Writing a story where the main character grew up in a brothel in the very early 1900s in the united states. I was wondering if anyone knows the history of brothels. Somewhere maybe in the West or the south, like in Nevada, Illinois, Louisiana, also, I know children grew up in them, were they ever abused?

I know it sounds silly, but the thought popped into my head. Have we as a society been following the yearly calendar since the year 0, for example, did those in the year 1610 say the year was 1610 or did this in the year 600 say year 600? Or was the current year counter adopted later on?

In all the centuries since the Bronze Age and war as we know it, did it really take until the 1930s to invent the idea of hitting the other side relentlessly? What was different and new about blitzkrieg?

I have read about the Bering land bridge. I'm not sure what has any proof.

In 1999, Y2K was a big scary thing that everyone was sure was going to destroy the world. Then the new year happened, it was no big deal, and a lot of folks got the idea it was a false alarm. But I have heard from people whose judgment I trust that we only got through Y2K without trouble because of a lot of hard work put in by a lot of programmers and engineers. Was it a close run thing, or did they finish work with time to spare? How close to serious trouble did we come when the calendar turned?

Just started watching Peaky Blinders and can't help but notice the towns were incredibly filled with dirt, making it look like the streets, house walls and entrances and people were covered in black dust. Is this related to the abundance of coal in Britain? Can't seem to find any articles that talk about this specifically.

This question was brought on by watching the Witcher and Beauty and the Beast. In both, black people can be seen to occupy meaningful positions at court, as an adviser or similar. As such, it might already have an answer I did not find yet. Now, diversity in film is desirable and easily explained away with the fact that these are fictional settings. But I still wonder how the fiction measures up to the history that inspired it.

Trade was established with the Orient and the Islamic World was influential well after the middle ages. There is no logistical reason you wouldn't have Africans at court. But the past is a pretty racist country, and as I understand it by 1800 "black" was synonymous with "slave", but maybe before the triangle trade, there is some chance?

I promise this question is asked in good faith and out of curiosity. I am asking because I did not find stuff, and if I did, it would probably be by people with an agenda. I am sorry I couldn't be more precise with the time frame, the fact that these are fictional settings means there isn't a clear year to compare them to. If there is an answer somewhere else, please excuse the question and simply point me to it.

I’ve already got the one book by Goldsworthy, but I’m looking for others

So I know that the black death or bubonic plague devastated Europe, with some historians estimating that a third of the population of Europe was killed by it and that it indirectly lead to peasants getting more rights, but I also wonder how it affected the rest of the world particularly the Islamic world which directly boardered Europe in many cases.

How many people were killed, how did the Islamic world respond to this tragedy given that Baghdad had fallen the century before and what remedies did doctors use to treated.

And why wasn't it as devastating to the Muslims as it was to Europe.

Which Indian kingdom did he go to specifically? Would they have known who he or his father was? Are there any records about him from the Indian perspective?

Why did people think it was such a big thing, and what did they think it was?

When I ask- I don't refer to only World War 2. Italy's colonies were few in numbers for obvious reasons- they were late to establish any claims. Italy managed to conquer Libya from the Ottomans, but as far as I remember everything else they attempted seemed to fail or barely succeed. What happened that made Italy lose so much respect and fail the majority of their missions?

I know there have been women in the PIRA, but what is the highest rank they've had?

Could anybody recommend some history audiobooks? I’m open to all period suggestions.

Yeah, yeah, yeah you pedants, but did you actually celebrate the new millenium arriving in 2001? It's all arbitrary anyways, we just care about that big Two-Oh-Oh-Oh. And as next year we'll be introducing the 21 Year Rule, this is the closest you're going to get!

Anyways, as the calendar clicks forward one more year, so too does the scope of the Twenty Year Rule, so we're pleased to announce that the year 2000 is ready for your questions!

So whether you've been dying to know more about the USS Cole bombing, the opening of the International Space Station, or the launch of the Playstation 2, the time has arrived!

And as a reminder, the 20 Year Rule isn't done on a rolling day-by-day basis. Whether the 1st of January or December 31st, it's all fair game now.

Two of the three teachings in China are native - Daoism and Confucianism - however, my understanding is that Buddhism came into China in the middle of the Han and would become a large part of Chinese culture in the Tang Dynasty. What record do we have of Confucian and daoist reaction to Buddhism?