It seems like a simple term, but maybe not. For example, over at Wikipedia, the article "Historicity of Jesus" has been a controversial mess for a long time... and I suspect that it stems from not understanding what "historicity" means.
1 Answers 2014-10-07
I've heard that Machiavelli wrote The Prince as a sort of audition to prove his political acumen to Italian rulers, in the hope that one would hire him as a member of their government. The concept strikes me as a bit odd--for example, I can't imagine a US Cabinet member pulling up stakes and taking a UK ministerial job for the benefits package. Were itinerant intellectuals like this common in Renaissance Italy? What kind of background, duties, and compensation did they have? How could they be trusted with state policy and administration if they might defect to a higher paying city-state? Were they the main source of political theory essays like The Prince?
1 Answers 2014-10-07
I'm looking for interesting easy-to-read historical articles, but I'm tired of coming across poorly researched garbage. Who should I look up?
Sorry if this is the wrong place for this post.
8 Answers 2014-10-07
Hi guys,
I know that printed money first became a thing in China. What happened after?
When Marco Polo traveled to the Far East, did he bring back banknotes? Or were they already established in Europe at the time?
Also, how did they determine exchange rates? I can imagine Europe didn't have a centralized currency back then, so how did they know what one English coin was worth compared to a French one (for example)?
Thanks for your answers!
1 Answers 2014-10-07
A lot of historical media throws around the idea that ancient Roman patrician men came under censure for excessive interest in their own wives.
Dan Carlin's Hardcore History series mentions that Marcus Licinius Crassus was criticized by his political opponents for "loving his wife too much." (I've looked and I've been unable to find out who Crassus's wife was, yet alone how their relationship was) The documentary "Carthage: A Roman Holocaust" suggests that one of the senators who opposed the third Punic war was temporarily suspended from the senate for kissing his wife in public. Similarly, a great deal of media (Hardcore History, Wikipedia, some textbooks, etc) describe Pompey Magnus as "besotted" by Julia Ceasaris, and attribute more or less all of his political behaviour during that marriage to his affection for Julia, and suggest that this obvious devotion to his wife contributed to his waning political popularity during that period.
My questions are: Is there any evidence for all this? If so, how did the ancient Romans distinguish between appropriate husbandly behaviour and "too much" love? How seriously would this accusation impact a patrician's reputation, and therefore his political/military prospects?
1 Answers 2014-10-07
I was sorting some old telegrams from Hudson River State Hospital when I came across two addressed to Rose Kennedy (JFK’s mother) regarding the death of “Joe Kennedy.” It's not Joseph P Kennedy, the telegram lists him as Joseph S Kennedy, of whom I cannot find as being part of the Kennedy family. Oddly, he died the exact same year that Joseph P Kennedy died. All the locations and names match up though, and the Kennedy’s were from Massachusetts. Unless there is a date and name error, this is not referring to either Joseph P Kennedy or his son, Joseph Kennedy Jr. If anyone can help me figure out who this Kennedy is, I'd appreciate it. Thank you! Link to telegram photo in comments
2 Answers 2014-10-07
1 Answers 2014-10-07
Like I get that Columbus comes over and thinks he's some brilliant dude and found a new route to India. But like SOMEONE very shortly thereafter had to figure it out right? Like surely on the next trip over someone who had actually been to India came with them and was like "Uhhh guys? This isn't India. Like, at all."
Bam misconception cleared up. Instead somehow for hundreds of years we called the natives Indians. How does that even happen?
1 Answers 2014-10-07
So as I said in the title, I have some old bank notes from the 1800's. They belonged to the father of a family friend who passed away a few years ago, and so his daughter, my mother's friend, gave them to me because she knew I liked things like this. I remember looking into them a year or two ago, but couldn't really get anywhere.
So I just thought about today that asking people on reddit might help. I'm sorry if this isn't quite the correct sub to go to, but I couldn't think of anyone else to try first. If you have better suggestions that would be wonderful!
So anyways, I've got some pictures, but the notes are in glass frames, so it was difficult to get a good picture with enough lighting and little reflection. I can try to get more pictures later if you guys need them.
Here they are: http://imgur.com/a/tL3Ba
As I said, any information you guys could give would be awesome! Plus they could be worth something, which would be even cooler! Thanks.
1 Answers 2014-10-07
Since they were defeated on the home front, why did they still fail?
1 Answers 2014-10-07
1 Answers 2014-10-07
How did the phrase "as American as apple pie" become known world wide? Were apple pies rarer in the countries where European immigrants came from?
