There were a number of famous musicians who played notable concerts in prisons during the 1960s and 1970s, oftentimes recording these shows for albums and/or film. Perhaps the most famous instance was Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison, but there were a number of other such performances - BB King's Thanksgiving concert at Sing Sing; Frank Sinatra at San Quentin, the Grateful Dead at Terminal Island.

What prompted this scene to arise and why did it languish?

For context, I'm writing a paper on the occupation of Czechoslovakia. The subtopics are the lack of representation in the Munich Conference, the methods that constituted an iron fist rule in Czechoslovakia, and the use of cultural imperialism. I am claiming that all of these lead to a swell in nationalism, but now I am having trouble finding book sources that explain motivations that I can connect back to my paper.

I've seen a racist diatribe floating around internet comment sections, often posted when questions of race and IQ come up. It's quite long so I won't post the whole thing, but one paragraph, in particular, piqued my curiosity:

"No pre-contact sub-Saharan African society ever created a written language, or weaved cloth, or forged steel, invented the wheel or plow, or devised a calendar, or code of laws, or any social organization, or formal religion, or system of measurement, or math, or built a multi-story structure or bridge or sewer, or infrastructure of any kind, and they never harnessed a river, or even drilled well or irrigated, or built a road or railway or sea-worthy vessel, they never domesticated animals, or exploited underground natural resources, or produced anything that could be considered a mechanical device."

How much of this is true? Are there counter-examples that show that Sub-Saharan Africans had in fact made advancements in science or technology?

EDIT: referring to the 'Act of Union 1707'

So, say I'm a peasant in the early years of the Hundred Years War, and I don't make enough money to afford my own spear, if my lord called to war, would he provide me with a spear, or would I be going to battle with just my fists?

Hello /r/askhistorians

I was hoping some of you had some good sources regarding Protestantism, religion and the American revolution. I would like to learn more about how religion (and specifically the various protestant branches) influenced the revolution. There seems to be a lot of books where religion is briefly mentioned (The Glorious Cause, Robert Middlekauf), but I haven't found a book specifically about this topic. I was hoping you could help me out.

Thanks in advance.

From what I understand, the Aztecs used their warriors almost as emmissaries to collect tribute from their subjugated neighbors and impose political control. But how did this process occur? Would the Aztecs arrive and the locals gave an honest effort to defeat them or was it more of a show?

Also, how did ritualizing warfare affect the Aztec ability to properly defend against the Spanish?

I was reading Atigone which was written around 450 BC. I know the stories of the house of Oedipus are myths but I was curious about whether or not there's any kind of general idea of when they would/could have taken place. I know that Polyneices son is supposed to return to Thebes after Creon is overthrown and he participates in the start of the Trojan War, so I guess this situates the play in relation to other mythological events that Homer wrote about so the best I can figure is that Antigone takes place in a time that was "A long time ago" back in 800-700 BC is there a generally accepted time period where this would have happened or are these stories just understood to have happened "back in the old days?"

With the recent passing of one of our time’s greatest minds Stephen Hawking people seem to be crushed. I was wondering if there was a similar reaction with the death of Einstein?

It seems as though Ancient Greeks praised these runners. Excerpt from The Odyssey

I, too, lost someone in war at Troy - my brother, [...] Antílokhos. He ranked high as a runner and fighting man.

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Excluding Ethiopia, if you're a child in say Ghana - what is it they'd teach you in school? Is it the history of the colony, is it the history of your majority ethnic group? I mostly ask because it's hard finding information on African Empires.

What prompted the writing of the Weimar Constitution post WW1? Were there flaws with the Bismarck Constitution that they felt had to be remedied to prevent another loss such as that during WW1 by the Germans, or were there other factors that prompted this decision?

Thank you!

I have heard annecdotes that since the end of the cold war Polish documents outlining a planned switching of sides if the cold war went hot. Is there any truth to this?

While Vikings were pretty active in the Southern Italy & Sicily, I haven't found any sources, that they continued with exploring the Adriatic Sea. Does anyone have any info on this?

I'm really sorry if this sounds dumb or insensitive. But I'm really trying to get into the mindset of someone in 63. And it's just very hard.

I don't even know if this is quite the right sub. But why? Like obviously it's sad to see a president pass away. I get mourning o, some level and all. Particualry if you were a supporters of his.

But I just can't seem to get why this is a watershed of people. Where they remeber where they were and such. And such a culturally important thing. Why did it matter in the moment?

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