Short Answers to Simple Questions | August 01, 2018

by AutoModerator

Previous weeks!

Please Be Aware: We expect everyone to read the rules and guidelines of this thread. Mods will remove questions which we deem to be too involved for the theme in place here. We will remove answers which don't include a source. These removals will be without notice. Please follow the rules.

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.

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  • 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.

lsdzeppelinn

How did so many different cultures in completely different parts of the world all independently come to the idea of a bow and arrow

EnclavedMicrostate

Second attempt:

It is sometimes alleged that during a naval battle in 1855, a Uruguayan warship ran out of cannonballs and started firing cheese at the Brazilians instead. Is there any substance to this?

dominnic

Did the Blue Division (Francoist volunteers who fought alongside the German army in World War II) commit any atrocities comparable to the violence in either the Spanish Civil War or WWII?

iorgfeflkd

What were boats like in the Peruvian pre-Colombian world?

Totally unrelated, but asked this a bit late in last week's thread, were there any contemporary records of the extinction of the aurochs?

Lappmeis

Hello,

I got a present from some relatives of mine, The Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan. Is it historically sound/tainted by pop-science? Has it been subject to dispute and critisism?

Thanks in advance.

pizzapicante27

Were does the word "Azteca" come from and around when was it popularized? its not nahuatl as "from Aztlan" would be something like "Aztlaneca" or somethign like that.

bay_squid

I am currently playing a modded game, Total War Rome II Divide et Impera and every year you get some cool history facts. In year 275 BC I just got the following:

The Roman censor Ap. Claudius adds the letter "R" to the Roman alphabet

Which I think is incredibly weird. How did the Romans spell it before that then? Considering "Roma" has the letter "R" in it I am even more curious about it.

Maklodes

When did ships start being identified as being the "class" of the first ship of their type? (For example, every destroyer built with the same pattern as the USS Arleigh Burke being an “Arleigh Burke-class” destroyer.)

I can find references in Wikipedia to ships going back to the mid-18th century with distinct class names (e.g., “Hector-class ship of the line”), but I can’t seem to find much about the origins of this convention.

yigitaga32

I just read from Wikipedia, in 1808 during Congress of Erfurt Napoleon and Goethe were met. And also Arthur Schopenhauer was around Goethe. Is there any article- source to read their arrangement. Best wishes

Tambasticle

In the game Crusader Kings 2, most kingdoms of any religion or culture must have a full Casus Belli to attack another leader. In the Viking Age, any Norse culture can attack any neighboring leader for literally no reason at all. Is there any historical basis for this? The Viking Age "start date" is 867 AD.

[deleted]

Why is Amsterdam the "Capital" of the Netherlands when the Seat of the Government is actually in The Hague?

Raxiuscore

Why do we use the japanese word for tsunamis?

CuriousastheCat

Did ancient greeks not (reliably) include peltasts as real parts of armies?

I ask because Thucydides sets out the Athenian army at Book 2 para 13 as consisting of

- 13k hoplites proper

- 16k more hoplites of oldest/youngest/resident aliens (for home defence)

- 1200 cavalry including mounted archers

- 1600 archers

- 300 triremes

No mention of peltasts at all. At first I thought 'archers' might translate some broader category of missile troops (it's the old Crawley translation). But given 13k hoplites in the field 1600 total peltasts/missile troops seems really low anyway, so wondering if peltasts just weren't counted.

decompoze

I am in a desperate need for help.

I was once watching a documentary on history channel & it showed how ww2 happened. At one time, it showed images/videos of pogroms... there was one image/video that shocked me. There was a man surrounded by mobs, some of them had sticks/clubs/poles... the man's arm was broken/bent & he was screaming what seemed like "what's wrong with you people!!". That image is stuck in my head & I can't remember the documentary, nor can I find the image.

It is 5 am here... this image keeps haunting me. I remember it a lot of times, I keep getting back to search for hours & I find nothing. I have done this countless of times. Please help.

_Ishmael

In Japan, Samurai who didn't have a master to serve were known as Ronin. Was there a similar word used to describe European knights with no lord to serve?

MaxN24

On what date did the German army arrive in Lukow, Poland, in 1939? Their arrival was preceded by several devastating aerial bombings, but I cannot find the date or details for when they invaded. Any other resources regarding Lukow during WW2 would be of extreme help.

thegrapesofraph

Any book recommendations on Argentinian history? Both general and specific ones? (Feel free to suggest ones in Spanish – I'm trying to improve my level of it and should maybe give it a go to read more difficult texts)

ReasonedRedoubt

What does the term "Mannerbund" mean? I came across it in readings about 'hiking clubs' and the Volkish movement in Germany and Austria. I understand that it translates somewhat literally as 'male bond' or something similar, but what does it mean within the cultural context of the late 1800s/early 1900s? If possible, how does it tie into German nationalism and perhaps male eroticism in the period?

corruptrevolutionary

Was the black cross on a white field flag of the United Baltic Duchy a deliberate call back to the Teutonic Order-States in the Baltic?

wowsuchtitan

What was more common in muzzle-loaded rifles, pre measured paper cartridges or the "traditional" method of loading powder and shot manually?

sparrow_304

When did people start decorating a specific room (aka a “nursery”) for their baby? And why do most nurseries have themes, specifically animal themes?

Maca_Najeznica

I'd like to know more about how French Revolution shaped the French political scene of later periods, particularly; did conservatives ever demand restoration of monarchy after the 1848 February Revolution and was it seriously considered?

RusticBohemian

Did Roman-style couch dining spread to other civilizations, such as the Carthaginians?

funfetticake

What are some good books about Watergate?

Sedifutka

The Temple of Mercury in Rome, did it ever have a specific name other than "Temple of Mercury"?

shwinnebego

I'm looking for memoirs written by NKVD troika members, translated into English - anyone know if such a thing exists?

EnclavedMicrostate

Is there evidence for the use of staff slings in Classical and/or Hellenistic Greek armies?

HalcyonBrightpike

When and why did the Roman Catholic Church stop persecuting people for owning Bibles not written in Latin?

Zooasaurus

What makes several historical archives and documents open source, and some not? If they're both several hundreds of years old and is digitized, i can't see why some isn't publicly available

paddy1709

Any book recommendations about the Space Race?

corruptrevolutionary

Why was the Santa Fe area chosen for settlement and the capital over the Albuquerque area Valley by the Spanish?

Nero_Claudius_Caesar

There were substantial protests in Soviet Union immediately following Stalin's death, for example, the revolts in gulag camps of Kengir and Vorkut. Were there any protests or revolts in the Soviet Union during the last years of the rule of Stalin?

yigitaga32

Why Napoleonic age soldiers was wearing impressive and colourful uniforms and hats instead of simple things?

moonfish77

Any book recommendations for someone who would like to learn about the Soviet-Afghan War?

yigitaga32

What was the role of the Turkic(Tatar-Kazakh) prisoners who were recruited on German army during WWII

33242

Is there a financial or crime-related reason there isn’t a statue to Daniel Sickles at Gettysburg? I’ve heard similar claims. It seems odd that he is the only principal senior general to have fought there who isn’t memorialized in Statue, especially given his efforts to preserve the battlefield.