query stringlengths 19 300 | pos list | neg list | task stringclasses 1 value | instruction dict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
During the German occupation of France did soldiers pay businesses money for goods and services or was it just expected that they would get them for free? | [
"Generally speaking they paid money for goods and services, though to be perfectly clear they paid with French money collected via taxes in France. As a general policy of Nazi Germany occupation costs were transferred to the occupied country. This and other information about the Nazis' methods of economic exploita... | [
"Back in the early 20th century, people bribed waiters to get better service. During the Great Depression, most restaurants were unable to pay their employees and encouraged them to take any money from customers."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
What is the difference between a vassal and a retainer? | [
"Vassal and retainer are both used in European medieval historiography. The usual distinction is that a vassal is a landowner who owes military service to a larger landowner, while a retainer is a personal follower of a lord, part of his household, and not necessarily a knight. Knights could be either or both. Many... | [
"I'd like to hijack this and ask a follow up question: What sort of laws did the Romans have regarding treatment of slaves as opposed to the USA?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post:"
} |
What were these uniform leggings for? | [
"It is a variant of puttees or pouttees and the intention is to protect the trousers against mud, dust and wear and tear. To some extent it also protects against water. Instead of supplying the soldiers with long-shafted boots, pouttees were used since the Napoleonic war and onwards to reduce the need to wash and r... | [
"Because they were orginally for horse back travel."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
Inspired by another post...wondering if anyone can tell me a bit more about my grandfather's military history with these photos | [
"From the first picture, your late grandfather was attached to the 1st Regiment, 1st Battalion of the ROC Air Force Security Guard Force (中華民國空軍警衛部), possibly based in Nanchang (南昌). This was a military police unit which was later integrated with the ROC Military Police Command. Unfortunately, that's all that I can... | [
"I'd like to flip this and ask a question, can anyone shed some light on wintertime survival in Early Medieval Britain and Ireland?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title about history:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document about history:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Would Carl von Clausewitz have been aware of Sun Tzu's Art of War? | [
"The Art of War was translated into French and published by Jean Joseph Marie Amiot in 1772, a French Jesuit missionary who had once acted as a translator to the ruler of Qing China, the Qianlong Emperor, and who spent over 40 years living in China. In addition to the Art of War, Jean Joseph Marie Amiot also publis... | [
"I don't know about \"military leaders studying military history,\" but one of the oldest military treatises that I know of is the Liutao written by Lu Shang, a Zhou dynasty general sometime around 1000 BC. He wrote this treaty upon reflecting on his defeat of the Shang dynasty forces during the overthrow of the Sh... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why does sun Tzu name the five primary colors as blue, yellow, red, white, and black in The Art of War? | [
"As far back as the Book of Documents (尚書) or the Daodejing (道德經), we can find references to the “five colours” (五色), which is what Sunzi is referring to in this passage. These colours (green/blue 青, red 赤, yellow 黃, white 白, and black 黑) have been traditionally understood to be the primary colours because of their... | [
"Brown isn't a color in its own right. It's a phenomenon of our brain interpreting a certain mix of colors. Edit: brown can be made from mixing any two colors on opposite ends of the color wheel: yellow and purple, blue and orange, red and green."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage:"
} |
Wednesday What's New in History | March 30, 2016 | [
"For those into hip hopstory, [The Cornell Hip Hop Collection will process and preserve the papers of Afrika Bambaataa](_URL_0_)."
