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.
I've been sitting on this for quite some time, but I'm glad to finally be able to announce it. I am writing a book on historical memory and online racism, specifically focused on Battlefield 1 and the First World War. Titled White Mythic Space: Racism, the First World War, and Battlefield 1, it will introduce the theoretical framework of the 'White Mythic Space' and discuss in-depth a recurrent phenomena that I've encountered as a moderator on AskHistorians (and as a reader elsewhere): the questioning and rejection of people of color from perceived white historical pasts (as represented in popular culture).
I am currently hard at work writing it and I can't wait to give you all a peek into it soon.
In Europe when firearms first became prevalent did horse trainers have to learn new techniques or did they already know how to train horses for loud noises?
I’ve been struggling to find good general histories if premodern Korea. Everything I see is either a total general history or a academic text on a specific facet of a period rather than something intending to give the basic political and social outlines of say Koryo or Choson. Does such a thing exist?
Also, I have struggled to find english translations of Korean history texts from before the 20th century. There are at least a handful that seem worthy of translation but the only place I have ever seen them rendered into English is James Scarth Gale’s History if the Korean People. Does any such thing exist?
Your Weekly /r/askhistorians Recap
Friday, December 04 - Thursday, December 10
###Top 10 Posts
| score | comments | title & link |
|---|---|---|
| 5,557 | 61 comments | Abraham Lincoln was self-educated and spent his youth in sparsely populated rural areas. He'd never seen a play before arriving in Washington D.C. and becoming president, but became an avid theatergoer. Was he regarded as uncultured or a bit of a bumpkin by the elites in Washington? |
| 5,533 | 220 comments | I heard the claim that since Homo Sapiens first emerged around 200,000 BC, it could be possible that there were civilisations akin to those of the Bronze Age something like 150,000+ years ago, but all archaeological evidence would have eroded in the long time span. Is that so? |
| 3,975 | 128 comments | Did "snipers" exist before firearms? |
| 3,940 | 112 comments | When Christianity was legalized and implemented by the Roman Empire in the 4th century, how did the government reconcile the anti-imperial rhetoric of Jesus and the culpability of Rome regarding his crucifixion? |
| 3,798 | 71 comments | [Great Question!] As I understand it, slavery in the Americas drew from a number of tribes. Some of the largest groups came from tribes like the Fulani and the Wolof. Both those tribes were predominately Muslim at the time so what evidence do we have of the practice of Islam among slaves in the "New World"? |
| 3,236 | 67 comments | I just learned that camels are not native to the the Levant or North Africa, but were introduced as a domestic breed during the Hellenistic period. How did the introduction of camels affect travel and commerce in the ancient world? |
| 3,196 | 84 comments | How was Bay of Pigs not considered an act of war? |
| 3,015 | 37 comments | I've always heard that the Christmas cards were first sold in 1843 but I've found newspaper archives that I'm sure are selling Christmas cards from earlier, Is 1843 really the correct origin date? |
| 3,009 | 45 comments | How would a Norman priest in the middle ages likely respond to a churchgoer who admits to being thoroughly miserable and tempted by suicidal thoughts? Are there writings/sources from the time that give us insight into how society at the time believed one should fix such problems? |
| 1,335 | 11 comments | 31 years ago today 14 women were killed at l'École Polytechnique in Montreal. Now the massacre is widely accepted as an anti-feminist attack; what were anti-feminist movements like at the time? What role did they play in the massacre? |
###Top 10 Comments
Hey all,
I've seen some great posts here over the years asking for your favorite insults and petty acts from history. There's some entertaining ones for sure.
I made a sub for it, inspired by a post on another sub earlier, so if you're ever in the mood to share a story please head over to r/historicalinsults and enlighten us!
How would one learn to do academic historian research on one’s own?
A bit of background info:
I’m a student of Japanese studies, and I’d like to write my master’s on some historic topic, not quite sure what yet. But a dissertation in history is rather different to my previous dissertation in geopolitics. Any pointers and thorough ressources that teach me how academic research in history works?
Howdy! I missed this post on Friday because I was buried under the end-of-semester pile of grading, BUT starting tomorrow (Monday, 14 December), I'm taking over @Tweetistorian on Twitter (not Reddit!). I'll be discussing why the history of medicine is also important for social and political history
I'll also be sharing some of my own research on 19th and 20th century Egypt and how health and disease were used to differentiate and delineate social classes, and establish constantly moving benchmarks of "modernity" in imperial settings.
Looking for some theory sources, specifically looking at the intersection of settler colonial theory and performance studies. TIA if anybody has any suggestions.
A friend just claimed that Lincoln delayed an election using marshal [sic] law. And that Trump could do the same. Based on what I can find, there was no election delayed under Lincoln.
Is there something else that he could be referring to here? Or a definitive source I could use? Thanks in advance.
Can anyone recommend a good book on the conflict between the newly formed Kingdom of Italy and the Pope(s) in the 19th century?
Alternately, any recommendations for a good book on Italian unification more generally?
I just watched the Frozen musical last night.
It made me wonder, was the admiration of princesses always popular among girls and young women?
And has there ever been a widespread attempt to replace the girls' admiration of princesses with an admiration of democracy and elected women? It just seems odd that girls still admire princesses even in countries with strong republican systems.