I just looked at a map of India for, apparently, my first time ever and noticed that they control a weird chunk of land wrapping around north of Bangladesh. I know that Bangladesh broke off from India after WW2 but what I am wondering is A: why did they first try to become part of Pakistan and B: Why did they not take all of the territory east of West Bengal/Bihar? I realize that I can probably just read a wiki and get all my answers but I prefer asking here because you guys always give me way more cool info than a wiki article does.

[deleted]

I just read the Thomas Jefferson recipe for making macaroni and the recipe called for two wine glasses of milk, which was an interesting unit of measurement. What common units of measurement were used before "cups" and "teaspoon" measurements were adapted?

Or rented/contracted? How about state and local governments?

I’ve seen maps and globes from before we had satellites and pretty much all of them look pretty accurate. Did they use geometry to build a model of the globe based on their knowledge of the circumference of the earth?

How could they have accurate looking maps without seeing a full picture of the globe?

Include how did you know about the public opinion!

I know that language has changed since then, but has it advanced in the sense that we can express thoughts and feelings that didn’t have words back then? Are there words today that don’t have an equivalent to ancient languages, or vice versa?

I looked through the FAQ to no avail. I'm looking for a book on the Roman Empire. A tome, really, with illustrations.

I'd like it to be as comprehensive as possible, but also accessible for non-academics like me. Something I can consult easily for facts, but also just casually page through from time to time. And illustrations or photographs preferred. Any recommendations?

I was talking to my friend about them, and neither of us really could figure out how the Rhodesians were as successful as they were against Mugabe and Nkomo's forces.

Could anyone explain the history behind the closed cities that existed during the Soviet Union? How did these cities came about? What was the purpose(s) of creating dozens of "closed" settlements? How did the residents live their daily lives in these cities (ie. how did they put up with it) ? Last but not least, why did many of them survive to this day in post-Soviet Russia?

I heard my grandpa say that when he was a kid everyone wore hats. Not as a obligation but it was just kind of expected.

Why did people wear hats and why did it fall of culturally?

In Peter Frakopan's Silk Road it is said that Ethiopia supported the Byzantine empire during the war against the Sassanid empire because they were both Christian countries. But as far as I can tell Ethiopia was never ruled by Rome so how did it become Christian so quickly and support the Byzantines?

I know that they've claimed a few attacks but it doesn't seem anything major.

From the 1300-1500 A.D. I am trying to find the above information but cannot seem to find any cases of the sort through browsing. Can anyone list any cases of of this occuring or have no Ronin saught glory elsewhere? Thanks.

Like, they don't have his DNA at hand, do they?

​

Saying he's the source is not the same as saying 0,5% of the population share the same Y-chromosome.

Carthage was famously the victim of one of the world's earliest genocides at the hands of the Romans. There's a good bit of knowledge out there on the Carthaginian empire, its government, its colonial conquests in the Mediterranean and the Punic Wars. But my question is about the people who lived in the city of Carthage.

I'm wondering: How much do we really know about the Carthaginian people, their culture, and their day-to-day lives?

A few examples to help guide discussion -- feel free to address any, all, or none of these specific points.

• Ethnic makeup -- What was the primary ethnic group indigenous to Carthage? What did they look like?
• Food -- Do we know anything at all about Carthaginian cuisine, aside from the crops that they grew?
• Cultural traditions -- Do we know what wealthy Carthaginians did for fun? What lower-class Carthaginians did for fun? Any celebrations or important "holidays" or anything of the like? Any peculiar traditions that the average Carthaginian would at least be aware of?
• Laws / social issues -- How much do we know about how Carthage governed its capital? We know that Carthage had a constitution, but how much freedom did the average Carthaginian enjoy?

Sorry if this topic has been beaten to the ground, or if it's too vague. I'm very interested in this topic although I doubt there is much existing knowledge considering the fate that befell Carthage.

I was talking with some co-workers today and we couldn't figure out how or why some languages, which were at one point very prominent, are currently not being used. Those languages are more often than not known as `extinct`. A few languages that come to mind are Latin and the East Germanic Languages.

​

My question isn't so much why is `Latin` an extinct language, but what could potentially cause English to become extinct 200 years from now?

My parents are celebrating their fiftieth anniversary by taking the family on a trip to Maui. I was talking to my mom (history lover) and brother (HS history teacher) and we started by asking what the first island inhabited was. Now we just want to know interesting things about the history of the islands.

I am not really going in depth I just want to know the other side give me a few reasons why the crusades or at least the first one might be defensive.