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I recently came across an anecdote that claims Firmato (meaning "signed by") became a popular Italian name in the wake of WW1. The story goes that illiterate peasants read the Bollettino della Vittoria and mistook its ending of Firmato Diaz (signed by Diaz) as General Armando Diaz's actual name, and thus many tried to name their children after him.

On the face of it, this appears to be an urban legend and I find it hard to believe, but it's the first I've heard of this. I can't find any evidence of Firmato appearing in Italian name collections. Any searches for the name itself only turn up other accounts of this same story. The images of the Bollettino della Vittoria I can find also all seem to have different endings, many of which would disprove this story, but at least some of them do have the alleged "Firmato Diaz" ending, so I'm guessing the text varies slightly based on the individual plaques where it's displayed. It was apparently put on display in every town hall and military barracks in Italy after the war, so that's a lot of room for variation.

Right now, I'd right this off as fiction, but I was wondering if someone with more expertise in Italian history might be able to shed some light on it.

I am trying to create a character for halloween next year, and as someone who loves history I wanted to make it very historically accurate. I know that scullery maids were usually the lowest ranking workers in such a house, but I also know that it was quite uncommon for any employee to give birth to a child and let them into the occupation that way. I have found the work (in mines or as someone who works at home) to be a quite sub-satisfactory costume. And anyone with tips on how to sew a corset is very welcome! The cotton fabric I am using is quite expensive and I don't want to waste any more of it, haha!

I understand that the Byzantine Empire saw themselves as Romans, and that many Greeks living in the Aegean Sea considered themselves Romans as late as the 19th century. But when did the individual groups in the Western Roman Empire start seeing themselves (for example) as Franks and not Romans after the Western Roman Empire collapsed?

As far as I can tell, almost every nation in the 2nd World War fielded at least some kind of open topped vehicle, from tank destroyers to self propelled guns.

How did these vehicles deal with the harsh weather conditions across the varied fronts they were deployed in? Were the crews provided with tarps to shield the interior during a rainstorm? If so, would these be kept on during combat? How did they fare in winter fronts where the interior and crew would be exposed to the freezing air?

Finally, do we know if these vehicles required more maintenance then their fully enclosed counterparts due to the exposure of certain equipment?

Thanks in advance!

My mom was the daughter of a concubine in South Korea. She was the unwanted daughter of a man who was trying to have a male heir. Other than the fact that my grandmother was a concubine she doesn’t talk about it and I can’t find any decent information online. Any information anyone can share would be greatly appreciated.

For example, would an ancient Roman in AD 115 find the clothing from AD 90 to be outdated? At what rate did fashion change in ancient times?

I am doing an project on this topic, so please refer to articles or books i can read myself

Assuming that the order was intentional (attack first, then declare war), why did Japan decide to do things that way? Obviously it gives your side a one-time advantage, but wouldn't it also reduce your international support due to breaking "the rules"? Is there any record of deliberation on the Japanese side where they weighed the positives and negatives of that approach?

I have a general understanding of the feudal stereotype but recently a friend told me this was completely debunked by modern academics. What is the current consensus of what Feudalism was or how it worked? I understand this is super broad but any detail would be appreciated.

From the way that some crossbows were loaded, I would be way too scared to load one with the potential of it shooting directly into my feet. Was this a major problem or did this seldom happen?

I understand the East German Stasi was founded in 1950. Did they attempt to recruit East German citizens who had not been active supporters of the Nazi regime?

If so, how did they do this and how successful were they?

I imagine there would not have been a lot of capable citizens who could be successfully vetted, in this regard?

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I know that the Ottoman Empire was this huge arabian country north west of the arabian peninsula, but i always wondered why it turned into Turkey?

I frequently read how Dagobert was the last Merovingian king to hold power, yet I can't find out why.

While many (most/all?) records of early Rome were destroyed in the early 300s BC, do we know anything other than legend about what really happened during the kingdom? Are we certain that there ever was actually a kingship in Rome prior to the republic?

In the Mediterranean they had papyrus and other similar types of paper and ways of recording. I read somewhere that the Aztec had used deer hide as a way of writing a codex of their language, but am unsure of whether it was practical for them to use this for everyday writing such as letters. Beyond that, what did native tribes like the Cherokee and Iroquois use?