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.
Hello, everyone!
To our Class(es) of 2020 friends
First off, I am so sorry for how the end of the year, your time at a specific school, and/or an entire phase of your life is ending. I had to miss the last few months of my senior year of high school...and more to the point, I know I would have been absolutely crushed if my PhD commencement last year had been cancelled (or even just indefinitely postponed). My heart aches for you all.
We can't make it up to you. But we want you to get some recognition for your accomplishment anyway. So! For the next couple of months, we want to award special AH flair to everyone graduating at some level whose commencement is cancelled delayed. Yes, everyone--flairs, commenters, lurkers, the whole community.
Nominally, it will say "Class of 2020 (H.S., Ax, Bx, Mx, PhD)". If you'd like your specific degree recognized instead of the general flair, or if someone has a specific other doctoral degree, I'm happy to do that as well.
You can post here, PM me, or notify the team through modmail.
My congratulations and best wishes to everyone. I wish I could do more.
Mods, show us your pets! Most of us are working from home offices nowadays, and I bet many of the mods have furry, scaly, feathered, or shell-bound companions hanging out nearby for support and collaboration. How about introducing us to your home-based research assistants?
Hey folks,
It has come to my attention that there are other professionals who feel that online artifact identification can go a long way towards engaging the public - and that having a space to give accurate information and identify fakes will help stem the tide of pseudoarchaeoloy.
I'd very much like to help develop that space. Right now there is an extant sub at r/AskArchaeology that does not have a mod. I can't take up the role because I lack the necessary karma, but if there are any others interested in this endeavor - please message me!
Here are some of my initial thoughts -
The subreddit will aim to engage an interested public, but need rules in place that adhere to professional and ethical guidelines.
We don't need to reinvent the wheel, we could follow after some of the rules for r/askhistorians
Posters of objects should have requirements - for example: at least a plan and profile view photo, scale provided (no bananas), region found, and all possible/known provenience.
Identifications should be kept to standards that require citations, other examples of similar objects, and should direct the op to appropriate resources (further reading, best practice for object care, contacts for SHPOs or academic departments, etc.). All the better if we curate those resources as links somewhere on the site so they can be copy/pasted.
Absolutely. NO. Financial. Appraisals.
Let me know you thoughts!
To everyone reading, those stuck at home and stuck at work, well or ill, I hope you're okay and take comfort that as much as we focus on the past here at the r/AskHistorians community, we're always looking to the future too. So here's hoping you all stay safe, keep curious, and binge on all the good answers!
Your Weekly /r/askhistorians Recap
Friday, March 13 - Thursday, March 19
###Top 10 Posts
| score | comments | title & link |
|---|---|---|
| 4,933 | 180 comments | How close was Japan to cracking Navajo code talkers? Was Japan aware Americans were using a Native American language as code? |
| 4,808 | 165 comments | What did Socrates do for a living? Seriously. |
| 4,401 | 55 comments | If you compare the list of top US universities in 1920 to the list today, it’s completely the same except for the addition of California. What factors have stopped newer universities from rising to the top? |
| 4,317 | 79 comments | I'm your average medieval citizen. My city is under siege, they're starving us out over months but we're fine for now. What is my daily life like? Is my coin still worth something? Do people trade or is the guard distributing rations? Do we still have fun to pass the time? |
| 3,945 | 122 comments | I’m the captain of a pirate ship in 1725. Where do I dock my ship when it needs repairs? Who repairs it? What’s the land based pirate support network and infrastructure look like? Do I rely on food/resources from plundered ships? |
| 2,828 | 24 comments | When did wine glasses that aren't designed to be filled to the top become a thing? |
| 2,687 | 91 comments | There's a lot of writing about what Jesus did in the Bible but what did he build as a carpenter? |
| 2,423 | 458 comments | [AMA] I'm Dr. Benjamin Park, author of "Kingdom of Nauvoo: The Rise and Fall of a Religious Empire on the American Frontier." AMA about Nauvoo, Joseph Smith, early Mormon history, or Mormonism in general! |
| 2,233 | 70 comments | Muslim, Moslem, Musselman, Mohammadean...why have the names used in English to refer to followers of Islam varied so much over time? |
| 1,752 | 28 comments | Would common folk have known how widespread the Black Death was while it was going on? |
###Top 10 Comments
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I don't think it merits its own thread so I'll post it in here, are there any accounts of German POWs in WWII being told of the concentration camps and then volunteering to fight against his own country?
In the past some significant events and natural disasters where people have had to stay in for people of time have resulted in baby booms. WWII is the biggest, but others like hurricane Andrew had one as well. Any more throughout history?
Looking back to look forward, do you expect that with so many people spending time at home that we'll see another baby boom shortly?
Like many others, I'm currently staying at home with a lot more free time on my hands than I need. So—does anyone have any good documentary suggestions? I'm up for pretty much anything that will pass the extra time but I'm also really interested in learning more about American history if anybody has any suggestions related to that
Is the book “The second world war” by Anthony Beevor good and easy reading for 12 year old? If it is not, can anyone suggest a better alternative?
If you guys could pick three people from out of any period of history who would you kiss, marry and kill?