Possibly a question specifically for /u/cthulhushrugged -- I remembered it while reading one of their replies here -- in the 2010 television drama, Three Kingdoms, set in the historical period of the same name (China, 2nd century CE) soldiers are depicted wearing this very intimidating black armor--but it's unclear what it's made of.

So the question is, how was armor of this period constructed? And if the drama was accurate, what is the explanation for the black coloring?

I don't know if there's any historians of ideas here but how did post-modernist social scientists build a political project that rejected the institutionalist language/ideals of Marxist or neoliberal thinkers? It seems to me like it would be hard to create such a political project since much postmodernist deconstruction is reactionary and not constructive (as in it rejects and criticises systems and doesn't posit projects). This might be too basic or too niche a question but if anyone there knows about this would love to talk!

In the late 1810s/early 1820s there appears to have been a libel lawsuit in Cape Town revolving around sodomy accusations linking surgeon James Barry to the Cape Town governor Lord Charles Somerset. How was this lawsuit ultimately resolved in court? (And if possible, where can I read more about it? The world of Barry biography seems pretty murky, and I'm not sure what to expect in records of an early 19th century legal incident.)

What is the first reference to keeping a pet?

How long did it take to cross the Atlantic from Britain to Nova Scotia/that general area in the 1500-1600’s?

Don't know if this is the right subreddit but I found this phrase/saying in a first-hand account of soldiers reactions on the Western Front on 11 Nov 1918:

The war's over; the bloody duck's foot's down.

What does the "bloody duck's foot's down" mean?

I have googled but have only found this (which doesn't sound right).

the "duck's foot" volley gun, a pistol with multiple barrels arranged in a splayed pattern, so that the firer could spray a sizable area with a single shot.

Why was a there such a lack of Latin American activity in both world wars?

In the book "Silence" and its movie adaptions not only are Christians in 1600s Japan forced to apostatize or die, but priests are told that unless they apostatize, their congregations will be killed. I know the first part is true, but is the second true? And if so, was the extra-cruel part in the movie that even if YOU apostatized you could be killed if your priest refused to also true?

How large was the Templar Order at it’s height? How does this compare to the Hospitaller and Teutonic Orders at their heights?

Hey! Strange question but does anyone have recommendations on audio books about history? Honestly any period/event. I was listening to a book that went into detail about the start of the American revolution and for some reason I found it incredibly interesting. It was set up as a story rather than just "facts and info" though it contained quite a lot of great info too!

During the 11 year long personal reign of Charles I, he used "creative ways to create money", my teacher wrote as a example 'word of orpans' a link to a page would be enough (I think she paraphrased the example)

Why England and France were so powerful in the medieval era? In every historic-like game I've played through the years (Total War, Crusader Kings 2). Both countries are really powerful!

In Lincoln when the generals are describing a naval bombardment (I forget which it was), they say the Navy will fire "one hundred shells a minute".

In modern times the word shell describes the casing that comes out of the gun (artillery or otherwise) after the round is fired. These didn't exist for cannon at the time did they? I know they had cartridges for some guns like cavalry carbines but I always thought at this time the cannons were still the gunpowder and spherical rounds that always come to mind.

Is this a Hollywood mistake or something else?

Does anyone have a primary source on chief of the NKVD Lavrentiy Beria being a serial r*pist? I can only find U.S. or British sources who don't seem to reference any primary sources, and (some) who have an explicit anti-communist bias to the point of just accepting it as fact without a source. Thanks.

Were Vestal Virgins literate? Was learning to read part of their training, or was it seem as unimportant to their duties?

Are there any known records of free black africans somehow finding their way into Europe prior to the age of discovery? If yes, is it known how they where percieved there? Whether there was curiosity, distrust, religious intolerance or racism?

Did the IRA (during The Troubles) kill members who wanted to leave them?

As a kid in the 1980's Britain i had a small collection of the Railway series books by Rev Awdry and Christopher Awdry, i also had two books about car characters, the books were of the same art style and design, and they were the same size books as the Railway series books, all i remember is one character was a bentley car in one of the books. does anybody know what this book series was ?

Did Wilhelm II really designed a battleship?

I read it in a fantasy Chinese novel. The author mentions that Wilhelm II designed a battleship, which has 2560 tons displacement, 19 knots speed, 8 x 4.7-inch naval guns.

