Recently there was a thread on twitter which talked about how Kyoto’s cherry blossoms peaked the earliest in 1,200 years. It got me thinking, what is the world’s oldest currently collected data series?

What is the origin of the "knight on a bridge" trope that was parodied, for example, in the Black Knight scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail and in the meeting with Sir Didymus in Labyrinth? I assume this originated with a particular story (?).

How did "Bohemian" go from a major medieval kingdom to describing free & laid back people who don't play by the rules of """society"""

I've found a handful of comments discussing the "Pulse" theory of ancient warfare, which if I understand correctly, hypothesizes that battles had lulls in between rather than constant clashing for hours and hours on end. More than that, I know, but my question is that I can't find a source for it. Googling won't pull anything (most likely cause I'm searching wrong) and the comments didn't attribute the originator of the theory

are there any sources or authors I can search up to learn more about this? Thanks!

How did medieval European armies made up of people who spoke different languages communicate?

Are there any medieval conflicts of which a great deal is known? I'm not much interested in modern warfare, but I'm a bit jealous about all the information that is available on WWI and WWII. I can find at least a hundred books on WWII in my library alone.

​

I'd like to read a really in-depth book on a specific medieval conflict, from the political struggle to the soldier psychology and weapons and so on, but unfortunately, it seems most conflicts aren't much documented.

I occasionally see references to WW2 German soldiers taking drugs to boost their battlefield performance. If true, how were they administered (ie did they carry them themselves or handed out by officers before action), and in what form were the drugs?

Does anyone have a book recommendation about the complete history of the Soviet Union? I am looking for something all encompassing, similar to William Shirer’s Rise and Fall of the Third Reich

How did police come to be a thing? Did it begin as knights protecting a royal family and patrolling the surrounding area of her home?

Are there ANY good English-language books on The Ottoman Balkans?

I've been trying to track down an anecdote that I think was in a letter from Abigale Adams when she was in France about a tradition where a bead was baked into a cake and whoever found the bead was king for the day. Is anyone familiar with the story? I was trying to tell the story, but knew I was quoting it incorrectly.

History Timeline Posters for Children's Room - Are There Good Ones Out There?

Looking to put up a "Timeline of Human History" poster for a children's at-home classroom (2nd and 4th grade nephews). I remember being inspired by a (very flawed) version of one of these when I was little, and want to hopefully replicate that.

That being said, looking through Amazon, it seems like many of these sort of posters are inaccurate at best, and oddly biased at worst.

Can you recommend an inspiring, somewhat comprehensive timeline of human history for a home-classroom? Thank you!

I'm studying the Council of Ephesus,but after a lot of reading,I still don't fully understand the difference between dyophysitism and Nestorianism.Can anyone give me a brief overview?

Despite having loved his other novels for years, I'm only just now reading Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose and I've noticed he seems to use the words 'scribe' and 'copyist' as though they were different occupations. Illuminators did illumination, rubricators did rubrication, I know this, and logically I know that copyists make copies of existing texts... but wasn't that the job of a scribe?
Like what is a medieval copyist and how is it distinct from a scribe?

What's the name for those hoods that eastern European women used to wear in the early 1900s especially in rural areas? Eg. Areas in russia

Is it babooska or veil maybye?

Also what are they made out of? Silk?

Heres an image: https://images.app.goo.gl/mtcikJNfxJcNU1Pm7

How did people survive on hardtack alone? I know you would eventually develop scurvy, but you could live on it for a good few months before that happened.

From what I can tell, it has very little caloric content, so you'd need to eat a lot of it to survive. Were people just eating them by the pound, or what?

How many and what religions were brought to China with the Silk Road?

Was Julius Caesar actually stabbed in the back? I had someone tell me he was not, and as a historian themselves they were sure of it. I haven't found any source myself to attest against or corroborate it

Hi! I recently purchased a McKinley september 1898 military appointment and it is signed by an acting secretary of war. It looks like investigation was launched into Alger so he did not sign. I am trying to figure out who this would have been in Late september 1898! Any help would be great---can't find a ton of info on the acting secretary. Thanks!

Who were the "bad guys" and "good guys" of World War one?

What does the Name "Kamikaze", Meaning "Divine Wind", Have to do with Japanese Bombers During World War II?

