The death of children was, of course, much more common in earlier periods than it is today. It is obviously something now that we consider to be truly one of the greatest tragedies that a person can suffer, having to bury their child, but essentially I'm wondering whether we attach more gravity, or otherwise approach such events differently, because we have, fortunately, made it such a comparative rarity.

Recently reading mention of a 17th century man who not only had to bury his wife far before old age, but eventually five of their children due to various illnesses, it made me wonder in what ways he might cope, rationalize, and move on from that.

Hi all! I am looking for the best biography you know, from an academic and literary perspective, on the roman emperor Hadrian. I know all the inherent limits to the biographical genre, and I find particularly hard to identify a good, serious biography, since the genre is cluttered by cheap and sensationalist books.

I recently reread the Mémoires d'Hadrien by Marguerite Yourcenar, a book I love, but it is mostly a historical novel and I wished to broaden my perspective on the man. Thanks in advance!

After I wear some fluffy clothes I will sometimes get shocked by static electricity when I touch metal or another person. I know what static electricity is and generally what is going on when this happens. Are there any historical accounts of static shocks and what pre-industrial people thought about them?

Any idea if this tiny zap was ever compared to Zeus's lightning, etc?

Thanks for any responses!

When learning about the American Revolution in school, I was taught that those who were loyal to the British during those times were treated harshly by the patriots and even in some cases were tarred and feathered. Was this a common occurance like the guillotine during the French Revolution or do schools just teach the few extreme examples that happened? And if I was a loyalist, would my daily life be dangerous enough to worry about constantly?

I'm also looking for recommendations for further reading, particularly some that really get into it from a management and logistics standpoint. Something nitty gritty enough that you can learn from the way they did things and apply them today.

I've long been interested in this question, but now that I work at a massive company where people constantly miscommunicate and it takes ages to get things done, I'm extremely curious as to how these logistical feats were achieved in such an incredibly short time. How did the correct information get passed around? How were all of the material/personnel/equipment requirements handled in an era where email, Slack, video conferencing, etc. didn't exist?

Nowadays you wouldn't leave the house without your wallet or your phone. What did people in the middle ages carry with them when they needed to travel short distances, say to the nearest market to buy food?

Given that the Empire existed thousands of years before the advent of modern forensic science, could a Roman citizen who committed a crime simply flee the area and start a new life in a different part of the Empire, or would justice somehow catch up with them?

If this is the wrong sub for this question, please redirect me to the right place.

I was recently reading a book, and I was struck by the fact that some passages were literal translations of passages from another book. That other book is not cited in any way and the passages are presented as the author's work. The author is not a historian or anything like that, and the book is a combination of her diary and of the historical context around the events she witnessed. Only the latter is plagiarized. The book exists only in Russian, while the book I'm fairly sure she copied from has no Russian translation.

While I doubt anything can be done in this specific situation, what is usually done when plagiarism in an academic work is suspected? Especially when it's an issue of passing off a translation as one's own work.

At this time Germany was a predominantly Christian country.

How were they able to hate the Jews and Love Jesus Christ which was Jewish?

Considering it was the side with the legitimate US government, why don't we just call them the United States, like we do when discussing the period before 1860? Did the US refer to itself as the Union as well before the Civil War?

When we look back history often tells it's story through the eyes of great men. Are there any historical tellings through the eyes of the common person? I recently learned my great-grandfather didn't get drafted to WW2 because, he was the head of the household and had to stay back, to look after the farm and family. Two out of the four brothers died. What is that like? That's a perspective that never gets told. Are there any diaries, historical novels, or anything that depicts what it would have been like to see the North and South fighting on Bunker Hill while you were doing the chores just a few miles away? The Renaissance happening and a peasant getting swept up by it?

There is this popular take on Galileo's case that the church originally supported Copernicus' hypothesis and Galileo as well. But the fact that Galileo was actually actively vilifying the church and the Pope with this theory lead to him getting excommunicated. Now I have never seen this take outside of reddit, and a quick search says that heliocentrism was formally considered a heresy. To what degree is this take true?

Where were the Hanging Gardens of Babylon actually located? Were they in Babylon, as the legend suggests, or were they elsewhere, but mistakenly located in Babylon by misguided, ancient historians?

Hi. I went to school in Mexico and didnt learn black history. I want to learn what kids these days learn during black history month. Can you recommend something?

Was it the best in the US 70+ years ago let alone the best in the world?