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.
Anecdote:
A student of mine (19 year's old) asked during a history lesson if all the 'Greats' of Europe (Alexander the Great, Catherine the Great, Charles the Great, Peter the Great and others) are related and one big family....He thought that they where brothers and sisters with the same last name 'Great'... I was silent for a couple of minutes (something that doesn't happen a lot).
I have a short, pithy answer to this:
To quote Good Omens, it's "Alcohol! Copious amounts of alcohol!"
I have a sense that the rules-compliant answer ought to include "necessity."
Where can I find info about the differences between Antiquity's forms of colonialism and European Colonialism from the 16th to 20th century?
How did carrier pigeons work? We’re they even a real thing? It just occurred to me that I don’t know how the birds knew where to go, or if it’s just a myth.
Your Weekly /r/askhistorians Recap
Friday, September 02 - Thursday, September 08
###Top 10 Posts
| score | comments | title & link |
|---|---|---|
| 4,331 | 119 comments | [META] [Meta] I’ve noticed that peoples answers in this sub are often links to old posts with really interesting answers. With that in mind, please post the most interesting answers about anything you’ve found in this sub :) |
| 3,309 | 21 comments | The Aztecs were terrified of being attacked by a short "poop goblin" while using the toilet, but the "goblin" resembles the revered god Tlazoltéotl and dwarfism was seen as holy. Why is this creature vilified if all its traits were considered holy? |
| 2,649 | 16 comments | The year is 1250. I am attending what will be known as the University of Cambridge. What am I likely studying and what does my day most likely look like? |
| 2,536 | 64 comments | Air conditioning wasn’t widespread in the US until the late 70s/80s. So when all the 1940s cinema has an office full of fully-suited men… were they just suffering under a shirt+jacket in 90 degree offices? |
| 2,272 | 106 comments | What was life like ~ 70,000 years ago? |
| 1,977 | 110 comments | [Great Question!] How different would a salad from during the height of the Roman Empire be compared to today's salads? |
| 1,601 | 78 comments | The First Amendment was passed in 1791. How did Freedom of Speech/Religion actually look in practice afterwards? Could people in 1792 walk the streets of New York, shouting “Hail Satan!”, and not be punished? |
| 1,286 | 78 comments | Why is New Orleans not as wealthy as other US port cities? |
| 1,202 | 7 comments | [War & Military] In 'Braveheart', there's a scene where the princess says that she gave gold to charity 'to relieve the suffering of this war children'. Did this kind of wartime charity exist in the Middle Ages? |
| 1,179 | 3 comments | In the 1920s and 30s, the ideology of prominent black activist Marcus Garvey described itself as fascist and claimed that fascism was the ideal political system for black liberation and independence. What opinion and reaction, if any, to Garveyism did the fascists in Europe have to this? |
###Top 10 Comments
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How much of the negative behavior of the past can be blamed on capitalism?
For example: how much of horrors of the early Belgian Congo were because of “capitalism” vs. Leopold II just being a horrible human being?
Or: how much of the Atlantic slave trade was specifically because of “capitalism” vs. humans just not recognizing Africans as people, so why not?
Background: I have a communist friend who claims that, but for “capitalism,” the past would have been so much more fair and just.
What were the cham names for the champa cities, only thing I can find are Viet, Chinese and Indian names.