] | [
"It's a bit unclear what you're interested in. (Early US education? Mann? Cremin's perspective?) But here are some resources that may help: > Binder, Frederick M. The Age of the Common School: 1830-1865. New York: Wiley, 1974. > > Glenn, Jr., Charles Leslie. The Myth of the Common School. Amherst: University of M... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
Did Karl Marx have anything to say about Prostitutes? | [
"In continuing the talk on his ideas on prosititutes being workers, he also viewed quite negatively the Lumpenproletariat, or \"refuse of all classes.\" From The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Napoleon (1852): > Alongside decayed roués with dubious means of subsistence and of dubious origin, alongside ruined and adv... | [
"Left-wing answer: Not enough socialism Right-wing answer: Too much socialism"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Can anyone read these ancient inscriptions? (From Salamis, North Cyprus) | [
"The first is catalogued as *Salamine de Chypre XIII* (ed. Pouilloux & Marcillet-Jaubert), inscription 29: > [— —] κ̣τημάτ̣ων καὶ καταδικΙ[— — — — — — —] [— —] ζ̣ημιωμάτων εἰδότε[ς ὅτι — — — — — — —] [— —] ἀ̣κολούθως τοῖς ὑπερφυ[εστάτοις(?) — —] [— λ]ιβέλλων ποιεῖτε ὅπως μ̣ὴ [— — — — — — —] > [...] of possessi... | [
"/u/CptBuck on Belly Dancing, \"The Streets of Cairo\" and late 19th century world fairs will probably interest you: _URL_0_"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
} |
Resources on the Venetian Republic | [
"I recommend J.J. Norwich's \"A History of Venice\". It isn't all about Venice's strategic aspirations but it does have a lot about the ways Venice was able to exert commercial and military control in the Mediterranean basin, why it worked when it worked, and why it eventually stopped working."
] | [
"Next Week's Theme: 'Royalty, Nobility, and the Exercise of Power' To be followed by: \"Eastern Europe\""
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
There's a painting of Napoleon that I'm having trouble finding. Perhaps the Art Historians may be of some help? | [
"Can you think of the overall color scheme of the painting?"
] | [
"I've asked this before but I will again. Peter Hagendorf was a soldier in the Thirty Years' War who kept a famous diary of his service that seems very unique but I'm completely unable to find any English translation of it anywhere either online or in print. Do any Thirty Years' War experts know where I could find ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text about Literature:"
} |
When did amphorae fall out of favor in the Mediterranean? | [
"In visiting a number of small, local museums in south west France this year I have been surprised at the medieval persistence of amphorae, something which is distinctly 'Roman' in my mind. Samples I saw were dated right through the 13th century. These would be finds in the western Mediterranean littoral through to... | [
"So when and where did playing cards as we know them come into being anyways?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query about History:",
"pos": "Represent the answer about History:",
"neg": "Represent the answer:"
} |
Teaching a Christianity unit for world religions. What would you do? | [
"do you have to cover all of history? i would honestly focus on the variability of early christian doctrine and non european christianities in places like india, nubia, and armenia. expand how they think of christianity."
] | [
"What are some of the primary sources that you have found? This sounds interesting. Would you recommend any books for a fun read?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
Were there prominent conspiracy theories before the modern era? | [
"Another interesting question is when \"conspiracy theory\" started to mean \"*idiotic* conspiracy theory.\" Conspiracies happen, obviously, and people theorize about them."
] | [
"To be a little less specific, what did people think the future in general would be like before the Industrial Revolution?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
What is the real history of airplanes? Information on who invented the airplane seems to be different in each country and history books tend to oversimplify the whole thing too. | [
"Your question can't be answered unless you tell us what you consider to be an airplane."
] | [
"The unsatisfying answer is that we don't know. Tennis has been around for so long the explanations of the scoring system are pretty much lost to time. There are various speculations, but they are just that: guesses."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
} |
Has the "Deep South" ever really recovered from the destruction and economic upheaval of the Civil War? | [
"I think at least some of it could be. The Union's stated policy late war was to destroy or liberate all confederate industry, infrastructure and property. Every levee, factory, plantation, mill, and warehouse was looted or destroyed, especially later in the war."
