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.
Along with the earlier Birthday Meta, anyone dropping by here should check out this weeks other banging threads!
Tuesday Trivia: War & Military! This thread has relaxed standards—we invite everyone to participate!
I am in a VERY stupid nerd dispute with my husband. Is the invention of the watch (~1500) *contingent* on the invention of cannons in Europe (~1400).
I say no - the invention of timepieces is independent of the invention of cannons. He says yes, that without the demand for advances in metalworking created by cannons, you would never get to the invention of the mainspring, which unlocked clockwork.
(Don't worry - my marriage isn't ending over this one. It's a really stupid argument...)
To all passers-by: I would very much like to commend to your attention the following question, which is six months old:
This question has received an answer from u/satopish, as you can see in thread - but satopish just barely squeaked it in a few hours before the thread auto-archived. Regretfully, this means that the answer can no longer receive upvotes, so I encourage anyone wanting to read about it go upvote some of satopish's other stuff.
Otsukaresama deshita, satopish!
Your Weekly /r/askhistorians Recap
Friday, August 26 - Thursday, September 01
###Top 10 Posts
| score | comments | title & link |
|---|---|---|
| 7,774 | 778 comments | [Meta] It is AskHistorians' ELEVENTH BIRTHDAY! As is tradition, you may be jocular and/or slightly cheeky in this thread! |
| 3,318 | 33 comments | How did grandmas seemingly worldwide come to learn to put sewing supplies in those blue Danish cookie tins? |
| 2,976 | 53 comments | Modern-day people suffering paranoid psychosis often have delusions with modern themes, such as being targeted by government intelligence agencies. Do we have examples of how these types of delusions might have manifested in people of the past? |
| 2,270 | 19 comments | Diocletian, one of the most transformational emperors in Roman history, retired several years before he died, living to see many of the structural changes he'd made undone; how was he able to safely retire (no emperor had before), and how did he react to the events that unfolded after he did? |
| 2,194 | 51 comments | [War & Military] Was there a significant number of Soviet women who simply could never find a husband after WW2? |
| 2,066 | 53 comments | What did Rudy Giuliani actually do that was so impressive after 9/11? |
| 1,717 | 42 comments | It's Summer, pre-industrial Southern Europe, and I, a blacksmith, am SUFFERING. How do I stop myself collapsing from heatstroke? |
| 1,541 | 156 comments | Americans have a reputation for being chaotic warfighters, but when looking at their actual victories, they really won on their organization and logistical supply . Where did this reputation come from? |
| 1,515 | 56 comments | Why did so many prominent post-War French Philosophers, such as Michel Foucault, Gilles Deleuze, and Jean-Paul Sartre sign a petition against age of consent laws? |
| 1,488 | 13 comments | What did ancient or even medieval Indians refer to their religion as before the British coined the term "Hinduism" ? |
###Top 10 Comments
If you would like this roundup sent to your reddit inbox every week send me a message with the subject 'askhistorians'. Or if you want a daily roundup, use the subject 'askhistorians daily'. Or send me a chat with either askhistorians or askhistorians daily.
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What are some unique reasons for cities being founded in particular locations?
For example, I learned in school that Nashville, Tennessee was founded because of the area's great salt lick aka French Lick that attracted a lot of sodium craving wildlife.
I am hoping to find a nice crushing takedown of Noah Smith's very dumb take on history here or at r/badhistory or wherever. Anyone got the good stuff?
