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.
Here are the ground rules:
At some point in the last couple of months I'm pretty sure I read something about a culture in Africa that made it a practice to marry outside of their own language group as sort of a way to ensure multilingualism and strong connections with the neighbors, but I've spent the last hour checking my notes and searching Google broadly and limited to this subreddit and turned up nothing. I thought it was in the how would ancient people go about learning a totally foreign language question from last month, which /u/myfriendscallmethor helpfully compiled some links for, but I couldn't find anything there or in my notes from The Civilizations of Africa by Christopher Ehret, which is the only other place I can think of where I might have read that.
Help?
One sees smuggling of Canadian whisky and Caribbean rum during prohibition represented a fair amount in popular culture. But I've never seen any films about "San Diego tequila mobsters" or similar.
What was the nature of tequila smuggling in the American Southwest during prohibition? Was tequila a popular (illegal) drink in the US during that time? How was it smuggled in?
How many camels did the Red Army bring into Central Europe, what were they doing there, and where did they come from? I'm doing research about Czechoslovakia and I keep running across references to the Red Army's camels, including a picture of a camel hauling a wagon of hay through the streets of a small town. I was a little surprised by this, although maybe I shouldn't be, I don't really know much about this subject.
Why does this subreddit have so much overlap with r/pettyrevenge?
https://subredditstats.com/subreddit-user-overlaps/askhistorians
I'm working on a game and trying to make it realistic. Is there a place to find records of the missions flown by the Eighth Air Force? For instance, 1/21/1944 - Calais. Not sure if other information would be included but hoping to at least find that. Thanks!
How long was there a viable monarchist movements in France and Germany after their collapses?
Did WWII completely kill any return to monarchy movement in Germany? Did the high number of german casualties wipe out the German former aristocracy that would support the monarchy?
How about French monarchists from 1870-1914? Arguably the final Golden Age of monarchies in the world.
In this video Russell Brand sources a guy who claims coffee tables were originally used to hold caskets or the dead in the house, is that true?
I can't find any supporting evidence for this.
What chivalric medal is "Black George" Petrovic of Serbia wearing in this portrait? The painting dates from nine years after his death so it may not be something he was actually awarded.
What was the last dependent duchy (like the Duchy of Gascony) or county in Europe? So not like how Luxemburg still exists as a Grand Duchy, I mean ones who were under a king.
Were pharaohs called by their names when they were alive? Say you’re the pharaohs wife or maybe an advisor, would you call the pharaoh rameses or seti? Also, is there a source where I can read more about court life in ancient Egypt?
Two questions! The first, a request for reading: can anyone recommend a book/books focused on post-WWII Indonesian history, or any books about ASEAN?
Also- I really want to get a masters in history-how dependent am I on getting in to a “top school” to be successful? My undergrad is in international relations. Rough GPA but really good testing if that matters, and apologies if this is a bad place to ask.
In the play Fiddler on the Roof, Tevye does not want his daughter to marry the poor tailor but instead the wealthy butcher. The Butcher is portrayed as having way more money than the tailor. Is there a reason that in the time and place of the story, that a butcher would make so much more money than a tailor?
What percent of African Americans in the U.S. have ancestors who were slaves?
So,some years ago in school we talked about a Guy wich i sadly cant remember the Name off who handled all his stuff after the saying
Eye for an Eye,tooth for an tooth.
Wich when you broke my daughter an arm i was allowed to break your daughter an arm.
I thought it was "Ivan the Terrible" but i was wrong.
i know its not much information but maybe someone knows smth about it
The metric system addresses the measure of temperature, liquid measure, weight, distance, etc., but not the measure of time. Has there ever been much of an effort to go away from the 60 seconds/ minutes, 12/24 hours?
How prolific were firearms in Maori possession during New Zealand wars? (maybe Tauranga campaign and battle of Gate Pa in particular)
In ancient days there were Olympics and chariot races, in medieval times there were tournaments, nowadays there are soccer and basketball....but were there spectator sports in the Early Modern period? What were they?
What exactly was the flag of the navy of the republic of Texas? I've seen numerous examples, the most frequent of which is similar to the flag of Liberia, with the thirteen red and white stripes and a single star in a blue square. The other I've seen is the same, except the star is in a blue rectangle that mirrors the modern day Texas flag. What was the actual ensign of the Texas Navy?
how roman did the avergae gaul and greek feel during the END of the roman republic? If barbarians were to invade roman gaul and greece would these invaders seen as liberators? Would the local greeks/gauls help rome fight off the invaders or wait to see who would survive in order for them to kill off the weakened winner? Im sure that in the beiginning those occupied by Rome saw Rome as opressors, did the feeling persist like it did in several eastern roman provinces, or did many in Europe after X amount of time even the greeks with their rich culrure and history identify themselves as Roman?
I'm just finish up a watch of The Pacific
Any info on the cleanup of various islands? I know the US has a base on Guam, but what happened to the others?
Were bodies ever recovered and shipped home?
In western europe during the middle ages, what kind of staff would a small household have? Like if they could only employ ~three servants, what would their roles be?
