This issue showed up in an AskReddit thread today, and while plenty of people have opinions, I'd like to hear from scholars. Why do theater performers treat "The Scottish Play" with such superstition, and when did that tradition start?
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I understand that I have asked a few separate questions but what I'm mainly interested in is an explanation on what these right wing ideas were and what they have to do with the BJP.
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Obviously they had enough observational understanding of forces to employ them, but did they actually build them using the mathematics that describe these forces? Newton didn't publish mathematica until well into the late 1600s. Was the mathematics that is used in classical mechanics to predict the path of projectiles employed in some rudimentary way or were they more or less relying on trial and error?
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Present day we have National Weather Service as well as levees in places that are prone to hurricanes/tropical storms. How did the early settlers deal with this? Since the colonies were on the east coast would they have even gotten hit by hurricanes?
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Hey, guys. I'm new. Could anyone recommend me books about Italy? You know culture, literature, politics. Thank you.
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I was unable to find any reason why the Netherlands in particular was so intent on creating more land, and also wondering if any other countries have also done so.
Living in the relatively population dense country of England, I was curious as to why we have not historically taken more land from the sea (as far as i know).
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Question sparked by the claims made by Dr. Shashi Tharoor, in this article.
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I'm watching westworld and as the characters were about to execute a man by firing squad it occurred to me that it seems like a bit of a waste and less humane then say one guy shooting him in the head or all of them just standing a foot away shooting.
My assumption would be that it's more so for the executioners. So that none of them would feel as guilty since they wouldn't know who actually killed the person.
I'm just curious as to why they decided to go about it in this way.
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There is an article in the 1891 Salisbury Journal (Salisbury, England) that mentions someone's location of origin as the 'French-Netherlands'.
As far as I know this individual was from France but I can find no information on an area officially referred to as the 'French-Netherlands' in 1891.
What area would this term 'French-Netherlands' refer to at the time period mentioned?
Thank you!
1 Answers 2017-09-11
The Gospels of Mark and Matthew say that Joseph, Jesus' stepfather, was a "tekton" which is normally translated as "carpenter" but likely meant "craftsman/artisan/builder". I've been told Jesus was likely not a carpenter because wood was scarce in Palestine at that time, but is that true? I'm thinking it's likely that the Roman trade network would have brought lumber to the region in exchange for olives, dates, and other agricultural products. Or perhaps was Palestine at the time more forested than we think it was? Did ecological change from deforestation denude the land? Thanks!
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Puccini's Tosca portrays it as a police state, is this an accurate depiction?
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This has always confused me. People built their houses, forts, and other buildings at ground level. How do multiple feet of dirt end up covering the buildings in the thousands of years between then and now? Wind?
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Good morning all! Welcome to another installment of Monday Methods.
This week, we will host a discussion post, so it won't be in the essay style we usually go with. The topic for today is "Non-human things in history." From all of our fields, we all know about history that deals with instances not directly involving humans. Perhaps an artifact has an interesting history in of itself; maybe a location has a significant story to tell; perhaps there is an oral tradition in which humans are not the center that creates a pivotal point for a historical narrative. This is the discussion post for these items!
For an example, I will recount, in short, an oral tradition of my people, the Nez Perce, that would largely be considered non-human, but very much a part of our history.
The Heart of the Monster
Many, many, maaaaaany years ago, before humans walked the earth, animals dominated the landscape. They had (perhaps still have, if we consider it so) their own nations, their own legends, their own lives. They lived in relative peace among all themselves.
One day, the Creator alerted the animals that a new creature was coming, one that would live among the animals, but who would need help living. As time went on, footsteps could be heard in the distance, the sound the humans would make as they got closer. The animals, along with the roots and berries of the ground, approached the Creator and willingly offered themselves up as a sacrifice to become food, shelter, and utensils for the humans to use and thrive. Among those who offered themselves were Deer, Salmon, Chokeberry, and Huckleberry.
For the coming of the Nez Perce and several other Plateau and Plains Tribes, our arrival occurred like this:
The Kamiah valley is celebrated for its beautiful scenery. Named from the Kamiah Creek which enters into the Clearwater river in the eastern part of the reserve. Just where the creek enters into the river the valley is about two miles wide – mountain ranges on both sides of the river – not bare steep mountains such as you might imagine, but made up of buttes little hills each rising back off and higher than the other, until the fifth, sixth or Seventh, with its pretty fir trees, makes heaven seem but a step further up. Here and there a Canyon divides the mountain ranges, letting the snow water out in the Spring and each summer to make it annual trip down the Clearwater, Snake and Columbia to the Grand Pacific Ocean.
