Short Answers to Simple Questions | November 28, 2018

by AutoModerator

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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.

iorgfeflkd

Is anything known about the success rate of Polynesians making long inter-island voyages?

corruptrevolutionary

Did the papacy ever express regret for condemning and destroying the Templar Order for trumped up charges?

AyukaVB

The lion is an omnipresent animal in virtually every piece of heraldry throughout the Europe. However, the current habitat of a lion is limited to sub-Saharan Africa. Did lions use to inhabit Europe as well until they all got hunted down? Or is its popularity maintained only through its reputation via cultures of Middle East and Africa?

DotColonSlashSlash

I recently took a class in International Law and Diplomacy and my professor mentioned something which was really interesting. He said that diplomacy as a practice was created solely in Europe during the Renaissance period. I'm trying to find scholarly sources that can shed some light on this, but I'm having a hard time believing that any sort of international diplomacy was completely unseen until European diplomatic schools and whatnot were established in the 1600's. How accurate is his claim?

just_the_mann

Did the word whale derive from Wales at all?

jixie007

What sort of career was 'journalist' in late Victorian/Edwardian period? For fiction writers (novels, plays) it seems to vary wildly (ie: Income or hobby. Successful vs flop. Etc)... But I can't figure out if journalism would put you in the "skilled laborer" lower class or "clerks etc" middle class strata. Much less what sort of income bracket.

Related question (if that's okay): was newspaper photographer even a thing? Photography seems to have been a rich person hobby, but I also know papers had photos so... confused. My google-fu is weak and I found less about photographers than I did writers.

Abdiel_Kavash

Which country historically controlled the largest amount of area, geographically? I realize that concepts like "country" and "control" get somewhat blurry in the middle ages and antiquity, but is this a question that has a meaningful answer?

juncopardner2

Was the USA officially established in 1776 with the Declaration of Independence, or 1789 with the ratification of the Constitution?

If it was the later date, then would a state such as Virginia have been considered an independent commonwealth, or still a part of Great Britain?

SwigSwootintheBoot

Did the Western Roman Empire still have any control over lands outside of Italy when Odoacer usurped the throne and became the first king of Italy in 476?

LittleRenay

Is there an online source to trace activities of Company level actions and battles for WWII? For example, E Co. 2nd Bn, 47th Inf. 9th Inf. Div. - I can only get to the 47th, and sometimes Bn level using “Eight Stars to Victory” a hard copy “primary” source written after the war, but I’m wondering if detailed troop movements and battle unit participants are being digitized in a searchable way anywhere?

Beejsbj

Was the idea of man landing on moon considered "crazy" or rejected from being possible before it happened? i'm not talking about fake moon landing conspiracies now, just weather moon landing was one of the things that was made fun of as a possibility until it actually happened and proved em wrong.

oldbloodmazdamundi

How useful were war-elephants during Hannibals campaign? Sometimes they are painted as little more than gimmicks, other times they are described as unstoppable terror weapons. Which impact had those few animals, really?

Schaden_FREUD_e

Is there any way to determine how fanatic as a whole the HJ boys were? I know some were playing along, but others clearly weren't. Are there any statistics or ways of measuring this at all?

queequeg12345

How much would it cost to commission a portrait from a successful painter in Britain in 1900?

nicethingscostmoney

Did any Québécois leaders attend the funeral service of Charles de Gaulle at Notre Dame? I read somewhere that Pierre Trudeau did not attend.

Abdiel_Kavash

I would like to get some sense of scale of cities in the middle ages/early modern era. What (in terms of population) would be considered a "large city" in the 1300s, 1400s, 1500s, 1600s, 1700s? Which were the largest cities (globally) and what was their population?

SoundAndFury87

In China's National Revolutionary Army during WW2, how standardized was the diverse equipment the military used within units? Would a single platoon feature soldiers wearing both French Adrian Helms, as well as British Brodie Helms? Or would equipment have been standardized at a higher level? If so, up to what level would troops be similarly equipped? Company? Regiment? Division?

Additionally, apart from just a difference in helmets procured from different sources, I was curious if the National Revolutionary Army had a reason for the fact that their forces were using uniforms in both a khaki colour, as well as a pale blue, which seems like a very large difference?

tiredstars

I've been looking at this map of medieval murders in London, which has quotes from court records about the events.

These records sometimes refer to specific weapons or tools, like:

John de Cornubia struck Ralph Turk on the top of the head with an instrument called "polax"

That one's easy. Welcome to the middle ages where it was perfectly normal to have a poleaxe lying around in your shop. Some of the others are more mysterious.

Could anyone tell me what a "sparth" or a "tyench" might be? The latter is some kind of knife.

gaynorg

Who said "Women should be pregnant naked and by the sink" ? I was convinced that this was something Churchill said but I can't find it anywhere online. what is the real version if I am paraphrasing or have I just imaged it.

oldsaintkris

At what point in history did people start training their nails?

Zylic

How accomplished of a general was Agrippa as compared to other Roman Generals?

Cherios_Are_My_Shit

were c.s. lewis and meriwether lewis related to each other?

thunderstormshelter

did the mongol empire cause gunpowder to spread to medieval Europe in the 1000-1400s, or did it happen as a result of mongol conquest later on?

lgrasv

Question about medieval cultures of the steppes

so, it's fairly well documented what kinds of symbols, pictures, colors, physical objects etc. medieval europeans used to represent themselves. heraldry is a big thing.

we also have accounts of roman "eagles" etc.

so my question is what if anything did various people and groups of the steppe (uralic people, huns, mongols, or any others you know about) use to identify themselves and eachother? physical objects, symbols, patterns snd colors, whatever.

ty for your time.

Nooooooooooooooooob

I'm trying to recall this historic experiment where a ship was sent out and the sailors were provided with only beer and no food for an extended period of time. Anyone know when and where this was done?

Cherios_Are_My_Shit

were c.s. lewis and meriwether lewis related to each other?

DarkVibe94

What are the names of the marching songs

  1. In the beginning of this video

  2. The song starting at 2:14

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdn2d6GJx4s