Why did Los Angeles become the epicenter of filmmaking?

Back around the turn of the twentieth century, when filmmaking was still in its infancy, there were big studios in France, Germany, the Nordic countries as well as other places. How did Hollywood become the center of the industry?

1 Answers 2014-09-26

Slavery is slavery. But what was the difference between slavery in the United States and slavery in the older times like the Romans or the Muslims?

How differently were the slaves treated? What rights did they have in one era, and not in the other?

7 Answers 2014-09-26

With so many cultures having flood stories, was there a common origin to the flood story?

2 Answers 2014-09-26

Two months after winning World War II, Churchill lost the UK general election in a landslide. What caused this sudden, massive drop in support?

1 Answers 2014-09-26

How devout were the Greeks, Romans, Egyptians etc. to their gods? Was their worship and belief metaphorical? Were there religious extremists?

1 Answers 2014-09-26

The First World War; why wasn't a naval landing "flanking" maneuver ever considered somewhere in Europe?

Having read and watched a lot about the first world war this year, I haven't heard or read anything about the allies ever considering landing forces behind enemy lines somewhere in Europe.

I'm aware this doesn't mean they "never considered it", but I still find it weird that it's not mentioned at all.

What was the reasoning for not launching Operation Gallipolli somewhere along the Baltic coast, or better yet, somewhere along the North Sea coast?

Netherlands was neutral, so landing there was probably impossible without dragging them into the war, but there are tons of room around Bremen and one would think that flanking the Belgian part of the German forces wouldn't be to far away.

Any information about his would be greatly appreciated.

3 Answers 2014-09-26

Bibliography on Blas de Lezo

I'm not a historian, but would like to learn from solid sources about Blas de Lezo. Spanish and English versions of Wikipedia recommend mostly different bibliographies, and I'd like to know if some of them are known as unreliable or, on the contrary, particularly respected. Thank you.

Spanish WP:

  • A Journal of the Expedition to Carthagena. With Notes: In Answer to a Late Pamphlet Entitled, An account of the Expedition to Carthagena, London: J. Roberts, 1744
  • En el sexto tomo de Nicolas Lenglet-Dufresnoy, Méthode pour étudier la géographie, París, 1741, se agrega como addendum de última hora un Diario del sitio de Cartagena en América, escrito anónimamente por un español y traducido al francés por el propio embajador de España en Francia, Luis Rigio y Branciforte, príncipe de Campoflorido, Grande de España.
  • Bermudez Plata, Cristóbal (1912). Narración de la defensa de Cartagena de Indias contra el ataque de los ingleses en 1741. Sevilla. Smollet, Tobías (1989). «Authentic papers related to the expedition against Carthagena». En Jorge Orlando Melo. Reportaje de la historia de Colombia (Bogotá: Planeta).
  • Alonso de Mendizábal, Carlos (2008). Blas de Lezo, el malquerido. España: Dossoles.
  • Quintero Saravia, Gonzalo (2002). Don Blas de Lezo. Defensor de Cartagena de Indias. Colombia: Planeta. ISBN 958-42-0326-6. Rodríguez, José Manuel (2008). El vasco que salvó al Imperio Español. El almirante Blas de Lezo. España: Altera. ISBN 978-84-96840-23-2.
  • Arciniegas, Germán (1966). «cap XVI: «Relato del almirante inglés y el cojo Don Blas»». Biografía del Caribe. libro tercero. Editorial Sudamericana SA.
  • Victoria, Pablo (2005). El día que España derrotó a Inglaterra. Áltera. ISBN 9788489779686.

English WP:

  • James, Lawrence (2001). The Rise and Fall of the British Empire. Abacus. ISBN 0-312-16985-X.
  • Victoria, Pablo (2005) El día que España derrotó a Inglaterra : de cómo Blas de Lezo, tuerto, manco y cojo, venció en Cartagena de Indias a la otra "Armada Invencible" Áltera, Barcelona, Spain, ISBN 84-89779-68-6
  • Quintero Saravia, Gonzalo M. (2002) Don Blas de Lezo: defensor de Cartagena de Indias Editorial Planeta Colombiana, Bogotá, Colombia, ISBN 958-42-0326-6, in Spanish
  • Meisel Ujueta, Alfonso (1982) Blas de Lezo:vida legendaria del marino Vasco Litografía Dovel, Barranquilla, Colombia, OCLC 27881652, in Spanish
  • Cano, Domingo Manfredi (1956) Blas de Lezo Publicaciones Españolas, Madrid, OCLC 17273075, in Spanish
  • Barcaiztequi y Manso Llobregat, José Javier de (1927) Un general español cojo, manco y tuerto, don Blas de Lezo, natural de Pasajes B. Valverde, Irún, Spain, OCLC 32539491, in Spanish
  • Régniez Philippe Blas de Lezo" El mayor héroe de todos los tiempos Les Editions de La Reconquête, Assomption 2012, en Français

1 Answers 2014-09-26

Why didn't George Washington leave the battle to sign the Declaration of Independence? Or just sign it later?

Very curious.. heard this the other day and it intrigued me.

1 Answers 2014-09-26

How is Gavrilo Princip viewed in Serbia today?

2 Answers 2014-09-26

(Favorite) 20th century historians

-Fernand Braudel and La Méditerranée et le Monde Méditerranéen a l'époque de Philippe II

-Eric Hobsbawm with Bandits

-Jacques Le Goff (...)

For you?

1 Answers 2014-09-26

What are the predominant modern theories regarding the authorship of the Hebrew Bible?

