I'm referring to the two confessional autobiographies by John D. Lee (convicted for his part in the Mountain Meadows Massacre) and Wild Bill Hickman, who confessed to several murders but was never convicted. Do historians give any weight to these claims?

I've seen two flags representing Scotland, one being a red lion on a gold field and a the other a white X on a blue field. Why is this?

Sorry in advance if this seems like a bit of a silly question, but an earlier ask historians thread it said that due to the diet of period ancient warriors eg Roman/Spartans/Gladiators would not be as muscular as today's athletes and may in fact have been on the podgy side. So how come armor's such as Greek armor suit the muscles on the torso are so well defined. How would they know what these look like and why would they put them on?

Would soldiers rotate in and out, or drop off to hold areas that were conquered or was it the same group throughout his conquests?

I have a few theories including tribes not really getting along and because the area people were spread through was gigantic compared to the population (so there wasn´t a lot of trading going on). Are there any historical reasons Africa has not developed at the same pace as other continents? And I don´t mean in the last couple of centuries, ~thousands of years ago.

Any and all input is greatly appreciated!

Did the Inquisition really torture people frequently, or was it actually uncommon? Why would Christians maim people? Isn't that very hypocritical? Wouldn't people rebel against such an institution?

I was walking through the street and saw that old steel bridges have lots of rivets in them. The newer ones have welds and bolts. How did field welding evolve when steel became plentiful for construction? How long did it take to displace rivets for connections, if at all?

I just finished watching the documentary, "Day of the Kamikaze," and I'm left with this question.

Thanks,

I believe that some Age of Sail warships were in service for many years, so I suppose I mean a comparison between newly commissioned ships from the two periods.

Hey historians! I'm doing a group assignment on historical research (methods, application, etc) and have been put in charge of the section about the general philosophy of science framework. And I have to admit, I'm starting to feel rather dumb here, since I can't seem to figure out any good sources on this. I could, I suppose, kind of write the text myself since I do know my way about philosophy of science, but it would be very reassuring to have something to fall back on, plus the professor demands we cite the text that we write.

So could anyone help me out here? Thanks a bunch in advance :) hdurr

For example, was it a centrally organized system or independent units? Did people at the top (like Hitler himself) give general direction or were they left to improvise on their own etc.?

I am trying to identify some toy soldiers in a collection belonging to my father. In particular. I have piece with a colonial era soldier holding a flag with a white cross and brown and purple quadrants. The soldier is wearing a knee length gray or light blue coat with dark blue cuffs and collar, and a red shirt.

For cultures where belief in reincarnation is a thing, wouldn't this have become a thing too?

EDIT: What's with the disappearing comments? Some of them looked pretty interesting, like this one by /u/iwinagin:

In Tibetan Buddhism a "predictive letter" plays a large part in identifying reincarnations. It's more complex than I have time to write about here but basically it acts as a last will and testament to yourself. It provides instructions for recognizing the reincarnation and often advice and desires for how ones life's work should be continued.

I'm looking for a book (or a few) that will give me a VERY basic understanding of the major events in the history of man.

I don't want all the details (this would require a library and not just a single book), but just the major events and when they took place.

I want to know about the basic stuff people should know if they had been paying attention in school. Things like..

Inventions: From fire and the wheel to math, writing, guns, Gutenberg's press, cars, computers etc.

Wars: major wars and other battles through history.

(Re)discoveries: E.g. America/Christopher Columbus.

I've read Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything, but I'm looking for something more about humans and less about planets.

I looked at the book list in the sidebar and found the book A Little History of the World by Ernst Gombrich. Is it something like this I'm looking for?

Thanks!

Also, if known, what were the demonyms given to each kingdom?

I was wondering if any literature exists on medieval cat calls, language around mating or courting, etc.

The Western Front was bookended by the North Sea and Switzerland, but what were the practicalities of those northern and southern most points? Was there a Naval presence preventing forces landing behind enemy lines in the north? Were there armed troops in Switzerland preventing forces from penetrating behind the lines in the south? I'm intrigued because the intensity of the fighting would seem to lend itself to forces attempting to envelop those seemingly finite points of the front, and there's very little literature that I've come across that explains how forces came to stop any efforts to bypass those end points.