] | [
"Most of the Southern states did not rejoin the Union until about 10 years after the war. During that time, they were placed under military occupation. The purpose of this, among other things, was to guarantee the rights of newly-freed blacks. Of course, when the troops left the Jim Crow era began and blacks in the... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
Post-revisionism: How did WWII domestic policy and miscalculations by American leaders affect the desire for security in the US? | [
"it sounds absurd. After ww2, the military was slashed more than 90%, the draft ended. brand new, top of the line aircraft were sold for scrap because there wasn't enough enough money to mothball them. the navy simply pushed hundreds overboard. It wasn't until the korean war and the rather disastrous display of the... | [
"Not at all in Asia. The region still harbors the bitter resentments of the war. Just today, Chinese authorities seized two Japanese owned ships and demanded repayment for the theft of Chinese ships during the war. But frankly that's the least of our problems. WWII left conflicting interpretations of borders, islan... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post:"
} |
How scholarly respected is Indy Neidell's "the Great War" channel? | [
"I cannot speak for scholars as a whole, but the professors in the History department of the University I attend give it approval with reservation. In a Great War History class last semester the channel was recommended to anyone who wanted to watch it as supplemental material. However, the professors in the class s... | [
"Are there any good introduction books to historiography in general? JFK in particular? Thank you"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
Are there any websites with military tactical formations for historical battles? | [
"Maybe not quite what you're looking for, but the BBC series \"20th Century Battlefields\" had some really nifty animations to help explain some more modern wars, from WWI to the Gulf War. The whole series seems to be on [YouTube](_URL_0_) now."
] | [
"To clarify, are you asking what it literally looked like (casemate/turret/ouvrage designs, layouts, etc), or how other governments used it for their own strategic planning?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question about Education:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument about Education:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
Modern American Historians: What events do you see as pivotal turning points in post-WWII American culture? | [
"I'd say that the Watergate scandal was a pivotal moment in American political culture. It created a serious culture of distrust for government, even among the mainstream that we still hold onto today."
] | [
"Could the rebuilding of Japan after WWII be considered a partial colonization by the United States?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the answer:",
"neg": "Represent the answer:"
} |
I'm researching the second phase of the Chinese Civil war and can't find any good sources. Could somebody point me towards some good resources? | [
"A great angle to look at US involvement might be Madame Chiang Kai-shek, Soong May-ling (which would be Song Meiling in the modern transliteration system). She was in her way a major figure in America, securing support for the GMD government. Hannah Pakula wrote a biography of her called \"The Last Empress\" which... | [
"This as incredibly helpful. I'm doing my master's thesis on the historical memory of free black societies in the north. Could you suggest anything worth reading on that subject?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
How often, if at all, have democracies gone to war with each other? | [
"The theory of democratic peace is one of the most controversial in the fields of political science and international relations theory. A lot of research has been done on the topic and there are multiple interpretations of the theory. Academic support for the theory varies depending on the IR school, and *generally... | [
"Suppose a politician does this. You may have noticed that elections are held periodically. This means, among other things, that a politician may be out of a job in a few years if things don't go their way. How much funding do you think their campaign is going to receive the next go around if they pissed off all th... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage:"
} |
What books do you suggest for someone interested in naval warfare from 1900-1945? | [
"I can recommend a couple of books off the top of my head. If you're interested in battleships, I highly recommend Robert Massie's [*Dreadnought*](_URL_1_). It goes into detail about Britain and Germany's naval buildup prior to the outbreak of WWI. Massie's follow up [*Castles of Steel*](_URL_0_) is superb and goe... | [
"Do you have a period you specifically want to know about? This is ranges from slightly different to totally different if we're talking about Asia Minor and Syria circa 333 B.C., Italy in 216 B.C., Gaul 500 A.D., Palestine 1066 A.D., Brandenburg in 1630/31 A.D., Silesia in 1740 A.D. or Sedan in 1870. I'm sure we co... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Why aren't tornados represented in classical art? | [
"There's some discussion on native Americans and their interpretations and depictions of tornadoes on this old [thread](_URL_0_). Edit formatting"
] | [
"More generally: did medieval people understand the connection between lightning and metal?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
} |
Wednesday What's New in History | December 27, 2017 | [
"I just finished *[The White King: Charles I, Traitor, Murderer, Martyr](_URL_0_)*, by Leanda de Lisle, which was published last month. I found it a thoroughly enjoyable book, if anyone is looking for a winter read."
