Were there giants back then? If so, what happened to their race?

[deleted]

1 Answers 2016-10-23

In Battlefield 1 one of the characters wears his hat in a certain way.what is it called and what exactly was it done for?

He wears his hat like this

1 Answers 2016-10-23

My great grandfather fought in both world wars, what is the best way to find out more about his past?

My great grandfather fought in both world wars under the seaforth highlanders and then went on to be the gameskeeper at Balmoral Castle, What is the best way to research information about him and find out more about his past?

2 Answers 2016-10-23

Sunday Digest | Interesting & Overlooked Posts | October 17, 2016–October 23, 2016

Previous

Today:

Welcome to this week's instalment of /r/AskHistorians' Sunday Digest (formerly the Day of Reflection). Nobody can read all the questions and answers that are posted here, so in this thread we invite you to share anything you'd like to highlight from the last week - an interesting discussion, an informative answer, an insightful question that was overlooked, or anything else.

7 Answers 2016-10-23

My mother, knowing my love for Ancient Rome, bought me History Channels/Magna Home Entertainment's 5-disc box set of Ancient Rome documentaries. Given History Channel's reputation should I trust the information on the DVD or should I watch it for entertainment purposes.

Not sure if this is the appropriate subreddit for this kind of question but I can't find much information on the internet. Any one who may have seen any of the following docs, any information you can give on the quality:

  • Roman Vice
  • In Search of History:
  1. Roman Roads: Paths to Empire
  2. Rome's Lost Harbour
  3. Rome's Eternal Wonders
  4. Rome's Glorious Cities
  • Sex in the Ancient World: Pompeii
  • Ancient Mysteries: Pompeii: Buried Alive
  • Criminal History: Ancient Rome
  • Rome: The Enduring Legacy

BONUS QUESTION: It Also came with a boxset on Ancient Greece "Ancient Greece: Gods and Battles", which I'm not as interested in but still look alright, so I may as well ask the same questions. How accurate are the following:

  • Gods and Goddesses
  • In Search of History
  1. The Greek Gods
  2. Oracle At Delphi
  • Last Stand of the 300
  • Decisive Battles:
  1. Marathon
  2. Thermopylae
  • Troy: The Passion of Helen
  • Battles BC:
  1. Judgement Day at Marathon
  2. Alexander: Lord of War

1 Answers 2016-10-23

What is today's understanding of Stonehenge?

1 Answers 2016-10-23

Mahatma Gandhi is portrayed as one who always bombs with nuclear weapons in the Civilization game franchise. In real life however, as Mahatma Gandhi died in 1948 and he lived to see the bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima and the Manhattan Project, what was his opinion on the use of nuclear weaponry?

2 Answers 2016-10-23

During the First World War, South Africa, Canada, New Zealand and Australia declared war as part of the British Empire, but during the Second World War, these colonies declared war themselves. What happened between the two world wars, that gave them the right to declare war themselves?

Maybe South Africa actually did break with the Empire earlier, but I'm just interested in finding out what happened to these larger colonies between the two world wars that gave the the right to self governance, while the Kings African Rifles still existed. Sources seem to say that Canada became a country in 1867, Australia in 1901, New Zealand in 1907 and South Africa in 1910.

Bonus question: Did Guyana, Belize and the British West Indies islands play an active part in the World Wars?

1 Answers 2016-10-23

Did Henry VIII's marital problems affect his diplomatic ties?

1 Answers 2016-10-23

A couple of questions about the Manhattan Project

Did the British have any knowledge of the development of the A-bomb? What about the Soviets? Where there any plans in the event the war ended before the bomb could be used?

1 Answers 2016-10-23

How did the cosmonauts aboard Mir react to the break up of the Soviet Union?

4 Answers 2016-10-23

According to Wikipedia, the left hand and the left side had a positive connotation in early Roman times. Is this true?

According to Wikipedia, the left hand and the left side had a positive connotation in early Roman times. apparently the negative view on left handedness stemmed from the Greeks, which the Romans adopted. Anyone got any more info on this?

1 Answers 2016-10-23

Aside from the Ottoman Empire, were there any sovereign Islamic countries on the eve of the First World War?

1 Answers 2016-10-23

How far back does the word "fuck" go?

[deleted]

1 Answers 2016-10-23

What was the precise difference between the Angles and the Saxons? What was there relationship with the Jutes, and later the Vikings?

I'm really quite confused about this whole area of history, and even after reading my understanding is still quite muddled. I was hoping my questions could be cleared up. Please stop in any of my questions as soon as I get the premise wrong and correct that instead of answering the question.

Around the year 700 The Saxons, as I understand it, inhabited northern Germany before traveling to current day England. My current understanding of the Angles is similar, origination from near the same area (further north/east then the Saxons?) who then also colonized England. The Jutes, a group that I'll come back to later, were more north still up in current day Denmark.

First, is our distinction between the Saxons and Angles purely to reflect the politics of the time (simply being different nations)? or are our reasons for separating them in history based more in cultural or ethnic reasons? Were they different 'peoples' merely because they identified as different nations, or did they have importantly different origins before their time near each other in northern Germany? Whatever the reason for this distinction, why do we seem to then remove this distinction by calling them the collective term of 'Anglo-Saxon' some time down the line?

