Recent questions tagged history

Description : Any recommendations for good books on the history of Scotland?

Last Answer : Magnus Magnusson’s “Scotland:the Story of a Nation” is worth a look and it is quite readable. It was published in 2000 so isn’t right up to date.

Description : What do you think about the heritage months, and do you want a heritage month about your group?

Last Answer : Yes, I think it is high time to install a “Celebrate White Middle Aged Males” months (May, June, July)

Description : How are you celebrating Black History Month?

Last Answer : Is that a holiday there or just a celebration day? I could suggest searching for George Washington Carver to learn and appreciate the man. Basically he was a Black scientist who was born as a slave. And also I’m really curious about that CRT post :P

Description : Is the following information I gathered about the Cretaceous extinction accurate?

Last Answer : Generally yes. The Yucatan asteroid impact was confirmed from sea bed core samples in early 2021 - https://earthsky.org/earth/asteroid-dust-iridium-chicxulub-crater-dinosaur-extinction/

Description : Where do you think we'd be if the Civil War had never been fought?

Last Answer : The Northern States would have been the United States of America, while the Southern states would have been independent states, like individual countries. Slavery would have ended by about 1900 (1920, at the ... point a Black man/woman would have been elected in the north, that much can be said.

Description : Did America, at any point in history, do something to Cambodia (details inside)

Last Answer : Yes, we did. I can look up the specifics (or maybe @kritiper knows them; he's crafting a response right now), but my recollection is that the Americans pulled out and left them to their fate when ... on the subject of what happened in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge, and this is how I remember it.

Description : What was the queen's son(s) roles during the Victorian era?

Last Answer : What is this for? Is this a homework assignment?

Description : What connections do you see between the school system Horace Mann helped establish and today’s schools?

Last Answer : We don't do homework but we can put you on the right path. Why don't you make a list from your textbook of Horace Mann's educational goals and ideas and then think about how they relate to ... know them. Who is in charge? Who designs the curriculum? What subjects are taught? How is it funded?

Description : Are death squads considered local mercenaries?

Last Answer : Not usually. You need pretty loyal people to start going around killing people. They can be loyal for fear or chemical dependence or social status or lack of options and they’ll be better for such awful work than paid professionals. If you can buy killers, killers can generally be bought.

Description : Has the USA ever had a monarch on their currency?

Last Answer : No.

Description : Is there death squads before the 20th century?

Last Answer : Absolutely, in one form or another. Extermination of opposition has been a theme throughout history, at least since the period of empires. This tends to take the form of pillaging, cultural destruction, ... used liberal amounts of terror and violence to keep people in line, or just wipe them out.

Description : Is there any criminal organisations in Austria Hungary?

Last Answer : No doubt mafia is there. Dealing with Ukraine

Description : When you think about your family history does it make you sad or happy?

Last Answer : I feel deep Pride. There are many great people and accomplishments in my family tree.

Description : Were birth and census records kept in African countries historically?

Last Answer : I don’t know anything about African countries’ record keeping but I have read several authors who were able to trace their lineage back through enslaved ancestors to tribal affiliation. I am amazed by some of the genealogical work that is being done.

Description : What do you think of the idea of paying reparations to the descendants of slaves?

Last Answer : First - this will never pass. @LostInParadise: Are they going to give money to all slave descendants, including the wealthy? Besides not happening, the idea of what form reparations would take is ... just another injustice. Slavery is not history. It's the foundation that we all walk on today.

Description : Have you ever tried to research your family tree?

Last Answer : I have not. I sometimes think it might be a good idea, but then fail to care about it that much. My aunt, on the other hand, spent quite a bit of time on it over the years and traced relatives back to the 1500s.

Description : Can you help me fact-check my history textbooks?

Last Answer : They seem mostly true, albeit simplistic, with a little Nationalistic propaganda to help it go down better. America was a collection of colonies, and colonial history was necessarily exploitative. Those ... too powerful to be controlled, and wealth was too entrenched to cede power across the ocean.