1 Answers 2014-09-26

The Haitian Revolution and Saint Lucia

Hello I'm doing a research paper on the Haitian Revolution's effects on St.Lucia and there isn't much info on it.. I was wondering if y'all would know anything about it? Thank you.

1 Answers 2014-09-26

The AskHistorians Podcast - Episode 20 Discussion Thread - Byzantines: Macedonian and Komnenian Dynasties

Episode 20 is up!

The AskHistorians Podcast is a project that highlights the users and answers that have helped make/r/AskHistorians one of the largest history discussion forum on the internet. You can subscribe to us via iTunes, Stitcher, or RSS. If there is another index you'd like the cast listed on, let me know (I am working on adding a few at the moment, and getting us on YouTube)!

This Episode:

/u/Ambarenya discusses with /u/400-Rabbits the two dynasties that formed the golden age of the medieval Byzantine Empire, albeit a golden age that was fraught with internal dissent and encroaching enemies on all sides. Part 1 covers the Macedonian dynasty, primarily examining their later period and decline, before seguing into the turmoil that eventually gave rise to Alexios Komnenos as the first of the Komnenian dynasty.

If you want more specific recommendations for sources or have any follow-up questions, feel free to ask them here! Also feel free to leave any feedback on the format and so on.

If you like the podcast, please rate & review us on iTunes.

Thanks all!

Coming up next fortnight: /u/Ambarenya continues! Part 2 will cover the rest of Alexios' reign, that of his successors, the Crusades, and the eventual downfall of the Komnenoi.

Previous Episodes and Discussion

8 Answers 2014-09-26

If you had to give someone a well-rounded and thorough understanding of US history by recommending 6 books, which would you recommend?

The title says it all. If you wanted to recommend someone the best books 6 to read to gain a good comprehensive grasp of US history, which ones would you recommend?

2 Answers 2014-09-26

How much do we know about early Christian martyrs?

So, more specifically, where did the information or traditions about early Christian martyrs come from?

Obviously the Bible has St.Luke's Gospel and then the Acts of the Apostles, researched by the early church historian St. Luke, but what about the traditions on the rest of the disciples, or most of Foxes book of Martyrs?

More specifically, Peter is said to have been crucified upside-down, but why was he crucified? Who recorded the death?

Are there non-Christian sources for their deaths, or is it all tradition/later research by the church?

1 Answers 2014-09-26

What are the historic origins of the phrase "Let 'er Buck"?

I've been reading a few newspapers from 1914 lately, and I've seen the phrase "Let 'er Buck" pretty much everywhere — in ads, in casual writing, in letters ... it goes on. Where does this phrase come from, beyond the obvious? There has to be some kind of pop culture origin — it's simply too popular for anything else.

1 Answers 2014-09-26

Were there ever any Asian/Asian-American cowboys?

And I don't mean like Jackie Chan in Shanghai Noon. I mean a real Asian-American desperado-type that had some sort of historical significance. Maybe someone from r/westerns knows of some character that fits the description.

I know that most Chinese immigrants were working on the trans-continental railroad and that they generally were not cattlemen by trade, but I searched decently hard and couldn't find much on the interwebs about any badass Asian cowboy/outlaw types at all. Fictional or otherwise.

Apologies if this questions isn't particularly academic, I didn't really know who else to ask other than maybe r/westerns. Thanks for all input, historians of reddit.

1 Answers 2014-09-26

How did South East Asia and it's surrounding region become predominantly Muslim?

title.

1 Answers 2014-09-26

Has anybody considered that Helen of Troy was not a real person but rather a religion?

3 Answers 2014-09-26

When did supermarkets first appear?

1 Answers 2014-09-26

Was the CIA as violent as the KGB?

In movies and popular culture (and it may be propaganda) it seems like Mossad and the KGB were very sloppy and downright violent. They killed out in the open and often didn't hide their hand in the roles they played in various international conflicts and acts of coercion.

Yet when it comes to the CIA or MI6, you never really hear about how violent or forceful they were/are (outside of the the post-9/11 torture).

Which intelligence service during the Cold War was more brutal?

1 Answers 2014-09-26

I want to read one scholarly history of the Byzantine Empire. What should it be?

Lawyer here with a relatively advanced background in history and historical research (for a non-historian). I typically am interested only in events in the Western Hemisphere from the 18th century onward, but I find myself more and more interested in medieval European history.

I have a fair amount of comfort reading very narrow histories as well as broader overviews, but I want to really get at the heart of the Eastern Roman Empire in one book. It should be a modern (at least relatively up-to-date) history work, preferably by a scholar, not a popular historian, although if aimed at a general audience, that may be for the best.

So feel free to let me know what book I should read, and why. I appreciate all of your help!

2 Answers 2014-09-26

How much attention did the Japanese military pay to the European Great War?

Japanese WW2 infantry doctrine reminds me a little of early WW1 infantry tactics, before the combatants learned not to perform human wave attacks against machine guns. Did the Japanese not pay attention to European battlefield experiences? Or did they just think they were somehow special, seeing as how the IJA performed well against Chinese opponents?

1 Answers 2014-09-26

What was the main cause of the Triangle shirtwaist company fire?

I am writing a paper over this, and I'm having trouble pinpointing one cause. Obviously, the scrap bins are the main kindling of the fire. I just need some help with my direction. I've written over half the paper, and I feel like I'm just rambling. I need help if you'd like to offer. Thanks!

1 Answers 2014-09-26

What was life like aboard an early- 20th century battleship?

Like the dreadnought, for example.

2 Answers 2014-09-26

6274 / 7255

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