What's the origin of the story that Hitler only had one testicle? And is there any truth to it?

I’m reading Tolkien’s translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. He seems to use the word “middle-Earth” to mean “the world”. Did medievals use this word in a fantastical sense, or did it actually refer to some continent?

An example passage:

"For stiff is he, and stern, and over keen to strike,

For height on middle-earth no man hath seen his like"

Standing for Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus is a well known and seemingly universal tradition. A little googling attributes/myths this to King George II standing and the audience following his example. When is the earliest documented crowd standing for the hallelujah chorus? What’s the best and/or most interesting explanation for how standing for the hallelujah chorus started and became widespread?

Thank you

During the Middle ages and early Modern Era, were there any products originating from Europe that were coveted by the upper class of the eastern countries the same way silk and spices were coveted by European upper class ?

Whats a great book for art history? And by that i mean a book/s that cover periods from prehistoric to modern art.

I know there were fewer tall people back then (in the United States, anyway). But for those that were over six feet tall, and had the money, were there any better (non-custom) options than the twin/double beds? I understand Queen and King to have been introduced in the 1940s, and to not have become popular until later.

I'm just curious as to what a wealthy person's options were, particularly as the more modern latex mattresses became available.

When did the French battleship Richelieu travel to Casablanca? She was in Dakar in 1940 and of course in Casablanca by the time of Torch, when precisely did she move and why? Was it simply to acquire better port facilities or was it fear of British attack (my understanding is that Dakar was perceived as more under threat).

When did the terms like "Frankish Empire" and "Carolingian Empire" first appear in historiography?

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Yesterday I was in a discussion about the Holy Roman Empire and Charlemagne. The gentleman I was arguing with said that the Holy Roman Empire didn't exist during Charlemagne's time "only the Frankish empire"

Which I pointed out that Charlemagne was crowned Emperor of the Romans and it was just referred to as "the Empire" until Frederick Barbarossa and Frederick II used the term "Holy Roman Empire" as a mirror to the Holy Roman Church and that the "Frankish Empire" isn't a historic term. But I don't know when it first appears, my guess is the 19th century, it's always the 19th century.

So like Hieronymus Wolf making up the term Byzantine Empire 100 years after the fall of Constantinople to cement the western position that the greeks weren't the Romans, What's the origins of "Frankish empire or Carolingian Empire" and is it used to separate Charlemagne or Karl de grosse from the later super german Holy Roman Empire and keep him in the more French focused historiography?

I was cleaning out my grandfather's place when I came across this painting of a military figure (link to image below). I tried looking at military uniforms for previous wars to see if I can at least narrow down the country this man might have served. But I didn't see anything that stood out as close enough.

Can anyone tell me who this man might have been? Or at least which military he might have served?

For context, this painting was found in Australia.

Found painting of military figure

Was thinking about this today. Etymology provides a historical story of the origin of a particular word. Are there are similar words for other topics? I was down a Wiki rabbit hole on fighter jets, and there is such a strongly documented lineage of jets and their successors (etc), it made me wonder if there was a word for that, and many other things. Could be in fashion, specific artifacts, food, or anything.
I'd love to learn more about other "things" versions of "etymology" if that makes sense.

Do we know how Hitler felt about vegetable oils?

What is the world's oldest surviving painting that isn't on a cave wall? Google keeps leading me to the cave painting in Spain when what I really want to know is what is the oldest hangable painting that can be viewed in a museum or private collection today?

Did Napoleon really say “From sublime to the ridiculous is but a step?” When did he say it?

Given that during World War II the USN reused names for sunken ships (Helena, Houston, Laffey, Yorktown, etc), why weren't the names Arizona and Oklahoma reassigned to new battleships?

All of my comments are slightly related because I’ve been a documentary binge but I keep seeing conflicting information did Britain initially make an offer of asylum to the Romanov’s then rescind it? If yes, could they actually have saved them?

Who are the best historians or documentaries to go to for information on King George V and siblings and King George VI and siblings?

Under male-preference primogeniture, did male-line daughters inherit before or after female-line sons?

Supposing a monarch had a son and a daughter, and then the son had only daughters but the daughter had sons. Once only the grandchildren are left, would the daughter's sons inherit ahead of the son's daughters?

Not sure if this is really a history question but since it happened mostly in the past I ask here. When people were burned alive at the stake how long would it take until they were dead? Do we have any eye witness accounts or something similar describing how long this would take?

I just read in an essay by Bertrand Russell the claim that the conquering Spaniards would baptize native American children and then immediately murder them to ensure their salvation. Is this true, or merely a myth?

Were there any Soviet-Backed Coup in Latin America or were America fears greatly exaggerated.

I've read a book on Greek history ("A history of Greece to 322 B.C.") which was written (or revised to be more precise) in 1986. Have there been any fundamentally new discoveries/interpretations in the area of classical Greece since then which might have made this information obsolete? If so, do you have any recommendations for further reading?

I'm still curious, as time goes by, about the song written for the movie Casablanca: "Knock on Wood". There's a call-and-response that's so simple that listeners can pick up on it in the first hearing, and the knock on wood repetition as well -- it seems engineered for audience involvement. The tune is pretty simple and the message is upbeat. I gather that Casablanca was moderately successful even at the start. Did anyone then or since take note of "Knock on Wood"? Is there anything written about it other than the outline of the structure, with the implicit conclusion that it was just one of countless songs that never caught on? Is it OK to mention /u/hillsonghoods ?

I understand that scholars today think the reforms of Josiah are a fiction, and centralization of the cult was not done until post-Exile. Do they think, then, that there was a temple to Yahweh (of any kind) in Babylon, as there was in Elephantine?

Were there any prominent Confederate government officials, high level officers, or public figures that became Republican after the Civil War and/or denounced the Confederacy and what it stood for?

