Short Answers to Simple Questions | December 05, 2018

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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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Challenger4664A

Have there ever been serious attempts or plans for a democratic world government?

Fenring

Did the people of Königsberg actually spend time attempting to walk the seven bridges? I've often heard the story of Euler's proof prefaced with something like "It was a pastime in Königsberg to attempt to traverse the seven bridges without crossing any of them twice," but this seems like the kind of thing that might have more to do with emphasizing that no one had proven it before than reflecting the literal truth. It's hard for me to imagine someone who thought they had a solution actually going out and attempting it rather than just drawing it and seeing that it didn't work.

EDIT: Baconreader broke my link.

MostlyEccentric

To historians of early modern Britain, and/or colonial America: my family has some very vague old lore saying that we had to leave England (possibly the county of Devon) and settle in America (apparently the Virginia colony) due to having been on the wrong side in "a war" back in England. Due to burnt-down courthouses and lost records, it's hard to pinpoint the exact individuals involved and the specific timing, but I conjecture that this most likely would have occurred some time in the mid to late seventeenth century, or possibly the first decade of the eighteenth century at the very latest. What conflicts occurring in England during that time frame could have led to English people having to leave and live their lives in exile in an American colony?

Tetizeraz

Hi guys!

I like to read about Europe's history, but there are a few events that, if I read only the Wikipedia's article about it, I am left more confused than before. There's two events that happened in Europe that I'm often confused:

  • The Troubles - I understand how the island of Ireland was split into two, but I don't really understand the origin of this conflict, and why it lasted so long

  • Yugoslav Wars - This is often a cause for trouble in r/europe threads. I understand that everyone inside the old country has very strong feelings about it, but I can't definitely find out why. I know that there were some problems before WW2, but I don't know anything that happened that deepened the cultural issues inside the country

What I am asking is, and I couldn't find it after giving a quick peek at the books sources, is if you guys could recommend books related to these events, something that could give enough background to understand what the various sides of these conflicts wanted.

Thanks!

Garfield-1-23-23

This pic of HMS Nelson was posted over on /r/WarshipPorn. In the lower left is a large model of a wooden sailing ship - possibly of the earlier Nelson laid down in 1814? This pic seems to be from a review of some sort - did the Royal Navy have some sort of tradition of displaying large namesake models during reviews and such?

TeaKnight

Did larger and Stronger City-States such as Athens and Spartan also control smaller City-States? I know many would form leagues and alliances but would there have been a sort of system of Vassalage between those weaker cites? If so what kind of autonomy would they have had?

dawhatthefuck

What blood borne diseases did ancient to medieval soldiers contract through battle? All my research ends up being fairly modern.

Sabesaroo

hey, i've seen a little factoid floating around that near the end of the third crusade, saladin sent richard water supplies and his personal physician, and a horse when richard lost his. is there any truth to this? i see it written a lot but am yet to find a source. i know saladin was almost mythologised after the crusades.

also, any good starter material to learn about the third crusade? always interested me, richard, saladin, and the assassins especially.

DaenerysTargaryen69

Why was dissecting a human body forbidden in the 2CE?

DaenerysTargaryen69

In ancient times, what was done with the death in big cities like Rome?

mjs1n15

I know a direct conversion isn't possible, but roughly how much was a Roman talent worth around 60bc? Reading Josephus and he says soon after their subjugation Rome extracted 10,000 talents from them, implying this is a lot. Any idea how much that might be today?

corruptrevolutionary

We all know of the famous “sponge on a stick” method of Roman hygiene but what would a Teutonic Knight in Livonia or Prussia used? What would an English peasant use?

What did communities who didn’t have access to aqueducts use?

pikkamakk

Does anyone know the original, Japanese source of the "I swallow my tears and give my sanction to the proposal to accept the Allied proclamation on the basis outlined by the Foreign Minister." quote by Hirohito?

The closest thing I managed to find was the testimony of Sakomizu Hisatsune , but there are a lot of differences from what's commonly quoted.

