didn’t even know I was in Bohemia, now I’m Protestant? Now I’m not in Bohemia? Now there’s Swedish people here? Etc.

Apparently Charles II had a full wig. George IV gifted some from his mistress to a sex club. Women might gift it in a love letter. It seems that even as materials for removing hair (and the gender-rolled desire to do so) were emerging, there was this practice that today seems beyond bizarre and to my knowledge is unique to Europe during these centuries. Was it a matter of sexy taboo? Was it like a trophy? A mark of virility? Where in the world did this practice come from?