I read once that Sherman tanks could go 500 miles before the engine fell apart and presumably would need a major overhaul. For the life of me, I can’t locate anything about this.

If true, the implications are kind of astonishing, given that brand new tanks would theoretically roll off the transport at Cherbourg or wherever, and basically last only a few days even without seeing action. Functioning rail logistics would be essential to the use of Shermans for power projection.

Is this baseless?

I'm writing a paper on the Yongle Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and the numerous projects he authorized. Finding primary sources has proved quite difficult, given that I seem to have bad luck finding translations online. Specifically, I am trying to look for translations of the Yongle Encyclopedia, or the Compendium of Materia Medica (Not Yongle related, I am aware.). Would anyone have any advice for me?

The topic utterly fascinates me, can anyone give me the basic lowdown on them? Prominent figures?

Hey everyone. I'm looking to brush up on my Vietnam War history. I have a decent amount of knowledge on the subject but I'd like to learn more.

I'd greatly appreciate any book recommendations. As well, I'd appreciate any free online lecture recommendations.

BTW I've heard the Ken Burns documentary on Vietnam was flawed/based on dated scholarship. Could someone explain this to me?

I've seen a Wall Street Journal article claiming there is no verifiable evidence.
I've seen YouTube videos treating it as fact.
In my school days it was treated as fact.

I don't know what to make of the Thomas Jefferson//Sally Hemings thing. Can someone here bring me up to date on the latest evidence sans political influence?

Hello! Virgin poster here, so I hope I'm in the right place.

Something I notice through my reading (of predominantly 20th Century Western History) is the use of one's religion as part of the overall description / contextualising of figures.

For example, "X was one of six children, born in 1890, to Methodists in Iowa," or "Y was raised as a Unitarian in New Hampshire..." and so on.

It seems to me that in doing so, historians are intentionally including this and that it must be relevant in painting a picture of individuals.

My question is: can you all direct me to some sources where I might get a very general / high level sense of the different denominations? Spark notes on christianity even!

Many thanks from a confused catholic.

Why did it take until the renaissance for cultures to make realistic drawings/paintings? Off all the cultures i can think of, none of them before the renaissance have realistic looking paintings. And its not like previous cultures couldnt make impressive art, greek and roman sculptures are very detailed and realistic, why isnt that reflected in their paintings?

Before railroads, many historically significant cities in the US formed near the mouth of rivers (New York, New Orleans), or the confluence of two or more rivers (St. Louis, Pittsburgh). These locations were due to their natural ability to control trade and transportation. Cairo, IL sits at the confluence of the Ohio and the Mississippi, the two largest rivers by volume in the US. The watersheds of these rivers upriver of Cairo contains almost the entirety of the farmland in the Midwest. Moreover, geographically and culturally the city sits in a very central location of the US frontier in the early 1800's. It is the most southern town in the "North".

In reality, this town is very insignificant, both in the past and the present. It wasn't even permanently established until 1862. So, r/askhistorians, can you please explain why Cairo is a backwater town that never had its day, while New Orleans, St. Louis and (especially) Memphis became great river towns?

Part of the Declaration of Independence states:

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

While I've heard a lot of the complaints around taxation with a lack of representation, I was curious if this complaint had any examples behind the complaints of unusual, uncomfortable, and distant, and if so if it was King George's intention to make legislative representatives inconvenienced when he chose some meeting locations.

The reason I haven't specified the area further is because I am willing to hear about any tribe who lived in that climate, or all of them if they resorted to similar methods. I'm interested in learning about storing food in that type of climate, and I'm curious to hear how it's been done historically. Furthermore, I understand that information may be limited, so I'm willing to hear about any time before they area was invaded (all the way back to the Incas if that's necessary). Thank you in advance!

I know today we have kosher delicatessens, and I imagine there would have been kosher butchers in nearly any Jewish community of any size, but do we know if there were separate Jewish bakers, millers, etc.? Did Jewish bakeries or baked goods have any kind of reputation in Europe separate from what Christians ate?

I would expect that the controversial stances of F.W de Klerk would have alienated many white voters who supported apartheid, and would assume the black majority as well as other minorities would have stuck with the ANC or other minor parties. How did the liberalizing National Party more than triple its vote count after alienating a large portion of its demographic base?

Surely the Romans, having been brought within inches of destruction by Hannibal in Italy, would have been desperate to put a definitive end to his threat or exact revenge? Or was it more of a case of Scipio showing his respect to the general by sparing his life?

I saw a video explaining some of it, how they would take the citizens to the camps and show them what the Nazis did. I am wondering what it was like for the typical German who had no idea what was going on?

I know that there was and is a small population in Mumbai and Kolkata of established Chinese immigrants (as opposed to modern-era PRC citizens who migrated to India), but why did India never host the massive and extremely influential Chinese diasporas that SE Asia did? Is it because of less Chinese cultural influence on India (seems like a chicken-and-the-egg; did the influence come before migration or did migration occur because of close cultural ties)? Thanks in advance.