Dear historians of any time or place, I would like to know who are the household historical names of other non-western parts of the world. Who are the major figures that come to people's minds in places like china, sub-saharan africa, south east asia that are akin to Caesar, Napoleon or Helen of Troy in the west. I'm talking about historical figures that are a huge part of the popular culture that are not so well known in Europe or north america.

What is the oldest (recorded) interview of all time? I have been wondering about this question for a week. I took action when i decided to search for it on the internet, sadly, with no avail. Does it happen, at this moment, that you know the answer to this question?

What are the names of historians (and their works if possible) who argue that the witch prosecutions declined due to the enlightenment and the rise of mechanical philosophy? Sorry if I am asking this in the wrong place, if I am please let me know where i might ask it!

Is rabbinical Judaism younger than Christianity?

Were "glass eyes" ever spherical / round?

Old family tale has my grandfather's glass eye falling on the floor and rolling away when he was extremely tired (i.e.) drunk, and I'm trying to determine if it could have been true.

Would have been around, maybe the 1950s.

Many thanks.

The comic is "Strongman #1" from 1955, published by Magazine enterprises

The Gothic strongman is shown in this page recording the history of Strongmen, middle left

The other figures on the page are all easily identifiable as being from myth or recent history, but Mareg hasn't shown up on any searches.

Any idea if this could be based on some actual myth or story, or was it the comic author's invention?

Are there even any actual sources for the fabled anything of the Goths?

How many members of Hollywood were falsely accused as communists and blacklisted during the Red Scare? I've always wondered what potential careers were unfairly snuffed out.

Meta: Is there a slightly less strict version of askhistorians? I appreciate the detail and work that goes into this sub, but there's sometimes questions that come up that I know I have the answer to but, frankly, I'm not good at studying and research so I can't dig out sources in that. In history class I'd get an assignment to write 10,000 words on the boer war or something and I'd say everything I had to say about it in 3 paragraphs. Sounds churlish, but there's some gap in my comprehension or something.

Or like, the question today about waking up before alarm clocks. Firstly, I can't even find the question in the FAQ it's referencing. And secondly I know part of the answer is "the knocker uppers" I can even find pictures of these people, and I also know that they were able to wake up on time because there was a "knocker upper knocker upper" who stayed up from the night before and the reason I can't go digging out sources and that (in addition to just being generally shit at that sort of thing) is because I myself have been up since before dawn and am completely knackered.

Also, is anecdotal stuff completely forbidden? I remember there was a question about the troubles in northern ireland and I was like "Oh yeah, I know that, I was there at the time" but, nope, removed.

A meta question of sorts:

Do those of you that are professional historians ever use Google for your research? And if so, have you noticed the effectiveness of it declining in the age of SEO?

I've seen claims that in European folklore, vampires were obsessed with counting, which is what The Count from Sesame Street is based on. However, I am wondering if this claim pre-dates Sesame Street, or if it was made up afterwards and retconned into folklore to be cute. Does anyone know if vampires were thought to have arithmomania before Sesame Street?

According to Wikipedia, Senator John Sidney McCain III was the son of Admiral John Sidney McCain Jr. and the grandson of Admiral John Sidney McCain Sr. So far, so good.

But also according to Wikipedia, McCain Sr. was the son of a plantation owner named, again, John Sidney McCain. That should make the admirals Jr. and III, respectively, and should make the late Senator John Sidney McCain IV.

Is there any known reason why that's not the case?

Are there any good English books that present neutral or friendly biographies of Esclarmonde de Foix and other major Cathar figures? I've been interested in Catharism for a while, and I've recently come in contact with Esclarmonde de Foix. However, all of the information that google provides seem to be slightly re-worded versions of the same five paragraphs of biography found in her Wikipedia page, and all of the references people cite are either in French, Spanish, or Occitan. I'm posting in this subreddit because I would prefer a historical account of their lives, but if that isn't available and somebody knows of a good pro-Cathar source that stays at least modestly close to the history that would work fine too.

•Did Nazi Germany reinstate the Nobility, either formally or informally?

I understand that Hitler was pretty anti aristocratic, blaming the Kaiser and his like for the failure of WWI, but there's also the curious case of August Von Mackensen.

Who wasn't born into the nobility, was ennobled by the Kaiser for his military services, but lost that formal title with the monarchy, yet was later given a vast estate in Prussia by the German government in the 1930's. That sounds pretty nobility-like to me.

• Did other former Nobles or important figures get estates? Or was that just something for Mackensen?

(This question was also inspired by watching Enemy at the Gates last night where Ed Harris is described as a "Bavarian Nobleman vs a Russian Peasant... the essence of Class Struggle." But I know it's a pretty inaccurate movie.)

But it was also inspired by both Napoleons reinstating the French Nobility, although Hitler wasn't a monarch.

Are there any sources available to find out what King Alfred the Great looked like? Its for (hopefully) an embroidery project and apart from "bearded and tall" which is how the Victorians seem to like their Anglo-Saxon Kings, i can't seem to find anything but maybe I'm not using the right search criteria?

Question: What’s the difference between the work of William L. Shirer “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich”, to the more recent trilogy by Richard Evans on the Third Reich ? (Arrival of the Third Reich; The Third Reich in Power; The Third Reich at War)

Between these two works, Evans’ is more updated with recent information, but Shirer’s book is considered a classic. Which aspects each author focuses more ? Which one is a better option for a first read ?

Hi there. How long have sea faring people used a life preserving device?

