I've been reading this subreddit's criticism of the book, but some of the sources listed instead seem difficult for the average person to pick up with no academic background on the subject.

Tonight on The Rachel Maddow Show, Rachel claimed that Donald Trump's proposal was the first time any major party Presidential candidate has proposed banning entry to the USA on the basis of religion. Is this true? I would think that the idea had been floated before, perhaps about Jews or Catholics.

EDIT: Later in the show she did qualify her statement to "modern" political history. I am still interested in the answer throughout American history though.

There's a top book list on the FAQ of this subreddit and so I wondered what the historians of /r/AskHistorians thought about this year's crop? Favourite book in your field? In another field? For the general reader?

The Mexican-American War was the United States' first foreign war, was it too early in American history to make the comparison so commonly seen today? Did opponents to the war use the comparison to liken Polk's actions to tyranny commonly associated with Caesar?

Or did artists hop on each others ideas and eventually everyone has the same mental image of what they look like (western jesus).

When did the switch happen from straight faces to smiles? Also, why did it occur? Were there some places that took far longer to adapt to the new style of picture than others?

You often hear that the Romans had running water, but how much and where? Would a Roman, or at least a wealthy one, have anything like the faucets we have in our homes? Was it just public places?

I'd also like to know how they kept water pressure up. I guess if the water source is high enough it will do it on its own, but outside that, did they have pumps to move water through a city?

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What was the relative distance of the artillery from the front lines during WW1? Were they close enough to get fire small arms or were they relatively far removed from combat?

That is, the history of what we know about a historical period.

I am looking for stories like these:

1. We first thought that the great pyramids were built with slave labor.

2. Someone found a lot of things about the pyramids. (???)

3. Now we think that they are built by paid skilled laborers.

Given that historians document the history of all of the other fields, there are historians that document how the study of history evolved, right? What is it called? And what is a good source on the subject?

I've heard that the reason why Japan during ww2 had naval giants like the Yamato whereas the Americans did not was because American battleships were limited by the size of the panama canal. Why didn't they just build them on the west coast? Is it because west coast industry wasn't powerful enough?

Edit: Religion being defined as a group of people that worship a deity/deities and has traditions involving said deity or deities.

Several years ago in one of my high school level latin classes, I recall a discussion about techniques used by the Roman orators. My memory is rather hazy on the matter, but I think these sort of "tips" were mentioned: saying things in threes (i.e. "We must fight for love, liberty, and freedom!"), using gestures/body language to help convey your points (open palm beckoning the crowd while inquiring, slamming a fist to put emphasis on something), etc.

Anecdotes aside, what sort of techniques were used by Greek or Roman orators?

If anyone could give me some further insight into the matter, and potentially some sources that I could skim, I would appreciate it!

edit: Changed wording

Dynamo Berlin, a team affiliated with Stasi chief Erich Mielke, won ten straight East German championships thanks in no small part to blatant fixing by league officials.

Did this happen in other Soviet and Eastern European football (or hockey) leagues, or just East Germany?

Most of the literature classes I've taken emphasize the wide-ranging effects of certain literary or artistic movements, like nihilism in 19th century Russia, or romanticism in early 19th century England. However, in modern day society, most people don't know about what's going on in the literary world. Even I don't know; I'm mostly familiar with how people thought hundreds of years ago. So my question is, are these movements really as widespread as they're made out to be, and have become less so over time? Or are they only widespread among a certain niche sector to begin with?

According to a Facebook meme and several conservative clickbait-style websites, Jimmy Carter banned Iranians from entering the US. It seems like it may be a bit more nuanced than that, can someone shed some light on what this is about? Were all Iranians really banned from coming to the US? What about refugees? I seem to remember that lots of Iranians escaped to the US during the revolution but maybe I have my timeline jumbled.

Hey guys. My specialty areas are military, nautical, and aviation history. While I will be teaching a 100 level military history course I am also responsible for teaching a one-semester world history course that covers all of human history to the present. I have no idea where to start with books for that. Can anyone recommend some good overviews that I can read to prepare for it? I am leaning towards Susan Bauer right now but she seems controversial.