How did popular culture of the Yucatan peninsula and Central America encourage (or discourage) the traditional indigenous arts and 'indigenism' in general?

I am interested in post-independence era, with special interest in the 1940's to present day, specifically within the Maya tribes throughout modern day Guatemala and southern Mexico.

1 Answers 2014-06-09

At the time, how did the Finnish rationalize their unique position in WWII (a democracy on the side of the Axis)?

I know why they did it: because they were already fighting the USSR, a marriage of convenience.

Bizarrely, I recently learned the Finnish front had both Nazi SS units and a field synagogue for Finnish Jews, fighting on the same side. Even weirder, the Nazi SS unit in Northern Finland was formed from former concentration camp guards.

3 Finnish Jews were even offered the Iron Cross by the German command for saving many German lives (All 3 refused).

http://www.jewishquarterly.org/issuearchive/article8d14.html?articleid=194

Captain Solomon Klass saved a German company that had been surrounded by Soviet forces. Two days later, German officers came to offer him the Iron Cross. He refused to stand up and told them contemptuously that he was Jewish and did not want their medal. The officers repeated their ‘Heil Hitler’ salute and left.

1 Answers 2014-06-09

Why do Polynesians not look like Filipinos, Taiwanese Aborigines or other Austronesian peoples in South-East Asia?

If it is true that genetically and linguistically, Pacific Islanders are descended from people who migrated out of insular South-East Asia several millennia ago, why do they look so different? Do Polynesians have substantial Melanesian ancestry, or have Polynesians genuinely diverged genetically from their Asian cousins? Or is it the people who stayed in South-East Asia that have mixed with other non-Austronesian peoples?

1 Answers 2014-06-09

Why were prisoners condemned to death given new shirts and haircuts before their executions?

Reading about the history of the guillotine, and I was reminded of this apparently symbolic ritual being observed in Britain, as well. What was the significance?

1 Answers 2014-06-09

Why weren't smokeless fires used by the forces under siege during the Siege of Bastogne?

During the Siege of Bastogne, especially as depicted by Band of Brothers, the forces under siege are depicted as shivering in the cold, un able to warm themselves from campfires. It was shown that making a fire would draw attention from the surrounding German forces, and the fire (and the attendants) would be shelled.

Why didn't the besieged forces use a smokeless fire, like a Dakota Smokeless fire pit? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_pit#The_Dakota_smokeless_fire_pit Was the technique unknown, the ground too frozen to dig already, or did it actually provide too much smoke and light to take the risk? Or was it perhaps employed actually? The procedure seems like an obvious solution to the "freezing but can't risk getting shelled" problem.

1 Answers 2014-06-09

Was the Sherman tank a name resented by US soldiers from the south during WWII?

4 Answers 2014-06-09

How did rationing affect British pubs and beer/spirit production in the 1940s?

1 Answers 2014-06-09

American History

1 Answers 2014-06-09

Was there a movement during the American Civil War to buy "non-slavery" produced products?

Over the last decade or so, it's become popular to buy "organic" and "naturally sourced" food products. I was wondering if there was ever a similar abolitionist-based movement during the American Civil War. Was there any group trying to promote products and commodities made only from sources and materials that didn't use slavery?

1 Answers 2014-06-09

How fluid vs rigid were cavalry on cavalry fights? Would one formation of cavalry charge into another formation head on while the men in the front progressively died? Was the fight often far more fluid with spaced out formations? Obviously your answer depends on your time period.

1 Answers 2014-06-09

In America we here about the assassination of JFK and the "conspiracy" behind it. But are rarely told how other countries reacted to it. How did other countries react to the assassination of him?

2 Answers 2014-06-09

What was the nature of fear like in antiquity?

1 Answers 2014-06-09

When and why did Gladiator events stop ocurring in ancient Rome?

Specifically when did they cease to be a major attraction and what was behind this fall from popularity?

1 Answers 2014-06-09

Why are countries generally split politically, economically, socially, etc. along North-South lines?

Particularly thinking about countries like England, the US (at least historically), and Italy

7 Answers 2014-06-09

If I was a hungarian peasant,how would my life change after the ottoman invasion?

Meant as I lived in a village that became part of an ottoman province.

1 Answers 2014-06-09

Personal photographs from an Army photographer any insight would be of great interest graphic NSFW

Army Signal Corp, many of war in the Philippines, surrender of Japanese soldiers and onto war ends. Many are scanned here

http://imgur.com/a/pbQYl

9 Answers 2014-06-09

Was the metallurgy of feudal Japan at its peak on par with the modern day?

You hear a lot about the high quality of steel that was used in blades and the lost recipe for damascus steel. How do the blades of the past and the abilities of historical swordmakers compare to our capabilities today with modern technology?

2 Answers 2014-06-09

What was the exact time of day that the famous 'tank man' photo was taken on Tiananmen Square in 1989?

I am doing a research paper and was hoping someone could answer this question for me. All 4 famous photos of the incident occurred around noon. i was hoping for the exact time.

1 Answers 2014-06-09

How did one become a flight attendant on Air Force One back in the 1960s?

I'm trying to learn more about flight attendants, specifically those who might have served on presidential/diplomatic/official government flights. By doing some Google-searching, I see that you have to be in the Air Force now to become a steward or stewardess onboard Air Force One. Was this true back in the 60s as well? Were there female stewardesses on Air Force One? And if so, how did they get the job?

2 Answers 2014-06-09

What do we know about pubs / drinking establishments in the Roman Empire?

While reading a scholarly monograph on Christians in the fourth century, I was surprised to see the author include a delightful speculation about the subjects of the study (two bishops) sharing laughs and strategizing over drinks in a pub in Ancyra (Turkey). I assume the author envisioned them doing so in some sort of pub or establshment. What were these like in the Roman Empire, particularly in the second through fifth centuries?

Cheers! :)

Also, the work includes a wonderful speculation on each bishop's preferred beverage! By far the most enjoyable footnote I've read in a long time! (Parvis, Sara. Marcellus of Anycra: The Lost Years of the Arian Controversy 325-345. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006. Page 141.n.31.)

2 Answers 2014-06-09

You are given a chance to time travel to 1914 to Europe and prevent world war to happen, just by talking.(forget about the negative effects it will last on future generations) How would you do that?

1 Answers 2014-06-09

Who were Emperors and who were Kings?

I ask in relation to the translation of foreign titles into English (and I suppose other European Languages)

Why, for example, were Japan and China noted as Empires whereas Siam was noted as a Kingdom? And so on for others, such as the Aztecs or the Maya or Ethiopia and Mali etc.

Bonus question: Where there ever instances where different European countries disagreed on the proper title for a non-European Ruler?

2 Answers 2014-06-09

Is there any evidence to back up the claims made by 'The Sun' regarding the Hillsborough disaster?

On 19th April, 1989 the tabloid reported controversial accounts of the disaster that weren't supported by other British newspapers, and which has led to the paper being very unpopular in the Merseyside region ever since. Is there actually any evidence that the fans "picked pockets of victims" and "urinated on the brave cops", as reported by The Sun?

1 Answers 2014-06-09

How fast could the Soviet Union develop a Atomic bomb?

3 Answers 2014-06-09

Why has the caliphate not been reclaimed?

3 Answers 2014-06-09

6642 / 7255

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