] | [
"It's a bit unclear what you're interested in. (Early US education? Mann? Cremin's perspective?) But here are some resources that may help: > Binder, Frederick M. The Age of the Common School: 1830-1865. New York: Wiley, 1974. > > Glenn, Jr., Charles Leslie. The Myth of the Common School. Amherst: University of M... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Did nobles in the medieval ages really wipe their butts with ducklings? | [
"I have removed this submission because its obvious from the link that you are trolling. Don't post here in this manner again."
] | [
"If tigers could hang upside down in your bedroom and climb down on a rope coming out of their asses nobody would talk about spiders"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
What happened to travelers who were in foreign countries when war suddenly broke out between that country and their home country? | [
"They could be interned, which happened to 110.000-120.000 Japanese people residing in the USA in 1942 after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Keep in mind that this included both american citizen and foreign travelers and residents. The Japanese people who was interned lived mostly in the West Coast of the USA,... | [
"They were aware that something was happening, but they had much bigger concerns at the time. They were fighting wars on several borders, and constant bombings made them more worried about their own skins than whatever might have happened to their Jewish neighbors. Source: Grandmother who lived in Dresden during t... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
Was there backlash against the modern public library? | [
"In [an answer to \"Has there ever been a push to ban libraries by the book publishing industry?\"](_URL_0_), /u/caffarelli addressed a similar/relevant topic (whether publishers opposed public libraries). That answer is USA centric though."
] | [
"To follow up on OP's question: was there much regional variation in selection?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
I know this isn't the place but can somebody please direct me to the part of reddit where I can gather some info on these old foreign dollar bills? | [
"I would be happy to tell you about these banknotes. The first one and the fourth one is a Romanian 25 leu banknote and a Romanian 10 leu banknote. This particular banknote was in circulation between 1952 and 1966. The two following that are Eastern Caribbean dollars. These were issued and circulated amongst the is... | [
"Im guessing you are new to the internet, otherwise you would have seen the vast array of different colors and shapes of cats too."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document about biology:"
} |
When Lincoln said "Four score and seven years ago", was he talking the way average Americans talked, or was he intentionally using lofty language? | [
"No problem. I didn't realize that it was /r/AskaHistorian until after I posted and that it might not fit the rules. Since it was posted, I thought I would let you guys decide. Love this sub!"
] | [
"It's the same reason some white people do. It's a regional dialect. When you hear people who speak that way they are usually from the south, or have ancestry to the south. As an interesting side note, it's also not incorrect English. Chaucer used ax in the Canterbury Tales, and according to John Rickford it was co... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
How much money did the battle of Saipan cost the united states and Japan? | [
"This is an enormously difficult question to answer. There are simply too many variables at play to arrive at anything like an absolutely correct answer. Where would you begin calculating? The cost to train and equip the soldiers involved? Their wages from the time of enlistment/conscription through to the end of t... | [
"Was any Asian country capable of helping the United States during the revolutionary war?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Day of Reflection | July 1st–7th | [
"**WileE's Round-Up** Much like last week, here is a brief list of the questions I was most disappointed to see go unanswered: 1. [What were the responsibilities of a sheriff in Plantagenet England?](_URL_15_) 2. [How much influence did Rasputin have on the Romanov family, and what was the extent of his involvement... | [
"1. The First Salute by Barbara Tuchman 2. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown 3. The Civil War by Shelby Foote 4. Reconstruction by Eric Foner 5. The Proud Tower by Barbara Tuchman 6. Parting the Waters by Taylor Branch 7. Brute Force: Allied Strategy and Tactics in the Second World War by John Ellis 8. The... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
Did Ghandi ever actually fail his "chastity tests?" | [
"Obviously, if he failed he did not tell anyone. But seeing the harshness of his *Brahmacharya* lifestyle, including many fasts and wearing only a simple *dhoti*, one can think he was strong enough."
