Short Answers to Simple Questions | February 26, 2020

by AutoModerator

Previous weeks!

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.

PamplemousseOW

In the British museum is a statue of two women. The museum describes them as "perhaps Persephone and Demeter", but to me these two women are clearly lovers.

How did archaeologists determine these two women were A) Mother and daughter, and B) Persephone and Demeter?

The women in question. The statue is item GR 1885.3-16.1.

OdmupPet

Why was the moustache a widespread feature in cultures that were deemed "Celtic"?

Do we know anything about it's popularity? Was it just fashion? Was it a right of passage as a man? Is there any significance behind it?

cireric_

How were the nomadic tribes of the plains, particularly Lakota , Cheyenne, Comanche etc able to resist the United States for as long as they did. Particularly thinking about the period between 1851-1880?

corruptrevolutionary

The 13th Century saw the Holy Roman Empire Greatest territorial extent under the Hohenstaufen dynasty; Is this also considered the Empire's height of power?

(Not the Hapsburg's height of power; The HRE's height under a single Emperor governing the Empire as close to a single realm as possible.)

I should say, when was the HRE as close to a centralized state as possible and under which Emperor? My gut says Frederick Barbarossa; he's certainly the most famous medieval Emperor and a Hohenstaufen so that tracks with its greatest territorial extent.

Korora12

How long have we been writing music for? And how do older examples compare to modern musical notation?

electric_ranger

In Mark Twain's memoir, Roughing It, he mentions having dinner at the home of a Mormon "Destroying Angel," and seems to indicate that there were multiple such men.

I'm only familiar with Porter Rockwell having such a title bestowed upon him.

  1. Do we know who it was that Twain supped with in 1861?
  2. Was "destroying angel" only applied to Rockwell, or were there others?
brown_and_water

Was Lincoln asking Johnson to be his Vice President a strategy to acquire more votes? I learned this summer at Johnson's home in Tennessee that eastern Tennessee was surprisingly full of northern sympathizers, but I'm still kind of foggy on why the two of them were on the same ticket.

BlindProphet_413

When Washington state was added to the union (or being named,) did anybody raise concerns about a state sharing such a similar name with the Capitol?

pipkin42

Bit of an odd one - Does anyone have a source for the history of the donut pillow used by sufferers of hemorrhoids?

CharmingAssimilation

Is there a book definitively collecting Greek myth that doesn't erase the queer content? E.g The different interpretations of the tale of narcissus, or Achilles and Patroclus.

Broggly_1

I recently learned the HMS Dreadnought was christened with a bottle of Australian wine and I'd like to know more details. Is the region and vineyard it came from recorded anywhere, and what variety of wine was it?

muninandhugin

If anyone can point me to recent (past 25 years) scholarship on Tijuana bibles/little blue books/eight pagers I would appreciate it.

I already have Tijuana Bibles by Bob Adelman, Clean Cartoonist's Dirty Comics by Craig Yoe, Secret Identity: The Fetish Art of Superman's Co-Creator Joe Shuster by Craig Yoe, Eric Stanton and the Bizarre Underground by Peres Seves, and Little "Dirty" Comics by R.G. Holt.

I am excluding--for reasons of misattribution, lack of citations/sources, and in general his scholarship having come into question--the work of Donald H. Gilmore and his Sex in Comics series.

Most of the sources I have already cover the content of the books themselves, and only a couple identify and talk about the few known artists. What I am most interested in finding are scholarly articles or transcripts of presentations about the origins of Tijuana bibles, their production, and any new tentative identification of the author-artists.

[deleted]

At Hattin, do we know how many of the knights present were specifically templar or hospitaller ?

BreakitLikeBeckham

How did Marquis de Lafayette react to Alexander Hamilton pushing to keep Americans from fighting in the French Revolution despite their friendship and Lafayette's efforts to help during the American revolution?

Freds_Premium

I was reading up on Karl Benz the inventor of the first car. He was born in 1844 and died in 1929. His product, the Mercedes Benz automobile, is a household name around the world in 2020.

Can you think of something like this only from an even earlier time that is still commonly used, spoke of, or thought of today? Something not completely lost in modern peoples memory.

pavizla

My early 1800s knowledge is muddied. Is anyone here an expert in the early 1800 US? Was it generally a great moment for the US, and why is it all about cowboys?

Portalman_4

We recently celebrated a palindrome date, and attention is brought to unusual or interesting dates based on the way they are written. Did people realize how rare of an even they were witnessing on November 11th, 1111? Did anyone celebrate the date, or even just write mentioning the rarity of the date's format?

farzi_madrasi

Recently learnt of revisionist historians examining why many early mosques faced Petra, Jordan instead of Mecca now. Has there been explanations as to why this was the case?

