How were the Beats regarded during their time? Did most people in the mainstream know them?

1 Answers 2016-09-13

Giving an oral presentation on the air war in WWI, with a focus on the Red Baron. Are there any good sources to glance at quickly that you can recommend?

2 Answers 2016-09-12

Why was the town of Berwick special in the English law?

I am reading Commentaries on the Laws of England by Sir William Blackstone and he writes:

And by the habeas corpus act, 31 Car. II. c. 2. (that second magna carta, and stable bulwark of our liberties) it is enacted, that no subject of this realm, who is an inhabitant of England, Wales, or Berwick, shall be sent prisoner into Scotland, Ireland, Jersey, Guernsey, or places beyond the seas; (where they cannot have the benefit and protection of the common law) but that all such imprisonment’s shall be illegal;

Why is Berwick awarded special status here? I assume Berwick-upon-Tweed is meant here, is it because it's bordering Scotland?

1 Answers 2016-09-12

Has a US president ever served one term, lost re-election, and then ran for president the following election?

or has every one-term president walked away from it all?

1 Answers 2016-09-12

I live in Derbyshire in Late Antiquity or the early Middle Ages. I need to salt some meat for the coming winter. Where and how do I acquire salt?

I've been curious about the use of salting for food preservation for some time. I would assume that you would buy it at a market day and bring a slab home. Who brings the salt to market? How is it transported? Would it be cheaper to buy foodstuffs that are already salted?

I picked a location that's about as inland as it gets in the UK. Other places are of course welcome in responses!

2 Answers 2016-09-12

What was the status of "inferior" languages and literature in Nazi academia?

I was wondering one thing. Before 1933 there must have been in Germany a significant number of scholars and faculties specialized in Slavic languages and literature. What happened to them? In German universities was the study of Slavic literature forbidden? Only frowned upon? Forced to only study it to prove its so called "inferiority"? Did people only study Polish, Russian and other languages of "inferior people" only as "the language of the enemy"? Was there any Russophile, Polonophile, etc. left in German universities when the war started?

1 Answers 2016-09-12

In the classical world, how did non-Greeks perceive the Greek practice of pederasty?

1 Answers 2016-09-12

How valid is what my history teacher told me about the Roman Republic?

He was talking about the special times that the Romans surrendered power to a dictator, and noted that Cincinnatus was the longest ruling Roman dictator (16 days). He said that future dictators, seeing the humility in this, felt a sort of competition to stay dictator for the shortest amount of time. I asked whether this was actually good for the state, and he said yes, because issues were solved very quickly. Is this valid?

1 Answers 2016-09-12

During the civil war, did southern aristocrats ever spectate nearby battles as entertainment?

This is a practice I have never heard of, but I recently read something by a TV critic where he compared something in fiction to the "southern men of supposed civility watching men die from the hilltop in their lawn chairs and lemonade".

I suppose he could have been talking about generals, but the idea I get from the text is that southern civilian elites, upon hearing of a battle likely to occur near them, would assemble at whatever distance they deemed safe to observe the fighting armies amidst a generally festive atmosphere (hence lemonade and lawn chairs) while rooting for their side to win, not unlike a sporting event.

Is there any documented instance of such practices during the civil war, or is what I have described a purely fictional/anecdotal notion?

1 Answers 2016-09-12

In Narcos, the DEA and all other American assets are basically untouchable for fear of extreme American retaliation, even by the extremely violent Pablo Escobar. Does this level of untouchability hold true to history, or is this just dramatization?

Curious and curiouser.

Reference the scene about Murphy's cat being slain by the cartel, only to be met with "justice" because of an agent named "Kiki." Here's the scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDe-YA2ippQ

For now, that means using Murphy’s murdered cat as the driving force behind an investigation into how far Escobar’s influence reaches. Murphy, with his voiceover, evokes the death of DEA agent Kiki Camarena as an example of how the DEA cracks down on drug traffickers, how there’s an unwritten rule that DEA officers are off limits, and that the threat to Murphy and his family must have consequences.

http://www.ew.com/recap/narcos-season-1-episode-3

5 Answers 2016-09-12

In conflicts like The War Of The Roses, Thirty Years War, and Hundred Years War to name a few. Did the noblemen of that time ever express regret, sympathy or disgust that their conflicts were responsible for so many innocent peasants or civilian caught in the middle of it?

2 Answers 2016-09-12

Did native Americans create any sort of temple like the Aztec, mayas or any tribes from South America?