Description : During segregation did we have four washrooms?

Last Answer : Expensive? Of the 4 designations listed, which might you suppose would be tasked with cleaning all 4 of those bathrooms? And do you imagine the individuals assigned to be well paid?

Description : What are the most terrifying weapons that ancient civilizations used?

Last Answer : I’d say burning liquids launched by catapult or trebuchet. Have some boiling oil or a potful of heated tree pitch dumped on a squadron of enemy, take them right out of action. And getting hot pine tar thrown in your face will disfigure you for life if it doesn’t kill you.

Description : If you have one chance to go back in time for a few months to live with either Native Americans or American early settlers, which group would you choose?

Last Answer : I would choose Native Americans, specifically Choctaw, to see how my ancestors lived. That would also be a better choice for most people because the colonists were not very familiar with the new land.

Description : Are you following the timeline of the Apollo 11 mission?

Last Answer : That would be cool to do.

Description : Without looking for the answer - how many died in 9/11?

Last Answer : About 3000? It was not that many. Compared to the usual 50000 workers and 200000 daily visitors.

Description : When in history did the United States become the biggest economic and millitary power?

Last Answer : After World War Two. The transition period started under Teddy Roosevelt, and the Great White Fleet of steel battleships that toured the world to demonstrate naval superiority. But that wasn't fully ... as the only major economy that wasn't destroyed to some extent solidified the economic might.

Description : How did the Berlin conference lead to imperialism?

Last Answer : Who says it did? One would have a strong argument that it was a byproduct of imperialism. Colonization of the Americas preceded the Berlin Conference by almost 3 00 years. You better rethink cause and effect.

Description : Which people have made an impact in history in England?

Last Answer : there are far too many to list. I’m sure this is something you can easily research on your own by searching for a short history of England or famous people in English history. This is an easy assignment which I am sure you are meant to do on your own.

Description : If you keep a journal, do you think anyone other than you will ever read it?

Last Answer : Oh yes. That is why I don’t put certain things in.

Description : Would the Titanic have survived if the iceberg was struck head on?

Last Answer : No. The problem was that the internal divisions were open at the top. So once one compartment was full, it flowed over into the next.

Description : Can someone tell me exactly what Hillary has done to be given such a bad reputation?

Last Answer : She got pneumonia.

Description : When did newly elected Pontiffs begin to change their names from their given names? Was their significance in the changing ?

Last Answer : According to Mr Google: The new pope then simply states what his name will be. ... The first pope to change his name did so in the Sixth Century because he was named after the Roman god Mercury, ... chose to be called John II. After that some popes changed their names and some did not.Mar 4, 2013

Description : How did Sargon of Akkad unify his empire?

Last Answer : https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sargon_of_Akkad Wikipedia article on Sargon. Since it happened about 4500 years ago, it’s tough to say. Probably by force and intimidation.

Description : Is it true that a poor woman burned the first two scrolls of the dead sea scrolls to make tea?

Last Answer : Never heard that one. It does not make much sense. The Dead Sea Scrolls are many fragments of various sacred writings. Link On an unrelated note, it is far from clear that the Great Chicago Fire was caused by Mrs. O’Leary’s cow. Link

Description : During racial segregation did they have four public washrooms?

Last Answer : Yes. I attended a middle school here in Charleston SC. There were like 4 water fountains, and bathrooms, always together. It seemed REALLY weird to me. I had just moved here from Europe. I found out that all the water fountains, and restrooms, were from the era of segregation. It seems crazy now…..

Description : References of the Jersey Devil before 1735?

Last Answer : This article is quite a good discussion of the ambiguity of the etymology of both names. I ususpect, although I don't know the author, that that might be as close as you get. There ... good collection of Jerseyana, you can probably scan through several and pick the explanations that you like best.

Description : What does it matter what ancestry a person might be, when we ALL descend from the primordial soup?

