Short Answers to Simple Questions | May 15, 2019

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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  • 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.

DirtyThi3f

How did baseball get introduced to Japan and Korea? I presumed it was post WWII, but just learned they had leagues running for years before the war.

megami-hime

How in the world do I pronounce "Xšâyathiya Xšâyathiyânâm"?

okcukv

About 49 minutes into the 2018 film, The Sisters Brothers, set in 1851 Oregon, the a group of men in a bar are doing a weird little circular stomping/shambling/shuffling dance: https://i.imgur.com/mdtIVNi.gifv

Is that dance a particular thing frontiersmen would do at the time? Or likely just made up by the filmmakers?

More generally, what did liquored-up townspeople do for evening entertainment in 1851 Oregon?

Vladith

When the Spanish assassin Ramon Mercader came to Mexico to kill Trotsky, why the hell did he try to pass himself off as a Canadian instead of pretending to be Mexican? Why adopt a false national identity at all?

chiron3636

What type of vessels were moving around between the UK and France/Ireland in the Anglo Saxon period (plus or minus a hundred years or so), how big were they and were they common?

Mechasaurio

"Raj" was the name of the goverment or the name of the country?

Tatem1961

Where and when was iron making first invented? Was it invented multiple times independently or was the knowledge spread from one place?

kingconani

I've often read that the Second Lateran Council under Pope Innocent II banned the use of missile weapons against Christians in 1139. Do we have any evidence of individuals/leaders/armies taking this to heart and either 1) not using certain weapons that they had available, 2) choosing not to acquire/manufacture weapons when they could have, or even 3) getting rid of weapons they did possess? This earlier answer by /u/MI13 suggests not, but I thought I would ask, just in case there was a particularly religious knight out there who took it to heart, and we have some record of it!

Aemond-One-Eye

Can anyone help corroborate this sentence from Barbara Tuchman’s A Distant Mirror:

‘Emperor Ludwig in betrothing his daughter before she had learned to talk, offered to speak for her and was later considered to have earned the judgement of God when she remained dumb all her life.’

I can’t seem to figure out who the daughter is or wether the story is true. Any help please???

fightmesun

I was wondering how bone fractures were treated before the modern era. I know it's been answered twice before but those were simple fractures. I'm talking about compression/comminuted fractures where the bones have been broken into multiple pieces. From what I've gleemed from google, the modern treatment is open surgery and a bone graft. Would the premodern teatment to simply cut off the most damaged part of the hand?

themiddlestHaHa

What level of goods would have been purchasable in the USSR before being considered capital and only handed out by the state? Could a normal person have bought a computer or radio or workman’s machinery (such as saws, nail guns etc) with their wages if they wanted to?

GoGraystripe

What were some treaties made between the Native Americans and the colonists during the American Revolutionary War? Please help! =D

corruptrevolutionary

Did the Hochmeisters of the Teutonic Order have a special unit of body guards like the Roman praetorian guard? Or were they only protected by Knights who were their personal friends and favorites?

IonutRO

How much did an Evans Repeating Rifle (new model) weigh? It sounds like a silly question, but nowhere where I've seen the rifle discussed, shown, or auctioned was a weight ever given. I am asking because the gun is famous for being "heavy" compared to other rifles of the time, yet no-one seems to actually say how heavy.

yerich

What's a good resource (in English) for finding out more about late Qing and Republican China? I'm ideally looking for something in one volume that's a good layperson's survey for the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Alhaira

Approximately how fast would a 19th century's courier be, assuming he was on horseback and on a reasonably well-maintained road? I'm guessing they wouldn't gallop unless it was a really urgent message, but would he walk or trot?

(Edited for grammar)

RagnarTheSwag

Were there any bounty hounter kind of people in medieaval europe? Which were collecting bounties on criminal people, always travelling and tavelling alone or with few people? Yes or no is okay, but I would appreciate if you'd tell some more about them - if they existed- who were they? how they'd live? or why they didn't exist.

brokensilence32

So did the Roman Emperor have a designated palace to live in, or did he just kinda live where he lived before he became Emperor?

Vladith

Why does Ukraine today have a much larger Jewish population than Poland? Was antisemitism after WW2 more severe in Poland, or were Polish Jews killed in greater numbers during the Holocaust?

Karma_Redeemed

Hoping this is the right place to ask, but could anyone recommend a good book on the South Sea Bubble? I'm familiar with the event from a few different sources, but I'm hoping to find a relatively complete overview that I can gift to my father. He's an economist, so technical economic details are both welcome and desired.

LongSlayer

What's the correct name, Augustus Caesar or Caesar Augustus?

