By which I mean, did they believe (abstractly at least) that their sacrifice was achieving something, or would the reasons for it be alien to them? Clearly this depends on where they came from, so I guess part of that is how dominant was the Aztec cultural-religious belief behind the sacrifices when it came to neighboring and vassal states?

Additionally, assuming that they did believe that there was a purpose, what would they have understood to happen to them after the deed? Was this some noble death on their part that would see some sort of reward in the afterlife, or what?

Do we have any information regarding the calendar systems that were in use in various areas of our world by civilizations that are now gone, or absorbed by others?

I've always associated beer with being typical to Europe and parts of the Middle East. Yet I notice that every country seems to have beer. China and Thailand have their signature beers. Africa also seems to make its own types of beer.

I know that different regions had their own types of alcohol (such as Sake), but was beer always a part of their cultures? Or did it come with the Europeans? Or is it just something that became a fad relatively recently due to the evolution of the international market?

My question is whether this is a relatively recent development, influenced by the expansion of European technology, culture, and power, or is it

A post in TIL claims that the rumour that Napoleon was short, was british propaganda. I have however heard, that he just looked short, due to the fact that he was always surrounded by his personal guard, which all was exceptionally tall. Can anyone confirm if there is truth to the story I have heard.

Given that France has the greatest win/loss ratio of military engagements of any modern nation, why is it so commonly believed (at least in America) that the French are cowards and/or often retreat from battle?

The quote in the title is from the Diary of Gideon Welles, recounting the carriage ride in July of 1862 in which Lincoln floats the idea of a proclamation declaring emancipation to Welles and Seward.

Why did Lincoln (and others) believe that emancipation was a military necessity?

After the fall of Imperial Russia, there was a democratically elected Duma. The Mensheviks were the majority socialist party in that body, with the Bolsheviks being a smaller subgroup of them. As we all know, the Bolsheviks eventually overwhelmed the Mensheviks and took power as the sole party in Russia creating the Soviet Union.

I've never been quite clear how the Mensheviks lost to them.

Such as the Treaty of Munich speech.

Was it due to poor planning, lack of coordination, poor tactics, surprise attack, or something else entirely?

Specifically in relationship to how each "faith" existed in the early US (mid-1700s to mid-1800s).

Perhaps another way: is unitarianism just deism with a church structure?

I recognize a temporal distinction between the two: deism (at least in the states) preceded unitarianism by a few decades. But in terms of basic tenets of faith, I'm having a hard time distinguishing between the two belief systems.

Apparently, this incident wasn't in the book Band of Brothers, but when the series was being produced Donald Malarkey the soldier told the screen writers about the incident. The prisoner also wasn't in the group that was immediately gunned down after being given a cigarette. I'm curious to how common returning to Germany was?

In American history there have been numerous unfair and cruel racial inequalities. Interestingly enough, the Bible has been used to justify these institutions.

Did the writers of the Bible intend their content to be used to subjugate 'different' people?

Does Christian Theology inherently have built in it an idea of racial supremacy due to the the idea that God incarnated into a human of particular gender, race, and theological perspective? It seems like from the fruits it appears racism is built into Christian theology but I wanted to get passages which justified racism, anti-semitism, etc.

I heard this in an argument recently, and couldn't find anything through my own research. Could anyone provide some insight to this?