A quick search shows there are many reasonable explanations of wage stagnation (to take one issue) that Ronald Reagan just happened to preside over. But especially on left-leaning websites, the narrative is often that his specific actions somehow resonate more than any following president. Was there anything special about the Reagan presidency that gave it such a powerful legacy? Or is the “Reagan era” just shorthand for the end of the post-war boom and 70s idealism, and the tipping point towards inevitable infighting and decline?

I know this is a dumb question, but were there oriental asians in Nazi Germany? If so, how were they treated?

I have a historical fiction book based on the Teutonic Knights and I want to be sure I have my facts right. Is there someone who knows everything there is to know about the Teutonic Order who can help? I just have a variety of questions. Mostly want to know about the government structure of the Order.

For context, I am an MA student studying Early Modern and Medieval Europe. I am familiar with textbook definitions and have seen a chunk of primary sources describing the feudal contract and such. One of the most famous would be the words of the Bishop (I believe) describing that the contract must be easy, practical, reciprocal, etc. (I hope you know what I’m referring to.) I’ve also seen diplomatic documents like John the Softsword of England giving England to the Papacy and taking it back as a fief. I’m mentioning this just to give any potential commenters the idea that I’m somewhat familiar with these concepts but still not really satisfied with my understanding of land management and politics.

I want to know not only what it was and how it functioned, but how land politics and ownership worked where feudalism wasn’t the predominant system. Where can I, a historian in training, learn the historiography of the term and develop an accurate view of “feudalism?”

I heard many time that in old times in other culture families during time of poverty usually in the winter when food would become scares, they would pick one family member, sometime it would be random other time it would be the elderly, they would pick a family member to basically die so the other can have more food. is that true? if so what culture have done that ?

In some fantasy books, characters use flaming arrows dipped in oil or some other flammable substance and fire it at enemy ships. Would it be feasible to fire from one ship to another with flaming arrows and is there any historical evidence of the fact?

Why did they keep calling the city "Los Ángeles" instead of translating it to "The Angels" or something like that.

The same with Florida (Flowery), Nevada (Snowy) and San Francisco (Saint Francis) for example.

I assume it was different around the world, but generally (if there can even be a general answer) how were years counted.

Follow up question, what prompted the change from whatever society used to begin using the BC / AD counting of years?

Looking at countries like America or Britain, from the 1700s until WWII, people seemed to wear much more formal or fancy clothes. But then after WWII, starting in the mid 1900s, this seemed to change until now, where sweatpants and hoodies are common. What caused this?

Machine bows should definitely be possible to build for a medieval engineer or also a Roman engineer. Not hand held, but stationary and more artillery-like. You could position it on top of a wall and attach a heavy weight. Letting that weight down powers the mechanism, just like pendulum clocks power the clock. The arrow - or even just a stone - falls down from the magazine into the "chamber" it is then propelled forward, the mechanism pulls the string back and the cycle repeats until the weight has reached the ground and a new one needs to be attached. That would have increased the efficiency quite a bit, I would say. Was there no use case for such a weapon in medieval warfare?

Hello, I would like to know if any of you could help me understand this family story better. My Grandma recently told our family her family’s history and brought up that her Grandfather (born 1899) had served in WWI. Here’s the part I request help with, she said he fought with the Russians against the Germans, [ A valuable thing to note real quick is that his mother, was of Russian descent] but he also lived in the Carpathian Mountains and was living in Austria-Hungary at the time ( later Czechoslovakia). Is this story legitimate, and if so, why would he? I’m not the most knowledgeable when it comes to WWI, so any help would be greatly appreciated!

I understand that a conflict as broad as the Taiping Rebellion involved people of many beliefs fighting for various reasons. However assume the perspective of the 'true believer' in the Taiping army. Do we have an idea of what they believed? What motivated them? What sort of understanding might they have of Christianity? What does their religious worldview look like, and how is it likely influencing their actions?

The breadth of subject matter found in The natural history is especially fun and engaging. The topics include astronomy, mathematics, geography, ethnography, anthropology, human physiology, zoology, botany, agriculture, horticulture, pharmacology, mining, mineralogy, sculpture, art, and precious stones. What I like about the Histories of Herodotus is that it is really fun to read and his first hand accounts are so interesting and sometimes hilarious. There was a section where he mentions that Dark skinned Indians have BLACK semen! Haha I laughed so hard at that part. He writes in such a way that I could read his stories aloud at a campfire and entertain any listeners and avoid boredom (For the most part!) Pliny on the other hand makes me very sleepy sometimes lol, but I appreciate his thoroughness. The way he incorporates the stories of others, and at times even doubts what others say and let’s the reader know that this fact might not be true is very cool IMO. I bet that he was really connected with his community, and when a friend returned from travel, I imagine that he would interview them and write down their testimonies. I have found GEMS in both books. His description of the gods is awesome. One of my favorite sections is his explanation of lightning and rain. Oh and he mentions that Leaving the Dead unburied is displeasing to the Gods. That they send sickness and plagues upon those who do not bury the dead, animals and people alike. It’s like a like a Law of nature he says, and there’s something so wise and insightful about that way of interpretation IMO. Any suggestions?

I was reading recently a piece in my mother tongue (that isn't english) about its evolution through time. How words from different languages (even from European ones) were taken and adapted into words in my native language. I have also read many old works (some dating to 15th century CE) in my mother tongue and find some similarities with the modern version of the language, and I am sure I can make myself understood to an extent, should I happen to go back to the 15th Century.

Hence, I was curious on how it would work for English. The only really old works of english I have seen and read are plays by Shakespeare. I know that the spellings of lots of English words were different back then. But the language written in plays would hardly have been the same as spoken by common people, right ?

So I wanted to know just how far back in time would one have to go to find huge differences with the english we now speak to the extent that communication becomes practically impossible.

Really sorry for my shoddy English. I am also not sure if this question is suitable for this sub. Would be very glad to get pointed to other subreddits where I might find answers.

Thank you.