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Is there a good book on the Dutch east India company (VOC)? Nothing specific, I just want to learn a little more about them. Something a little more in depth than their Wikipedia article.
What did happen to the Lincoln Battalion (and other American International Brigades) survivors when they got back home? Were they heroes or outcasts? They fought fascism but did so along communists, socialists and anarchists.
How were questions punctuated before the adoption of the question mark in Asian scripts?
Does anyone have an idea as to why some mottos for organisations in Australia are in Latin, and others in French? I'm asking specifically about Victoria Police, but curious generally.
Reading historical fiction and it referenced "bishop's powder", does anyone know if this actually existed?
It's apparently a poison as soldiers who drink wine laced with bishop's powder vomit and collapse, either dead or at least appearing to be dead.
"‘The Bishop’s powder we put in the wine has worked wonders. They were very drunk already and noticed nothing. And now they’re sleeping the sleep of the dead."
Google yielded no results, and all the plants nicknamed 'bishop's weed' I found don't have any poisonous applications. The novel (The She-Wolf of France by Maurice Druon) is set in England and France during the reign of Edward II. The bishop's powder was used to pacify the guards during the escape of Roger de Mortimer from the Tower of London.
Does anyone know of secondary sources that gather information on various cultures' beliefs about magic? I'll take anywhere in the world before 1500 or so. I'm more interested in nonreligious practices but overlap is fine.
Sorry if this is the wrong place. I waited for the short answer thread because I'm looking for reading suggestions instead of extensive answers (though I'd take those if any exist). I'm asking because I was fascinated by this passage from Montaillou:
Magic as such was not a central element in the mental outlook or practices of Sabarthes and Montaillous. But it was important as a technique, as a means to an end, the end being some action or object or information. The magic was connected with the traditional medicine of the healer, particularly the female healer; and such medicine was not necessarily ineffective.
That's great and I'd like a whole article/book on the subject. I'll take books on other subjects that touch on the topic too.
Did grounded planes count as victories in World War 2? If a ground attack plane destroyed five enemy aircraft, was the pilot considered an ace?
According to this Reason Magazine article:
In November 1848 a socialist activist gave a speech at the 13th annual meeting of the Rhode Island Anti-Slavery Society. "Mr. Ingliss" began his remarks well enough, reported the abolitionist leader Frederick Douglass, who was present to give a speech of his own that day, "but strangely enough went on in an effort to show that wages slavery is as bad as chattel slavery."
Douglass soon became infuriated with the socialist speaker. "The attempts to place holding property in the soil—on the same footing as holding property in man, was most lame and impotent," Douglass declared. "And the wonder is that anyone could listen with patience to such arrant nonsense."
Is a full copy of Douglass' article (remarks? diary entry?) available? I could not find this anywhere online, and I would like to read the whole thing for context.
What is the origin of the old adage that 'Prussia is not a state with an army, but an army with a state', or variations thereof (e.g. 'most states possess armies; the Prussian army possesses a state')?
Prior to The Beatles song Yellow Submarine, were there any yellow submarines? Did they invent or popularize them?
Often today in media, especially cartoons depicting a sub or mini sub, they’re shown as yellow.
When did "the American dream" trend begin? Because new England colonists, aka many Puritans, feared independence, the frontier, and religious indifferences; they were still family oriented. Yet sometime later, they became revolutionists who later built manifest destiny and "the American dream". Was this shift in ideology all because of king George?
I'm just brushing up on American history and my timeline may be a bit cluttered.
Can anyone recommend a book on the history of the US Supreme Court? I didn’t see anything in the book list, but apologies if I missed it. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Would WW1 pilots have carried knives while flying missions? If they would bring a knife, where might they store it during flight?
Hello! I was wondering, during the Napoleonic Wars, did Napoleon pay taxes? Or fund the war with his own money? Or was it just the public. I’ve heard how wealthy people in power can get.
What volume of artillery fire did soldiers going over the top on the Western Front of WW1 have to face? Say in hits per [any convenient amount of land] per second/minute, in 1916 and 1917.
So I recently read a really wonderful answer about food in France during the occupation of the Second World War. I’m now trying to find it and can’t. While I read it recently I can’t remember how I found it and so I wouldn’t necessarily say that it was written recently. I’ve tried searching but have not been able to find it. So if anyone can help that would be greatly appreciated. If I remember correctly it talked at least somewhat about the differences in access to food between urban and rural areas as well as just in general how food and eating was affected under the occupation. Also, any further info on this topic would be appreciated as well as resources. Maybe this would be better in the Thursday thread but because I’m also open to new answers as well as help finding old ones I figured I’d post here. Thanks in advance.
[META] Will the 'Floating Features' list be updated? It only goes up to August 2019 just now.
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/wiki/features/floating
Finding newer ones needs the tag search.
Has a sitting Supreme Court justice ever been the plaintiff of a criminal or civil proceeding?
Probably a little late for this one... did Zaydi communities in Tabaristan recognize the Imams of Yemen as leaders of Zaydism?
I posted this as a tack-on to a solo-post question, but I realize this might better fit SASQ:
When was the first successful export of US weapons to a foreign military? And who was the customer?
This is a picture from inside a 5"/38 twin mounting aboard USS Wisconsin. Another user noticed that the rivets here are welded all around their bases. Was this done to prevent the rivet head from popping off and ricocheting around the turret in the event of an enemy hit on the turret?
Hello. I am looking for a confirmation that a person was executed in Soviet Union during the Great Terror. I have tried to find in multiple internet available databases, but he doesn't appear in any of those. Have I missed any database and does someone have any suggestion what else can I try to do to find it? Also what are the chances of a person being executed, but not having a report?
The list of the databases I have used so far:
https://nkvd.memo.ru/index.php
If this kind of a query is not allowed here, please delete this mods.
How long did Chinese cash coins typically remain in circulation?
Both the Hindenburg Line and the Westwall of the German frontier were called the Siegfried line in German.
Why Siegfried? Is it really just a reference to Wagner’s Ring Cycle or medieval legend?
Which was the first army woman's regiment in the world?
I posted this as it's own topic, but maybe it's a small enough question for here.
What were Spartans doing in 450 CE
Right around the time the Western Roman Empire is giving way to Visigoths and Gepidae and whatnot. Is Sparta/Lacedaimon now a sleepy Byzantine colony? Supplying the Eastern Roman Empire with shock troops? Displaced?