] | [
"Find a monastery, and petition the head monk to let you join. Protip: They won't. Protip 2, electric boogalloo: Even if they did, you won't get magic kung-fu powers."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
What indicators do historians look at when evaluating how industrialized a country was? | [
"Metrics like production (of iron, steel, or coal), relative share of world manufacturing, railroad and telegraph length, energy consumption, and urban population are useful in determining how industrialized a country was. I recommend reading *The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers* by Paul Kennedy or \"Internationa... | [
"The exact reasons that Japan is a well developed nation date back to the Meiji Restoration, when the Emperor regained real political authority. Emperor Meiji and his court were of the mind to invest in industry. The government built railroads, improved roads, and instituted the land reforms necessary to create the... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
It's been asserted that early horsemen in the Assyrians rode near the rear of the animal, is there any truth to this claim? | [
"You could check out the info in \"The Horse, The Wheel, and Language\" about early horse riding. Apparently if you ride a donkey, which I think the Assyrians had before they had horses, you do need to sit further to the rear than if you ride a horse."
] | [
"In the same vein as OP'S question, I recall reading a book that stated Egyptians slept on beds of stone, I'd dismissed the idea as pseudo-history (due to the source). What does history tell us about hard beds and pillows long long ago?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
When was string invented? | [
"A [string/rope-like](_URL_0_) cord was a found at the French Paleolithic rock art site dating tens of thousands of year ago. It would be easy to imagine that the use of plaited cord is very old."
] | [
"What drugs were popular in 19th century Britain?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage:"
} |
Hemingway apocryphally "liberated" the Ritz bar when the Allies retook Paris following the D-Day invasion. What really happened? How did this story become the stuff of legend? | [
"I'm not sure if it happened but I can say that much of Hemingway's world war 2 experiences are up for debate. This comes down to two main factors, his telling of tall tails/exaggerations and also that being a war correspondent he shouldn't have been participating in combat. The story is [often](_URL_1_) mentioned... | [
"They were aware that something was happening, but they had much bigger concerns at the time. They were fighting wars on several borders, and constant bombings made them more worried about their own skins than whatever might have happened to their Jewish neighbors. Source: Grandmother who lived in Dresden during t... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
What is the general consensus among historians regarding Steven Pinker's claim that violence as a whole has gone down? | [
"It's very, very hard to do statistical analysis over long time periods. There have been [some schools of history](_URL_0_) that emphasized this sort of numbers-based analysis, but they limited themselves to much narrower geographic areas than Pinker is. His work isn't worthless, but you shouldn't give it too much ... | [
"In terms of overall decrease in violence throughout the world then the last hundred years has easily been the most peaceful. Despite what you see on the news there has been a trend of violence sharply decreasing. Largely it's because of the proliferation of stable democracies. (At the eve of World War I there were... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
} |
I am perplexed by this 1837 Mayenne coin/medallion discovered in my recently passed grandmother's house. Can anyone help provide context? | [
"All I can tell you is that E.Rogat is indeed Emile Rogat, who was an artisan who made medals. Most of his work was after 1837 _URL_1_ _URL_0_ As for the \"comice agricole\", those were gatherings of farm owners and farmers for various reasons : discussing to improve farming methods, promote their products to the l... | [
"Do you have any more info that could be helpful? Where did you find it? Is it a family heirloom, and if so, where-ish do you think your ancestors were 100ish years ago? Anything that could help steer people in the right direction would be great."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Was the Westphalian Order inevitable? | [
"If you mean in history the answer is no, look at the History of East Asia where there has usually been a hegemon (China) who often interfered in the affairs of its neighbors (modern Korea and Vietnam, but it also includes the many peoples whom China absorbed over time). If you mean specifically in Europe, the ans... | [
"Could the rebuilding of Japan after WWII be considered a partial colonization by the United States?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
How would Captain Miller have become Captain Miller? | [
"Captain in the Army actually isn't anything particularly difficult to achieve assuming you're joining as a Second Lieutenant; all you have to do is not screw up badly and you'll be automatically promoted to captain, it's Major where you actually have to start competing. Keep in mind that an Army/Air Force/Marine C... | [
"Are you sure they were defeated at all?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Hi! I'm looking for some video/audio files of famous speeches from World War II. | [
"For some basic WWII audio/video archives you can peruse starting from this link: _URL_0_ For Hitler and Axis files, which I believe is what you are trying to locate, this site has quite the library: _URL_1_ Hope this is a good starting point for you adventures and studies!"
