Short Answers to Simple Questions | July 29, 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.

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  • 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.

9XsOeLc0SdGjbqbedCnt

My grandmother told me that there are five Aldineseian churches in the Pyrenees that are arranged in a perfect pentagon... too perfect for technologies known to have existed at the time... supposedly. She can't remember what book she read about this in and she wants to know more about it. Anyone know of this being validated/debunked?

dropbear123

This is more of fact-check or to see if something is bad history but how accurate is this statement about the Nazi concentration camp experiments and Japanese Unit 731 experiments from Bill Bryson’s The Body: A Guide for Occupants? (P196-197)

”The outcome of all this [the experiments] was that Japan and Germany finished the war well ahead of the rest of the world in understanding microbiology, nutrition, frostbite, weapons injuries and above all the effects of nerve gases, toxins and infectious diseases”

How true is this? Gut feeling says it isn’t very true but I wanted to check with people who might know a lot more.

spacesleep

I have a question about this sub's rules. If my question wasn't answered in 2 days (or let's say, a week), am I allowed to ask it again, or is this too spammy?

RadicalRadon

In the podcast revolutions and various youtube videos I've seen everyone keeps saying that Napoleon was able to be faster than basically everyone but they never say why.

so why was Napoleon so much faster than the armies he opposed?

chosen-username

This is not a question more of a comment that does not fit anywhere else.

This subreddit is good. Good not great because I have to scroll past ten questions without answers to get to one with answers. The Faq rulz though.

--- That being said I am off to read more from the FAQ. I wouldn't be a proper geek if I wouldn't cram all those useless things into my head.

Tatem1961

Do Russian nesting dolls really have a Buddhist origin?

wassoncrane

Hi, who was Windsor castle named after? I have read that the British royal family changed their name to Windsor as inspired by the castle, however I haven't been able to find who the original Windsors were. It's really interesting to me that someone seemingly lost to history is the namesake of the most well-known royalty in the world.

cinnamonrain

Is there any resources that recategorize past presidents using current political standards?

Im fairly confused about ‘the big switch’ in which both political parties essentially switched agendas and was hoping to learn more about it

parablooper

I remember learning about Africa about its pre-colonial history in NWC (non-Western cultures), what were some pieces of proof that dispute the claim “they were living in straw huts til the white man came”? I remember Zimbabwe, the city of Great Zimbabwe because it was what my teacher was talking about right before she made the blanket statement “what they’re trying to teach you with these examples is that African civilization was pretty advanced before the white man.” I’m just having trouble thinking of other examples that could be used as proof.

Gex_BBB

I've been studying music theory and history. I've encountered that in the cultures before ours, studying astronomy was integral part of a music student's course, since there is a connection between the two.

However I haven't found anything about it, besides the statement. Can someone point me to resources, where I can find out what did for example an ancient Greek music student study about astronomy, and therefore how is it connected, how does studying both help with music?

fairrosamund

Tudor women’s hair care: I read Ruth Goodman’s book on daily life in Tudor England, and it mentions hair combs (but not boar’s bristle brushes as were used for cleansing the hair in Victorian England) and also discusses how regularly changed linen undergarments can cleanse the body and also that Tudor women’s hair was almost always covered in linen, does this mean that the hair was cleansed by the absorbent properties of the headdress?

NewYorkJewbag

I’m having a hard time finding an answer online. My question is how many people were enslaved in the US over the ~400 years in which slavery was legal. The results I get discuss the number of people kidnapped and imported to the US, but do not adding for people born into slavery.

Thanks

The_Great_Gasmini

How many people would the average feudal era samurai kill during their career? Would these deaths mostly be due to battles, duels, or civilian/unarmed killings? Are there any samurai known for exceptionally high or low kill counts compared to the norm?

calboy238

Why did Russia keep Kaliningrad? Why didn't it go back to Germany and/or Poland?

mbangang

What day of the week was it on 14th June 1645? I live near the site of the Battle of Naesby from the English Civil War. When I Google the date it says it was a Wednesday but the information board at the historical site says it was a Saturday. Who is right?

