Who are the most significant figures in US history that are under-biographied? By which I mean, given how important they are, they have zero or only a few bad biographies written about them.

Did medium-sized businesses exist in any recognizable form in ancient times? That is, I'm sure families operated small shops and restaurants, or did contract work for various jobs, and so forth. And huge projects like the Colosseum were pretty much done exclusively by the state or some influential rich guy's estate (I assume). But were there any businesses bigger than a shop but smaller than a state?

I know that the 'United Kingdom' as such didn't appear until 1801. If someone from there came to say the US, at what point would they say they're from 'The UK' or 'The United Kingdom'? Or would they continue to say they're from Scotland, England, Ireland, etc?

Basically, I assume that in 1810 some would say their from England. But would that same person in 1850 say England or UK? Or 1890?

How did the Romans write currency?

Did they have a currency symbol? Presumably they used Roman numerals - was the currency name/symbol written before or after the value amount?

For such a simple question there appears to be hardly any sources available through googling

What's the difference between vulgarization and "haute vulgarization"? I'm not sure to really understand the concept there, apart from this review of Roger Collins (page 229), who consider it to be more or less French in character (although I never heard the word nor concept before) and both qualitatively superior to average popular history but not as valuable as an historical analysis (which would be fair).

What would be considered "normal" vulgarization then? Magazines, documentaries, books written by non specialists (either non-professional or non-amateurs)?

Would AskHistorians considered as a form of that "haute-vulgarisation"?

Was there anything like a modern-day corporation that existed prior to the Industrial Revolution? The only example that springs to mind is the Templar banks, but maybe there was some horse breeder or carriage maker or other trader who was so good at his job he managed to become the owner, employ other people, and then buy out other horse breeders in other cities?

Who was the first European to reach the west coast of North America and when it happened?

I recently read Tony Judt's book Postwar: A history of Europe since 1945 and I have a question regarding the economic transition of former socialist countries.

On page 690 of the book there is the following paragraph:

Instead, foreign investment resembled not the sustained post-World War Two effort that helped reconstruct Western Europe but rather the piecemeal privatesector involvement that had followed the Versailles settlement: invested in good times and withdrawn when the going got tough.15 As in the past, therefore, eastern Europeans have had to compete with the West on a markedly uneven playing field, lacking local capital and foreign markets and able to export only low-margin foods and raw materials or else industrial and consumer goods kept cheap thanks to low wages and public subsidy.

And this is the footnote 15 at the bottom of the page:

15 A notable exception to this story is Estonia, which has benefitted hugely from its virtual adoption by its Scandinavian neighbours. In 1992, when it left the ruble zone, 92 percent of Estonia's trade was with the former Soviet Union. Five years later over three quarters of that trade was with the West, much of it across the Baltic.

My question is are there any books that someone could recommend me that look into the question of economic transition of different European countries? Or perhaps just a book about economic transition of Estonia and how it differed compared to other countries?

I’ve been looking into the Birth of Islam, and had two questions:

1.) How far did the Caliphate span by the time Muhammad died?

2.) What do we know about Muhammad’s pre-prophet life? (Before his visions in 610.)

Thank you!

Was setting forrest fires a legitimate military tactic at any point? Seems like it would devastate the enemy’s food and fuel supplies back in the day.

I was wondering something,did Pre-columbian civilizations have knowledge of other societies besides the ones in their vicinity ? Did people like for example the Incans know about the shape of their continent and other empires in it besides them ? Did any of these societies have explorers,and if they didn't,what prevented these civilizations to have them ?

How well.does the work of Fernand Braudel stand the test of time in terms of accuracy rather than quality of writing etc? Are e.g. his books on the Mediterranean or capitalism still good as introductions to the issues or do they now need to be read though a thick lens of 'we now have new evidence that means his conclusions are interesting but unreliable'.

Were the rest of Europe suprised when Germany invaded Poland in 1939 or had they been worried for years that Germany would go out to war? Also, did the Nazi party (before 1933 when they got to power) have their own military? Was that allowed for political parties to have their own armies? How else were they able to make people sign the Enabling Act if it was so obvious Hitler would take all power in the nation? He must have threathened the voters with aimed weapons or?

In the middle ages would they ever fight dismounted with lances either in 1 on 1 fights or milliary combat?

Thanks

How did Arabic influence the development of European languages (e.g. Spanish, Italian) if at all?

I asked this in the last one, but will ask again. How do I sift fact from fiction in primary and secondary sources and if two secondary sources conflict how do I decide who is more likely to be correct?

Why is there no history lesson in school about pesants revolts?

