Why are most Mexicans mestizos, but very few Americans are of both White and Native American ancestry?

2 Answers 2015-10-09

When was the modern conception of owned territory born? And how was land understood in that context before that point?

I'm really sorry is this question is phrased badly but I can't think of a better way to say it. When did it become possible for someone to point at a place on a map and say "Yeah, that belongs to France/Russia/the Inca?" And before then, what would people, especially those in border regions, have thought about who was in control of the land they lived on?

1 Answers 2015-10-09

In the show 'Bastard Executioner' they have a "Piss Prophet" who can determine the pregnancy of a woman from her urine. Was this a thing in 14th Century Europe?

• Piss Prophet seems a derogatory term. What would these people actually have been called? and what would they have done when not performing pregnancy tests?

• The prophet uses the phallus bone of a goat, rusty pins and blood to determine whether she is pregnant. Is this an accurate depiction of methods that would be used in 14th century Europe? What other tools/methods would they use to determine pregnancy?

• The Baroness "fools" the 'Piss Prophet' with the urine of a pregnant Wolf. Is this just Hollywood silliness or was this a method of falsifying a pregnancy?

This is from season 1 episode 5 if anyone needs/wants it as reference.

1 Answers 2015-10-09

Is this TIL link regarding Roman beliefs about eyelashes accurate?

https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/3o3m9a/til_the_romans_believed_eyelashes_fell_out_from/

1 Answers 2015-10-09

On what areas were the Middle Ages more advanced compared to the Roman era?

1 Answers 2015-10-09

During the Napoleonic wars, why did the british never attempt to land directly in france and threaten paris, etc?

British, with their successive naval dominance, first following the battle of the nile and then the battle of Trafalgar, it strikes me odd that - as far as i know - the british never threatened an invasion directly into france while Napoleon was busy in either Austria, russia or spain.

British campaigned instead in spain and then later in france. But couldnt even simple raids to north of france and/or threaten a move on paris been possible? Were any of the sort going on?

Were the central of france heavily garrisoned etc? Werent the british naval superiority able to support an expidition?

2 Answers 2015-10-09

Did the Ancient Egyptians believe that their gods were literally humanoids with animal heads, or did they believe that the representation was symbolic?

I understand that Ancient Egyptian religion was very complex, and that 'Ancient Egypt' refers to an extremely large timeframe, so to narrow it down, I want to know specifically about Egypt on the eve of the Bronze Age Mediterranean Collapse.

Renaissance thinkers did not think that God was literally a bearded man in the sky, even though Michelangelo depicts him as such in The Creation of Adam.

I remember in undergrad I took a course on Ancient Egypt and the professor, who isn't an Egyptologist but a Classicist. Said that the Egyptian priests of the New Kingdom didn't literally believe that their deities were simply discrete entities but that they simultaneously belonged to a single divine force. She said that this was probably one of the 'secrets' of some of the Orphic mystery cults of the later Hellenistic world. Was she just making stuff up or is there some substance to this?

3 Answers 2015-10-09

What was the exact point in history at which humans had created weapons capable of destroying the world?

[deleted]

2 Answers 2015-10-09

Was Ronald Reagan responsible for ending the 1981 Iranian hostage crisis?

1 Answers 2015-10-09

How big were Asses in ancient Rome?

I'm reading about when the Denarius was altered in some way, changing it from 10 asses to 16 asses.

Here are a couple examples:

Retariffing of the Denarius at Sixteen Asses

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sestertius#History

I tried googling it and only got a bunch of reddit TILs about how a 'butt' is a unit of measurement. Nothing about asses. So, how much were asses?

1 Answers 2015-10-09

In this historical ad for "Negroes for Sale" what is meant by the sale term Barter?

Original ad posted here in /r/mildlyinteresting lists a term of sale as Cash or Produce. A discussion has ensued over what exactly does Produce mean? Would it mean barter for any produced goods (furniture, tools, plants) or do they mean specifically "farm produce" such as cotton with a specific market price?

2 Answers 2015-10-09

Ancient Egyptian Funeral Traditions

This comment piqued my interest in describing some aspects of the Ancient Egyptian rituals surrounding death that I hadn't really heard about before.

When a rich man died--in this case a man named Ipi--he left behind lands that were meant to provide an income for the maintenance of his tomb [...] and make sure the rituals for the upkeep of Ipi's soul were performed.

Can someone go into more detail about the purpose of the rituals? I know the Egyptians were very into the afterlife and were buried with possessions and so on that they would use in the afterlife. What, in their view, would be the consequences for their soul if the tomb wasn't maintained and/or rituals weren't done?

How does all of this affect commoners who weren't wealthy enough to have a ka-priest maintain their soul? Surely they had expectations of going to the afterlife as well?

Lastly, when someone like Ipi died, would it have been his expectation that ka-priests would watch over his tomb indefinitely? Would another ka-priest be appointed when Hekanakhte died or retired? Do we have any idea how long these death estates, for lack of a better term, were maintained in reality?