Is this true or just a fantasy thing the author made up based on Japanese cruiser Chiyoda?

Is there a resource that illustrates changes in territorial boundaries, besides looking at individual country atlases? Stanford University has something similar to what I'm asking, but is there anything more substantive?

Why does the new askhistorians logo look like the a&w logo?

Was the plague doctor's outfit used in the 14th century plague? I come across alot of places that claim that it was and wasn't. (Particularly asking about the beak mask)

hello, was reading about the great zimbabwe and a lot of focus seems to be how it was made of curved stone wals without mortar, in modern and colonial accounts. is something special about this? i don't know much about construction/architecture. also, from what i understand the site was looted considerably, e.g. zimbabwean birds were taken. were the actual stone structures damaged/looted, or just what was inside? are there any detailed illustrations/accounts of what it looked like before the looting?

thanks.

What are some good youtube channels to learn about ancient battles (like thermopylae, hydaspes, or cynoscephalae)? I've been really interested in the battle strategies of the ancient civilizations lately.

What's the etymology for 'donkey'? Is there any chance for it to have originated from Don Quixote?

In Storm of Steel, Ernst Junger writes this passage:

Two weeks later, my wound was healed. I was released to the reserve battalion in Hanover, and was given a short home leave there to get used to walking again. 'Why not report as a gentleman-cadet?' my father suggested to me on one of my first mornings at home, as we were walking round the orchard to see how the trees would bear; and I did as he suggested, even though it had seemed much more attractive to me at the beginning of the war to be a simple rifleman, responsible only for myself. So the regiment sent me off to Doberitz, on another course, which I left six weeks later with the rank of ensign.

Can anyone explain to me the way army leadership & rank worked in ~1915 Germany? My understanding is that the army was conscripted from the entire military aged male population , was reporting as a gentleman-cadet as simple as proving pedigree? Did you have to buy a commission?

Hello Historians! During my time living in Auckland,NZ i remember reading about a Maori Tribe that painted themselves White before a battle to do psychological warfare on the enemy tribes, they were the Ghost Nation tribe of some sort, i also remember that they stumbled upon this white camouflage by accident when a hunting trip once.

I would love to know the name of this tribe!

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p.s: My google searches came to no avail unfortunately and i'm in need of some reference of theirs so i can put it on a skin of a recon mech i'm designing for tropical islands haha

Any suggestions for a book dealing with prostitution in the 20th century? Bonus points if it's based around the boom that the trade saw due to the World Wars.

Thanks in advance.

Are Confederate Soldiers considered US veterans?

Studying the press during Argentina's most recent dictatorship got me wondering if there's similar legacies in other countries with their respective periods of repression? For example, some newspapers very strongly supported/propagandised for the dictatorship and still defend it today and benefitted from it a lot, others who opposed it were reprimanded harshly, etc, and this has resulted in a lot of competing narratives regarding the media as heroes/victims/collaborators etc. Especially in regards to the use of language - some papers still use the word 'subversives' to describe the victims of the dictatorship for example, which is the dictatorship's own language.

Who was in control of Germany in October 1918? What parties/persons had control over which areas of Germany?

Reading on ancient history I see the term 'barbarian' used quite often and referencing different groups. Was this term always used? Or is it a modern construct? Where did it come from and why did it stick around?

I just learned that Hannibal didn't start using was elephants until Pyrrhus introduced them to him. Which makes me think... how did Pyrrhus even thought to use them to begin with, and, most importantly, where did he get them from?

Was any person ever elected to serve on a parliament of two different countries?

It would be more interesting if it's not a case of some political entity that succeeds a previous one (e.g. English American colonial congress followed by US congress).

Why and how did the (American) automotive industry standardize on 150/1500, 250/2500, 350/3500 for truck sizes? I understand the half, 3/4, one ton connection but how did that end up with the other model numbers?

SCOTUS is often said to be a non-partisan body: would previous rulings indicate that this is truly the case? Would cases like the infamous Dred Scott case be the exception instead of the rule?

When did Winston Churchill join the British Army?

What was the reaction, internationally, to the US pardoning many Japanese scientists and doctors from Unit 731 in Manchuria after WW2? Thinking about some of the atrocities they committed made me sick and really made the Nazi Medical experiments look like nothing in comparison.