Hello all,

Reading on Reddit and online, it seems that going through storms was especially tough for sails ships in the XIXth century. However I found nothing about steam ship while they got extremely important during that time period.

Was it much easier without sails? Does having a steam engine make the storms not much of a problem anymore? What could still happen to steam ship while they didn't have to worry about reefing the sails, gybe, etc?

Thanks for your help!

I'd always thought that the booing was in reaction to Dylan "going electric" and scandalizing the audience at the festival, but reading more about it the reports actually seem conflicting. Do we know of a prevailing reason for the booing, or are the reasons truly unknown?

I've read that it was just after the disastrous defeat at Stalingrad that Germany decided to adopt a total war economy, while before that people were doing normal lives and institutions and companies had normal opening hours. What made them so calm and reluctant to go total war, despite the militarism of their ideology and the troubles they were getting in Russia?

While visiting the African-American Smithsonian in Washington, DC, I was dumbfounded by the brutality but also the loss of life. One wall in particular documents hundreds of ships, their voyages, and the ‘number of souls’ on board when they left Western Africa and when they arrived in the New World. The casualties were staggering, sometimes above 60%.

Considering the number of traders, the length of time the trade lasted(im referring to the Atlantic slave trade that centered on the America’s), and the countries involved, there has to be some account of traders who struggled with or were horrified by the trade. Many of the artifacts and journals have Christian references and clergy accompanied some trips. Are there any accounts of dissenting opinions? Of a captain watching a woman throw herself overboard and thinking “what is wrong with me and all of this?” Or were potential moral authorities mostly complicit or even encouraging?

Yet I couldn’t find any first person accounts in the museum. I’m fascinated by motivations and morality and would love to read more. I was also told that the justification of racial inferiority was developed as the trade went on, is this true?

I have been subscribed to the subreddit for a few months now and I have noticed an unusual trend regarding community’s ability to actually get answers for the questions being posed.

It seems to me that the expectation of the caliber of answer (citation amongst other things) far exceeds what the average community member is willing to go to the effort of putting in. 9/10 times it seems that the question is never answered due to not meeting the requirements set forth by the sub.

Maybe a discussion regarding this issue is needed, maybe this is the way people like it. I felt like a discussion is warranted on this subject. Thoughts?

“When the head is off, one does not mourn for the hair.”

I’ve read this in several books what exactly does he mean by this?

I often see pictures and read about how some cities were 90-99% destroyed. What was done with all the countless tons of mangled brick, concrete, steel, etc.? The scale of destruction was so overwhelming. Was it recycled, thrown into landfills, dumped into oceans?

I suspect this is a bit more like 'Ask Prehistorians' but here goes anyway. In our early days of developing weapons we as a species came up with a variety of pretty common forms that stayed in use for thousands of years if not up to the current day. Now swords and spears and so forth seem to have an obvious inspiration and progression but the bow rather baffles me.

It seems a reasonably complex thing to come up with from base principles and it leaves me curious if we have examples or indications of how the bow was conceived. Are there proto-bows that showcase humanity toying with the idea and eventually arriving at the core shape and functionality that has been refined upon ever since or, as far as we know, did it just spring into use fully formed?

In light of the popular post by u/sunagainstgold advising readers not to pursue a PhD in history, I wanted to ask the community how they are engaging with the subject in a non-career context.

I'm one of those folks who has always loved history and wanted a career in academia, but ultimately chose against it. Nowadays I'm wondering how I can get involved with history as a hobby. Are there "open source" history efforts like the ones that exist in the software world? Or does anyone have advice on seeking out volunteer opportunities in the subject? Are there online resources I should look into?

I am very interested to hear the community's thoughts on this!

I guess this question applies more to the times leading to the war proper, but the idea is fundamentally the same: was it ever possible for secession to be an outcome? And if it was, who in the North advocated for it?

Australian here, im just curious about what lead up to a full civil war. I know a little about it but i would like to understand the major events that lead to this. Thanks

I understand that Switzerland was neutral during the war. But I don’t understand why neither side eventually decided to violate their neutrality to get an upper hand on their opponent. Germany had already done that very thing with Belgium at the beginning of the conflict. So I’m surprised after the stalemate that had become the western front, that neither side chose to invade Switzerland and use their open border to attack the enemy. Couldn’t they possibly catch the other off guard and not as well defended and create a hole in the enemy’s line? Was Germany weary of invading another neutral country? Were the allies uncomfortable with losing the moral high ground by following in the German footsteps? Was opening another part of the front just seen as too impractical? Was the size and scope of invasions too great to hope the other wouldn’t notice this too early and prepare adequate defenses?

Obviously a big factor in preserving archaeological evidence is having it not dug up by Schliemann or anyone else who thinks pith helmets and an army of navvies are a great approach, but what processes keep settlements better preserved until the archaeologists get to them?

Once the Soviets gained the upper hand against the Germans and started their advance into the Reich they captured millions of German soldiers and sent them to labour camps. My question is what did the Soviets do to the children who they encountered defending Berlin?

A little context: I'm a software guy looking to learn a new language. Best way of learning is by doing and I've wanted to make one idea a reality:

If I could map as much newspaper articles and data as possible, I could provide anyone willing a DAILY "newspaper" (via twitter, email, SMS, RSS, anything) except as far removed from present day as they'd like.

For example, on the day of this post you're reading now (according to wikipedia):

1099 – The First Crusade concluded with the Battle of Ascalon and Fatimid forces under Al-Afdal Shahanshah retreating to Egypt.

1883 – The last known quagga, a subspecies of the plains zebra, died at the Natura Artis Magistra zoo in Amsterdam.

1914 – World War I: Despite the Belgian victory in the Battle of Halen, they were ultimately unable to stop the German invasion of Belgium.

1948 – About 600 unarmed Pashtuns in the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan, protesting the arrests of the leaders of the Khudai Khidmatgar movement, were massacred by police and militia forces.

1990 – American paleontologist Sue Hendrickson found the most complete skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex ever discovered near Faith, South Dakota, U.S.

Imagine how sweet it would be to see actual newspaper headlines and texts with an interval of your choosing every morning. One year you could live through your boring life plus a war, another year you could experience WWII headline by headline - each one a new thing at breakfast.

Hope that makes sense. It's mostly a project for ME because I feel like it'd put my life and experiences into context - reading them day by day.

In order to accomplish this I need a ton of data though. Any help?