This question also applies to communist or countries in the communist block under soviet influence like east Germany. Did they have a “Communist German FORTRAN” was there a common set of communist tech stacks or standards like in the west? Did they have some sort of communist IBM, MSDOS, DOS, APPLE or TCP/IP?

Edit: I read ALGOL was very common in the very early days, but wasn’t Algol, and by extension most documentation, a western thing? How did it enter the Soviet Union?

Let's say a pioneer's going down a wagon trail and the wheel of falls off. What would he do to put it back on or change it out for a spare if it breaks completely? I suppose if he's lucky then there might be enough people around to lift the wagon off the the ground but would there be anything he could do if it's just him?

I am writing a paper on the atomic bomb survivors of Japan and have been wanting to find some sort of timeline that establishes the creation of the Atomic Bomb Casualty Committee, among other responses domestically by the Japanese and American government. Does anyone know of any good sources?

I was playing battlefield 5, as a medic and this question came up after the eleventh time a sniper blew my helmet off.

For example, in the United States, the chief executive of the federal government has, since the repeal of the failed Articles of Confederation, always been called the President, and despite changes in presidential roles from George Washington to Joe Biden, the office held by both is one in the same, with perfect continuity after more than 230 years.

However, looking at the "List of leaders of the Soviet Union" on Wikipedia, I see that the leaders' titles varied considerably until the period including and following Brezhnev. Did each leader choose his own title, or does the fact that, for example, Krushchev never had the same title as Stalin mean that they held fundamentally different positions that had shifts in relative power that became apparent only when Stalin died off and Malenko was forced to resign?

In short, why does Soviet chief executive succession seem so messy with such inconsistent offices and/or titles?

This is an interest of mine that I’m quite enthusiastic about. However, so much of the information available was either through contemporary sources who had a political agenda, compiled way afterwords, filtered through the not-very-historical lens of neopaganism, etc. For that reason, I hoped that the people in this sub might be able to help me find more reliable history.

Anyone who could point me towards sources for further reading would be greatly appreciated! Any direct thoughts, knowledge or experience you have on the topic would also be amazing. Thank you so much for your help!!

Edit to add: also happy to hear about folk magic which did incorporate Christian traditions and elements, I just didn’t want to make the question too broad! As long as it’s people trying to do magic, it’s hella cool.

Despite extensive voyages from the European powers like the Dutch, French, and Spanish and even more local ones like the Arabs and Chinese, how come only the British colonized such a vast area of land? What kept the continent from being divided up by various powers?

Disclaimer: I know this question doesn't refer to a specific time or place. However the situation that I present is largely consistent across historical and geographic bounds, unless the answers prove me wrong.

I studied French all throughout high school, probably 4 hours a week of classtime and around that much in homework. I could google any word or grammatical concept I wanted to and instantly have a complete explanation, I had all sorts of flashcards and textbooks and grammar exercises and videos from native speakers, etc.

And yet after four years of high school French, my French was still terrible. I couldn't understand native speakers whether in person or in movies, and when I went to France for holiday one time, the people had no idea what I was saying.

So how were ancient people able to learn multiple foreign languages and effectively communicate in them? Not only did they not have resources like textbooks flashcards google etc, but peasants and lower class people would probably have barely any time to study due to work. Not to mention language teachers were probably very rare. The probability of them coming across native speakers was likely very low for most.

Even if someone did manage to perfectly learn a language's grammar and vocabulary in their home territory with textbooks or teachers, how intelligible were they to native speakers? I mentioned how even though I had been listening to recordings and videos of French native speakers for years, I was still basically intelligible to them when I visited. To give a less general example, I have met many immigrants to my country (US) who have lived here for years and have such thick accents that they are basically unintelligible.

