It seems like kings and noblemen were ordering lots of fantastically decorated harnesses in the 16th century. When an order was made (I'm guessing to a prolific armourer), what input would the client have? I'm guessing he would've outlined the type of armour he's ordering (field armour, tournament armour, half-armour etc.) Could he demand certain colours, designs, and so on? Could he ask for different types of helmets or cuirasses?

Working on a school project and I need some help finding people who changed their identity during WWII. Not just a simple name change but for example in the movie Europa Europa the Jewish guy acts as a nazi to avoid detection. I need someone who did something like that.

Edit: are there religions other than hinduism and buddism, that survived Christian and muslim onslaught?

I was reading that Buddhist proselytism under Ashoka of the Indian Mauryan Empire spread as far as Eastern Europe. Greek populations living in India at the time were also proselytised (the monks he sent to Greece, apparently- recorded as "the country of the Yona [Ionians]"- were Greek).

Are there any recorded converts in Europe?

I've lived in Britain all my life, but feel like I lack an understanding of our history. This is something I'd like to change, but lack an idea for how to go about doing this.

Ideally, I'd like to start with the beginnings of human civilization in Britain and then continue up until the present day. My interests primarily lie in political history, and in social/cultural history, if that helps.

Any recommendations for books (or other sources too) are appreciated!

Would you just be put in a PoW camp? Would je be put in a labour camp? When did the Germans start conscripting PoW's? Would there be some kind of prisoner exchange early in the war? Would you be released after a couple years?

As in, were they ever used in a similar fashion to how, for example, the mongols utilized horse-archers?

It seems that there was a period in the 1960s through the late 1970s where it enjoyed substantially more mainstream support in the US than in does today, and a higher level of American participation in many forms than has been seen since. For a brief time, it was popular enough that it put on two Formula 1 Grands Prix, Steve McQueen starred in a movie about the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and a string of fairly successful American F1 drivers. There were a number of highly competitive American MotoGP pilots from the late 1970s through the early 1990s and the Indy 500 allegedly had sell out crowds for decades until the mid 1990s.

It seemed like wherever there was an event that involved making a vehicle go far faster then reasonable, Americans were in the thick of it. Starting in the early 1980s with Formula 1 and gradually continuing to other series and disciplines, it seems as though this evaporated. Now NASCAR and Indycar, seem to be the only two "big" series to maintain a high level of American participation, and even these seem to have dedicated fans in particular regions of the country, with next to nothing in others (ie, the South and Midwest vs MA South through NJ). Smaller series like IMSA, the USAC, and NHRA are hanging in with some American participation, but these seem even more niche than NASCAR and Indycar.

What prompted this massive exodus of Americans, both fans and athletes, away from the wider world of motorsports they once seemed as if they couldn't get enough of? And what was different about NASCAR and Indycar that enabled them to endure throughout this same time to enjoy relative success today while other series find little purchase in the US market?

If you happened to work as a chimney sweep what was your day to day life like? Could you come home for lunch in the middle of the day unlike most people?

Howdy my fellow history bois. I recently found out my great grandfather was a paratrooper in WW2 and being a history major I just have to learn more. Like many men though he never did talk about it much and my family can’t even tell me what division he served in only that he suffered combat wounds twice and was a machine gunner. He was apart of the American army on the western front, are there any records that I could search like official government websites? I’ve seen some stuff like this doing my history papers but I don’t know exactly where to look, thank you guys in advance!

For example, the Greeks in the years around 300BC. Do we have evidence of what hear their calendar system showed it to be?

I've tried doing some googling on various Greek calendars, but haven't been able to find his exact info, it even a "We don't know."

Considering that most peasants were subsistence farmers and had little hard cash on them and most noble estates were composed largely of farmland, I have a hard time understanding how the crops yielded by a noble estate could be converted into gold which could be used to purchase things like fine clothes and horses and armor.

It would be good if it's packed in a single book with the information about people like Goebbels, Himmler, Guderian, etc. . I've been looking for a specific book like that but I'm not sure if it exists. Although if no such thing exists, a biography book should be fine.

How effective was presidential and radical, or congressional, Reconstruction in effectively adjusting the lives of African Americans from that of slaves to citizens? It seems to me that, if anything, Reconstruction did little apart from free African Americans in theory; they were still economically dependant on their former slave masters, they possessed little political rights at a state level despite the Reconstruction era amendments, and consequently they were subject to institutionalised racism. Why after reconstruction did their lives not improve to the same level as white citizens? Is it fair to say the era was a failure?

I've heard that Gertrude Stein (herself a lesbian) is usually credited due to some of her writing in the 1930s or 20s. That sounds too good to be true, but the 1890s were widely referred to as the "Gay Nineties," so it seems unlikely that was common usage long beforehand.

Along with the famous examples of Samurai-only swords and hairdos, there seem to have been a myriad of rules restricting clothing, fabrics and other consumer items.

What was the point of these rules - how were they expected to promote ‘stability’?

How effective were they? There seem to be many examples of the rules being flouted or evaded (eg. patterned kimono linings).