Today:
Welcome to this week's instalment of /r/AskHistorians' Sunday Digest (formerly the Day of Reflection). Nobody can read all the questions and answers that are posted here, so in this thread we invite you to share anything you'd like to highlight from the last week - an interesting discussion, an informative answer, an insightful question that was overlooked, or anything else.
Hardly overlooked, but needing to be underscored as many times as possible: This post by the esteemed /u/commiespaceinvader was masterful, and we can hope that the upvotes of the community - and the many shares and "likes" on Facebook - will bring the wise words of the essay to Zuckerberg's attention. /u/commiespaceinvader was able to thread a difficult needle: one should never take the restriction of what can be regarded as free speech lightly, but not all not all words are given voice with the intent to contribute to a positive, civil dialogue. This sort of restriction must be applied rarely and cautiously and only when it is clear that anarchists seek to weaponize a right we all hold dear.
I answered an overlooked question which asked how the Anglo-Saxons and their contemporaries thought of comets. It opened up some interesting sidelights on the ways in which the Norman Conquest was interpreted.
Some of you probably think my actual area of historical expertise is as mythical as a unicorn, but somehow I got to answer two questions this week that are perilously close to What I Really Do:
In a lot of ways, Jan Hus did Luther a century before Luther himself. Why is Hus not considered as influential a historical figure? - which talks about the Reformation as simultaneously medieval and early modern
How was the Taxis (Tassis) family able to pretty much singlehandedly create Europe's first postal system since the Roman Empire? It was 1500! Did they have to build a ton of roads? - I finally got to talk about this on AH!
Four days after I posted it, /u/mimicofmodes answered my question about masks in renaissance Venice with an extremely informative post.
I provided a long, rambling response to this question about Canada's role in the Second World War on Friday!
/u/WalrusWarlord answered "What was Central Asia like before during and after the expansion of the Russian Empire? Did any policies change when the Soviet Union won the Civil War?"
/u/kochevnik81 answered "hat were the causes of the civil war in Tajikistan (1992-1997)?" and "How did Russia permanently subjugate the steppes, a feat that was unachievable by multiple Chinese dynasties?"
I was happy to answer /u/td4999's thoughtful question about Ed Sullivan filming Elvis Presley from the waist up, and to put that in context into Elvis's rise to prominence. In the light of the present day, some of the contemporary quotes about Elvis that I found are hilarious, and remind me of that scene in Walk Hard where the crowd has the over-the-top reaction to essentially very sweet, gentle music.
I posted an answer explaining some of the issues with our understanding of how Roman clothing and military equipment was worn and used in the context of interpreting art:
I'm just starting to get more involved here again. Yesterday I answered an overlooked question on the history of the treatment of Arab citizens of Israel within the state of Israel proper (not the occupied territories). I thought the question was really well put -- a good example of how to ask a thoughtful historical question connected to a hot current event, and much better phrased and well thought out than many questions on Israel-Palestine tend to me (not just in this forum but in general).