In the late 20th and 21st Century people have a fairly specific concept of gay or queer culture, even if the aspects of it vary between cultural and temporal contexts.

And as part of that when did homosexuality first become the cornerstone of a gay identity in a modern sense of the term and was it anyway connected to increasing or decreasing tolerance or perhaps awareness of homosexuality in the 20th Century. Basically, I say "Modern ideas around sexuality and gender are not universal social constructs" or some such all the time as a way to brush off conversations about homosexuality in X culture but I have absolutely no idea how, when or why this modern understanding began to take form except a vague idea of Western Europe/US in the 20th Century. Please enlighten me.

For obvious reasons I am narrowing this down to North America and Europe (using the term narrow loosely here) and specifically asking for the origins and evolutions of it as a concept. Did the gay community (if the term is applicable) resist labelling altogether, did they accept it as a means of validation and recognition, was it at first a purely negative connotation that was being applied or is it all a lot more complicated than that?

s Both the Soviet Union and the Nazis took a keen, ideological interest in the production-side innovations of "Fordism," but to my knowledge only the Nazis parroted Henry Ford's statements on the benefits of automobility and made any attempt to promote mass automobile ownership. Why didn't the Soviet Union develop any program similar to the KdF-wagen (Volkswagen)?

For those who did own cars, what was there to do? Were long automobile vacations possible? What automobile service industry existed - gas stations? mechanic garages? drive-thru restaurants?

And if so was there any distinct cultural impression of them or were they just part of a homogeneous mass of tribes that existed a (relatively) long way away?

And as an extension to that, was there anything that would count as an architectural display of wealth? So a comparable, if very different, version of Roman mosaics or statuary?

And as a corollary to that would contemporary tribes have sworn oaths (personal or religious) as part of diplomatic agreements? Looking predominantly at the West, so Iberia, Gaul, Britain etc.

Anyone who's driven around the American South has seen the "Confederate flag" somewhere, often hanging or flying near an American flag. Much of Southern culture and identity seems to be focused around patriotism, even while people espouse "Lost Cause" ideology. How did this region go from insurrection to fervent patriotism, and how have those two ideas been reconciled so completely in many peoples' minds?

I am a 31yr old retail worker with an arts degree. I am considering going back to university to continue/restart my studies in the hope of pursuing a career in academia or, if possible, archeology. I graduated 6yrs ago so RPL is not likely. It has always been my dream to have a career in this field. However, because of my age, I have no idea of how employable I would be if I were to attain the required qualifications to enter this field, nor do I have any idea of the income I could make. I already have a hecs loan that I have barely put a dint in, and I have very little income or assets as it is. I do not wish to be struggling all my life to make ends meet but I also do not wish to work a job that I am not passionate about which I have simply fallen into.

So my questions are:

• Would it be wise to pursue this dream or is it too late?

• Is it even possible to attempt it with an outstanding hecs debt?

• If I were to attain the required qualifications, what employment opportunities are there? How difficult would it be to find a well paying job?

Any advice would be really appreciated.

I was having a read of war dogs in history on wiki and it was slim on details. Are there any examples people could expand on? Very cool topic.

So on a post on the Man in the High Castle Reddit we were debating what a future world would look like if the Nazi's won.

Someone said the idea that the Nazi's were technology advanced was a 'myth' created by Hollywood. While I am not certain they were in all aspects I cited some examples to show how they were superior.

-I said the Tiger tanks were better than the American Sherman. (German tanks are what most American ones are based on today)

-I said the MG42 generally performed better than the American browning (higher RPM, more portable, easy for a single person to use)

-I said the STG-44, the worlds first assault rifle, was better for assault manoeuvres than the BAR. (Also what inspired Kalashnikov design for the AK-47)

-I said the panserfaust, the RPG predecessor, was better in combat for being operated by a single user and it's portability than the M2 bazooka. (Debatable I know)

-I said the Nazi's rocket program (missiles and planes-V1 and V2's) was unparalleled and many of their scientist would be driving forces behind the Soviet and US space programs.

-all cited some of their wonder weapon programs like night vision etc

I was told all of the above is inaccurate. I am a third year history student and a really good UK university, I would be very surprised if everything I said ^ wasn't at least up for debate rather than being told Hollywood has brainwashed me into thinking the above is true.

[deleted]

I was wondering what building has survived the longest that is the home to any form of government use except museums.

While slavery was officially abolished in British territories with the Slavery Abolition Act in 1833, my understanding is that there wasn't much slavery in Canada. Is this true for Canadian/British slaves in North America? What's the history of Canadian slavery?

Was it ever actually a real key? What did it open?

I know that there was slavery in the British colonies that would later combine into Canada, but how did it fit into the fabric of Canadian society at the time? In the American South for instance, it was such a key aspect of the very underpinnings, and I imagine that it was not quite so, and more akin to the more limited role we see in the American North, like Massachusetts or New York, but would love to learn a bit more!