Many state boundaries in the Western US are straight lines, rather than any geographical feature. Who decided these borders should be where they are, and why?

You could shoot a machine gun for days without it overheating if it had a water jacket

In January 49 BC, after being declared an enemy of the Republic, Julius Caesar led a single legion south over the Rubicon from Cisalpine Gaul to Italy to make his way to Rome. In doing so, he deliberately broke the law on imperium and made armed conflict inevitable.

As the Senate didn't know that Caesar only had a single legion at disposal, Pompey and the rest of senators fled the City to regroup and allow more time to rally loyal troops and raise more legions.

My question is : how on earth did the Senate not anticipate Caesar marching down on Rome ? To me, it seems that when you call someone who possesses a dozen legions an enemy of the Republic, it basically forces him to choose a civil war rather than face prosecution. It's not like a politican marching on Rome with an army had no historical precedence – Sulla did it only half a century earlier.

So why didn't the Senate anticipate Caesar's response by say, raising legions or at least mobilising troops from Greece into Italy ?

Of the three early civilizations situated in Near East and South Asia, the Indus Valley Civilization seems to be the only one whose language we haven't been able to decipher yet. Is it because enough resources have not been dedicated to the effort? Or are there other factors involved?

You may have seen the Boston Red Sox put out a statement about racist fans recently. ESPN commentator Mike Wilbon also said the only time he's been called a N-word to his face was at Boston Celtics game. I know racism exists in other northern cities but it seems very prevalent in Boston. I heard it described as the Selma of the North. What's up with that?

This story is originally mentioned in Robert Caro's Biography "The Power Broker" based on an interview with Sidney M Shapiro, a close associate of Moses, former chief engineer and General Manager of the Long Island State Park Commission.

Moses's despise of mass transit and racism is well known, however there was a span of 45 years between the opening of Jones Beach in 1929 and the release of this biography in 1974. Was there another source stating his reasoning for building the bridges so low? The parkways were designed to exclude commercial traffic. Did that apply to buses in general? If so, did his policies succeed in a reduction of POC attending the beach? Was there a ban on buses when the park opened?

Robert Moses also constructed Jacob Riis Park in the Rockaway, meant to be his 'little Jones Beach'. Bus connections were included in the park starting with the Q21B in June 1936, followed by the Q35 in July the following year. Why include bus transit for Riis and not for Jones?

I was recently reading in the book of Genesis where 5 kings battle against 4.

Prior to the rise of nation states or massive kingdoms (Ie Assyrians, Babylonians, or Greeks) that we currently would associate with kings what would these kingdoms have been like?

How would these kings have risen to power? What type of power did they have? Would they have had codified laws?

Thanks in advance for any insight.

I saw a National Geographic article about some ancient tools in a Sri Lankan cave that were dated about 48,000 years old.

How do they know that they are that old?

Also, if they just used index artifacts (artifacts before and after it to date the one they are looking at), how did they settle on a date for those other artifacts?

Thanks!

Greetings fellow historians.

For the middle age, what are the best sources (or articles/youtube/etc.) on the subject of either:

• maps of the known world
• description of the known world

I'm especially interested in the non-physical representation of it. By this, I mean that I'm interested in map that situate Eden, Jerusalem, important mythical or biblical place/event, etc. I'm not looking at the best geographical map from our perspective, but mostly those that struck the medieval mindset.

Thank you!

Rice and millet was first grown in China yet rice became the most widespread crop grown in the rest of asia.

Why did rice became widespread but not millet? why was millet not as widely used in the rest of Asia?

My understanding was Vinland was considered a tall tale until archeology confirmed in 1960. But in recent thread on Columbus, one of the replies quoted a 1910's source claiming Erickson as explorer / settler of America (sorry I can't figure out how to link on mobile). There were lots of ellipses in the quote, but it read just like passing accepted fact. Would average college graduates of 1900's know just Erickson by name? The sagas even today are niche, was that different in this time?

As an Englishman, I was not taught much (if anything) about American history prior to WW1. As such, I have pretty limited knowledge about most of it, including the fight for independence and the Civil War.

Did any particular country try to assist the other at any point? During European conflicts, neutral nations would usually offer support either for the status quo or the rebels depending on which would be more politically expedient to them. With the US not being a superpower at the time and with them being so far away, was there very little European meddling here?

Also, I imagine most nations would have supported the Union, so was there any support for the confederacy at all outside of the US? I understand the US was one of the last countries to ban slavery

Been thinking about this a lot recently & was hoping for some insights.

I've been wondering if the view of Britain fights fascism is a product of propaganda at the time and the way the war is remembered (and has been utilised politically) ever since.

By traditional I mean someone who was trained as a page then a squire then was knighted/became a knight.

Hello,

I am doing a paper research about the Plague of Justinian and read on Procopius that when the death toll in Constantinople skyrocketed, Justinian ordered t pile of bodies to be piled up on the city walls. Procopius also mentions that the smell was "evil" and distressed the civilians.

My questions are: was stacking up the bodies and burials the only "funerals" in Constantinople? Was burning of the bodies out of question because of the contemporary religious beliefs? Weren't people afraid of the miasmatic air that was the immediate result of Justinian's order?

Thank you very much for reading my post and for any possible contributions.