Second, were there any native people when the Angles and the Saxons colonized England? Did they 'usurp' any other cultures or peoples, or did they find empty land on their arrival? If there were people before them what can you tell me about them? Are they names I'd recognize?

Third, this is a question regarding a later period often called (for good reason) the 'viking age'. Did the vikings who raided England from around this time come from Denmark? In such a case, where they related or descended from the Jute's who inhabited the area of Denmark before the Saxons and Angles left to England? If so, that leads me to a few more questions:

Fourth, How were the Jute's related to the Saxons and Angles? Why, if for any particular reason, did they not colonize England? (assuming they didn't).

And fifth, did either the English people who were being raided, or the Vikings doing the raiding realize that they were from related groups? Did the people of either culture understand this (relatively) recent relationship? What did they 'think' of each other, either because of or despite this common history? Did they simply have no idea/not care?

Sorry for such a rambley question, people ask for clarification wherever it might help you answer my question.

1 Answers 2016-10-23

I heard from somewhere that some of the problems that the Middle East faces today can be directly attributed to the destructive campaign of Ghengis Khan's army several hundred years ago. Is there any truth to this?

1 Answers 2016-10-23

Why did mad hatters use mercury to clean pelts if it drove them mad?

Was it faster than earlier methods?

1 Answers 2016-10-23

Why did high command of armies during WW1 view shell shock as cowardice?

If the concept of shell shock was widely known back then, why did the high command of these armies still view that as cowardice? And why did they execute those who were convicted of cowardice if they knew the sentenced man was probably afflicted from shell shock?

1 Answers 2016-10-23

Why did fully enclosed helmets start gaining popularity in medieval Europe?

In a recent video Matt Easton talks about some of the downsides of fighting in an enclosed helmet and explains how many soldiers may have preferred to lift up the visor once they got into melee or even fight with the visor removed entirely. It seems like enclosed helmets (or at least helmets that restricted vision that much) were relatively uncommon both before and after the late medieval period. According to some sources, an open-faced burgonet will protect the face from arrows if the head is tilted forward, and this presumably applied to kettle helmets and certain other open faced helmets as well.

So is there any particular reason that enclosed helmets like the great helm or the pig-faced bascinet started to be seen as a necessity in the high-late middle ages?

1 Answers 2016-10-23

How much is Germany to blame for the start of WW1?

Very recently I asked on /r/history about how good or bad the German Empire was and it quickly derailed into a heated discussion about Germanys involvement in WW1 because of my seemingly unpopular opinion that the German Empire has huge blame for starting WW1.

Now, nearly everybody in that thread was against me and said that Germany didn't want a war or that the French and Russians are as much to blame for it as Germany.

Hence I come here to get clarification. Was I wrong all the time about this?

Do note that I am german so my opinion has nothing to do with me hating the country.

1 Answers 2016-10-23

What were the 22 languages spoken by Mithridates VI?

Or did Pliny the Elder exaggerate the number?

1 Answers 2016-10-23

Were there any slave uprisings in Ancient Rome?

Or was the role of slaves in their slavery generally one of acquiescence?

1 Answers 2016-10-23

In both "The Great Escape" and "Bridge Over the River Kwai", whistling seemed to be very important to troop morale. Is this historically documented?

Were the tunes "official" military tunes or more like passed down sea shanties? The movies in question seem to show mostly British and American troops engaging in organized whistling, but did German and Russian troops also whistle?

1 Answers 2016-10-23

When the Abbasid Empire succeeded the Umayyad Dynasty, it was widely supported by the Shi'a, but as time went on, the Shi'a became more and more oppressed by the Abbasids. how did the breakdown of this relationship occur?

1 Answers 2016-10-23

Who was John Graves and what significance was he to Nassau during the Queen Anne’s War?

The guy doesn’t have a Wikipedia page, and the only source I was able to find his name in was from David Fictum’s (AKA u/davidAOP) article The Strongest Man Carries the day.

Long story short, I asked a question here a while ago about what Nassau was like before it was “Nassau” and u/davidAOP suggested me his article, and John Graves seems like an important historical figure present in Nassau, so I was interested in his Nassau-Queen Anne’s War involvement. As I read the article, the name John Graves was mentioned a few times. From what I got, he knew a lot about the Bahamas and lived in Nassau;

“John Graves, a former customs collector in Nassau”

I looked through the article’s endnotes/citations so I could search them up (specifically Graves’ memorials), but couldn’t find any results. Who was John Graves?

  • When and where was he born? When and where did he die?

  • Was he in any way in an allegiance with (or just an important person to) the British royal navy at the time? Since he has noted strategic and important values of New Providence island, and also the British saw Nassau as a valuable place.

  • How long did his customs collector career last for? How would a customs collector work in the early 1700’s? Particularly in John’s situation?

  • How long was he in Nassau for? Did he permanently live there or stay there for some period of time? Was it safe or dangerous for him? (regarding Franco-Spanish raids, or even pirates)

Bonus Question : Was John Graves Simcoe related to him?

1 Answers 2016-10-23

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