1 Answers 2015-10-09

Did William III rule England and the United Provinces at the same time?

I read that he was the stadtholder of the United Provinces and the joint king of England until his death. Did he still rule the United Provinces after the Glorious Revolution?

1 Answers 2015-10-09

What was the state of gun ownership in pre-fascist and fascist Germany and Italy?

I seen Ben Carson's comments on whether the Jews would have been able to resist the Nazis if they had been armed. Ignoring the realities of that, what was the state of gun ownership in Europe at this time? Particularly in Germany and Italy, although other countries would also be appreciated.

1 Answers 2015-10-09

What are the earliest examples of "gender bent" stories?

Stephanie Meyer sure wasn't the first. I'm also curious as to when this practice began.

1 Answers 2015-10-09

How were Jews treated in the Medieval Middle East when compared to Europe?

3 Answers 2015-10-09

Was the late 18th century French court really as frivolous as depicted in film?

[deleted]

1 Answers 2015-10-09

How did the situation of having residents in Washington DC develop in the first place?

I'm not sure how to phrase my question exactly, but reading a few Wikipedia pages on Washington DC didn't really enlighten me.

I guess my confusion is because, if you had told me that a new democratic nation was going to set up a capital city and that residents of that city would never be allowed to participate in a significant part of the democratic process, then I'd expect that they would have prevented anyone from declaring residency there in the first place.

Why didn't they establish something as is done in the U.S. military where you might end up living anywhere but where you can declare yourself to be a resident of a specific state for voting purposes? Were there residents from the very beginning who helped establish the nation but who then couldn't vote for members of congress? If so, why wasn't this considered a huge problem and why wasn't something done to accommodate those people from the start?

Alternatively, if they wanted DC to be a separate entity existing outside of any state, why didn't they just draw the boundaries smaller, excluding any residences at the time, and disallowing anyone from establishing residence there going forward?

Mostly I'm just trying to get a sense of how this situation evolved over time and how we ever ended up in a situation where so many of people are not represented in Congress.

1 Answers 2015-10-09

Why did Gerard Roope get a VC despite knowingly going into an ambush with the Admiral Hipper?

Lt Cdr Roope's Victoria Cross for actions when he was commanding the HMS Glowworm says this;

The enemy broke off the action and headed North, to lead the Glowworm on to his supporting forces. The Commanding Officer, whilst correctly appreciating the intentions of the enemy, at once gave chase. The German heavy cruiser, Admiral Hipper, was sighted closing the Glowworm at high speed and an enemy report was sent which was received by H.M.S. Renown. Because of the heavy sea, the Glowworm could not shadow the enemy and the Commanding Officer therefore decided to attack with torpedoes and then to close in order to inflict as much damage as possible.

It seems to me like if he recognised that he was being led towards a superior force, it was quite reckless to continue to engage the enemy, especially since it ended in the loss of his ship - but I'm completely naive about naval tactics.

Clearly he was an extremely brave man, but why was he rewarded for deliberately engaging a ship he was outmatched by, when it sounds avoidable?

1 Answers 2015-10-09

After his marriage to Martha Custis, Ron Chernow writes that George Washington owned £9000 of slaves and £10,000 in real and liquid assets in the USA and GB. How wealthy would this make him today? Who would be his modern equal wealth?

1 Answers 2015-10-09

Is it true that the bible was not translated into different langauges for most of the middle ages?

I read somewhere that it was illigal to create a bible that was not in latin for most of the early and middle medival time period.

1 Answers 2015-10-09

How good was the 85mm on the T-34/85 at taking out Tiger I tanks frontally?

Zaloga's 1994 book on the IS-2 says something along the lines:

Firing trials of the new 85 mm D-5T also had proved disappointing. Several captured German Tiger I tanks were shipped to Chelyabinsk, where they were subjected to 85 mm fire from various angles. The 85 mm gun could not reliably penetrate Tiger I except at ranges within the lethal envelope of the Tiger I's own 88 mm gun.

Another source, Jentz, says in Tiger 1 Heavy Tank 1942-45 (1993) something along the lines:

the T-34's 85 mm gun would penetrate the front of a Tiger between 200 and 500 m (0.12 and 0.31 mi).

So, did the T-34/85 fare well against the Tiger? What about the IS-2?

2 Answers 2015-10-09

In Rome were coins depicting former emperors still in use when a new emperor came into power?

2 Answers 2015-10-09

How does the quality/quantity of historical evidence for Jesus compare to that of other notable historical figures like Julius Caesar?

How much do we actually know about Jesus compared other notable figures who existed around the same time?

2 Answers 2015-10-09

What were Japan's reasons for invading India in 1944?

What were their objectives beyond Burma, and how realistic would they have been to achieve?

1 Answers 2015-10-09

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