When answering some of the more niche questions do you ever resort to using secondary sources that you've never actually read(but otherwise know is reputable)?

Were all warriors/soldiers who went on crusade 'volunteers' who spontaneously decided to go?

Or were most of them required to go because of their obligations of military service to a lord/king who decided to go on crusade?

E.g. when Louis IX went on his crusades, were the knights who fought under his banner in Egypt/Tunis all there because they chose to go as well, or were they there because they were required to go when the king called them up to serve in his army?

What is the biggest year ever used practically?

To most people in the world, the year is now 2022. But that only is one baseline from which you could count. To the Romans, they would add another 753 years onto that and so the current year would be 2775. To devout enough Muslims, the year is 1443. To Japanese people who care about regnal years, the year is Reiwa 3.

I´m wondering what is the biggest year practically used by a significant part of the population who would readily tell anyone they met what year it was. The Romans in Constantinople I think are the highest, counting from the Biblical calculation of the dating of Creation pegging us at about 6000 years. Is there anyone who beats them?

Did Ancient Greece have spicy garlic wings? Is this within the realm of possibility? My girlfriend says they could have had them but I am skeptical.

Thank you!

Does anyone know any books similar to Eric Jager's "Blood Royal" and "The Last Duel"?

Both are excellently researched, and recount in a novelistic manner all aspects of a very specific medieval event. What I especially like is court references and testimonies by "regular" people.

Preferably medieval France, England and Flanders.

Did Police officers/Detectives have tattoo's on their hands/knuckles in England/Manchester in the 1880's?

Many thanks.

How was Sun Shiyi a Han civilian non-bannerman trusted to be in charge of Annam campaign while Fukkang'an a bannerman of Upper Three Banners was in charge of logistics instead?

What did the knighting ceremony look like in the high middle ages? And did a German ceremony look different to a French or English one?

Did any realms not recognize the knighthood of another because of differences in the ceremony?

I know the answer probably depends on the society but when did the amount of cattle and livestock you had stop being used a measure of your wealth in Europe?

Are there any lists like "best books of the decade/century/all time" from say, 100 years ago or longer? I'm not sure how recent a format it is but I'm curious to see how opinions have shifted on the canon of books and stuff.

Would a 5,000 - 7,000 word essay on The Great Emu War of Australia be seen as frivolous by a publication ?

What’s the name of the eyeshadow pallet Jim Stark gives to Judy in Rebel Without A Cause?

Where to find digitized versions of the original cuneiform script version of the Sumerian King List?

What is the exact meaning of the articles before Italian surnames of the middle ages - e.g., "da" Vinci, "de" Medici, "della" Rovere, etc.,? What did each of these articles (and others like them) mean? Why were they used? And when did they become less common?

Who was the Russian author who wrote a 5000 page document to save himself from debtors coming on horseback?

Are there any good books or articles on disease and school closures in the 19th and early 20th century? I have a huge database of historic newspaper articles on the school system in one county for a different (archaeology) research project, but due to the current situation, all of the school closures due to disease have been sticking out at me. Lots of mumps, measles, smallpox, diphtheria, and flu closing schools for a few weeks. Even a bit of "infantile paralysis" sneaking in at the end. Sometimes on an individual basis, sometimes on a county basis and I've even seen one on a state basis. I was wondering if there is any sort of historical literature on it. Google scholar isn't getting me very far because everything is about present day or only the 1918 flu pandemic.

Are board games a recent phenomenon? What are the best/most interesting example of board games throughout history?

I enjoy playing board games however I can’t help noticing that most of the best games seem to have been created in the last 25 years.

I am aware for chess, Go, dice and card games, but apart from these few “classic” games I’m not aware of any very old games which we still play today.

As far as I can see there is no reason 99% of games available todays couldn’t have been created at any point in history; and yet they weren’t.

Am I just ignorant of games people used to play? Are there huge numbers of ancient games people just don’t play any more?

The folk origin of the word "gringo" is that mexican soldiers during the Mexican-American war would yell "green go home" to the americans and the word was abbreviated over time. My question is this: Did the Americans actually worn green uniforms during that war?

Who are the two US Army generals from the picture at this Imgur link?. Probably taken early 1950s.

Are there any websites that publish daily, high quality, history articles written for the general public?

I once read a book on the Russian revolution m. What I liked about it was that it made clear the horrible living conditions of the Russian people from the smoke filled clay houses with the windows stuffed with rags to the view that the czar was a spiritual “father” of the country. I can’t remember the book does anyone remember it. I distinctly remember that it quoted a Russian saying about how women need to be beaten to work properly.

Does anyone know which book it is?

Recommended books examining the Great Depression? Something having a description of the chain of cause and effect and description of how it affected businesses and households alike.

There are many memoirs and diaries but I’m interested in a higher level lens.

Thanks in advance!

