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'm continuing to dive deeper and deeper into a wargaming hole. I've become low key obsessed with Nevsky by GMT Games and how it promises to decently model medieval military recruitment and campaigning - tragically my copy hasn't arrived yet so all I can do is watch videos on YouTube. I did managed to get some more games of Men of Iron in, which has been fun. I wrote them up on my blog, but the one I posted today is the closest I've gotten to the kind of thing I write on AskHistorians as I get really lost in the weeds of how the game simulates medieval archery. If that sounds interesting you can read it here: https://www.stuartellisgorman.com/blog/men-of-iron-battle-of-poitiers.
I've now got a copy of Pendragon (also by GMT Games) set up on my little wargaming corner and it's a very intimidating looking game. I'm hoping to learn it over the course of the weekend, so wish me luck!
A class I really wished I'd taken in college was the History of Rock and Roll. Any Syllabi recommendations for the History of Rock and Roll? Or any recommendations for free self paced online classes of the same? I have a pretty broad range of interest...How the music evolved, how the music industry would take music from one group to remarket it repackage for others, criminalization or censorship issues, etc. Books, publications, or well put together YouTube video recommendations would also be suitable.
Your Weekly /r/askhistorians Recap
Friday, March 04 - Thursday, March 10
###Top 10 Posts
| score | comments | title & link |
|---|---|---|
| 5,836 | 116 comments | We have heard the term “Russian oligarchs” so often in the news lately for obvious reasons. Apparently this means a wealthy and politically connected person which carries specific connotations in post-USSR Russia. Why isn’t this term used in western countries? |
| 4,374 | 141 comments | "Sk8er Boi" (A. Lavigne 2002) argues that in high school dynamics, the so-called 'skaters' were low on the social pecking order. How accurately does this work represent turn-of-the-century teenage social order (at least in North American city/suburban schools)? |
| 3,859 | 50 comments | Why Native American names tend to be translated literally in history books? |
| 3,234 | 150 comments | Did the ancient world have any Chernobyls? That is, places where something so terrible happened that everyone agreed to never go there again. |
| 2,168 | 76 comments | Ernest Shackleton took a three-masted wooden schooner to the Antarctic in 1915. By this date, I'd expect something with a metal hull and an engine. When did wooden, wind-propelled ships go out of favor? |
| 2,025 | 32 comments | When the US military was segregated who tended to wounded Black soldiers on the battlefield? Would a White medic carry them away to safety? Would a White nurse treat them if no Black nursing staff was around? What about things like blood transfusions? |
| 1,946 | 61 comments | What is the history of 'Starlight Tours' in Canada? I've heard that police would target indigenous people and essentially murder them by stranding them in the middle of nowhere during winter. Did this actually happen? Was anyone held accountable? |
| 1,944 | 77 comments | How did the Germans "de-propagandize" after WWII and how did the population react to the shock? |
| 1,930 | 11 comments | Former Chief Justice Warren Burger in 1991 described the NRA’s lobbying in support of an expansive interpretation of the Second Amendment as: “One of the greatest pieces of fraud he has ever seen." Just how influential was the NRA in changing American public opinions on the 2nd Amendment? |
| 1,679 | 16 comments | The obesity epidemic is sometimes blamed on the increasing number of jobs that don't require physical activity. But were sedentary jobs connected with obesity before the 1970s? |
###Top 10 Comments
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For some reason, I can't do an actual post, so I'll ask here.
Industrial equipment/machinery predates the internal combustion engine and therefore, I believe, before widespread petroleum products as well.
What was used to lubricate things, such as steam engines and cotton gins, before petroleum products were widely available?
Who are some fascinating characters in Chinese history that aren't "pivotal", overlooked or even "unimportant", but that you think are interesting for some reason or other?
I find it weird how certain historical events are portrayed as good, downplaying the countervailing bad side, while other events are portrayed as bad, overlooking the countervailing good side. I see this in popular narratives but also done by historians themselves.
For example I took a course on Western Civ and the prof hated the Inquisition and said that one of the great things about the Enlightenment was that they ended the execution of people for their religious opinions. But at the same time this prof clearly loved the French Revolution.
Now, during the French Revolution tens of thousands of people were executed for their political opinions. Also their religious opinions, it should be noted.
The Inquisition executed people for their religious opinions, but at least the accused was given a more fair trial than the Revolutionary Committee of Public Safety gave them. And in terms of numbers of people executed in a single year it never even came close to the Reign of Terror. I've even heard it conjectured that the Inquisition actually reduced the number of people executed for their religious opinions, compared to before it was established when it was local governments who persecuted heresy rather than the church's inquisitors.
Why then is it normal to downplay the 'bad side' of the French Revolution, so that it comes out as a net 'good thing', whereas with the Inquisition historians downplay the 'good side' so that it comes out as a 'bad thing'?
I mean, if we're applying the principle "people should not be punished for their religious or political opinions" then isn't the French Revolution WORSE on that score than the Inquisition?
Just started watching Vikings on Netflix! What are your cool Viking facts? Also feel free to tell me all the inaccuracies! Just such a cool story and my brain wants to learn more!
I'm still fixating on the "historiographical" notion that it would take some peasant A_1 at minimum 24 hours to recount their experience of some Monday.
And how to reconcile this notion with the idea of "understood history", as there's no possible way to account for the 24 hours of peasants A_1 ... A_n on that particular Monday. Or even some "important figure", with all of their 24hr Mondays, and other days.
And from that, the notion of civilization creating more and more history, and needing to consolidate all of that already-impossible task into even more concise summaries.
I have a book on the way from someone's recommendation here, but it's been on my mind for years but even more recently.
I heard that Soviet spy Harry Dexter White had a heart attack the day after testifying before HUAC and died a few days. Was there any push back against HUAC along the lines of “they killed him”?
I speak English, if I can travel back in time, how far and where can I go where I would understand what people are saying?