] | [
"As a follow up, what do historians of this board think of this channel (if you've seen any of it)? Edit: I mean in regards to historical accuracy."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post:"
} |
I was deployed to Afghanistan 2010-2011 and was at a tiny FOB next to a castle. | [
"What were the closest geographical features? The only castle I have in my memory from Alexander is the one outside Qalat City, [and the U.S. Military does use that one.](_URL_0_)"
] | [
"Ah, Good old Ordinance Corp. Pre 1918, they tested and trained on Sandy Hook, NJ before moving to Aberdeen Proving Grounds, MD. Hard to believe the areas where they fired rounds are now tourist beaches. The large gun emplacements are still at Sandy Hook. Same with a lot of the bunkers. These huge cannons could sho... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
} |
Medieval peasant vacation time. | [
"I can't give you the exact number for medieval times right now. They varied wildly anyway, as each diocese had their own calendar. By the 18th century, Catholic (and Protestant) rulers were worried that their populace had too many religious feast days. By 1708, there were 37 universal feast days in the Catholic c... | [
"The tradition is in farming/agriculture. Child labor :)"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document about Education:"
} |
Was there always a difference between N and S Koreans? | [
"The division - as I understand it - is pretty much a Cold War twist of fate. But it's not to say that all of Korea was always the same before.There were major regional differences, even different dialects and so forth, but it wasn't based on a north/south divide. Cheju Island, for example, has always been \"differ... | [
"What do you mean by downfall? This is still a dominant part of current culture."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Wednesday What's New in History | March 16, 2016 | [
"There is an article published few days ago, about the very rare archaeological find of 1503 Portuguese shipwreck of the coast of Oman, part of 4th Portuguese Armada to Indies. The ships themselves were not salvaged, as Portuguese destroyed and burned the wrecks after the storm. But some very interesting items were... | [
"It's a bit unclear what you're interested in. (Early US education? Mann? Cremin's perspective?) But here are some resources that may help: > Binder, Frederick M. The Age of the Common School: 1830-1865. New York: Wiley, 1974. > > Glenn, Jr., Charles Leslie. The Myth of the Common School. Amherst: University of M... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
} |
Assuming it's real, how much would the recently discovered Captain Kidd's 50kg of silver be worth back in his time. | [
"Assuming it's sterling silver, which is a big assumption, then 50 kg is about 134 troy pounds. In the 17th century, 134 troy pounds of sterling silver is equivalent to about 8300 shillings, since 1 troy pound of sterling silver gives 62 shillings. With 20 shillings to the pound, that's about 415 pounds. 415 pounds... | [
"The market value of a gallon of oil is like 10000 times higher than a gallon of water."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
} |
WWII Question: My grandfather, who I didn't know, was in the US Army during WWII. All that I know is that he was stationed in the Mojave desert for the duration of the war. Could you give me some ideas of what he could have been doing there? | [
"I found a few links to one of the only operations I could remember happening in the Mojave. Others may know about more, but this is all I could find/remember. [Link 1](_URL_0_) [Link 2](_URL_1_) Basically, the Mojave Desert served as a training grounds for the African therter for the US Army. My guess is he served... | [
"Also, would her military experience be any useful in finding a job? Did women serve in the British military during World War 1 and if so, did they go back into the workforce afterwards?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
Is there an animated map that shows all known civilizations, their territories, and the length of their rule? Example of what I'm looking for in post. | [
"Not animated, but [ this site ] ( _URL_0_ ) has maps which cover borders pretty well from 3000 BCE to the present day. If you wanna pretend it it animate you can, um, press the forward arrow at regular intervals :P"
] | [
