Was Atahualpa immune to smallpox?

1 Answers 2015-03-16

History student here: How do historians learn to read old primary sources like diaries or correspondence? I'm looking at some and can only make out a few words. Everything else looks like scribble. Any advice?

4 Answers 2015-03-16

How was total war justified in World War I?

1 Answers 2015-03-16

Big data? Let's talk big history: if you could know the prevailing cardinal direction towards which every military advance in all human history has pointed, and then summed them all up, what would be the average? The mode? (And by hemispheres)

1 Answers 2015-03-16

On a basis of TIL dispute: was ancient Rome more deadly over religions disputes in its polytheistic era or its monotheistic one? Also, by what degrees of difference?

Or to ask it simply - which Rome killed more people for their beliefs, polytheistic or monotheistic Rome?

2 Answers 2015-03-16

I often hear references to Boris Yeltsin being a raging alcoholic. What's the truth about his drinking habits?

1 Answers 2015-03-16

Why did the USA occupy Greenland in WW2? Was it actually realistic that Greenland might have been invaded?

2 Answers 2015-03-16

When did private U.S. citizens last have access to all of the arms the contemporaneous U.S. military had access to?

1 Answers 2015-03-16

Were Medieval armies really capable of moving in perfect geometric marches?

In movies based on the Middle Ages or Revolutionary War, we see armies that march in straight lines, all synchronous walking styles, and at the command of one man. The commander would yell a word in a deep voice to control the army.

Here's an example from The Patriot http://youtu.be/njFOIvoN9pc

Was this really how they were? Or was the military usually pretty sloppy and people walked at their own paces?

4 Answers 2015-03-16

What did the crew of Apollo 11 do after they came back from the moon? Did they continue to serve the Air Force?

Title. I know they were forever immortalized in history for their feat, but what did they do?

2 Answers 2015-03-16

Besides Marcus Aurelius' "The Emperor's Handbook", are there similar books on leadership and state affairs published by Roman emperors?

1 Answers 2015-03-16

As portrayed in the movie *Fury*, were Allied soldiers sympathetic towards regular German soldiers but ruthless when dealing with the SS?

2 Answers 2015-03-16

History of the feigned retreat

1 Answers 2015-03-16

Why did the United States go to the moon?

Sorry if this is very broad.

1 Answers 2015-03-16

Who was the Shogun from 1573-1600?

As far as I know the Ashikaga fell in 1573, but Tokugawa Ieyasu didn't take power until 1600, Toyotomi Hideyoshi had power but wasn't the Shogun. So who was?

3 Answers 2015-03-16

What is the history of plant classification systems after Carl Linnaeus?

As someone who is interested in the history of botany, I'm well aware of the very important invention of binomial nomenclature by Linnaeus and his role in botany at large, which includes his plant classification system, which he published in Systema Naturae in 1735. The history around this important botanist and his system is more or less well known to the community of historians of science. Since plant taxonomy almost certainly didn't stand still in the following centuries and probably still is an important part of plant biology even today, I was wondering what this sub knows about plant classification systems after Linnaeus inventions.

I would also be interested in books or other publications (preferably recent ones) about this topic.

2 Answers 2015-03-16

Is it true that Hitler encouraged the Hitler Youth to beat up the Scouts and other rival youth-clubs?

1 Answers 2015-03-16

At what point was chemistry considered to be something distinct from alchemy? And up until when was alchemy considered to be a legitimate area of study for scholars?

3 Answers 2015-03-16

What evidence do we have for how ancient cultures organized service? (Did they queue?)

1 Answers 2015-03-16

Reading material on Vikings and Greece.

Could any of you recommend some good books on Viking culture and warriors, also something on ancient Greece? Thanks!

PS. Are these types of questions allowed? This counts as historiography ,right?

2 Answers 2015-03-16

A question about dating/historical timelines

I do feel stupid for asking this but I cannot think of another place.

When historians refer to the certain time periods in centuries/decades/milleniums, they often use "early" or "late". So like the 1820's were the early nineteenth century, and the 1880s would be the late.

My confusion comes from when we discuss times in the BCE/BC era of human history. Would 220 BCE, for example, be considered early or late 3rd century?

I know it may seem like a strange question but whenever I tutor students I often stumble over such an issue because such a thing has never been brought up in my classes.

Edit: I hope everyone understands my confusion but in case it isn't clear, since BCE runs from higher-lower numbers in regards to dates, it would be easy to say from some points of view that 280 BCE would be considered early and 210 BCE would be considered late, or vice versa.

1 Answers 2015-03-16

Why was the treatment of PoWs in WW2 so drastically different between the West-Allies and the Soviet Union?

From both the Axis and the Allies side it looks that the Nazis treated the PoWs of the West allies vastly better than the Soviet PoWs aswell as the West Allies treated german PoWs way better than the Soviet Union.

1 Answers 2015-03-16

Which territory generated more wealth for their European administrators: British India or the Dutch East Indies?

1 Answers 2015-03-16

What were the conditions of possibility for the Italian Renaissance and is it possible to foster an environment that will create the next Leonardo da Vinci?

1 Answers 2015-03-16

What was England's plan for Rhodesia?

I understand that England was unwilling to recognize the UDI because of no independence before majority rule, but to my knowledge they also seemed uninterested in getting involved because of its position as a part of the Commonwealth in Southern Africa. What was their end goal? Why were they so committed, especially when Rhodesia was located in an area that communism was moving into (Angola), and itself was facing a communist insurgency?

1 Answers 2015-03-16

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