In fiction (or science fiction) a captain’s log is a real narrative device. But would a real one have told us much about the actual people?

I understand that the Tigray party was a major player in the previous regime that fought Eritrea, which presumably is why Eritrea has teamed up with Abay's government to fight them now, and you can't talk about that kind of thing due to the 20 year rule. But I'd at least like to know about the long-standing tensions. What's the background of the Tigray and central government parties, what were their relationships with the Derg and then each other, do Tigrayans and Amhara have long-standing ethnic tensions? It seems odd to me because they are, as I understand it, both groups who've been part of Ethiopia for centuries (I think Tigray is what used to be Axum?), both overwhelmingly Christian, both highlanders, why do they have such a clearly different identity? It's not like the south-east lowland Muslims.

I've been reading a lot of UK and Irish history lately and this question always sticks in my head. Considering how close the ocean is at any moment for someone living in the UK and Ireland, why does the modern cuisine of the British Isles not heavily leaning towards seafood like that of Japan?

Is it because of different weather, different dominant carbohydrates, different ocean life, or something else I'm not thinking of?

Thanks!

Hey, I'm mainly interested in Biblical Studies but figured this may also be a good place to ask because learning to research and write a History Research Paper would probably help with with Biblical Studies too. So are their any courses that are really good at refining those skills for lay people. The most advanced class I've done is AP College Writing and Journalism, and I still am waiting to get my GED so a lot of college courses aren't going to be available to me. Any programs that you think would help me? I just want to mainly do research and write papers as a hobby and nothing else. I'm also willing to pay for the program in fact I'm expecting to pay for the program.

Welcome to Tuesday Trivia!

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Come share the cool stuff you love about the past!

We do not allow posts based on personal or relatives' anecdotes. Brief and short answers are allowed but MUST be properly sourced to respectable literature. All other rules also apply—no bigotry, current events, and so forth.

For this round, let’s look at: Art! This week of Tuesday Trivia is all about the pretty things humans make to look at and appreciate! It's time to talk ART! Know of a particular piece of art that you think more people should know about? An artist who has too long gone unrenowned? Want to share a story about art during wartime? Let this week's thread be your inspiration and your canvas!

Russia and Alaska (according to Google earth) are less than 100km apart, I understand that this part of Russia is extremely remote and the sea pretty rough but on a clear day you see at the very least the islands between the two.

How did nobody at any point in history prior to columbus think to sail across?

I'm aware of two theories. The first is geography. Great Britain is literally an island, while Spain and France might as well be islands because they're peninsulas with very mountainous borders (Pyrenees and Alps). You could also say France is like an island for the same reason. So Western Europe has a lot of geography that makes invasions, not impossible, but difficult. On the other hand, Eastern Europe is completely flat. It's also the westernmost edge of the Eurasian Steppe, which, historically, has served as a kind of highway for invaders.

Another theory (and I'm pretty sure I read this in Why Nations Fail by James Robinson and Daron Acemoglu) is that the Black Death hit Western Europe much harder than Eastern Europe. This created labor shortages and created power-sharing institutions that handicapped the monarchs. Nothing similar happened in Eastern Europe.

What's the quality of these two theories? Are there any others?

I'm guessing this idea spawned in the 40's or the 50's, if not a little earlier when the idea of a "perfect Nuclear Family" was emerging. I'm sure men beat their wives long before this but not in a manner similar to children. I guess what I'm asking is when these acts of "domestic discipline" became popular or openly discussed and accepted as normal?

Cavalry was the prestige arm for most of the nineteenth century, so it got the wealthiest officers - but where did they get the troopers they commanded? In "Gentleman Rankers" Kipling implies that an upper-class cavalryman with no commission was unusual ("a trooper of the forces - who has run his own six horses"); is this correct, or was Kipling going for drama over accuracy? Were recruits expected to be able to ride, or were they trained on the job? ("It makes you cock-a-hoop / to be 'Rider' to your troop...") How was it decided whether a recruit would go to the cavalry, infantry, or I suppose artillery?

I know that in Italy some people were using a solution involving wood ash, but from what I understand this is only known to have been used in that part of the world. People around the world learned how to extract oil and animal fat and I know in some societies where access to meat was difficult, oils were among the main sources of protein for the poor. There's also the industrial use of needing to de-grease work surfaces in various industries. Like what did a blacksmith or an olive press worker do to clean off at the end of the day?

Ok so this is similar to the question "what were electric eels called before the discovery of electricity", but somewhat different.

In English, the word is just Thunderstorm so it can be a very old name. However, in Spanish it's common to say "tormenta eléctrica", which just means electric storm, so it must be kind of a modern name. Before electricity was discovered, or even before it was established that thunderstorms were electrical in nature, what were they called in Spanish?

I've found a few references where Southwestern tribes used Tomatoes, but it wasn't widespread. Did the Navajo, Hopi, Malibu, etc eat tomatoes?

It's often suggested that the main causes of the French Revolution are massive inequality, mass hunger due to repeated bad harvests, and a massive national debt problem. In "Citizens", Simon Schama suggests that many of these issues were present in other countries in Europe, including Britain. The weather patterns that caused the bad harvests were not confined to France, inequality was an increasing problem as Britain industrialised, and the debt of the British state was just as bad as the French - not to mention they had just lost the American colonies to the revolution there.

Given that the generally cited reasons of the French Revolution also apply to Britain, why then was there no similar revolution there?

This seems as though it’d be a pretty significant thing to teach in school, yet I was only taught about it once or twice, and just this week was the first time one of my friends had even heard about it. Is this like a “sweep it under the rug” thing?

After the Trail of Tears, the "Five Civilized Tribes" of American South made Oklahoma their home. But I assume there were natives in Oklahoma before then. This made me think about what was the relationship between the Oklahoma Natives and the Newcomers. What did they think of eachother, and were they treated differently in Oklahoma than the Five Civilized Tribes?

Despite the fact that Jesus aimed his ministry at the Jewish people, why do you think that the vast majority of Jews refused to convert? And also, the church credits St Paul a lot for it, but why do you think so many gentiles converted? And just to be clear, this post is not meant to challenge people's religious beliefs or assume which religion is right. It's just interesting. Will also post on r/askanthropology since they might have more answers on the cultural aspects.

I understand the basic concept, but as far as what question to ask of my primary sources, I am lost. Should the sources lead me to a question or should I have a general question in mind going into the research? If you know your general question going in, how did you come up with it?

I realize this is a somewhat strange question, but it's the aspect of history that I struggle with the most.

Could someone please recommend a book that details the history of the breakup of Yugoslavia and the ensuing wars? Or if such a book doesn't exist some other reading recommendations?