The locks on the belts looked pretty simple.

Im not sure where the right place to post this was but here it goes.

Is there any events in history that talk about a population of dark skinned people comming to Ireland?

My brother is dark and so is my mother where as my brothers and father look typically Irish (my grandfather was Ginger) My Parents are Irish and so are all my traceable ancestors yet I have dark brown eyes, Jet black hair and a dark tan to my skin. In short I don't look Irish, so where did I come from?

I am constantly mistaken for a spaniard when ever I holiday in spain and my Iraqi barber is constantly asking me if I have arab/mediteranian roots since I look more Spanish/Italian/Romanian/Middle eastern than Irish and there are a few people like me that I see often enough.

I'm thinking maybe I could be a descendant from the Spanish Armada in Ireland refers to the landfall made upon the coast of Ireland in September 1588? or maybe there was some trading between the North of modern day Spain and the south of Ireland hundreds of years ago?

Again I'm sorry if this wasn't the right place so if you do know the right place please re direct me there. I have been wondering about this for a long time yet have never found anything concrete.

My question comes up because I imagine that stabilization of the gun would be both extremely important and extremely difficult, and I have a hard time thinking of how they could have done managed it before modern precision equipment.

If so, how did it work, and was there any battle in which it was decisive?

After reading Bernard Cornwell's Anglo-Saxon series, it seems that the Anglo-Saxons are portrayed as being more concerned with combing their mustaches than fighting and being great warriors.

Were the Vikings better warriors than the Anglo-Saxons: both man-for-man and as a fighting force?

Is Bernard Cornwell's writing an accurate portrayal of the Anglo-Saxons? Is this how the Vikings viewed Anglo-Saxon culture?

DISCLAIMER: I know it's historical fiction, so it's entirely possible it's a literary device and not based on fact.

• Was water available 24/7?
• Was there any difference between the water prisoners drink and the water officers drink?

Many navies seem to use some version of this style for a dress uniform, and it's so distinctive, blue and white, bell bottoms, round hat, square collar, neckerchief... Where'd all this handsomeness come from?

I am planning to write a story set in Mexico in 1910, but I currently feel completely unqualified to represent the lifestyle of the people who lived there at this time. I would like to do a lot of research beforehand to make sure the representation is credible. I know the big picture (such as the land inequality that lead, in part, to the revolution), but not the details. Most of the reading I've found has dealt primarily with only the revolution.

I am interested in the specifics of Mexican lifestyle in this period, of all social classes: How and where they lived, what they ate and how they cooked it, what they did in their free time, resources they did or didn't have access to, etc.

Could anybody give me some direction in researching this topic, be it your own expertise or recommendations for reading? Thank you.

Who could vote, who could stand for election? Was it strictly candidates proposed by the Communist Party, voted by members of the Communist Party? Was there a wider constituency? Where their differences across the Soviet Republics?

How much of an effect did the Treaty of Versailles have on the rise of Hitler? If the Treaty were more fair to Germany would the Nazi Party have still been able to take control?

Today we have a little something special in AskHistorians! A high school class is doing a bit of a “field trip” here today, and they have carefully prepared 12 questions about WWI that they have considered while studying the Great War this year. From their teacher:

These questions are from my 9th grade students taking World History at a small charter school in Charlotte, NC. My goal with this activity was to foster historical curiosity. Everything you learn should unlock more questions for you. We studied WWI for about a week, looking at videos, newspaper excerpts, and photo slide shows. These are a sample of the questions they developed.

I will be posting their questions as replies in this thread. Some of our flaired WWI experts are graciously waiting in the wings to answer their questions, but ANYONE is welcome to answer in this thread, holding to the usual standards of this subreddit of course.

So please take a look at the questions as I post them below!

I understand Switzerland remaining neutral, they had a strong defence; but I don't see how Liechtenstein remained neutral, without being invaded by Germany. They were a Germanic Country, how did they avoid the fate of Luxembourg?

I've been watching a lot of theism vs. atheism debates lately, since I enjoy hearing both sides of this argument a great deal, and have noticed a cross-roads when Hitler gets brought up. On the religious side, I often hear that he was an atheist, and then I almost always hear immediately after by the atheist that he was a Roman Catholic. I don't believe this piece of trivia will prove one particular point over the other, but it did make me realize that I have no real idea, and always just sort of assumed he identified with some sort of religion and I like to sort out the facts when I've caught myself making assumptions.

So, I'm not here to talk about religion specifically, I'm just wondering if historians feel there's a good consensus for Hitler's personal beliefs, or if the jury is still out on that.

edit - Forgive the minor typo in the title. I just noticed that.

I'm talking about the rise of the Seljuk and later Ottoman empires. Were non-Turkic people displaced or were they gradually assimilated into Turkic culture?

Were Turkic people even interlopers or had they lived in Anatolia for some time as well? Am I asking the right questions?

Hey everyone,

this question has been with me for quite some time. But I was wondering, were Punk musicians (or people in punk subculture) persecuted for their political beliefs or appearance?

I imagine they would have been, due to the fact that they are mostly left wing and almost always are against the establishment.

I'm interested in the '80s in particular, since this was probably the time when punk music was at it's prime.

Thank you.

Did they tend to join freak shows voluntarily? Were they treated well or exploited? Are there any memoirs of former performers that I could check out? (This is inspired by my catching up on American Horror Story season 4 and wanting to learn more.)

Ive always wondered this. (More specifically the SS but id like to know about the regulars as well.)

To elaborate further on my question, for each of the players in WWII (looking at the British, American, Russian, and German armies.) Was there a particular point where if a fighting soldier had survived in the war, there was a high probability the experience they had gained would see them through to the end?

e.g. If an American G.I. lived for 16 months, they had a ~80-90% chance of survival.

I know that such accurate and precise data may not be available but I wanted to know if such a thing was calculated.

Thanks