Kamikaze in Japanese literally translates to "God wind" or "divine wind", a name given after 2 typhoons saved the Japanese from invasion by Kublai Khan and the Mongols. While it makes sense in that instance, why were Japanese suicide bombers during World War II associated with the same name? What do Japanese suicide bombers have to do with "divine wind" and God?

I'd like to ask a question about Hero of Alexandria. Forget his steam toy: I'd just like to know when he lived. It seems to me that in the past he was believed to have lived in the first century BC, because Vitruvius wrote about a steam powered machine in De Architectura (iirc). Now I often read that Hero's floruit was in the first century AD, but sometimes I also find a vague I-III century AD. I know that some people of the ancient world whose biography is almost unknown to us are difficult to place chronologically, but I thought that someone could tell me what is the modern scholarly consensus on Hero's lifetime and what evidences make this collocation the most likely.

Napoleonic Era: Would there have been a tremendous different of fighting ability between a 86 gun ship of the line and a 80 gun ship of the line? The 86 gun ship of the line would have been a triple decker and have been labeled a Second Rate, while the 80 gun ship would just have two decker and be labeled a Third Rate. History states the Second Rates would withstand more punishment but was far less maneuverable, but what gave Second Rates so much more durability over a Third Rate?

Were people actually practicing "witchcraft", like conducting rituals/trying to commune with Satan? Or was it mostly just the imagination/invention of inquisitors and witch hunters?

Anyone know of a book/article/paper on the history of drugs (opium, cannabis and the sort, not medicine) ?

Can't seem to find a good book.

What was the earliest use of the word “Allah”?

Why does Louis Barthou’s wiki page say he was assassinated by a Velicko Kerin and then later go on to say he was killed by friendly fire of his own police force?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Barthou

Who was the longest serving member of the roman senate?

EDIT: A word.

Was there ever a counter culture to the ‘knight in shining armor’. (That existed at the same time) not sure what century to put for this question. 14th? France?

Hello! I was wondering if there were any leaders who were against the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade? Or some early writings against the slave trade?

Any book recommendations to understand the industrial revolution, primarily from a business point of view? I’m interested in understanding the business world from that era and comparing it to the business world of the “Digital Revolution” we’re living in today

Edit: I don’t necessarily want the book to compare the Industrial and Digital revolutions directly. I just want to understand how the world worked back then and see if there are any lessons to be learned for the world today.

Hey guys, i hope i have come to the right place for my question. I am trying to describe a spanish ship that explores the Pacific in the early 16th (during the reign of Karl V) and have some trouble figuring out what flag such a ship would have. Could you give me an answer for that? I tried do to some research but it seems that at this time we were far away from having one standardized flags for a navy (or in general), instead there are countless of different ones and i dont' know how to choose one. Could the Cross of Burgundy fit? Or would it be just some coat of arms of the explorer? A royal emblem maybe? Thanks for your time!

Sorry for spelling/grammar errors, not a native english speaker.

What was the first ever recorded state in history? (Excluding city-states) . My best amateur bet would be, maybe ancient Egypt?

What did Jesus call god by, what was the word for God back then in 0 A.D.

The title may be confusing, and thinking about is confusing too. When Jesus was alive, what was the word jesus called god by? I don’t imagine he called God “God”, probably another name since God is a word that has been translated to English and other languages.

I know that Muhammad called God “Allah”, that still stands in the Islamic world. So then what did Jesus call god?

How many home computer were sold in 1995 worldwide and what percentage of USA households had computers? How do I find out the total sales worldwide for home computers for different years besides 1995 and percentage of USA home computer ownership ?

Why is the 2nd amendment thought of as a right to have guns? It says arms not firearms. Why is there never any talk of other weapons in 2nd amendment discussions?

Can I ask for book recommendations here?

Do you think any writings by Claudius (the roman emporer) still survive?

Hi I am looking for any field manuals by any insurgent groups. I have found an field manual for the IRA and there is one by the Taliban. If you know of any other field manual giving information about the tactics indoctrination etc. please let me know. Thank you very much

What was the name of this warrior order that famously refused to be payed or even thanked for their deeds?

I remember reading a couple of articles about this. I'm almost certain it was a piece of Japanese history related to bushido - a particular radical samurai clan. One episode is told of a certain member of that clan that actually went into hiding to avoid receiving praise from a daimyo(?).

It was considered improper to be rewarded in any way for a moral action, because accepting it besmirches one's intentions - one should labor for good itself, not for gratification.

I've been googling for so long and i can't find anything. Help!