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How are historians able to get through books that cover extremely horrible events and periods without becoming very upset? I grabbed some books about world war 2 and some books about the american civil war and I keep having to put them down because the events they describe are so awful and upsetting. I thought I was jaded but when I read about those topics I almost cry.
How do you guys cope and manage to get through them?
At what point in time did people generally agree on the current date in time?
For example, the vast majority of people will agree that today is September 20 2020. I would imagine if you could go back in time far enough, there would be a time when most people would be unaware of what date they live in. Of course people living in what we consider 200 BC wouldn't know they were living in 200 BC. If you could time travel to 600 AD and asked a random person the date, would they know they were living in the year 600?
When was the last time a leader of a nation physically took part in a war or battle?
What is the oldest deciphered text, and what does it say?
Why are there so many modern royal families descended from the house of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha?
Was the first known version of the New Testament written in Greek? I would like some well sourced confirmation of that question, if possible. And if it's true, is there a way to read a current English translation of this original text? Thank you!
What where female/female relationships like in ancient China?
Nowadays we pretty much consider all of the inhabitable land on the major continents to be the domain of a nation state (or in dispute).
But obviously in ancient times that wasn’t the case.
Is there a specific time that we can point to, to when we can first say that the entire globe was claimed by a sovereign?
And is there some particular vocabulary around this topic that I should be using to describe what I’m talking about?
Why was, and still seemingly is, Boswell's "Life of Samuel Johnson" so significant?
In high school, we read some passages from it but the teacher never really explained the historical significance of it.
Why did it take so long for the Soviet Union to adopt national parks? One Wikipedia article said they were sanctioned as far back as Lenin, but the first parks under that designation didn't appear until the 1980s.
Okay, so, let's say there's a little mini-Rome next to Rome. Mini-Rome mints its own gold coins.
One day Rome conquers mini-Rome and captures lots of its gold. Unless there's too much gold, hurray! You know. Gold.
The gold has the faces of all these old kings from mini-Rome that nobody (except the conquered people) recognizes any more. So what happens? Do they... print over the coins somehow? Do they melt it down and print it back up?What's the protocol here? Did/how did empires 'fix' conquered currency?
I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask, as this is not a question about history, but about historians. I have some WW2 photos, medals, and other things that belonged to my grandpa, and they're just sort of sitting around. I would like to give them to a museum, but I am not sure which or how. Does anyone know how this sort of thing is handled?
What is an example of a weak, incapable female leader from history, someone who leaned too much on other people, to the detriment of their rule? (All my searching has only led me to capable female leaders, or complicated ones.)
Why did princes and nobles during the Middle Ages and medieval era plot against their own families? Given that they already had lives better than 99% of people alive at the same time as them, this seems like an incredibly high risk/low reward gambit lol
Is there an official name for the study of common people?
I’m a descendant of the Waldensians (Valdese), of pre-reformation Europe. Is there a definitive history of the Waldensian diaspora from the 13th century to today? My family owns two copies of the rare American genealogy of the Waldo family (of which there is only one progenitor), but I’d like to better educate myself on the broader history of their involvement with European political and religious transformation, and understand how the movement evolved following the Lang Doc genocide (or perhaps we refer to it as a massacre).
What very little information I’ve found in histories mostly focuses on either the Waldensian movement’s roots, or its sublimation into the Hugonaut movement, and subsequently the spread of Protestantism in Britain.
When George Washington chose to be addressed by "Mr. President"; was this already a common term?
Or did Mr. President sound as weird as Mr. Doctor or Mr. Emperor does now?
So I was born and raised in Chile and moved to the states when I was about 10 years old. I have a very low understanding of Chilean history and I was wondering if anyone could point me to a good book (in spanish or english) about the history of Chile specifically from the 1800s on because I can pretty easily find stuff about Pinochet and up
Before the unification of China, there were states. Did these states considered each other different nations or the same nation but subdivided?
Are there any valid (as much as they can be) resources on pre-christian Germany? Specifically in relation to "barbarian tribes" and their customs/cultures? I know of Tacitus' "Germania" but that's it.
What fuel was used for the Montgolfier brothers' first piloted flight? Wikipedia has an illustration of the first unpiloted flight where they seem to have made a wood fire on the ground to power the balloon, but that wouldn't have worked with a basket with the pilot inside, right?
Meta question: is there a good place to AskHistorians about graduate level study in history? My academic background is in an adjacent field, and I’m interested in moving forward on an interdisciplinary path, but not sure if it’s too late for me or where to start. Thanks for always being awesome here!
How common was it for ancient people to overdose?.
I only recently learned that many 19th century novels now considered classics were initially published as serials. Did this method of publication lead to changes in the work produced? Were readers annoyed at authors padding their novels as we might today be annoyed at tv writers stretching the plot out to fill 22 episodes? Was there a feedback loop that could cause the author to change the plot? (Conan Doyle resurrecting Sherlock Holmes is an extreme example of fandom outrage, I guess)
Did Robert E Lee say: "Raise your children to love the United States."
I have encountered this quote quite a bit recently, but I can't seem to locate the source. Is this an actual quote if his, and if so, what is the context?
What is the best book on American history for a general audience? Thanks!
When was 'Oh, Freedom' written? I've looked everywhere and I can't find an answer. I know that it was written sometime between 1863 and 1931, but I can't find a specific year.
What's the name of the type of artstyle used on really old paintings/tins/signs/advertisements from the ~1800-1900's?
This https://i.pinimg.com/originals/1f/16/0d/1f160db60625da3bbf20797dda577f19.jpg
Things like that. I don't have have anymore example on hand, sadly, but it's the really crisp, high detailed art such as in the one I linked before.
How big was istanbul in the 19th century?
The final agreement signed at the Vatican on 17 December 1885, held no surprises for either Spain or Germany
Does anyone have the text of the sale of Marshalls and Resolution of the Caroline Question?
I find the date referenced often but other catalogues of treaties have no record of it.
Following a dispute over territorial and commercial rights in Micronesia, Germany officially bought the Marshall Islands from Spain in 1885.
What was the public's general reaction to the discovery of dinosaur bones and the idea that they were creatures who lived millions of years ago? Was it similar to darwinism in this regard?