Veritias

During the Edo period of Japan, how did shoguns and daimyo's greet eachother?

vinsaccount

What is considered the best book on Mussolini as a dictator?

DollFace567

Has there ever been a US President that held a second job or another source of income (including passive) while being President?

Aparisiu_

Why isn't Tibet considered a part of China, for example in maps, in the 30s?

notatraaaaaaaap

What form of Greek was the Palentine Anthology written in? It seems like such an easy question to Google but for some reason I can't find this. Was it just Ancient Greek or was it Koine Greek?

DvranPing200

How was designated the Vietnam War by the Republic of Vietnam? Today is known as the American War in Vietnam, but how was called in South Vietnam?

aabicus

When sailors wielded belaying pins as melee weapons, which end did they hold onto?

I can't find any pictures/artwork of someone holding a belaying pin as a weapon, and I can't decide which orientation looks more useful. (Here's a sample picture of a belaying pin, for those interested.)

The intended handle would, of course, be easier to grip, but the shaft looks rather small and thin, and I'm not sure it'd bludgeon all that well.

In contrast, holding it upside down would give more weight to the top, like a club, but then it would be more likely to slip out of your hand. (This is also the orientation someone sculpted in a modern mini-figurine, though I have no clue whether they did any research when choosing that pose.)

Do we have any examples that mention which end you'd hold onto?

Yasar101

Could a roman centurion during the first or second centuries AD get legally married ?(prior to the reign of septimius severus)

IMLOOKINGINYOURDOOR

Why did Germany invade North Africa in WW2?

LeviMarie

What were items World War I/II Soldiers would receive/keep on their person to remind them of home?

tree1000ten

I was watching a youtube video and the person mentioned that historically there were a lot of people who were explorers, who did their exploring job by themselves (a party of 1), but when I google it I don't find anything. Can anybody give me some names of explorers who did their exploring/prospecting/surveying or whatever alone? (So I can search for their names)

UnderwaterDialect

Looking for an entertaining but accurate history of England.

UnderwaterDialect

Is Roy Strong’s A Story of Britain a good choice? Or is there a better introduction to British history of around the same length?

KingSlayer_88

Could nobles abandon, vacate or pass their noble titles to someone else???

Parapolikala

What are the definitive works on the impact of colonialism on traditional societies? I want to know more about the specific mechanisms by which colonial power subsumed specific forms of traditional power and authority in colonised societies, and preferably also the ways in which notions drawing on the idea of the traditional were utilised in anti-colonial struggles, post-colonial reconstruction, and on into the neo-colonial era.

Particularly works with a deep sensitivity to anthropological understandings of different forms of society, culture and power.

Could be general overviews, case, studies, papers, monographs, or anthologies.

BigBoiBen444

How tall was Abraham Lincoln's hat? And did he get shot while wearing his Hat?

wellell

What are good introductory texts (in English) for the history of Myanmar/Burma? I am interested in both pre-modern and modern history.

Abdiel_Kavash

Who was the third person to pilot a heavier-than-air airplane? The wikipedia page on the Wright brothers goes from the brothers taking passengers straight to them setting up a flight school, and/or (presumably) to them training unnamed U.S. Army members.

Do we know who was the third individual, after the Wrights, to take control and fly one of their planes?

thealkaizer

I've taken interest in the modern history of Afghanistan, Soviet Invasion, rise of the talibans, etc. I've googled a bit and looked for good book recommendations. These are the two that seem to stand out.

I was wondering if anyone knowledgeable on the subject could recommend one (or another one) based on the entertainment value and historical accuracy.

Taliban:Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia, Ahmed Rashid

Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to Septembre 10, 2001, Steve Coll

itsagrindbruh

I have recently gone down a rabbit hole while reading, "what uncle sam really wants" by Chomsky. This book has absolutely taken me back. Where can I find similar books that will go into depth and talk about subjects such as the Guatemalan coup the US was apart of ? and not just this coup but essentially how the US and other nations have exploited parts of the world for decades. I need something that will introduce me into the subject since I have no prior knowledge about any of this stuff.

Cr1318

I was curious to see if anyone knew who the person on Zhukov's right is in this picture? From his shoulder insignia I believe he's a British Army Captain, so I'm wondering why he's up front with Zhukov and Montgomery.

serotol

The modern use of the word "teuton" to refer to Germans, is it derived from the tribe or is it derived from the term theodiscus?

Most sources point to the ancient tribe but some point to the other, so far none have given evidence on the reasoning. Most

Yasar101

Why were moustaches mandatory and common for soldiers in the napoleonic wars ?

JohnBrown1ng

What are good books for reading about the German colonial period in the Pacific (New Guinea, Marshall Islands, Nauru etc.)?