Just how much of a difference is there between a battle hardened professional soldier, like a knight or a mercenary, and someone whose never fought in battle before, like a rebelling peasant? Is it as big as some media makes it out to be, where a handful of knights are worth a hundred peasants?

I remember reading about a samurai who claimed to have cut a man in half vertically with a wooden sword, does anyone know who this legend is referring to?

This may be regarding the cold war, but what was the thing that Stalin did when you fell out of his favor? He removed people from pictures, and it was called something along the lines of "air brushing"?

Were many torture chambers truly existed during The Spanish,Roman,and Portuguese Inquisitions? And were tortures rare in The Inquisitions (especially when compared with other civil & secular courts at the time)?

Is there a relationship between the Lebensborn symbol and the peace symbol?

If so, which came first? If not, why then do they look so similar?

Why are the sexually prudish Victorians known for wearing such low-cut tops?

Strange spike in usage of “beep” in 1600s?

I was wondering about beeps and boops and whether this kind of onomatopoeia existed before electronics in any form. Got to googling the usage over time and noticed a strange spike in word usage around the 1630s. Similar trends are to be noticed with other random words I tried, but none as remarkable as this.

My hypothesis would be that book printing was becoming more accessible and therefore word usage in books had a sharp increase. Can anyone shed some light on this and confirm either way? Can’t imagine what beep would have been used for in the 1600s. Thanks for reading!

Where can you find primary sources from the Bronze Age collapse such as letters and decrees from kings/queens or things written from scribes? I’ve been learning about the Bronze Age collapse and there’s frequent mention of archeologist finding request for help from rulers to other rulers but I can’t actually find these letters/messages themselves anywhere. Even googling “Bronze Age collapse primary sources” isn’t much help.

Were all Were all warriors/soldiers who went on crusade 'volunteers' who spontaneously decided to go? Or were most of them required to go because of their obligations of military service to a lord/king who decided to go on crusade? E.g. when Louis IX went on his crusades, were the knights who fought under his banner in Egypt/Tunis all there because they chose to go as well, or were they there because they were required to go when the king called them up to serve in his army? Were all warriors/soldiers who went on crusade 'volunteers' who spontaneously decided to go? Or were most of them required to go because of their obligations of military service to a lord/king who decided to go on crusade? E.g. when Louis

So, post Great schism we get the distinct Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. And in modern times we'd refer to Roman Catholics as "Catholic" versus "Orthodox" (though my cousin is a Byzantine Catholic priest and would certainly refer to himself as catholic).

But how was the Eastern Orthodox Church referred to by people at the time? Did it differ in the east and the west?

I'm assuming just like "Byzantine" is a term historians attached centuries later to the Eastern Roman Empire which just referred to itself at the time as "Rome," that "Eastern Orthodox" is also a later invention.

Was the East or West German government legally bound by agreements or contracts signed by the Nazi government? Or were they considered new unrelated entities and could shrug off any obligations incurred under the old regime?

Like for example if I were a German factory owner who signed a contract agreeing to provide one thousand motorcycle tires to the German government in 1943 in exchange for a certain amount of money, would I have been (legally, if not in practice) able to collect my payment from the FRG in 1949? (assuming there was no statute of limitations in play)

When did Barack Obama join the Democratic Party?

Are there any examples of ancient kings' lists mistakenly recording one king more than once?

Is the book “Mobsters, Unions and Feds” by James B Jacobs considered accurate and informative by historians?

The 4 shermans = 1 panzer gets thrown around a lot on certain circles... what's the truth of this?

I’ve read many times of sally ports in fortress walls. In an invasion, wouldn’t these areas be vulnerable to assault? I understand that a larger entrance would be more ideal for an assaulting army and they may be well barred against attack, it just seems more accessible than other points of entry to me. Thanks in advance!

How reliable are the recommended books recommended by the sub?

Did the average citizen (or any) that didnt hold a government position like and or respect privateers/the privateering job, in a time when pirates are also common?

Best televisual or filmic works about the US Civil War?

Just got done reading KILLER ANGELS and find myself craving a more visual narrative about the US Civil War, now, but am not sure what is considered an accurate or reliable representation of that conflict.

I'd be very grateful for recommendations.

Can anyone recommend a single volume authoritative traditional history of the U.S.?

if the army was dominated by aristocrats during the warring states period in China, then why were the battles so huge?

https://quotefancy.com/quote/1752950/Hendrik-Verwoerd-The-Jews-took-Israel-from-the-Arabs-after-the-Arabs-had-lived-there-for

What was the context behind this quote? Is it a real quote?

Across various mythology, there is always someone responsible for the dead (Anubis, Azrael etc). Does anyone know if there are any specific deities/beings in mythology that are responsible for protecting or guiding children that have passed into the afterlife?

What was the name of the Flagship of the Narvaez expedition. The one that led to the shipwreck of Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca.

Which city is the oldest continuously inhabited with a native population? So, where the inhabitants never fled, werent replaced by other cultures/ethnicities, etc.

Music and fashion of the nobles in 1881 France?