OxfordTheCat

Is there a name for what I would describe as a Mediterranean or Arabic style of decor that seems to show up in any depiction of opulence in the Mediterranean, ancient Greece, or Persia in media?

The trope of the 'grapes of luxury' touches on this a bit, but I'm referring to the idea of a living space or parlor with things like rugs, tapestries, pillows, and throw blankets piled high?

In more recent media, you can see examples throughout this like the Assassins Creed Origins and Odyssey series, but it's pretty prevalent in movies and tv as well.

Is there a particular name(s) for this 'style'? Is it completely anachronistic?

Any interesting reading available on the subject? Or on the living spaces of antiquity?

In keeping with the short answer thread, I'm happy to do my own reading, but if only I knew how to search for it, and what the name of the style was!

Thanks

BZH_JJM

I'm not sure if this is a short and simple question, but I'll post it here because I've posted it twice already and got no response:

What sort of people (class, etc) would have made up the rank and file of Prussian or Austrian armies in the 18th century?

Solar_Kestrel

Anyone know anything about preindustrial salt mining? Curious what the process actually was, acquiring and filtering salt for use prior to industrialization, given how monumentally important salt was back in the day.

bossycarl

Anyone know why the n's on this know-nothing party flag are backwards, save for the 'n' in native? My AP US History class is befuddled by it.

lizthebrave

By what year would it be reasonable to expect an upper-class hotel in Britain to have a central hot water system for baths and such? What type of fuel would it likely use?

LongSlayer

Is it Augustus Caesar or Caesar Augusts? Everywhere on the internet and in books I see Augustus Caesar, but my history professor and John Green of Crash Course on YouTube say Caesar Augustus. Which is it, or does it not matter?

ExtratelestialBeing

If I were to buy and read either Age of Capital or Age of Empire by Hobsbawm, which should it be? Does anyone know where I could buy a new hardcover edition? (Why on earth is it so hard to find hardcover books these days? Nothing I hate more than a 500+ page paperback.)

I hope that this is an acceptable question for this thread.

corruptrevolutionary

The Norse made a few small attempts to settle North America. Were these attempts made by only the Greenland Norse or did Icelandic or Scandinavian Norse know about this new land? And what did these settlements look like? A couple of houses or a walled encampment?

Word on the street is that the Greenland Norse continued to return to NA for timber and trade for centuries;

  1. Why didn’t disease spread from this contact

  2. Was iron tools traded to the natives?

  3. Why wasn’t another settlement attempted especially when living in Greenland turned for the worse.

PinealGlandOptic

Are there direct descenands of romans in Rome, whose ancestors lived within

city of Rome for 2000 years? How many could be there, approximately?

DaenerysTargaryen69

Anyone know where I can find answers to the questions asked in the book 'A History of Western Society'? I would like to have a way to compare my answers with others, as I'm not a student I don't have a professor or other students I can compare my answers with.

mandaday

Francis II, King of France ascended the throne at a young age. His crown was so heavy that four nobles had to hold it on his head as he took the throne. (Wikipedia source says Guy, John (2004) My Heart is My Own)

Is this true? How big was the crown? Was it just an awkwardly balanced weight and too loose or is this some rediculous sized crown? Any pictures of said crown? Thanks!

Imperator_Gub

When did the First World War 2 video game come out?

DaenerysTargaryen69

If I'm understanding correctly, Christians started burying their dead in coffins because the believed they would rise from the dead in their bodies. Now my book also claims that Jews started doing this too, why were the Jews doing it too? Did the already do this pre-Christianity or was this new, if it was why did the start doing it too?

Source: A History of Western Society 12th edition page 178

ChaikaAce

What is battle mentioned in this video about a German counter-attack on 2nd Armored Division?

In this video below, a question is brought up about efficiency of direct or indirect artillery on tanks during wwii.

Harry Yeide brought up this less-known German's counter attack at a city which name is in German and I can't tell the spelling of. I am having trouble finding the instance of this battle does anyone know what happened?

The video is here, Operation Think Tank 2012 Part 9, at the 2:32 mark.