Stupid question I know but can anyone point me to a biography of Michel Ney (the Bravest of the Brave)
Was Bismarck happy that Napoleon III was overthrown or was he concerned?
Any discussion from the German government on supporting his or his teenage son's claim to the French throne in order to maintain monarchical normalcy?
Rick Perlsteins Nixonland details a Nixon press event where he's interviewed at a monument in DC and talks about how reminiscent it is of the Roman empire's decline, is their a primary source, i.e. transcript or video of this comment/speech?
Why did Macarthur seem to ignore Australian commanders and forces in the pacific war?
How much truth is there to the idea that the Yuán Dynasty, specifically under Toghon Temür and the general Bayan, had planned a genocide of the five most common Han Chinese surnames? I've seen allusions to this on Wikipedia and some pretty sketchy-looking old websites, as well as one book I found online a couple month ago but forgot to bookmark, so I have no idea what the latter work was. I am thus wondering if anyone could guide me to some reliable sources on this topic, if they exist at all.
Is there a good, factual biography of Wernher von Braun? I know he has a few books about him from 10 years ago, but given the popularity of deep dives on famous, mostly bad people lately, is there anything with deeper insights?
Could someone tell me the general time period of these photos
Imgur: The magic of the Internet
P.S sorry for the bad quallity
Currently reading “From the Holy Mountain” by William Dalrymple in which he discusses his own travels from modern Istanbul through Egypt in replication of John Moschos’ expeditions in the 6th century. Merits of the book aside, Dalrymple’s interactions with various Orthodox monks and priests (in the 1990s) are notable for their suspicion or outright hatred of Freemasons.
I see that various sects of Eastern Orthodox Christianity have denounced the Freemasons in the 1930s but the explanations seem vague. What was the driving force behind this animosity (theological and otherwise) and was it observed any earlier in the Church’s history?
This could be the dumbest question you've ever heard but can I use a mk2 brodie for a WW1 British rifleman kit? And can you put a Hessian helmet cover on the mk2 helmet? Thank you and please be respectful.
How was distribution of the polio vaccine (or any other mass vaccination campaign) prioritized? With all the debates (and complaints from my parents generation about overloaded websites and long phone wait times) about how today's vaccination campaigns are rolling out, I wondered how it was handled in the past.
Did preindustrial people get sunburned? If they did, did they have any kind of sunscreen?
How did presidents communicate with the corners of the country before radio and telegraph communication was available?(USA)
1-He/She is politician. 2-He/She is media boss. (like Rupert Murdoch, Bloomberg etc.) 3-He/She has held various government posts. 4-He/She is one of those who have done something for the last time in his country. 5-This thing was done about 30 years after it was banned in Germany. 6-This ban in Germany came after the death of a journalist. 7-You can see the logo of a famous film production company in the images of this thing. 8-The president knew that this thing would be done. 9-This thing took 4 minutes.(What I'm talking about in info # 4) 10-The injured photo of one of those who did this thing was featured in the headline of a famous newspaper.
Who is she/he
P.S. I receive new information every 2 days and I will receive new information today. So l'll post new information here until I find the answer (I would really appreciate it if you could help.)
If Russia intervened on Austria's side in the Second Italian War of Independence, how many troops do you think they would be able to get to Italy?
I’m looking for a photograph I was shown in a history of photography class one time. It’s in black and white, done by I believe an early 20th century photographer in the garden, a self portrait of her shadow if I remember correctly. Something makes me think she had kids if that’s any help?
What are the oldest records we have of people tracking their age and celebrating birthdays?
How were newspaper stories passed to different local papers in 1884? I’ve found several stories about a local event in a number of papers throughout the US and, while similar, there are always some differences, particularly in the spelling of names.
Why didn't Turkey want Cyprus to unite with Greece in 1974? Are there any books on the subject?
Why do most major cities in the United States have a station named Union Station?
Was Edward III bearded or clean shaven? One effigy depicts him one way, another depicts him the other.
What language(s) did the people of Gaul and Iberia speak before Romance language became dominant?
Why were the Americans able to achieve independence from Britain more easily than the Indians?
Is anyone familiar with the Histocrat on YouTube? How reliable are they for history information?
Was there a similar storming of the Capitol the last time an incumbent President lost the election, George HW Bush in 1992-93?
Which indigenous pre-Columbian American civilizations had written language and advanced cities? I know about Cahokia and am looking for a few other examples.
How much did a mason jar cost in 1920?
Why was there a need for perestroika in the Soviet Union? Eventually these types of policies brought the end of the union,but coudn't the Union continue to exist as it used to before perestroika?
So part question and part reminder, but the thirtieth anniversary of America's Kristallnacht (also known as "the Crown Heights Pogrom") is coming up this August/Elul. Are there any plans to mark it with some sort of analysis or retrospective, either on the sub or with a podcast episode? It seems like there could be a lot of interesting discussions, right down to what to call it ("riot" groups it with race riots in which both sides were active participants and so implies Jews were aggressors to at least some extent, "pogrom" has been argued to require official/governmental support that the mayor of the time disputed, and "Kristallnacht" implies equivalence between the attackers and Brownshirts).