Polator

Can anyone suggest any books/article/etc. that gives a comprehensive, if not in-depth, rundown on the modern history of the middle-east and America’s involvement in it? It seems really important to understand but was never taught in school at all. I know its a really complicated subject and probably deserves an indepth look at each country, but a just a kind of primer would be great. Thanks!

Plan_dallesa

What was official language of Genoese republic?

gimme5bees

Are there any good documentaries on YouTube (free or otherwise), Amazon Prime or Canadian Netflix about the Weimar Republic? I'd really like to learn more about it, especially about life within it as opposed to just the political history.

AUGcodon

What are some good overview books on the treatment of aboriginals in Canada?

anythinganythingonce

Checked the booklist, but did not see anything. Can anyone recommend a good text on the 1960's, particularly if it involves a good, non-biased history of COINTELPRO?

_Niveus__

The necklace in the Affair of the Diamond Necklace is said to have cost about 2 million livres. How can this price be put into perspective? Specifically, what present was that of the total French budget?

_Niveus__

Can someone point me to where I can find an easy to digest detailed breakdown of the French National budgets and debts in the late 1700s?

gaztelu_leherketa

In period dramas set in the late C18 and early C19, I often see military officers wearing metal ornaments high on their chests, seemingly on a string around the neck. A sort of fat crescent moon shape. What on earth are these called, what are they for, and where did they come from?

Edit: I think I figured it out - it's called a gorget, but a ceremonial/ornamental one rather than an the actual piece of armour it's descended from and named after.

mscott734

I'm having an extremely difficult time finding good books on the history of the Cheyenne. Which books would be good for learning about Cheyenne culture and history?

flying_shadow

Where was Herta Oberheuser imprisoned? I've read that the people sentenced by the NMT's were sent to Landsberg, which is a men's prison.

venus7113

Why did Henry VIII go through all the trouble of divorcing Katherine of Aragon when he could have had her assassinated?

Presidentzerk

How was Nelson Mandela's eyesight after he got out of prison?

Tarro-Jac

Where can I find detailed information on the culture of the mid-19th century bourgeoisie? Desirable in Western Europe

sceptorchant

Why was Germany left split following WWI? Why was the land west of Danzig not ceded to Poland or someone else?

xEgoistic

At what point or when did people start referring to them as WW1 and WW2?

Highelf04

When did William the Conqueror gain his title of "The Conqueror". KS3/KS4 School historians have always gone with following his conquest of England.

T Purser suggests that is was following his 1063 "conquest of Maine, the neighboring country to Normandy".

Any other historians want to help weigh in on a more concrete answer?

Rittermeister

What status and authority did the sailing master possess in the Royal Navy of the late 18th and early 19th centuries? To whom could he give orders and from whom could he receive them? Did he have responsibilities beyond navigation?

Thelonius--Drunk

I'm looking for recommendations and biblios on works addresssing the Bronze Age Collapse

newfatenewbie134321

How much did it cost to repair a pocketwatch in the late 19th century?

In either England, the US, or some other post-industrial revolution western country. This is a very random question I know, but I'm having a discussion with some friends and we have no idea how to even research the answer to this.

spags-

Where can I find the Windsor file reference number that has Edward VIII’s actual correspondence with Nazi’s?

Kimpyman

On what year was it decided to start counting years in the current era? Did other calendars like the Jewish and Chinese calendars also use a past event (like the birth of Jesus in ours) to mark year 0? What year of theirs did THEY start counting?

InternetSpelunker1

Who is this painting of? They seem to be an old British general, but I'm not sure who it could be.

https://imgur.com/gallery/tWxBnDq

mariyammisty

Is it possible that the Mongol invasion of Europe never happened?

Are historians sure it wasn't a slavic people who did this?