Today:
You know the drill: this is the thread for all your history-related outpourings that are not necessarily questions. Minor questions that you feel don't need or merit their own threads are welcome too. Discovered a great new book, documentary, article or blog? Has your Ph.D. application been successful? Have you made an archaeological discovery in your back yard? Did you find an anecdote about the Doge of Venice telling a joke to Michel Foucault? Tell us all about it.
As usual, moderation in this thread will be relatively non-existent -- jokes, anecdotes and light-hearted banter are welcome.
This NYT opinion piece details some changes to policy in the US National Archives where more and more official federal documents are being designated as temporary and allowed to be destroyed before archivists can decide what is important to preserve and what isn't. The trend has been increasing for some time as records overwhelm archivists, but a policy officially allowing destruction of documents has gone into effect recently.
These include records from ICE detailing sexual abuse or death of immigrants, from the Department of the Interior on drilling and drinking water safety, and papers from a legal case on mismanagement of Native American lands and property.
Is this concerning to historians, or is it just a function of the sheer amount of records that archivists have to deal with? If the latter, is there a way to make sure that important history is preserved and keep individual federal officials from destroying based on personal or political considerations rather than historical?
Reposting a question here, with apologies for misunderstanding the guidelines. Not very familiar with how reddit actually works, but I understand that it can be a great resource.
My Question:
I'm keeping a personal timeline of Russian historical events that are particularly relevant to a project I am working on. I would like something that continuously expands, and isn't limited to a set number of points, or a page limit. I am having a hard time finding a timeline generator that fits the bill. Do any of you historians have a timeline generator that you use and like?
Your Weekly /r/askhistorians Recap
Friday, January 31 - Thursday, February 06
###Top 10 Posts
| score | comments | title & link |
|---|---|---|
| 6,532 | 141 comments | Why didn't ancient Egyptian wall paintings depict them wearing winter clothing, although modern day Egypt can get pretty cold in the winters? |
| 4,038 | 130 comments | Is there a reason why the spread of Islam followed dry and arid climates in a bizarrely consistent way? |
| 3,801 | 80 comments | California became a state in 1850. The Transcontinental Railroad was not completed until 1869. How did Senators and Representatives from California effectively travel between DC and California before the advent of rail? |
| 3,388 | 215 comments | I'm a regular, married, male, 30 year old office worker in 1901. What do I actually do in the evenings? |
| 2,705 | 65 comments | In New Orleans, Delphine LaLaurie was arrested & tried at least once for mistreatment of slaves & her house was burned down by an angry mob in 1834. What made her level of brutality so scandalous & what separated it, legally and socially, from the "acceptable" brutality of day-to-day slave life? |
| 2,685 | 43 comments | King Charles XII of Sweden was only 18 years old when he led his army at the decisive Battle of Narva. How much control over the troops and tactics did he actually have? |
| 2,136 | 51 comments | In the 1970s UK sitcom Fawlty Towers, a few guests are shown to live permanently at the hotel. Was this common during this time? What factors led people to choose life in a hotel, and did this have a long history? |
| 2,063 | 60 comments | During WW2, when everyone was joining up, how was it decided which branch of the armed forces people were signed up to? Was it chosen for them or did each person have a say? |
| 1,988 | 30 comments | Why did artists from the Middle Ages depict real world things in such a bizarre way? |
| 1,867 | 62 comments | Dis the Italian or Sicilian mobs play a roll during the invasion of Italy during ww2, and the subsequent liberation? If so, what was it? |
###Top 10 Comments
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Greek theatre dramaturgy Update 2: after working on it for a few months, I have finally finished working on my packet of information for the cast, and at last it it sent out to everyone. 40 pages of history on Ancient Greece, Greek theatre, and youth activism. Finally, I can breathe for a bit, since the bulk of my work is done. All that’s left for me is to occasionally show up to rehearsals and/or answer questions when people ask, and in about a month I’ll start preparing materials for the audience when the show goes up at the end of March.
A large part of what I've been doing the past year, and set to do this year, in my chosen field is to re-examine aspects of H. P. Lovecraft's life and prejudices. Not always an easy or pleasant task, but sometimes the ability to look at the evolution of his beliefs, why he held certain prejudices and how he expressed them, what events helped shape his life, can be insightful to the man and his work.
I zeroed in on one particular moment earlier this week: "Concerning the Conservative" 1915 by Charles D. Isaacson, the first piece to publicly confront Lovecraft on his prejudices, in this case regarding some criticism regarding the recently-released film The Birth of a Nation, which later that same year would serve as inspiration for the second incarnation of the Ku Klux Klan. The language Lovecraft uses is not always pleasant - fair warning for anyone that wants to clickthrough - but it is key to see both what Lovecraft believed and what it was like for him to get challenged on those beliefs.
Is it true that the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki didn't play any role in the Japanese surrendering? It was recently explained to me that the Japanese only surrendered after they found out that the Russians had invaded Manchuria, and Truman's claim that he saved combat troops by dropping those bombs is flagrantly untrue.
Can anyone recommend a good book or source to learn more about what it was like serving in the Austro Hungarian army during WWI?
Have any US Presidents been known for being particularly intimidating or "bullies"?
I know this is a broad question, but I don't feel like I've done enough research on my own to devote it to its own thread. I'd be happy with names and or story leads that would make for good reading. Thanks!
What is the East user thing that a recession man could do right now to make him healthier or really beyond his years.