If I can sneak a second question in here - anyone able to recommend any good English language articles discussing the history of and uses to which the Qianlong as Han tradition have been put?

The Kitchen Debate - I read that when questioned if all the appliances showcased were available to American, Nixon answered that some of them were not, as they were prototypes.

Do we have any idea which appliances/devices featured were prototypes? I'm curious about which ones did and did not ever make it to market, and which ones did or did not become mainstream.

Does anyone have any book recommendations on the Roman Empire from the perspective of the populace? It’s easy to find books on emperors and military, and while this is interesting, I haven’t really seen anything on how roman politics was affected by the population.

What was the populace focused on in every day life? How did they view each military conquest? How did they feel about Byzantine? How did inventions such as the aqueducts affect daily life? What were the political opinions of people of each emperor? How did people feel about the decline of the empire? What were social programs that affected daily life, for example the dole? How did the state plan it’s economy? Things like this.

Which country has colonized the most countries

What was the Roman/Greek god that was depicted with a plant pot for a head?

Can anyone identify this type of WW1 military uniform?

Doing an ancestry deep dive and my mom sent me this pic of my My Great Grandfather Can anyone help me figure out what kind of uniform this is? I think he was (US) army. Assuming scrawl is correct should be ~1918. Doesn’t seem to be your average infantry with that hat but I have no idea.

How much were men able to decide their job in the start of the 19th century?

I remember reading somewhere that during the American civil war there was a commander that died in a stupid way. Him and his men were under fire behind cover. He decided to stand up to make himself a target and said something like "these foes cannot aim" and ended up getting shot in the head. Can anybody tell me if this was real and who was the guy if it was? I might be remembering it wrong.

I’m writing a bit of historical fiction, set in the Caribbean during the late 17th century.

What were the naming conventions for African slaves that were brought to British territories? I understand that they would be given “proper” English names, but would they also be given a last name? And if so, how would the last name be chosen?

What battles/offensives did Austria-Hungary fight during ww1? Is there a chronological list online somewhere? The source situation is bloody catastrophical...

Why do people drive on the left side of the road in England?

Chinese Prince who was eaten after a revolution against him?

In class today, I was told a story of a Chinese prince who was overthrown and eaten by revolutionaries. Is this story true? Who was it and what was the circumstance?

I cannot manage to find a quote I remember about Jean jaqeues Rousseau along the lines of “beware the moralist that abandons his children.”

What Would the Population Density of an Area Like the California Red Wood Forest be in the Neolithic Era?

Were there any prominent atheistic societies in ancient history? I feel like surely there should have been at least a few examples. Is the need for some type of faith such a necessary aspect of the human condition that we truly need something to place our faith in in order to function as a society?

When and how does Reunion gain independence? And is it an independent country? I keep finding different answers, and it seems i can't find a specific answer

Why was Victoria crowned Queen of England if her father was never king, and male sons of late King George III, her uncles, were alive and able?

What was China's 'socioeconomic' system before the CCP?

From my understanding during the late periods of Qing dynasty, people were trading with metals most people were farmers owned by powerful people.

Would it be considered as a feudalist system?

Why did the US navy had many jokes regarding homosexuality?

I'm a Roman citizen working in the province of Judaea, I fall in love with a local, Jewish woman. Am I legally allowed to marry her? Would it be seen poorly by my fellow Romans? Would our kids be considered Romans?

What are some good examples of primarily infantry forces armed with smoothbore flintlock firearms demolishing enemies dependent on closing to melee range? I'm sure there are many such battles in 18th century India and West-Central Asia but I simply can't name any specific battles with easily-citable numbers aside from Damghan (1729).

I ask because I'd like to have some examples on hand to act as immediate demonstrations to the uninformed as to why "just charge across the field and kill the musketeers while they're reloading, they can only get off one or two volleys and would be helpless in melee" was not a practical idea even if you could coax your men into doing such a thing.

Is there a library with every ancient text ever discovered, say since the beginning of time to 1500 AD? If not, is there a way to search through every found piece of text / literature written during that time period?

What are some obscure, micro-history details for the after math of the Black Death? Thank you I’m advance!

Were Christian Celts ever slaughtered by anyone (nation, tribe, etc.), in the same fashion as the Gallic Celts were slaughtered by the Romans?

How disciplined were medieval mercenary companies? Did they enforce things like punishment for desertion or theft?

When did Spain start being formally referred to as such?

When did the Spanish monarchs first add "King of Spain" to their title?

What do historians consider to be a “long time ago”?

Was WW2 a long time ago? What about Richard III? What about William the Conqueror?

When do you think something becomes a long time ago? 100 years? 250? 500?

I’m about quarter way through reading Reynaert the Fox (Le Roman de Renart), and I feel as if I’m missing something.

The stories are a little cute, but they are so simplistic and seem to lack any further meaning. If I’d read this without any contextual information, I’d have guessed it was a poor-selling children’s story from the 19th century, but Reynaert the Fox seems to have been popular throughout the high and late Middle Ages.

What am I missing? What’s the reason this was so popular and so many monks took it upon themselves to further the story?

When does contemporary American history begin?

From my understanding, I think it started in the 1980s because political issues stem from around that time (middle east policy, tax cuts, etc).

How has Dikötter's The Discourse of Race in Modern China held up? What should I be aware of when reading it?

Approximately how many ethnicities have existed in human history? (Asked yesterday, didn't get any responses, deleted, now asking again; sorry about that.)

What is the difference between the ‘peaceful coexistence’ and the ‘Détente’?

Just curious, what was the ethnicity of the population in “Colonial Argentina” before the massive migration of Europeans in 1800s?

Did any Chinese immigrants own African slaves in the US?