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.
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.
When-about was the last time all humans were on the ground?
Nowadays there are always hundreds of thousands of people in airplanes. At some point in the past, an airplane took flight and there was never another gap between concurrent flights across the planet. What year was that? Maybe balloons were popular enough that this occurred earlier? I guess it’d be easier to confine this question to only consider airplanes...
Sorry if this is the wrong place for a question where the answer would be an estimated guess, please let me know!
What was a “mechanic” in the context of an 1870’s American Fort on the frontier?
I recently visited Fort Union in New Mexico and in the Workshop corral there was your standard Blacksmiths, carpenters, wagon repair, saddle makers and mechanic workshops.
What was a mechanic at this point in time because I doubt they were changing the oil in the garrison’s horses.
Some parts of The Cambridge Ancient History are now almost 50 years old. Is there a more recent series that covers the same period? If not, what individual books do you recommend to get a good overview of ancient history?
Did Norman soldiers - specifically those present at the Battle of Hastings (1066) paint their helmets?
If they did, what colours and motifs did they use?
Is it true that the British tried to sabotage Indian industry when they first arrived on the subcontinent? I’ve heard this claim but haven’t seen evidence of it yet.
What percentage of territory did Germany lose from 1914 to its current size?
How much of "Midway: The Battle That Doomed Japan, the Japanese Navy's Story" by Mitsuo Fuchida is considered accurate today?
The authors of "Shattered Sword" state that much of Fuchida's narrative has been disproved, but have they invalidated the entire book or only certain statements made by Fuchida?
Essentially, I'm curious if it is worth reading or if at this point it is considered historical fiction.
Is there an equivalent document to "Alaska Organic Act" to California before it got its statehood (or any other territory won in the Mex-US war)? How was the process of statehood of these territories?
I've always been interested in ancient history, probably through playing various games like Age of Empires growing up, and recently I've been listening to various history podcasts and watching youtube videos. I'd quite like to read a few books about ancient Europe, particularly the period from Ancient Egypt, to the Ancient Greeks, to the Roman Empire. Can anyone recommend any starter texts to learn a bit more about this period? I've seen some recommendations for Sapiens and Guns, Germs and Steel but I'm unsure if they're exactly what I'm after. Thanks.
What could Crassus have done realistically to beat an army of about ten thousand archers on horseback in the battle of Carrhae? Did he have any chance at all?
Is Uatsdin, the native religion of the Ossetians, practised in continuity or is it a newly revived religion?
Was 1900 a leap year? As a far as I understand, 2000, 2400, 2800 are leap years, and in this logic, 1900 should not be. Is this correct, or 1900 was still a leap year for some reason?
So when was it legally and socially accepted for a husband to take there wife last name?
I heard a story ages ago of a pirate woman who who ran amok in the Caribbean after the British killed her husband. Does anyone know her name?
I heard someone allude to Alexander the Great seeing an Indian juggler who could throw a pea and impale it on a spike from a great distance.
The text said this was documented in Quintus Curtius' history of Alexander. However, looking at the full text (in translation) of the book, I can't seem to find it.
Does anyone know what I'm talking about or point me in the right direction?
Seeking recommendations for theorical views on empires from VIIIth BC to VIIIth AD. I'm currently tasked with a presetation on the Assyrian Empire in College and I'd like some comparative views on empire models from this time period, like roman, persian or even chinese.
Was Hermilda Gaviria (Pablo Escobar's mother), or other relatives of Escobar, aware of the magnitude of Pablo's criminal activities and how he was one of, if not the one drug lord responsible for the US government's escalation on the War on Drugs?
Maybe too meta for this thread, but what are some good history podcasts that are comparable in depth to the AskHistorians Podcast?