I understand that prior to the invention of water and wind mills, millers ground grain using quern-stones. So what was a miller's job in a wind or water powered mill? Could a mill go largely unmanned, other than upkeep? Was there a large crew of millers or just one or two?

Any interesting tidbits or facts about a miller's daily life would be appreciated as well. Thanks!

I have been trying to see if these two historical figures ever had direct interactions with each other. Beyond that at the very least if there are any primary commentaries on each others actions or works. I remember reading about De Las Casas commenting about the Mayan book burnings and someone once claimed De Las Casas could have been at the trial of De Landa when he was recalled to Spain.

It seems kind of odd to me that China would always fall to its nomadic neighbors, starting from the Tang Dynasty with An Lushan all the way to the Ming Dynasty with the Manchus. If China was so strong, why does it seem to always get murdered by some people from off in the middle of nowhere Siberia or Mongolia?

It's said that popular music genres repeat every 30 years or so: lately we've been seeing a lot more bands in genres from the 70's and 80's: nu-disco, chill wave bands with that 80's synth sound, etc. even the 90's rock movement was a resurgence from the 60's rock bands.

How far back does this trend go? Did popular composers ever bring back the romantic classical era, or did Bach-style fugues wax and wane in popularity over the decades?

Aside from the Yugoslavia wars and (now) Russian adventures in Ukraine, there have not been significant efforts by central or Eastern European states to acquire territory at the expense of their neighbors since 1991.

I recall reading predictions at that time that a wave of irredentism was about to happen: Poland against Lithuania, Lithuania against Belarus, Hungary against Slovakia and Romania, Romania against Moldova, Turkey/Greece/Bulgaria, and so on-and I recall this being regarded as fairly likely, and not just a lunatic fringe position. But it didn't happen. Why not?

Why did they begin to do it and what materials did they use?

I know that cilantro (coriander) has been traded and cultivated by humans for culinary use in regions in which it is not native for centuries (probably millenia). I am one of those unfortunate cooking souls with an apparently genetic distaste for cilantro (try as a might to enjoy it) and have been wondering how long this phenomenon of cilantro-based repulsion in humans has been known to occur. Is this question better suited for food specialists/nutritionists?

A friend of mine recently visited Nashville, TN and claimed that some of the locals referred to blacks as jamblers or something to that effect. He said the reason that they were called that was the use of blacks as fly bait on golf courses by covering them in jam. The jambler would be covered in flies while the golfing whites would be relatively pest free. Is there any historical context to this assertion or was it just a local trying to pull my friend's leg?

Specifically, the Javelin, the Crossbow and the Shield.

If reasons vary over time, would prefer the Sengoku Jidai period.

Looking to get a tattoo soon and seen this symbol once or twice but cant seem to get a name for it or any good pictures of it. Was wondering if you guys could help, a few Google searches hint it is of Celtic origin but I cant be sure. The symbol is basically a face with three legs coming from it, one from the top and one from each side, on a circular background. Just trying to find out a bit more about it before I decide to get it permanently on my skin. Sadly I dont have a photo of it, that would probably help though.

A very common theme in sagas is murderers or other similarly harsh criminals being outlawed and eventually hunted down and killed as a revenge for whatever they did.

Why didn't the viking rulers just kill the criminal there and then? Was it to ensure the kin would get their revenge?

I'm preparing for graduate school and am looking for some more texts on the the historical method. I just finished John Lewis Gaddis' 'The Landscape of History' and I re-read Carr's 'What is History?' not too long before that. I suppose I'm looking for books that are a tad more scholarly than the two above-mentioned texts.

At the very least, what are some 'must-read' books of the historical method? Many thanks in advance.

ed. Thanks for your feedback, just to make things a little more specific: I'm a byzantinist interested in the political and military interactions between the Komnenian emperors, crusaders, and the crusader states.

Is Singapore a somewhat new country that popped out of nowhere or was it ever a bigger country or civilization? Any thing about the history of Singapore would be great!

Thanks!

It looks to my casual research like the Union Pacific Overland Route and a Central Pacific Route were some of the earliest.

I'm primarily wondering: were these railroad construction projects meticulously planned? Did the railroad companies (presumably without any revenue as of yet) send out surveyors and engineers to plan the routes? I've had a longstanding impression that they used dynamite to blast through terrain that was in the way; is that so, and if so, were those blasts preplanned before construction began?