The originals are no doubt lost to history, but I am curious as to what the oldest iteration of monks' copying the stories down on paper is to survive to the present.

I'm studying Mandarin for work, and I'm fascinated by the fact that "妈妈" (pronounced "mama") is the word for "mother" in Chinese. I've had to look at a few languages in the past (namely Spanish and Dutch) and I've observed that for concepts that have existed prior to modern times, the modern words typically are not all that similar (i.e English - chicken, Spanish - pollo, Dutch - kip, Chinese - ji). However, there's a "ma" sound in many instances of the concept of mother (English - mother, Spanish - madre, Dutch - moeder, Chinese - mama).

According to Google, pronouncing "mama" seemingly works to convey the concept of mother in Russian and Arabic as well.

Anyone know why that is? Surely the concept of "mother" existed far before the widespread sharing of language?

It's my understanding that the Black Death took ~75 million lives, a death count almost too catastrophic to comprehend even today. How did citizens living in Europe during the time come to terms with the plague? I recently watched Ingmar Bergman's 'The Seventh Seal', and the Flagellant Pilgrims seemed to indicate people saw it as some sort of divine punishment. Were any other explanations held? If so, was the cause perceived differently by different social groups or classes? Did any of these groups find the means to effectively counter the pestilence, or was it simply immune to the period's medical capabilities?

What was going on in Puerto Rico and surrounding areas during the 19th century? I know Spain owned much of it but was there any political unrest? Were the mayors, judges and governors of their colonies from Spain? I'm just interested in the whole dynamic of live in that part of the world during that time. One reason why I am is because I am doing my family tree at the moment. I found a man named Genaro Vergne who is my great x3 grandfather who was the mayor of several towns in Puerto Rico and became a judge in the late 19th century. I want to picture in my mind what his life would of been like.

Hello!

I know this is not exactly a question about something historical, but I have recently been tasked with the management of a private library containing nearly 4000 pieces of literature and am having trouble finding the right place to discuss preservation of these books. While most of the pieces were produced in the early to mid 1900's, I do have 3 or 4 pieces that were originally bound in the mid 1700's. I would assume there would be one or two people who may have an idea or be able to provide the right direction on a crash course in preservation.

Thanks!

Hi everybody,

So I'm writing a film with a friend of mine and the crux of the plot is that some form of apocalypse has occurred and the world is pretty much fucked. We're looking to set it roughly in 1300s Scotland. So I was wondering if there are any examples of Middle Age doomsday cults or collectives, or even an idea of what people expected from the end of days.

I've rented a couple of books on the subject, namely Apocalypse by JM Greer and a book on Celtic Mythology, but they're much more to do with our perspective based on what I've read.

I know the Soviet Union was absent during the voting, but how was that possible? I bet soviets were not silly.

Was just sitting today and thinking about what Nazis ate, and what food they liked.

Whenever I watch pirate movies, or Horatio Hornblower, Master and Commander, the Patriot etc., I hear words thrown around like 'frigate' and 'man o' war', 'dinghy' 'schooner' etc.

What defines these? Whats the total list of the lot?

Plain and simple question, just looking for the answer.

Any Recommendations for books, documentaries, or other sources are welcome.

I've seen references to presidents and emperors using radio for the first time, but never a microphone. I'm curious as to when amplified speeches became the norm.

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I'm specifically referring to skull carvings. I'm aware of the use of human remains to adorn crypts or places like Sedlec Ossuary. It's apparent that this practice may have occurred in Tibet, but for some reason I've heard the practice also took place in early Iron age, Bronze age, or earlier Europe. What is the truth value of this, is it just neo-celtic fetishism? Is there any evidence that carving skulls took place in North or Western Europe? If so, do you know where I might be able to read more about it?

From Westerns you see a lot of gunslingers wandering the Wild West with a least a gun or two strapped to their belt, but how many people back then were actually walking around with guns on their person, either openly or concealed?

How about back in the Eastern cities? Were there laws against carrying firearms back then? Would you expect every man and lady of means to have a pistol or derringer hidden away somewhere?