Last Answer : It shouldn't matter at all. Why does it matter for some people? Some people simply have pride in their ancestors for various reasons. Others feel a kinship with things in common. It's human to ... me, the safer and happier people are and feel, the less they think about putting people into groups.

Description : Can you go into Famagusta (Varosha) without getting caught? Has anyone done it?

Last Answer : https://www.tripadvisor.co.za/FAQ_Answers-g190375-d3587617-t3986633-Can_you_walk_around_famgusta.html : This link has a guy saying you can't even hold a camera up without being yelled at if you're at a ... series where a guy tried to film but almost got arrested (and the camera was in his glasses)

Description : Are there events in history that you thought you knew about but then you learn details much later that totally surprised you?

Last Answer : I was surprised by how much was omitted from standard texts and teaching. When I was in grade/middle school, in the early-mid 60s, no mention at all was made of Japanese-American internment camps. A ... 10th grade, and we were able to discuss it in school. It was heavily spun to justify it.

Description : How Did Emperor Shajahan Die?

Last Answer : Emperor Shah jahan died on 22nd January 1666 in a prison. Prior to his death, he was imprisoned for eight years by his son Aurangzeb. Shah Jahan's health started deteriorating after slow poisoning ... Aurangzeb's instructions. Shah Jahan possibly died due to the effect of the poison and ill health.

Description : Did Indigenous Americans have contact with the Inca and Aztec?

Last Answer : Aren’t the Aztec and Incas indigenous to the Americas? Or, do you mean the Natuve Americans in what is now the United States having contact with the Aztec and Incas?

Description : Did Brazil experience frontier conflict with Native American groups?

Last Answer : Migration into the continents Anthropological and genetic evidence indicates that most Amerindian people descended from migrant people from North Asia (Siberia) who entered the Americas across the ... colonization of the region.[6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_peoples_in_Brazil Wiki

Description : Today is the Ides of March. Are you doing anything to protect yourself?

Last Answer : All I have done is post a song for the day on Facebook: Backstabbers

Description : What is the biggest hoax in history that people still believe today?

Last Answer : .

Description : How does doctors pay change over the centuries ?

Last Answer : It isn't a lucrative and respected career everywhere, by any means. Most of Europe (and for that matter most of the world), it's a job that requires a lot of education, but if a doc works for many ... the US for med school (or to find a job) but can only find lower paying positions in poorer areas.

Description : Do any of you know any quotes or quips from people in history?

Last Answer : I’ll start..Daniel Boone was once queried by some admirers as to whether he had ever been lost in the wilderness. He responded that, “I can’t rightly say as I was ever lost, but I did get a mite bewildered once for a couple of weeks”. . .

Description : How far back do you know your family?

Last Answer : We traced my dad’s family back to 1748 in Germany. We traced my mom’s family to the 1850s in Russia. For all of these we knew first and last names. I have this on a family tree somewhere.

Description : If Tadeusz Cosciuszko had not returned to Poland after the war, but rather stayed to establish the states, might he have been the first U.S. President?

Last Answer : There is no disputing his intelligence or bravery, but he was foreign born (Lithuania) and wouldn’t qualify. Same problem Alexander Hamilton had.

Description : Do you know the origin of word scam?

Last Answer : The first scam in human history was religion.

Description : What were the hobbies and interests of Nostradamus?

Last Answer : Trying to keep his head on his shoulders. Literally. In that era people who made predictions of the future could be called out as a witch or a warlock. And then you have a hot time on the old town tonight.

Description : Do you think Trump releasing the Kennedy files is a mistake or a good idea?

Last Answer : A good idea. I’ve seen the film of the shot that Kennedy took to the head, and from what I know about gunshots hitting soft targets, the shot came from in front of the limo.

Description : Are exorcisms still performed today?

Last Answer : Obviously, you’re possessed.

Description : What were the issues that the Japanese faced during their transition into westernized civilization?

Last Answer : Need Answer