Lately I have been seeing lots of news stories about Generals being killed on the front lines in Eastern Europe. I know this must have been quite common before modern communication technology came into being, but when was that? Was this common in the 18th century? 19th? Did it vary by region? Or was it never really common, and this is just my modern biases?

I was reading about Sparta the other day and while reading, saw that by the Roman times, the Spartans were reputedly a tourist attraction for the Romans. This brings me to the question, how did tourism work in the ancient world? Wouldn’t it be dangerous for people to leave their homes in large, crime ridden cities for extended periods of time?

In the New Testament it specifically mentions Jesus and the people around him celebrating Passover and Hanukkah. Why did Christians stop celebrating these holidays when Jesus, Mary, Joseph and the apostles all would have celebrated these holidays as well as presumably other Jewish holidays that date back prior to Jesus’ life?

Good afternoon y’all! I’m hoping this subreddit might be able to provide some insight on a question I had: Why was there such backlash from religious groups to the Harry Potter series (1997) but wasn’t to the Lord of the Rings series, either books (1950’s) or film (2001)? Back when the Harry Potter books were being released the catholic school in my town banned them from being used in book reports or school activities with the reasoning that the books showed magic in a positive light and being used for good. This logic seems to me like it would apply to Lord of the Rings as well, for example Gandalfs role as a wizard who used magic for good. Any insight any of y’all could provide would be greatly appreciated! Thank you in advance!

It's my understanding that it wasn't unusual for ancient battles to go on for hours of nonstop fighting. If you were a soldier on the front lines and you really had to pee or poop, would you just go right where you stood and keep fighting? Or would you run off to the side quick to do your business and then run back. Not sure if there'll even be any sources for this I'm just curious.

I've seen indigenous activists argue that homophobia only existed in the America's following colonization. Considering the large variety of cultures inhabiting the America's pre-columbus, did any have evidence of practices we would recognize as homophobia?

Aurelius's "Meditations", Plato's "Republic" and Smith's "Wealth of Nations" are very similar in that they are written in a very abstract language. There are either no introductions to various ideas or arguments the authors wish to make. And if examples are being given, they are long winded and exhaustive. In "Wealth of Nations" Smith will give "the cobbler, and the smith, and the portman, and the shipwright" etc when just one or two examples would have been fine. And many very basic "obvious" ideas are explained.

In one hour of reading, I can "digest" 10 times more ideas out of a modern book like "Selfish Gene" than I could out of an old book like "Wealth of Nations". And I wonder why is that the case.

I'm looking to know how ahead or behind they were in terms of science, mathematics, technology, medicine, military etc. compared to the prominent people of the other side of world (Europe, Asia, Africa).

I know Native Americans are not just one group of people. I'll list them groups of people (the ones I want to know about).

This question is inspired by the video "Timeline of the Pre-Columbian Americas" of Youtube channel "Useful Charts". So, I'll list the ones I'd like to know about in the order he explained it. Also, I listed them from Oldest to Newest (for the lack of better words).

• Mesoamerica -

1. Olmecs
2. Zapotecs / Mayans
3. Toltecs
4. Aztecs

• North America -

1. Dorset People
2. Hopewell Traditions
3. Mississippian Culture
4. Great Puebloans

• South America -

1. Nazca
2. Huari / Tiwanaku
3. Incans

I listed all these doesn't mean any of you have to answer all of them, learning about one at a time is perfectly fine. I gave the list of names because I thought it'd help me break down what's' there to learn about.

I should also inform you that, I'm not a historian. So, explaining things in easy to understand manner is highly appreciated. Also I may need to ask further questions based on your answer.

Thirdly, If I've broken any rules or wrote the question in such a way that it makes it difficult to answer, please do let me know. I'll try to edit or delete+repost properly.

Thank You.

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EDIT : I've discovered the FAQ.

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I did some reading here and it seems that bikes would've been a little too complex to manufacture prior to industrialization, but it seems strange to me that in the past we don't seem to find people using something like a simple scooter (maybe like a wooden segway with 4 wheels, for example) or skateboard to get around, or at least for leisure.

I can see them maybe not being the most practical if they were flimsy or a bit awkward or if streets were of poor quality, but do we have any record of people trying stuff like that out, or at least thinking about ways to not have to walk everywhere without needing a beast of burden?

I understand other countries have school pride (particularly around sports), but American Pep Rallies, Homecoming, and Spirit Week seem unique. I remember hearing that the US school pride gain significance in the lead up to the US joining WWI. However, I can’t seem to find any connections on line. Any help would be greatly appreciated, thank you.

According to Wikipedia, after The Great Books series flopped on launch, Encyclopedia Britannica turned to traveling door-to-door salesmen, who did much better.

...through that method, 50,000 sets were sold in 1961...According to Alex Beam, Great Books of the Western World eventually sold a million sets.

Encyclopedias and similar reference books were still big sellers as late as 1990, but door-to-door salesmen had mostly disappeared by then. So what social or economic forces lead to their decline? Were book stores becoming more common? Were people buying them through department stores?

When did fishing poles start to be used regularly and what did they look like? How did they advance, and what did the significant advances look like?

I'm assuming we call them "Arabian" Knights today as the closest identifier to their skill and nobility as warriors, akin to European Knights of the same period. Comparatively, you wouldn't call a gladiator a Roman Knight, or a samurai a Japanese Knight. So did they have their own proper identifiers during their time?