1 Answers 2016-09-12

How do I know if something is historically true or not?

As the question says, there are many things that I read in history but you know that there are too many view on every subject in history, so how do I know which opinion is real and true?

2 Answers 2016-09-12

What have the Romans ever done for us?

We're all familiar with the scene from Monty Phyton but here's the full quote for a refresher.

'All right, but apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, a fresh water system, and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?'

And peace of course.

My question is this. If a group of ancient Judeans from the Roman period were to sit down and assess what the Romans did for them what would they really say?

  1. What's on the Monty Phyton that shouldn't be there? Either because the Romans didn't do it or it was done before the Romans arrived.
  2. What's not on the list that should be there (good and bad)?
  3. Could they safely conclude that they lived better than those Judeans who lived just before the Romans conquered?

1 Answers 2016-09-12

Did the Catholic church take issue with the depiction of Greek/Roman mythology in Renaissance Art?

During the Renaissance, when artists began to portray mythological scenes or figures in paintings or sculpture, did the Catholic church accept this? Did they ever oppose the increased interest in depicting these Pagan subjects/consider it heretical? I know there were specific individuals who opposed it (Savanarola for example) but how was it viewed by the church as a whole?

1 Answers 2016-09-12

How did periods of climatic warming and cooling affect early human society? Were they even aware?

I was reading the xkcd post that made it to the top of /r/dataisbeautiful about climate change and it got me thinking that although climate change has been slow and fluctuating over the last few thousand years, what were the human reactions to such change, if there even were any?

2 Answers 2016-09-12

Lions vs. Tigers, which one is top cat? (Ancient Rome)

Its probably one of the most entertaining questions to discuss, and something that we have no way of finding a definite answer to without breaking a ridiculous amount of laws and spending a ridiculous amount of money to make these two big cats fight to the death.

Luckily, for those of us interested in an answer, the Romans had access to these big cats and a means of making them fight to the death in an arena.

Are there any historical records of the Romans forcing these cats to fight and, if so, which big cat generally won?

2 Answers 2016-09-12

According to XKCD, today's complaints to the tune of "kids these days are so disrespectful!" and "modern technology is ruining society!" have been around forever (citing back to the 19th century). How true is this claim?

Randall discusses this idea in the comics "The Pace of Modern Life" and "Isolation", having it seem that people have always been in some way self-absorbed, so while the specifics of these complaints may have changed over the years, the basic premise has always been the same. Is this the case, and are the any other, similar examples? What would be the oldest cultural norm that is still in practice?

I guess a broader way of putting this question would be: what facets of human culture and nature—despite popular opinion—have always been the same, and why don't we as a society change?

1 Answers 2016-09-12

What joke was Athenian philosopher Chrysippus laughing at that caused him to die?

I've tried looking it up but I can't seem to find the joke. I'm also nervous to hear the answer lest I die from laughter myself.

1 Answers 2016-09-12

How Accurate and Valid is **Collapse**?

So I'm looking to brush up on my history and after stumbling across the post in this forum eviscerating Justin Diamond and his book Guns, Germs, and Steel, I am now reluctant to pull the trigger on this:

Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed: Revised Edition

Is this book as poorly constructed as Guns, et. al.? Obviously it's a little more of a biology book with history in it, than a history book with biology in it...

1 Answers 2016-09-12

How accurate is Thucydides' report on the debate at Sparta?

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1 Answers 2016-09-12

When, where and why did societies start to circumcise men?

1 Answers 2016-09-12

Why is it so controversial to talk about the Armenian Genocide?

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1 Answers 2016-09-12

Was the renaming of Saigon into Ho Chi Minh City in 1975 effective immediately? Was there any opposition to it?

Staying within the 20 year rule: in 1995, twenty years after the end of the VN war, did some officials still use the old name (Saigon)? How about "the people"?

My family fled Saigon in 1975. I never got a chance to ask my grand parents what they would have called the city now. My mom still says Saigon.

1 Answers 2016-09-12

Grolier Codex

So, apparently Mesoamerican archaeologists have determined that the Grolier Codex, an ancient astronomical text that was thought to be a hoax, is the genuine article. How does this change our understanding of Mesoamerican history?

http://arstechnica.com/science/2016/09/confirmed-mysterious-ancient-maya-book-grolier-codex-is-genuine/ Link taken from r/history.

1 Answers 2016-09-12

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