I have heard that the Polynesians knew how to navigate based on the ocean currents (and the stars?) between islands, and that they elaborated maps of where islands were located with respect to one another, and in Polynesia and Micronesia I imagine it was relatively easy to find new islands. Did they have some kind of system to locate far-fetched islands? How did they colonize Hawai'i or Rapanui?

So lately I've been reading Serhii Plokhy's quite excellent Chernobyl: A History of a Tragedy. There he briefly mentions that the Soviet agency in charge of developing both Soviet nuclear weapons and nuclear power plants was called Ministry of Medium Machine Building.

So my questions are: Why such a name? To me it sounds quite suspicious. Was it a common practice naming secret programs with such names? Was it meant to mislead foreigners, Soviet citizens or both? And the name work or did everyone just guess what the agency really was about anyway?

According to Wikipedia,

The Taliban forbade pork and alcohol, many types of consumer technology such as music, television, and film, as well as most forms of art such as paintings or photography, male and female participation in sport, including football and chess; recreational activities such as kite-flying and keeping pigeons or other pets were also forbidden, and the birds were killed according to the Taliban's ruling. Movie theaters were closed and repurposed as mosques. Celebration of the Western and Iranian New Year was forbidden. Taking photographs and displaying pictures or portraits was forbidden, as it was considered by the Taliban as a form of idolatry. Women were banned from working, girls were forbidden to attend schools or universities, were requested to observe purdah and to be accompanied outside their households by male relatives; those who violated these restrictions were punished. Men were forbidden to shave their beards and required to let them grow and keep them long according to the Taliban's liking, and to wear turbans outside their households.

Banning everything from pet-ownership and sport to nearly every form of art and performance seems like it would make the life of an ordinary person immensely boring.

How widely were these policies enforced?

And if they were enforced, what did ordinary Afghans living under the Taliban do in their free time?

Hi r/AskHistorians missing my dad a lot today. He enlisted into the Marines in 1942 when he turned 17. He grew up on a farm in Michigan's UP and until the war had never been more than a few miles from it. For the rest of his life he refused to talk about the war aside from a few stories about boot camp and how Pearl Harbor looked one year after the attack. (Like an eerie boat graveyard with all the downed ships dragged to the side as best as possible to allow entry into the harbor. He said the entire ship was silent as they sailed in.) When pressed for more information he would say that some things are better forgotten. When I was a kid he had his cap and a few medals in a box but he threw them away before I was a teen. I do not now remember what the medals looked like.

What little I know is he was a Marine, a private first class, and I believe he spent time as a military police. He lost two fingers and in one of his only comments said, "well, they missed." He was classed as a sharpshooter but he said all farm kids were. Finally, he was dismissed honorably after the war's end. Is there anywhere I could get specific information about where he was? I wrote the National Archives but was only able to get his dates of service. Could you suggest some of the best books on the reality of serving in the Pacific Theater?

He was a wonderful dad and a very good man. He married his sweetheart a few years after the war and they spent 64 years together before passing away a few days apart in 2015. Thinking about him today and this 'missing' part of his life.

Sounds like the sort of knowledge that would be very valuable for commercial reasons.

Basically we see muskets and muzzle loading rifles for hundreds of years before the invention of a cartridge and either a breach loading or multi round capacity weapons such as the martini-henry or winchester rifles. Why couldn’t they make that much earlier? It seems obvious that making a cartridge would make it easier.

Foreigners were only allowed to be at a few designated ports, right?, and the Jesuits just... walked away?, no one stopped them?... and then they got a house at a town and started just... living there?... no one alerted the authorities?, no government official came to check on the group of foreigners living illegally in the country?, and then they even published a book about the Japanese language?!... I mean, cool for them but... weren't they at least trying to keep a low profile or something?

I'm so confused and wikipedia does not help

I mean Australia is much closer to Asia than Western countries. Why wasn't Australia colonized by Japan or China? Did they lack the ships and equipment in the age of great discoveries, or weren't they ambitious to expand their territory or explore the seas?

Boudica started the Iceni revolt in 60 AD and raised an army of over 200,000 men! She was against the governor of Britain named Gaius Suetonius Paulinus who had a much smaller garrisoning force of 10,000 men and turned around to fight Boudica to stall her and let the people escape. Then Boudica lost! With over 200,000 men and 20:1 odds, she still lost! I have tried looking for answers but can never find a detailed answer and they usually say that superior discipline won over numbers. Can anyone please explain?

Recently, I’ve been reading about how there were several competing movements to early Christianity, and that the late Roman Empire was a hotbed for new religions. I then remembered that the United States had some periods of proliferative religiosity itself. While 19th century American culture is obviously its own unique thing, it still struck me as interesting from a sociological perspective that a radically new theology emerged at this time. The fact that it took off probably meant it fulfilled some need for its followers.

I wonder, were there other prophets leading movements that could be compared to Mormonism at this time?

Hey there! I'm not sure whether this question fits the subs rules, but since it could be interpreted as a question on methodology I'm gonna post it anyway. Plus this is arguably the most appropriate sub to post anyway.

So how does one find a historical topic or field to special in?

I'm in the middle of my master's in history and have not yet found a field to specialize in. I have the feeling that most of my peers have already found something that they are focussing on, while I pick courses from all fields and epochs simply on the basis of what sounds interesting and read about everything I can get my hands on. But I realize that at one point I too should find something to specialize in, no one can't be an expert on everything after all.

So I wanted to ask what the experience of other historians are, how and when they found the topic they can be considered an expert on and whether on should worry about this in the first place

I'm writing a story where the archduke recruits people who are at vulnerable pounts in their lives into a cult where they carry out shady and illegal tasks for him and their cover is he is charitable and hires people off the street and trains them to work in his household, some join his sort of personal guard of soldiers if they prove fit enough. Is there any chance of this happening in medieval times or is it just ridic?