I'm not even sure if its really a mystery to historians, but at least the public perception is that the Mayans vanished from their cities inexplicably at some point in history. Is this perception true? If not, what really happened (or was is just standard colonialization destroying their civilization?) to the Mayan people?
1 Answers 2014-01-13
Inspired by recent questions about the historical significance of tea:
Just how popular was Tea in the Thirteen Colonies/US around the time of the Boston Tea Party? More broadly, what were American drinking habits like in general and what other beverages competed with tea?
Finally, (and I hope I'm not making this topic too broad here) what have drinking trends been like throughout US history and what factors caused tea's relative decline in popularity compared to the recent dominance of soft drinks and coffee?
1 Answers 2014-01-13
2 Answers 2014-01-13
The fight for gender and sexual minority rights tells us that people the world over generally use a model of inherent attraction to define sexuality, that some kinds are demonized and others idolized. Historically, we know that this type of thinking was not the case. We've gone from a sort of "whatever goes" lack of identification in ancient Rome to today's system. How did we go from there to here?
2 Answers 2014-01-13
Im looking for newspaper articles written in 1930s Toronto that have something to do with construction of buildings in that time, and immigrants. Maybe every popular entertainment at that time as well.
2 Answers 2014-01-13
2 Answers 2014-01-13
I was chasing the rabbit down the Wikipedia hole today (I started looking at NFL injuries, go figure) and came across the number in http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_invasion_of_Russia.
That number is staggering to me and, having only found it today, seems it would be as big a reason as the cold and hunger for Napoleon to have left Russia.
Did the Russians get deep in to the French lines and kill commanders or something? Has this number of general officers being killed ever been topped since then?
1 Answers 2014-01-13
2 Answers 2014-01-13
Obviously the city was raided but in all of my history classes, I've never heard what happens to Rome until the 15th century.
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3 Answers 2014-01-13
Previously:
Today:
The "Monday Mysteries" series will be focused on, well, mysteries -- historical matters that present us with problems of some sort, and not just the usual ones that plague historiography as it is. Situations in which our whole understanding of them would turn on a (so far) unknown variable, like the sinking of the Lusitania; situations in which we only know that something did happen, but not necessarily how or why, like the deaths of Richard III's nephews in the Tower of London; situations in which something has become lost, or become found, or turned out never to have been at all -- like the art of Greek fire, or the Antikythera mechanism, or the historical Coriolanus, respectively.
This week we'll be taking a look at sabotage throughout history!
So sabotage. That's a pretty broad word, which lets this one take form of all sorts of concepts. Want to write about, say, a character assassination (Someone sabotaging someone else's reputation, per se!)? Go for it! Exploding buildings? Sounds like fireworks! How about undermining a castle's defenses? I'd love to hear about it! Someone undermining a rival's business? I'm all ears.
Broadness is always fun, but on this one, I want to hear specifics! Backstory - why was sabotage important here? Why did the incident occur? What was the result? Did it backfire, did it work properly, or did it exceed all expectations? Was it planned out or more impromptu? What was used? All this and more, this week on Monday Mysteries!
Next Week on Monday Mysteries - We always hear about these extraordinarily talented individuals - those who had the golden touch, it seemed. But...how about the people who THOUGHT they had that golden touch and...well....didn't do so well? See you then!
Remember, moderation in these threads will be light - however, please remember that politeness, as always, is mandatory.
3 Answers 2014-01-13
What was piracy like in China? I read about some female pirate in a Borges short story that seemed kind of cool.
Did the pirates ever clash with European Imperialists?
1 Answers 2014-01-13
I imagine the answer would vary by country.
5 Answers 2014-01-13
I assume there was tiered seating, but how was that determined. And you obviously couldn't have assigned seating, so was it first-come-first-serve?
4 Answers 2014-01-13
Reading a biography on Lincoln, I was surprised to learn that John Wilkes Booth attended what appears to have been a clandestine pro-Confederacy meeting in Montreal in 1864. Apparently there was a bit of sympathy for the South on the area. How did this originate? Was it based on pro-slavery beliefs?
1 Answers 2014-01-13
The term "pirate" conjures images of (mostly white, European) sailors flying the skull and crossbones flag and sailing around the Caribbean waylaying treasure ships and such. Regardless of whether this pop culture depiction of pirates in the late 1600s - early-mid 1700s is accurate, that's the image people think of.
But there was international shipping commerce before the Age of Sail. Did cultures such as Carthage or Greece in the Mediterranean, or Ethiopia or Arabia in the Indian Ocean also deal with their own forms of piracy?
1 Answers 2014-01-13
My family has this legend that an ancestor cut down the tree used for the USS Constitutions’ mast. (Thomas Cooper was a lumberjack in Maine). I’m a little skeptical, because I can see how this story started as, “he was AT the same logging camp as the tree was cut down,” to “he actually cut down the tree.” I’ve done some checking and I found that “Thomas Cooper and a man named Gray” cut the tree, according to the USS Constitution museum website. This follows the legend to the letter, but I'd still like something more concrete for the family. Especially my grandma, who did all the ancestry.com work. Thanks! Edit: Grandma says names are Sgt Jessie (Thomas) Cooper and Samuel Grey.
1 Answers 2014-01-13
When I was in HS, my AP euro teacher claimed that C the G used sex to help her rule Russia. He didn't go into any detail whatsoever. Is there some kernel of truth here?
2 Answers 2014-01-13