Some questions people have just don't require depth. This thread is a recurring feature intended to provide a space for those simple, straight forward questions that are otherwise unsuited for the format of the subreddit.
Here are the ground rules:
Top Level Posts should be questions in their own right.
Questions should be clear and specific in the information that they are asking for.
Questions which ask about broader concepts may be removed at the discretion of the Mod Team and redirected to post as a standalone question.
We realize that in some cases, users may pose questions that they don't realize are more complicated than they think. In these cases, we will suggest reposting as a stand-alone question.
Answers MUST be properly sourced to respectable literature. Unlike regular questions in the sub where sources are only required upon request, the lack of a source will result in removal of the answer.
Academic secondary sources are prefered. Tertiary sources are acceptable if they are of academic rigor (such as a book from the 'Oxford Companion' series, or a reference work from an academic press).
The only rule being relaxed here is with regard to depth, insofar as the anticipated questions are ones which do not require it. All other rules of the subreddit are in force.
Say mods, how on Earth do you deal with all the hated comments telling you to "go fuck yourselves for deleting everything?" It must be tiring seeing all of these criticisms all the time for a job that isn't paid.
I remember reading somewhere that some founding fathers of the USA, maybe Thomas Jefferson, considered speaking French or Latin in the American court system, but decided to practice English for the common man. Is this true and where could I find this information?
When and why did dresses and skirts become exclusively female attire. I know horse riding aided in its declining popularity among men bet that doesn't explain why it became a women's only clothing option.
Does anyone know the provenance of this recording (It's supposedly of a gas attack in October 1918)? If I was to take a guess, the gas shells are being mortar fired, or fired out of a Livens Projector (though this was of the Royal Garrison Artillery and I'm not sure if they used Livens projectors).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjXRh9fwKj4
Some signs point to it being real, but others to not. If it is real, this is like the only sound of combat we have of the First World War.
Why do European and Asian archers fire from opposite sides of the bow?
Were Puritan men and women held to the same standards of sexual purity before marriage or were young men given a "don't ask, don't tell" pass as long as they were discreet about it?
Who is Georgy Zhukov? His named floats around this sub often [ ;) ], and I'm just curious as to what he is known for and his major achievements are during the Second World War and such.
Why were the Dutch allowed to trade with Japan when no other Europeans were?
I read A Burnable Book in which one of the main characters is a transgender woman in medieval London, and I was surprised to find out she was a real person. How common/rare were people like her in Europe back then?
How much of the uranium used by the Manhattan Project came from the Shinkolobwe Mine in Katanga, Belgian Congo? Would the project have been possible if the US hadn't had access to the mine?
/u/lordshield900, I hope you'll excuse me reposting your question here, but it seems more appropriate:
What percentage of Southern men were killed during the Civil War?
James McPherson, in Battle Cry of Freedom, gives the number as '5 percent of the white population' and '25 percent of the white males of military age'.
Is there any in-depth resource on the Continuation War? Especially about what happened at the German-manned northern front?
Is there any reading material you can recommend regarding how bias can affect interpretation, either intentionally or unintentionally? How history can be interpreted to push a narrative, whether there's a prevailing bias (such as Marxist historiography etc)- that sort of stuff.
Are there any good documentaries on Albania under Italy? Just looking at wikipedia it seems to have been awfully benevolent for a conquest, creating a Greater Albania and giving financial support to help them with economic integration.
Someone once posted a link here to a blog by a PhD student (?) who was researching medieval bread making. I had it book-marked, but had to wipe my computer. Does anyone know what the site I'm talking about?
Why is the Middle East referred as such and not as West Asia?
How long would the REFORGER exercises take for getting all 5 US divisions from the US to their depots in Germany, and then ready for combat? I'm thinking mostly of the early 80s, but any data you have for any year would be great.
Posting this here because I don't mind just being directed to resources instead of being given a full summary answer, so I figure that's a simpler question than a typical question would be. If it needs a full post let me know!
I was wondering if anyone could point me in the direction of English translations or commentaries on the late 19th and early 20th century German military idea of de-centralizing decision-making authority (i.e. lower ranking officers have more decision making power to adapt to changing conditions). Specifically I was hoping for materials dealing with contemporaneous justifications of this decision (why they thought it was a good idea at the time) and the methods they used in their military academies and military culture to cultivate those ideas in their army.
Back when the Overbooked United Controversy was brand new, I read several Reddit comments that said Emirates is the best airline. Prior to 1997, did Emirates have a positive reputation amongst the general population like this, and that some would consider them the best? Thanks.
When did modern Westerners begin to regularly practice cremation instead of exclusively using inhumation as a funerary practice?
to what extent were horse drawn carriages used during the renaissance era?
I can only recall seeing horse drawn carts for transporting goods in media depictions of the renaissance era, but for some reason the idea of "if (rich) people wanted to travel somewhere they just rode horses" doesn't sit well with me from a common sense point of view. surely there were carriages specifically for getting people from point a to point b... right?
How much money did an individual pirate typically make between the mid 17th and early 18th centuries?