Now here in this beautiful valley down by the old ferry there is a mound so large it looks like a hill – it is surrounded by level ground. The Nez Perces call it the ‘heart’ and tell the story how it came to be there. After the world was made but not the people yet there lay a monster he was so large as to fill the great valley that mound makes just where the heart of it was. He did not need to search for food for he could draw in animals great and small for a distance of ten or fifteen miles and swallow them alive. Many a council was held (at a distance) to devise some means to destroy this enemy of all beast-kind for the valley was white with the bones of their friends. Only one among them all dared to approach the dreaded monster. This was the Coyote of little wolf for always when he drew near the creature shut his mouth saying "Go away, Go away"
One day after the Coyote had gathered some bits of pitch pine and flint, he stepped up quietly to the monster and hit the shut mouth so that if opened with a jerk. In a moment the little brave was in the great prison house and what a company he found there! Soon with his pitch and flint he kindled a fire, the smoke puffing out of mouth ears, and nose. The little commander ordered all yet alive to make their escape. white bear said he was not able to go but finally did make his exit through the ear-gate. At this time the Coyote was pawing away on the great heart with his flint, listening with delight to the sick groans of the dying monster.
When all was over and the captives at liberty there stood in the silence only the Coyote and his friend the fox. What should be done with this great body. They finally decided to cut it up in pieces and from the pieces people the world. So the Black Feet Indians were made from the feet – the Crows and Flat Heads from the head. The other tribes were made from the other parts and sent off to their own lands. The two friends were left alone. The fox looking up and down the river said Why no people are made for this lovely valley. And nothing left to make them now! True said the Coyote nothing but a few drops of the hearts best blood left on my hands. Bring me some water from the river. This was done, while the Coyote washed his hands he sprinkled the blood and water. And Lo the noble Nez Perce sprang up!
This is a shorter version of the story. A longer version can be found here. This is the creation story of my people and retells a history of a time before humans were here, before our relationship with the animals changed. While not human, the animals were more than capable of acting on their own and were, and still are, their own peoples.
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I just finished reading The Jersey Brothers. I was not aware of all the in-fighting between the army and navy over the Pacific front. Can anyone further elaborate on what were the issues and why the military was willing to put so many US boys' lives on the line?
1 Answers 2017-09-11
In the most recent Historia Civilis video ( https://youtu.be/ppGCbh8ggUs ), he mentions that the Spartans maintained a state of perpetual war against their Helot slaves (ceremonially redeclared every new year). The Spartans used this state of war to justify all sort of "chilling" atrocities against the Helots.
What are some examples of these atrocities? How do they compare to the treatment of slaves outside of Sparta?
*Can't edit title but: "were" not "we're"
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I recently found a 1st edition of The Hinge of Fate by Winston Churchill at a thrift store and so far it has been providing a great perspective of WW2 that was not covered during any history class I've taken. I understand that this is the last book of the series and my question may be answered by one of the earlier books that I have not yet read.
Just finished up the first passage about German U-boat superiority in the Atlantic and my question is: how was Germany able to amass such a large force of U-boats so close to American soil? Did it start as a small hindrance and once Germany saw a weakness they exploited it?
From The Hinge of Fate pp126, total of merchant ship losses from January to July of 1942 was 568 equating to 3,116,703 gross tons lost.
I can't believe I haven't heard anything about this before and it was quite striking that they were able to inflict such huge losses. I apologise if this has been answered elsewhere, I'm on mobile and haven't figured out yet how to search for topics. Thank you in advance for your answers
Edit: I realize that the US hadn't been fully committed to the war effort for long, but it still seems incredible that there were U-Boats less than 300 miles from the coast preying on merchant ships.
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Manchuria is around the same size as Western Europe yet it seems like the UK and the Soviet Union and France did not care when the Japanese annexed it and violated international law. But why?
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Thomas Cromwell was arrested and eventually executed by Henry VIII, although the reasons for his execution are speculative and probably due to a combination of factors including falling out of favour with the king and competition with his political rivals. One could perhaps assume he was another victim of the kings ruthlessness and paranoia.
Do you think that the treatment and execution of his famous ancestor had any influence on Oliver Cromwells views of the monarchy prior to the issues leading to the English Civil War and whether any existing opinions led to his future decision making during and after the civil war?
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Where sports ever seen as a worldly sinful activity in the eyes of American clergy? Was it seen similarly to alcohol or homosexuality today (culture war)? How widespread was this view held?
1 Answers 2017-09-11
I have been watching WW2 in Color on Netflix recently and what really stood out to me was the very different styles of oration the Allies' leaders had (Roosevelt & Churchill) compared to the European Axis' leaders. Roosevelt and Churchill are quite soft spoken when compared to Hitler and Mussolini. They are much more akin to how Westerners today think politicians should orate. This type of oration obviously appealed to US and British citizens at the time or they wouldn't have given speeches in that manner. However, when watching Hitler and Mussolini speak, there is much more shouting, drama, and handwaving. To me, Hitler seeming to emphasize shouting and anger, whereas Mussolini seemed to emphasize theatrics. In fact, during the first clip of a speech by Mussolini, the narrator of WW2 in Color made an aside that the way he orates may seem cartoonish now, but back then the populace of Italy loved it. What was it about the populace and culture in WW2 era Germany and Italy to prefer this over-the-top manner of speaking, and were there any contemporaries who also gave speeches in this manner? Was it all simply to build and maintain a cult-of-personality? Why was this manner not adopted in Britain or the US?
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