I am currently reading Edward Chancellor's Devil take the hindmost about the history of financial speculation. A common theme in the book was how early stock speculators in America organised in "pools" and then tried to "corner" the market to move prices in their favour.

The book lists many of these tries that failed spectacularly but none that was successful. I wonder, is there any documented case of a "corner" that worked during this period?

Is this common? Considering that during warfare is almost part of a daily life of people back then, is ptsd common in soldiers who took part in battles?

I just started reading Stephen Howarth's "The Knights Templar" and the following line appears:

"...the gradual growth of primogeniture gave each succeeding generation of the eleventh-century nobility an increasing number of young sons, landless, frequently penniless, and with only one trade: war."

He later goes on to say that a practical advantage of cooperating with the Byzantine Emperor was that Urban could rid himself of "belligerent western knights" whose infighting was wreaking havoc in Western Europe.

I'm wondering if this was a primary motivation for Urban's speech at Clermont or just a happy by-product?

Also, any thoughts on the book itself? I'm going to finish reading it either way as I am enjoying it, I'd just like to know if there are any majors downsides I should be aware of. I've always been fascinated with the Templars and I don't know anything about them.

Hello historians, in the last months I've been reading some travel books about Africa and it really captured my imagination. But the thing is, I'm not really well-versed in African history. Okay, I know, even the term 'African' is problematic, but hear me out: I'm looking for books that refute those common myths me and others may have in our minds about the historic development of the continent. I'm sure you know what myths I'm talking about: the 'lack of civilization', 'underdevelopment', 'backwardness' and so on and so on. Bonus points if it's an enjoyable read but retains it's scientific integrity. Thank you!

I've also heard of males from the early to mid 20th century having names like Claire, Shannon, and Lauren. When did these names switch to being only female names?

Also, apparently I don't know the difference between "our" and "are".

Feel free to give as much info as possible on this.

Did they go 1, 2, 3... And so on, multiply e.g 5 tents/men in 7 rows or "that right there is about 100 plus that there which seems to be double" and so on.

I get the impression that the rest of the world just follows the lead of the APA and the DSM book, is this mistaken? Have any ideas or diagnosis from overseas been incorporated into the DSM?

In particular, in Japan people don't seem to talk too much about eating disorders even though unhealthy behavior along those lines seems common. Also the transgender community in Japan seems to prefer having the diagnosis of gender identity disorder, while the US trans community seems to want dysphoria taken out of the DSM. I also see the translated DSM in doctor's offices (I am not in the profession btw) and on Amazon.co.jp, but I'm not sure I've ever seen a foreign equivalent translated into English.

I am aware that there have been a history of debate and activism regarding the categorization of gay/lesbian behavior in the DSM, but are there other issues like that which have been debated along those lines? And examples of different countries having come to different conclusions about diagnosis?

Since this creator/director speaks about historically correct references for scripts and story lines we are wondering why this choice was made as it seems unlikely it would be incorrectly pronounced in this context. Many thanks!

Togo, Mali, Rep. Congo, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Benin, Ghana, Senegal, Cameroon, Sao Tome and Principe, and Ethiopia all have all three as the main colors (a few of those have black stars or similar incorporated, as well).

Not all of these countries are near each other or from the same colonial parent. Is this coincidence? Am I reading too much into it? Or is there a reason?

Hi all,

I usually go to Yahoo answers for these sort of things but I started using reddit recently and I'm shocked as to how efficient it can be.

So here's a shot in the dark that I don't really expect many people to know so no worries if no one can help! :)

Background information: The Cotton industry was an integral industry in the U.K industrial revolution. This industry was centred in Lancashire, Yorkshire and Cheshire.

I am currently looking for statistics on the cotton industry from 1750-1850 within Lancashire, Yorkshire or Cheshire.

Essentially, I am looking for any of the following: Cotton Mill output, Cotton mill wages, Cotton mill employment.

I am trying to find a proxy for the growth of the cotton industry in these two areas.

Any help would be dearly appreciated and I'd be happy to share my dataset in the end.

Many thanks.

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I heard an interesting bit of information today while listening to Dan Carlin's newest episode of his history podcast, Hardcore History, Kings of Kings part 2. In it, while discussing the Battle of Thermopylae, Carlin mentioned that a new thought among some modern historians is that the Spartans were not actually as skilled and elite as people have hyped them up to be in the past, but that compared to the other Greek cities (most of which had almost no military preparation and schooling while the Spartans actually did) the Spartans looked absolutely unstoppable.

Is this a legitimate theory some historians have? If so, what are some examples of evidence to back it up?

I ask here mostly because I know Carlin, as much as I love his podcasts, is not an actual historian and has gotten information wrong in the past.

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So let me begin by saying I once had a book that was borrowed by someone about 8 years ago and I have been pining for it since about 2 years ago. Problem is, I cannot remember the title and am no longer in contact with the "borrower." It was a large book, not necessarily thick but more long and illustrated. It was very informative without being dull or boring. I want this book, but if no one knows it- that's okay. It doesn't have to be that book, just something LIKE it. I have read the John Adams and Thomas Jefferson letters and LOVED it. So throw your recommendations at me. I am very well read and can pretty much handle an reading level, but nonetheless I still like it to be interesting. Thank you all so much!