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.
Here are the ground rules:
Top Level Posts should be questions in their own right.
Questions should be clear and specific in the information that they are asking for.
Questions which ask about broader concepts may be removed at the discretion of the Mod Team and redirected to post as a standalone question.
We realize that in some cases, users may pose questions that they don't realize are more complicated than they think. In these cases, we will suggest reposting as a stand-alone question.
Answers MUST be properly sourced to respectable literature. Unlike regular questions in the sub where sources are only required upon request, the lack of a source will result in removal of the answer.
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.
How and why did urbanization happen in the early United States? It's my understanding the U.S. was primarily a resource economy rather than an industrial one, so what caused people to seek urban living?
This is probably a stupid question, but why didn't people just go around the Berlin wall? By this I mean travelling to the countryside and crossing in some rural area with much less border guards? I know that the wall encircled West Berlin, but surely it would be easier to try cross into West Germany in some isolated rural area then risk getting shot climbing the wall in Berlin.
Was travel in East Germany restricted within the state, and how well guarded was the border outside of Berlin?
In the film Jojo Rabbit, set in 1944-45, one of the German soldiers is said to be wearing a "paper" uniform, and it did have kind of a corrugated look to some components of it, possibly under a layer of fabric.
Did Germany use wood pulp used to make uniforms toward the end of the war?
letter in link below is from my great great (great again maybe) grandfather from 1808 (or at least 18 something since the third number is smudged)! It’s really cool, but what is a wheel? Bicycle is my only guess, but he traded it for a horse and, so that seems odd. Thoughts?
Early Roman soldiers were required to buy their own equipment, did this extend to expendibles like javelins? Would a poorer Roman soldier be less-inclined to throw their javelins around in battle out of financial considerations?
Any good academic history books on audible?
Been listening to Ian Kershaw's Hitler on the bus, on breaks, on walks etc. Would like to listen to more good history books. Trying to avoid 'pop' history books and Audible's history section is mostly full of them. Any recommendations so I find the good stuff more easily?
Why is the French Prince's title The Dolphin?
Did the FBI or any other federal 3-letter agency have a presence (undercover or overt) at the original Woodstock festival?
Was the Umayyad Empire majority Christian? Growing up Muslim, the Umayyads were always portrayed as the first of the Islamic Dynasties. I heard nothing about large Christian populations or anything. In fact, Christians and Jews, I was told, were a minority, and the majority were Muslim. How true is the claim that Christians were a majority in the Umayyads?
Did any pre-columbian cultures use soap or perfume? I know they pop up on their own all over Africa and Eurasia, but I've never heard of them being used on our side of the Bering Strait.
How aware were the ancient greeks of the erosion problems caused by overgrazing? Are there any records of people complaining about this?
How many European Americans on the frontier were murdered by native Americans? A broad estimation would be sufficient (if possible a distinction between those killed in the battlefield and those killed on random encounters with natives/attacks by native americans). How likely were pioneers to be attacked by native americans?
I'm looking for sources on what people thought of Much Ado About Nothing performances at the time period. I know it's been 400 years, but I can't find much of anything criticizing Shakespeare, praising him, or commenting on the play. Does anyone know of any resources with such records?
If you were to get blood let in he 14th century how much would be let?
Is there a story behind the saxophone riff in Gerry Rafferty's "Baker Street"? Was it added by a producer, or was it planned from the beginning?
In an Italian WW1 Dragoon unit, how many horses were there on average? Also, what happened to pregnant mare war horses/foals born to them? (especially since it isn't always completely obvious that a mare is pregnant, right?)
Who were the leading candidates for the Kingdom of Poland that Germany established in WWI? Were they pro-German Polish nobles or was the crown restricted to Germans?
Or was throne vacant for so long because the Kaiser was going to pull a Tzar and crown himself as King of Poland and he wanted the war over before he did so?
What was the plan?
Was Florence Nightingale lesbian/bisexual?
I was under the belief she was asexual, but I've seen someone on claiming that she was into women (exclusively or otherwise), but found very little to support that claim other than a single quote.
That very same person later claimed that fact is actually well-known but kept under the rug, which I found to be plausable but very suspicious at the same time.
Does Bob Seger's 1975 live album hold any special place in musical history? I've heard it described as being important, but never really heard why.
Were crossbows and muskets really less expensive than longbows?
There are so many great ways to learn about World War 2 - movies, books, etc., You can learn about it through narratives. Michael Shaara books are a really nice way to learn about the US Civil War. Can some historians recommend good narrative media to learn about World War 1? I understand that the punishment of the losing countries in WW1 directly led to WW2, so I'd love to understand why an assassination led to all out war throughout Europe.
Was there any independent movements in mainland France during the revolution? I think there was the Corsican one but what about others?
What did the German-Russian border look like before World War 1?
Trying to find the story about a warrior that killed a bunch of soldiers with a tree during a battle by swinging it around like a club and tossing it on people. I think he was a Scotsman?
What were the main categorical differences between the proposed Irish Free State and Republic of Ireland during the late 1910s and early 1920s? Where would an imperialist like Churchill have fallen on this spectrum of support? Interested in the area and trying to understand the differences
Hello, What were the impacts of the nazi regime on life in Germany? Like cultural expression, youth, minorities and religion. It was question in class that I’ve been wanting to have an answer to?
In the first English civil war, would you say that John Pym is an example of populism. The term was coined in the 19th century and is mostly referred too in a modern sense. But are examples like Pym a valid addition to people like Trump or Hitler?
Are movements like the Ok boomer movement common? It seems very common for older generations to gripe about the younger generations and there are certainly examples of the younger generation feeling like the older generation is out of touch. But it feels like the anger gen z has is unique. I am sorry if this question is too broad.
Are there any high-ranking nazis that lived to the 21st century?