2 Answers 2014-10-07
I can understand that, at the time, the US media wouldn't have mentioned the fact that FDR couldn't walk. But, considering the Nazi's fondness of propaganda, were there any attempts by the Axis forces to ridicule the President for being crippled? Just curious why I've never seen any examples. My understanding is that his ailment was known, but it was thought inappropriate to even mention it in the US press, but surely the Nazis weren't bound by this social contract. I find it hard to believe that they didn't know, and if they knew, that they didn't try to use it against us during the war.
1 Answers 2014-10-07
In the Norwegian constitution from 1814 it states that Norway is a christian state based upon the christian faith. However, in another paragraph it directly states that jews are not allowed into the kingdom of Norway.
If I'm not mistaken, this was a common practice at that time, but isn't it a bit contradictory, considering that jews in Christianity are God's chosen people?
1 Answers 2014-10-07
Some of you old timers may remember around this time last year we took a census. Some of you real old timers may remember some time before even that we took our first census. It's established we like you and want to know all about you. Well we’ve grown by 125,000 brave new souls since the last survey (and about doubled our standing-room traffic) so it’s about time to get a grip on the new crowd and see what you people want from this place!
Please click here to take the census! (edit: census is now closed after leaving it open about 48 hours, thank you to everyone who got in the class picture!)
Unconvinced? Reasons you should take the survey:
After you take the survey and are waiting to see the details you can whet your appetite with the previous census results.
If anything is confusing, too American, or broken please let me know in the comments!
34 Answers 2014-10-07
In this case I'm referring failing and succeeding as one had huge social pressure for ending the War while the other seemed to have little opposition to it. I’m not trying to argue that the public control in the US lost/won the war or anything, just to clarify.
The Korean War was one of the main factors for the Second Red Scare (product from Arthur McCarthy and his heavy anti-communist policy) and very anti-communist media (movies, books, articles, etc) were created though those years. And anything that was seen as slightly anti-American was seen as procommunist and deemed as a crime (For example, the director of the film The Steel Helmet was arrested for alleged pro-communist propaganda)
Meanwhile, one important factor for the US to pull out of Vietnam was the very anti-war sentiment the public had. This time, the media was able to cover this War like never before; the Vietnam War being the first televised war where journalist were sent to Vietnam to report whatever was happening. Eventually, the crude reality of the War was able to come out, the major example being the Execution Of Nguyễn Văn, a photograph that was able to scare the American public into going out for protest to end the war.
However according to this well written source
Vietnam war was the most covered topic in the US than any other issue. Yet that coverage was extremely one-sided. For example, just 3% of coverage was on “enemy” viewpoint.
and
Media Beat in 1994 explains that the heavy reliance on U.S. government officials as sources of information and reluctance to question official statements on national security issues led to a lot of inaccurate media reporting, such as that on the Gulf of Tonkin incident.
So in both wars the Government held tightly the control over what was being reported, however in Vietnam it somehow slipped and what was happening in Asia was reported all over the world, causing controversies that eventually became the very well-known anti-war sentiment.
So why? Why did the US government slaked off, and the picture of Nguyễn Văn was allowed to circulate while everything that happened in Korean remained almost a secret?
I know this is oddly specific but this is for my IB EE (also: this is not actually my question, is on both media and propaganda, propaganda being censorship while in media I’ll write about TV and radio) and while I am not asking for someone to write the 3,500+ words essay for me I'm in need of historiography, in opinions of whether what I ask is true or false, why and why not.
Every answer/view is welcome! Thanks for reading my small essay.
2 Answers 2014-10-07
I'm trying to research this for a podcast. Which I'm finding very difficult.
I'm trying to get a pre-Roman glimpse of what the relationship between sort of "Celtic" peoples and Germanic peoples were like. Did they mingle? Trade? Was there any back-and-forth regarding territory or cultural clashes? Any good sources or interesting reads regarding this that anyone knows about?
Even if it's tangential, any insight or further reading is much appreciated!!!
1 Answers 2014-10-07
6 Answers 2014-10-07
It would coincide with the European Middle Ages, but I am wondering whether or not the Mongol Empire (more specifically their invasion of the Kievan Rus') is considered to be during the Middle Ages.
2 Answers 2014-10-07
How many people died on the Aztec side during the spanish conquest? Including death by smallpox. I wan't to get an idea of how many people died during the conflict.
1 Answers 2014-10-07
There's an old trope that Lt. Gen Sir Launcelot Kigglle visited the battlefield at 3rd Ypres and broke down in tears, saying "My God, did we really send men to fight in this?"
Frankly I'm skeptical of this as it seems a bit of a 'lions and donkeys' story to show how out of touch GHQ were.
Is there any reliable attribution for it?
1 Answers 2014-10-07