Supposedly he got stabbed, beaten, shot six times and ate enough poison to kill an elephant but was still thrashing around when he was thrown in the river. But the Romanovs went down with one bullet each, so why was Rasputin so damn hard to kill?

• This is where I have read so many articles and opinions on this question. Perhaps this a question that has many ways to direct the correct answer, but, my head is swimming on what clearly would be indictive for the true "birth" of the USA.
  • The clearest path, of which I have finalized a possible conclusion, is the nation was "birthed" from 1776 -- the government of which was born on 1789*

*Written in 1787, ratified in 1788, and in operation since 1789

I heard that Baldwin the 4th did not allow Muslims in the holy city and I want to confirm that.

On the contrary it is stated on Wikipedia that Saladin showed tolerance for orthodox and Eastern Christians in the holy city after he took the city.

If it's all true then it shows a very interesting perspective regarding that the two doctrines really command the opposite of what these two leaders did.

PS it is also baffling to me why would Saladin tolerate Christian presence in the holy city considering that he aimed to wipe out all Christians from the face of the earth.

Despite ruling over Egypt for a considerable span of time, they seem to have not constructed any buildings.

Was the objective to establish actual exchange rates, like say 10 pieces of copper for a bear pelt? Were the subjugated people required to deliver and sell a given quantity of these goods? Why trade at all, rather than just demand a quantity of goods in tribute?

Basically, it seems like the period army with a lot of archers guarded by a frontline of polearm infantry punched below it's weight against a lot of opponentsl ike the greeks. Like how they managed to lose despite 3-1 numerical superiority at marathon. Fastforward about a millenium and change and a seemingly very similar army (lot of bows with a frotnline of heavy ifnantry with polearms) is massively overperforming in the hundred years war. What happened?

I assume it may be one of the following, but I am curious if it's something else entirely?

1. My premise about poor performance by the persians is wrong by generalizing from marathon/platea/guagamela
2. The two armies are more different than they look at first glance? Maybe the bows were meaningfully different somehow?
3. Some other factor I'm not getting?

Basically, despite seeming to have very similar army compositions did these two forces perform so very differently?

Specifically I'm looking for the weight of:

- Pepper: In one article, I read that the (English) East India Company returned with 500 tons of pepper across 4 ships in 1601. So I'm happy to go with around 125 tons if I can't find more solid information.

- Nutmeg:

- Cinnamon:

- Cloves:

- Mace:

- Cardamom:

- Sugar:

- Coffee:

- Tea:

I'm writing a story set in the mid 1600s and would like to include the detail of the weight. Thank you for your help.

The recitation of Homer is called "singing" and I understand it was accompanied by lyre. So was it actually singing with melody or just speaking or rapping accompanied with the lyre? What kind of music was played on the lyre? Was scenes or characters associated with particular melodies?

The stereotypical Hollywood portrayal of ancient Greek and Roman armor, especially for wealthy officers, often has breastplates that have been worked and crafted to resemble well defined abs and pectoral muscles. Does this have any basis in reality? If so, how common would it have been and was such armor actually worn in battle or was it purely ceremonial? If it's not based in historical fact, how did it become such a common trope?

How different was slavery in the antebellum south for slaves that were property of smaller farms or family houses where they were either the only slave or part of a smaller retinue of enslaved Africans

Please bear with me, I’m a history noob so if this is a stupid question tell me gently lol. I’ve always wondered why the Mongols never got there first, perhaps it really is as simple as “Chris got there first” but if there is another reason I would love to know.

Hey! Does anyone know what kinds of weapons (specifically firearms) were used in Chile and by Chilean armed forces during ww1 and also during the reign of Augusto Pinochet? Sources would be helpful. Any recommendations of resources (books and such) where I could find out more about Pinochet's regime would also be really appreciated (preferably detailed information if possible)

Thanks!

I'm looking for any possible sources on the life of Irish Gaels (both noble and common if possible) from the middle ages up to the modern period.

I've read quite a few Irish history books at this stage, and I find that most cover the political affairs, wars, religious matters, etc at the time, while I've not found a single one that tries to explain in any detail what everyday life was like for Gaels in any detail. (I would imagine this is because there's a much less detailed record available, but surely some attempts have been made?)

I'm interested in topics like what farming practices they used, what their diets were, their pastimes, their clothes, what their settlements looked like, etc. A particular focus on the contrast between Gaels, 'Old English' in Ireland, and English settlers would be very nice. I am interested to see just how long a unique, distinct Gaelic culture survived.

I have read disparate descriptions in some of the books I've read, but a detailed answer would really be appreciated. I have given quite a broad timeline in my question so that any answer focusing on even just one subset period (e.g. the 17th century) is acceptable!

For reference, a list of some of the books I have already read:

1. Micheal Richter, 'Medieval Ireland: The Enduring Tradition'
2. Sean Connolly, 'Divided Kingdom'
3. Senia Paseta, 'Modern Ireland: A Very Short Introduction'
4. Aidan Doyle, 'A History of the Irish Language: From Norman Invasion to Independence'
5. Diarmait Mac Giolla Chríost, 'The Irish Language in Ireland: From Goídel to Globalisation'

I am not that familiar with Chinese history from about the late 50s to the early 90s but from what I do know about that time the cultural revolution seems to be a severe left turn from the expected trajectory of China at that time. I was under the impression that, while still having fairly significant social and economic problems, China had somewhat made it out of the famines and resource shortages caused by Mao's 5-year plan and had begun internal development.

I have been told that the Cultural Revolution was very destructive to China, ousting many capable and experienced people for ideological loyalists, and causing great suspicion and paranoia to spread and it just doesn't make sense to me why Mao and party leaders would incite such a thing.

Title.

Also, if the relationship of the Sassanids and later Iranian empires to their ancestral states was not well-understood, was it closer to something of a mythological/legendary understanding? Did either interpretation have an effect on Sassanid geo-political goals, such as a desire to "restore" the Achaemenid Empire? Was there a pronounced rivalry, beyond the territorial, and perhaps ideological in nature, between the Zoroastrian Persian East, and the Pagan, and later Christian, Greco-Roman West?

I once read that the first Sassanid Emperor Ardashir I discouraged use of the Greek language, and studies of Greek texts. How accurate is that claim? Was this an attempt to revitalize a connection to the pre-Greek, native Persian Empire?

I'm a big fan of the American remake of the sitcom Ghosts, which features a bunch of ghosts from various points in US history. I was wondering: is there anyone here who's a fan of the show and also studies any of the periods any of the characters come from (besides Pete (1980s) and Trevor (1990s)) that can speak to which things are accurate and which things are made up or exaggerated for comedy? (It is a sitcom after all.)

I'm especially curious about Thorfinn (he hates the Danish, but weren't there Danish Vikings? Did Vikings have orgies? Did they have cottages and did they line up the severed heads of their foes outside of them? He really loves fish, what's that about?) but really I'm open to any "the show vs the reality" stuff about any of the characters.

I recent read an article on arkeonews.net about a discovery of what is believed to be the oldest Basque language text. The pictures showed a copper alloy artifact with what looked like Norse type runes on it. What's going on here?