As a follow up. If hysteria was limited to the rich why was it limited to them? If it wasn't limited to the upper class where did poorer people faint (I am assuming fainting couches were mostly limited to rich households).

At what point did the 60 seconds = 1 minute and 60 minutes = 1 hour system become the system used by everybody. Were there other timing systems used by people before they came into contact with the current system?

Hello, AskHistorians.

I've read a little bit about Brazil. Apparently Pedro II had a daughter, but he didn't want her to inherit the throne.

From what little I know, it seemed like the monarchy was going along alright. Is this true?

What did the people think about the monarchy? How about factions ( businesspeople, average citizen, nobles if any, military, etc)?

Was there any talk about this in Portugal?

Thank you.

At school we were discussing the Holocaust and trying to figure out why still today in society Jewish people have been labelled by many as very tight and obsessed with money. Is this unfair stereotype linking back to Nazi propaganda or thoughts that have been buried into peoples minds during WWII?

This is a subjective definition, one I've heard used in different contexts in numerous places, so I understand if there isn't a straight answer here.

Usually when I think of a start date, I go to three years:

1945: End of World War II, beginning of Cold War, end of colonialism, beginning of the USA's emergence as a superpower.

1991: Fall of the USSR, modern geopolitical climate as the US' sole superpower begins to take shape.

2001: September 11 attacks; U.S. War on Terrorism and surveillance begins in earnest.

Are any of these three dates accurate? Is there another date you would use?

My family keeps a statue of Guan Yu on the alter. I know he is from Romance of the Three Kingdoms and was Liu Bei's sworn brother. I know he was a great warrior and general and stuff. However, I'm still not sure how this led to him becoming so deified. Quick googling tells me he's a common figure placed in Hong Kong police stations... but why?

I also see he's pretty important as a Taoist figure but I'm just curious as to how did Guan Yu went from a minor historical figure to... like a God or a saint?

Can't imagine that was exactly easy with a straight edge razor... So I'm guessing they just waxed it off at first, but what's the earliest known example of this?

I know this is a bit of an odd question, but I was just curious about this.

Have people systematically studied the structure, function, composition of the private family dinner in American history (particularly 20th century, but I'm not at all picky)? I'm guessing the answer is yes, given the pure volume of historical research that occurs, but I know nothing about how that work would be done or what results it would uncover. So I have a few questions.

1. How does one go about studying a phenomenon that's both private and ephemeral? My first thought was surveys, but that only gets at contemporary practice, so unless someone started doing that fifty years ago, it's not much use yet, on this subreddit anyway. Unlike the study of the structure of family homes (for example), there's not much physical evidence remaining. And diaries and the like would give very scant sampling that seems more up my (medieval) alley than the standards expected of modern history. I guess there are business records, e.g. from grocery stores/consumables companies. That'd be a start, anyway.

2. What do we know about the function of the family meal over time? I think it's fair to say that meals have always tended to be bonding, communal experiences--has that been consistent throughout American history? Did any of the social movements (Great Awakening, hippies, anything of that sort) affect how Americans saw the value of evening meals as a family (slash other evening activities, I suppose)?

3. What do we know about the details of family meals over time? Do we have statistics regarding the types of foods eaten (finger foods vs. those requiring silverware, homemade vs. grocery-bought vs. take-out, etc.)? What about the location of the meal--e.g. is there evidence of a distinct shift from the 1950s (with a picture in my mind of the Cleavers around a table, as oversimplified as I know that conception is) to the 70s and 80s, as televisions and microwaves (and therefore TV dinners) become common household fixtures?

Those are the questions on my mind, but I'd appreciate any knowledge you can drop regarding private culinary culture in the US.

How did they figure out where to sit with so many people and no modern technology?

For example, during the American Revolution, was there any correspondence between Masons in Britain and the Colonies? How did they view each other?

Another example would be WWI. It would seem reasonable to assume that Masons served in both the Alliance and the Entente.

In the show "The Americans" a Russian embassy worker is worried that if she defects her parents will be killed. Is that realistic? Would they just disappear them or do a show trial as an example?

I've been reading a lot of Nietzsche and am curious about the first concept of "good". What was it like? Did it have the "noble" sense that the ancient Greeks had, such as might equals right, or was it more like the Christian "good" of love thy neighbor? Or something else entirely?

I took a special topics course about Mongol history just this semester, and part of the course material was The The Secret History of Chingis Khan. One particular section puzzled me:

"During the fighting Chingis Khan was hit in the neck vein by an arrow." A few lines later... "Jelme watched over him sucking and sucking the blood from his wound until Jelme's mouth and chin were stained with Chingis's blood."

This is the first time I have heard about a type of first aid performed in this manner. Admittedly, my knowledge about basic first aid and related medical care is pretty lacking, but I am geniunely intrigued. What purpose did this serve, and do we have other examples that would prove that this was a common form of first aid?

Edit: I did ask my professor about this, and he wasn't entirely sure.

Sauce for those so interested: Kahn, Paul, and Francis Woodman. Cleaves. The Secret History of the Mongols: The Origin of Chinghis Khan (expanded Edition). Boston: Cheng & Tsui, 1998. Print. 56.

My question is really how far I could travel back and be understood, but I have a feeling "understood" might be to vague, but that's my basic question.