Thank you!

The Soviets were not invited to the Paris Peace Conferences.

Were there plans to invite them?

Was the lack of invitation because the Entente thought the Soviets would refuse? Did the Soviets plan on boycotting regardless and/or release propaganda re: conferences?

When did slavery of Europeans end in Europe?

Was there a period prior to today in England when premarital sex was accepted?

Does the "X" in Roman numerals represent two "Vs? Here's a visual: https://imgur.com/Oj9nqfD

What songs were popular in Austrian Poland in the late 1800s/early 1900s?

How can I find out the revenues of the British government in the 1770s?

I'm learning about the regulation of the East India Company.

Wikipedia says [of the regulating act of 1773]:
"The Company paid £400,000 (the present-day (2015) equivalent is £46.1 million) annually to the government to maintain the monopoly but had been unable to meet its commitments since 1768 because of the loss of tea sales to America. "

I'd like to know what proportion of the overall government income came from the East India Company.

Before the times of the roman empire, did the Romans execute their war prisoners during a triumph?

Do civilians have to adhere to the Geneva Convention or Biological Weapons Convention? Or do they just apply to states in warfare? I'm referring to these conventions specifically.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneva_Conventions

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_Weapons_Convention

QUESTION: Where there any kind of racial prejudices against hispanics in 1930s Yugoslavia?

I was watching the 2017 remake of Murder on the Orient Express, and one of the characters is a Latinamerican in this new version, when in previous versions he was Italian. In one passage, one character mentions that the Yugoslavian police will likely charge the eponymous murder to either an african-british passenger because of his complexion, or this latinamerican character because of his last name (Márquez). This struck me as odd, since Márquez is a european surname; and besides, I'm not aware of prejudice against people from the Americas in countries that weren't colonists. I suspect this aspect was introduced in this remake in order to thicken the plot somewhat, but in a foolhardy manner. Thanks in advance!

How did the culture of eating icecream when sad come about in America? Did people start doing it because they see those around them do it or was it a natural instinct?

Can anyone recommend me books about the continental saxons of northern Germany?

Question: I am watching Tales from the Green Valley. In an episode where they had a guest over they opened one of their best tipples. It is "whiskebeth". Maybe an old way of saying Whisky, but they describe it as "they start off with any raw spirit, then you put in about ten ingredients. there's licorice and anise and sugar and spices and dried fruits and all you do is stir it once a day for ten days and then you decant off the liquor and don't drive for three days"

I like looking up period dishes and such and even tried a few and I can find nothing on this 'tipple'. I figure you might know what this is. I figured the spelling is way off...but I have tried multiple spellings and have hit a brisk wall.

Has the book resources list been changed? I remember seeing some Donald Keene books on the Japan section of the list but now I can't find them.

I have questions about ships around the golden age of piracy!

First off, there's two different ships in two different music videos by a group that I'm interested in identifying as closely as possible. I'm aware they're fake, but they look similar to the era of ships I've been researching.

Here are pictures: Album

Unfortunately the second ship is never show any better than the pictures captured. The respective videos are Here and Here.

I think? the rigging of the first one looks similar to a galleon or carrack. The second ship, which is much harder to see, I'm not sure. Maybe a man of war?

Whatever they are, I have a couple questions:

1. What type of ship do these closest resemble? Generic or specific.

2. What time frame would they be from? Would they be specific to a certain country or region?

3. What would be the average crew size for these ships? What would be the minimum crew they could function with?

4. How would they do in a firefight? Assuming damage done entirely in a firefight (I know they typically avoided this but), how long would it take for the ships to sink?

5. How long would it take to build these?

I figure if I knew what type of ships these are, I could figure out the answers to some of these on my own, but I'll be grateful for absolutely any information you kind folk could provide - and thank you.

Why did Hitler see Ernst Röhm as a rival and eventually have him killed? From what I've read, he used to a close friend of Hitler.

Did the Tuskegee experiments actually inject Syphllis into its victims? I’ve heard mixed things.

What are the best resources out there for an engineering student interested in reading about methodology for historical studies?

Can anybody recommend an English language book on the Years of Lead in Italy?

Can the word 'sinicization' be used to describe the same process being performed by a country other than China?

The only definition I find is "bringing people who are not of Chinese descent under the influence of Chinese culture...".

What was the size of the allied forces fighting against the japanese and the size of the japanese forces? I can't find any numbers in google, which is weird because it has numbers for the ostfront and elsewhere.

Were sino-Japanese relations friendly or hostile during the 1920s? Why did it take japan 11 years after the Paris peace conference to invade Manchuria?

Was there really 5 year old bread after the civil war?

I am reading "Crazy Horse and Custer" by Stephen Ambrose. When Custer was transferred to the frontier, after the Civil War, to fight the Indians, he had issues with desertion. One issue that Ambrose cited was poor food including "5 year old bread". He also mentioned that they had hard tack available, so I don't think that's what he meant with bread. Is this a typo or was there really bread that had years worth of shelf stability? I am reading the kindle version, so a typo wouldn't surprise me.

Hey folks, I'm looking for recommendations for comprehensive books about or at least including the Desmond Rebellions in 16th century Ireland, their political nascence and fallout, etc.

Who ruled Germany after the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm and before Paul von Hinderburg became the Reich President?

Also would you say Paul von Hinderburg died at the right time for the rise of Hitler, since it was after his death that Hitler became the Führer. I mean if he would've ruled for a couple more years, would Hitler have risen to Power later?