Camp_Freedom

Who added the 'Violence Against Women Act' to the 1994 crime bill?

thebastardbrasta

I'm vaguely familiar with the history of the royal families of Norway and the U.K, and it seems to me like plots and assassinations were incredibly rare.

Generally speaking, what were the chances of being targeted by an assassination or plot if you were a reigning monarch, and what where the chances of dying/being deposed afterwards? How did those odds change throughout history?

17vicky37

How many modern countries were visited by Alexander, Genghis khan and Tamerlane?

asjasj

Is The Scramble for Africa by Thomas Pakenham worth reading? My Dad gave me a copy of it, however one of the only things about it on the wikipedia page is a very negative review by Tony Hopkins saying it perpetuates an outdated view of african and imperial history

awiseoldturtle

How well did imitation legionaries stack up against the real thing?

greatcolor

What are some good resources on the history of Hong Kong? What are some for an introduction on the history of China?

Venikton

How did russian grand princes/tzars dress before Ivan the IV?

MrBuddles

The literal translation of "Sieg Heil" is given as "Hail Victory", but the phrase is still somewhat ambiguous in English. Does it mean "Praise Victory", or is it like "Greetings to victory" (impending victory or the victory we have just achieved?), or is there other meaning?

iorgfeflkd

Is there anything in the way that Trojans are described in Homer (and colleagues) that is consistent with what was later learned about the Hittites, once they were discovered archaeologically and cuneiform was decifered?

Batsk

Did Sweden ever occupy/acquire Copenhagen?

EnclavedMicrostate

Is there a list or map of the locations of Classical and Hellenistic gold and silver mines besides Laureion and Amphipolis?

TheChriskage

Has there ever been a rebellion secretly controlled by the government it was rebelling against? If you know people might start a rebellion against you, it seems wise to nip it in the butt and start it yourself, to secure inside information.

yellow_brogurt

At any point during history, were members of the samurai class landowners akin to nobility in feudal Europe? From my understanding, they were paid a stipend by their Daimyos and at one point in time were the most powerful class, but did they actually own considerable land themselves?

TheStoicStudent98

What do historians mean when they say industrious revolution? (I’ve been studying the Industrial Revolution and this is the one thing I can’t seem to understand)

Brandwins

I've been searching and it doesn't seem like there's a consensus image or really any artistic consistency of Phobos and Deimos. Could someone point me to where there's a lot of ancient art depicting them? Or at least the general symbolism of them?

TheStoicStudent98

I was reading about the ways in which the Industrial Revolutions of Britain,Belgium and Germany were similar. Mainly the use of coal.

How was the industrialisation of Britain different to that of Belgium and Germany?

historyundergrad

How are the terms "Vikings" and "Norse" used differently? I know Vikings were generally Norse people who ventured off but I'm having a hard time knowing when to use which term.

Achillesreincarnated

are Mary Renaults books about Alexander The Great historically accurate?

rawman200K

how did the Iliad and Odyssey get attributed to Homer? Who was the person that said "those were written by this guy called Homer"?

888ROSSULBRICHT

Any good book about the history of the Confederate States of America?

SoundShark88

Was there really a lack of scientific progress between the Roman Empire and the Renaissance? Were the dark ages really that dark, or was there scientific progress that is often overlooked?

prinkboss

Why was the bow and arrow found in so many ancient cultures that had no contact with eachother?

ScottchBonnets

I'm curious whether or not Pol Pot had any ideological writing beyond his early college stuff. I'm aware of the book or slogans that has been circulated, but I have been unable to find a book where he talks about his ideology/political theory in his own words. In short does he have a "Green Book" like Gaddari?

RaptorIV

I have started reading Caesar's Conquest of Gaul and I guess I have two (simple) questions.

  1. The preface says it's written by Caesar himself, though he refers to himself in the third person. Was this a common writing style during the period, or simply a propganda tool?

  2. Caesar refers to his province as the "southern Province". What is "south" in relation to in this context? Since his province is technically north of Rome.

[deleted]

I’m reading Grant by Chernow. I love history but have never seriously studied it. Reading this book has reminded me that I’m not good at recollecting minute details about history. For instance, I’m still towards the beginning of the Grant biography. If you were to ask me where he was born and when, I could only say 1822 in Ohio.

That’s just an example. I’m saying that I only know vague things about historical events and can’t really get specific about any of it. Is this normal for most people? I’m wanting to study history but am afraid I won’t be able to remember things I’ve read/studied.

lissd

What did the father of the bride (pre woman’s rights obviously) get, if anything for his daughter? I know he would often give a dowry and obviously his daughter, but I’ve heard of it as a ‘transaction’ however the new husband seemed to get more... was it just social status?