To give some particularly interesting (to me) examples:

• How were Norsemen living in isolated Scandinavia able to learn Byzantine Greek - to such an effective degree where there are records of Norsmen traveling to Constantinople and being well received by the Byzantine King? Of those who then rode across the Middle East to trade at Baghdad, how were they able to learn Arabic?
• How were Muslims from east Africa (Mansa Musa) or Southeast Asia (Malaysia, Indonesia) able to travel all the way to Mecca for pilgrimage? Speaking Arabic, and supposedly many of the languages of the territories in between?
• How was Marco Polo able to communicate so well with Kublai Khan that he was appointed as the Khan's personal emissary? (It has been said that Marco Polo knew several languages besides Italian even before he arrived in China - I presume these included Persian and Arabic, but even still I doubt that these were spoken in the Khan's court in China).
• Jesus is said to have spoken Greek in addition to his native Aramaic. How and why would the son of a carpenter in Roman Judea have learned Greek? Could he speak Latin too? How frequently did Greeks travel to Jewish towns?

For some examples of ab armor Barbarians on Netflix Monty Python Life of Brian Roman Empire on Netflix Additionally many depictions of Greek hoplites also have ab armor most notable Spartan.

It seems hard to believe the Soviets watched the big American cargo planes dropping supplies into East Germany with joy in their hearts.

I recently found out that Humming birds only exist in the Americas, which blew my mind, I had just never considered that there were no hummingbirds in Europe, Asia or Africa

So I wonder, when Europeans saw these birds for the first time... what did they think?, how did they described these birds that were so different from everything they had seen before?

I know this is a broad question, but it's Wednesday so maybe this is alright?

My great-uncle was in the army and drove a tank in the 70th Armored Battalion during the war. I’m trying to locate a good history of the war from a combat (especially tank warfare) perspective, or at least more so than the political aspects. His sister told me he came back “shell shocked” and would break out in a sweat around loud noises. Just trying to get a better picture of what he might’ve experienced beyond what he mentioned in interviews. The reading list didn’t come up with anything, unfortunately. Thank you!

Hello everyone! I've been researching paintings commissioned in Genoa in 1625-1627, amidst the 30 Year War, and I noticed that several seem to have common characteristics, such as a red armband worn by soldiers. What did the colour of the armband symbolise and what was its purpose?

Also, I noticed that on some swords, the hilt is decorated with what seems to be Saint George killing the Dragon. What does that symbolism mean or represent?

Thank you!!

Like I imagine a lot of what a medieval jester did would struggle to get a reaction out of a modern audience.

I have been looking into a master's program as it seems necessary to get anywhere close to my ideal career. After looking at several schools near me, I realized many required knowledge of a foreign language. The degree to which this was necessary ranged from "a good bonus" to "necessary".

A friend of mine recommended SNHU. I checked it out and what I initially found sounded like a good fit, so I applied. I'm three weeks into my first class and am just overwhelmed on everything. As I began to look more into the school as a whole I'm becoming less convinced if it's worth finishing.

The lack of a foreign language requirement when it seemed like every local university had it in their requirements seemed odd but given they seem to be a school geared towards more "average" students i didnt think much of it. Now I'm reading reviews that seem polar opposites of each other (either 1 star or 5 stars). Now I'm not so sure.

If anyone can offer input on it being legit and worthwhile, I would appreciate it. Especially if you're in a position for hiring for like a museum. My end goal is to do preservation work and sharing history. Setting up displays & exhibits would be a dream come true.

If SNHU isn't legit, where else can I look for online programs?

In regards to the atomic bombings and the decision to surrender unconditionally.

Did these issues come up often in Japanese domestic politics in the post war years ?

I read an assertion that we joined Britain and France, not because of cultural ties, but economic opportunities.

Germany is geographically tucked behind Britain and France. The US (or Corps) are interested in making money and the US has no qualms inserting itself in international matters concerning Corporate interests.

Geographically it’s easier to hit France and Britain’s ports. So we allied ourselves with them.

Edit: I realize the question is broad. I'd be happy to hear even about particular eras, whether late antique, medieval, renaissance, modern, etc.

There were four spikes in driving of the golden spike one was silver the three others where gold I known that the three golden ones are in museums but where and what happened to the silver spike