They are always presented individually in history, country by country, but they have occured everywhere, from Maya, Inca to multiple Chinese dynasties, early and late Roman empire, late medieval Europe and so on..

Their role in bringing down empires and altering social and political relations is somehow unreported in modern times

Famously English longbows had draw weights up to and in excess of 100 pounds to counter heavily armored opponents. What about Native Americans, who either primarily used bows for hunting or warfare against less armored foes?

I know Native Americans are a broad term, so I'll narrow it down and ask what type of bows and how much draw weight would natives use at the time that the first settlers were coming to the US.

Who is this statue/bust at the bottom of my stairs?

I live in a house built in the 70's, so I know it's not a original feature. He was here when we moved in, but has been painted over many times - I can't read the person's name.

https://imgur.com/a/9hIbv Does anyone have an idea who it could be?

(I hope this question is allowed here, I was redirected from 'whatisthisthing')

How exactly the British and the Dutch react to the Treaty of Tordesillas? Was there any official statement or stance or they just did not care?

I have a few questions, any answers are appreciated. references to texts that answer the question are also appreciated

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Considering "The Bolsheviks come to power" by Alexander Rabinowitch was written in 1976, before the soviet archives were opened, is it still worth reading for someone looking for an introduction to the revolution?

If so, how has it managed to still be relevant despite having been written long before the archives opened up?

And what do you think about his older Prelude to the Revolution and more recent The Bolsheviks in Power?

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In the Communist Manifesto, Marx said that capitalists have eliminated the honour associated with jobs like lawyer, and preist. Can someone explain what this means in the context of 1848?

https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1848/communist-manifesto/ch01.htm#007

The bourgeoisie has stripped of its halo every occupation hitherto honoured and looked up to with reverent awe. It has converted the physician, the lawyer, the priest, the poet, the man of science, into its paid wage labourers.

I assume he means that as feudal relations have been eliminated, the previous way of doing things for these professions have been eliminated by the development of capitalism, and with it the honour previously associated with these professions.

Can someone explain the difference between how these occupations operated around 1848 and how they operation before the development of capitalism, say, in the 18th century?

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What do you historians currently think of The Class Struggle in the Ancient Greek World from the Archaic Age to the Arab Conquests by G. E. M. de Ste. Croix

the book was published in 1981, so i'm wondering how it stands the test of time.

has recent evidence about ancient greece overturned any of what croix said? what do historians think of his marxist method and its utility in analyzing the ancient world?

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To what extent is propaganda (and similarly, marketing) a phenomena that started in the 20th century?

I know Edward Bernays Propaganda was written in 1928 (I should note I haven't read it). To what extent did propaganda (and marketing) exist before the 20th century, and what was the extent of its effectiveness compared to the 20th century onwards?

Can anyone suggest me a good book about modern history of Israel? I made a post yesterday but maybe it is better to ask here.

What was the original name of Zambia prior to becoming Northern Rhodesia?

Was Bolivar bipolar?

Is there a chronological term to distinguish the various periods of time in a person's life? For example, the term 'era' distinguishes the various periods of time in an eon.

Where did the Spanish settlers of northern New Mexico source their iron for tools? Maps would be greatly appreciated.

What is a word for a national leader who wears a military uniform? James Monroe was the last American ________.

Does anyone have any recommendations on the history of south India, specifically about the period between Nizam rule and unification?

Can someone direct me to a source with the documents of the NSDAP? I'm looking for a particular memo from the RuSHA. Thanks.

Why USA did not join the Legue of Nations??

Where can I find stats and statistics on world war 2? I'm specifically interested in production side of the war. Examples like how many planes, ships and tanks X country had in 39,40,...45. I'd like to see one of all countries. And all sorts of data. If someone could point me to the right direction that would be great.

When was communism most popular in the UK?

What was the lowest level that Soviet Infantry formations would have been issued radios during 1941?

I'd assume Company command at the minimum, but I suppose I wouldn't be surprised if it ended up being Regimental due to supply?

Why did large groups of Russian men surrender when they were encircled during the opening stages of operation Barborossa?

Some groups of prisoners numbered up to 100,000. Those numbers are pretty large fighting force.

Are the "X" shapes made by people putting two pieces of tape in an "X" over each nipple derived from the Christian cross?

Hello, I got into an argument with a boomer on FB regarding canibalism in pre-roman and pre-christian Britain. I argued that there wasn't widespread ritual dismemberment and cannibalism on a scale akin to the Aztecs. NPCBoomer was arguing that there was and that anyone who strays from jeebus... etc. I was wondering if there were any academic sources from longstanding organizations with physical evidence (if possible) regarding the subject that I could just spam their dms with and use for future internet blood sports.