"Are you asking how the mechanics of city states works in the context of Civ 5? Or are you asking what city states in real life are? Two really different questions."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
Wednesday What's New in History | July 20, 2016 | [
"I thought this combination of Spanish inscriptions and pre-Columbian art found in a Caribbean island cave was pretty neat _URL_0_"
] | [
"It's a bit unclear what you're interested in. (Early US education? Mann? Cremin's perspective?) But here are some resources that may help: > Binder, Frederick M. The Age of the Common School: 1830-1865. New York: Wiley, 1974. > > Glenn, Jr., Charles Leslie. The Myth of the Common School. Amherst: University of M... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
} |
[META]Can we fix this? (Mobile) | [
"Funnily enough, we are *at this very moment* looking at changing the display of this subreddit. How are you browsing this page? Are you using an app or the mobile browser?"
] | [
"You can read about it [Right Here](_URL_0_) from a previous ELI5. Cheers."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
Wednesday What's New in History | April 13, 2016 | [
"The first 100 issues of an important UK archaeology monograph series, East Anglian Archaeology, were recently made available [for free on their website](_URL_0_). These are site reports - publications of archaeological data - for the UK counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, and parts of Cambridgeshire. The series includes... | [
"It's a bit unclear what you're interested in. (Early US education? Mann? Cremin's perspective?) But here are some resources that may help: > Binder, Frederick M. The Age of the Common School: 1830-1865. New York: Wiley, 1974. > > Glenn, Jr., Charles Leslie. The Myth of the Common School. Amherst: University of M... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
What did they do before glasses and contacts? | [
"Nearsightedness was much rarer in the past. Something about modern conditions makes it more prevalent. The best dataset (though there are others that reflect this) is from Singapore, where military recruits (like military recruits everywhere) are tested for eyesight. Prevalence of myopia has gone from 23% in the l... | [
"What do you want to know about them exactly?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
I was once told people in Ancient Greece spent their spare time studying philosophy. Is this true? | [
"It was *a* way of spending spare time. The way this is usually put is: only people who had leisure were *able* to study philosophy. The reason this is of interest is because it leads directly to the corollary that all ancient Greek philosophers were were wealthy enough not to spend much time, or even any time, acc... | [
"Previously, it was everything you needed to know to operate in political society, like poetry. Kind in mind, we are talking Roman and Athenian society. These days, it is everything not related to an actual career. History, literature, basic psychology, social sciences, etc."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post:"
} |
In the UK children are told to leave a mince pie & sherry for Santa, in the US there told to leave him milk & cookies. I always assumed the difference was because Americans were less comfortable with alcohol in public life, back when the Santa myth was being established. Am I right about that? | [
"Also, a small follow-up; When was the \"Santa myth\" as we know it established?"
] | [
"Fruit was considered a luxury for many of the older generation. It was basically candy for them. Even these days I feel like its more common to have fruit for dessert than things like pastries or ice-cream or whatever. Combine that with a custom of really taking care of house guests and it's just a thing to do, ju... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
How were Cnut the Great and Harold Godwinson related? | [
"Harold's descent from Bluetooth is debated and uncertain, but if he was a blood relation, he and Cnut were first cousins twice removed. Forkbeard and Thyra were siblings, Cnut and Thyra's son Thorkil would have been first cousins. Thorkil's daughter Gytha was Harold's mother. But there is no solid historical evide... | [
"Ok, I'll take a crack at Hardrada, honestly it's rather simple as to why he had a claim, so I don't need to go too in depth. Prior to England being ruled by Edward the Confessor, England was ruled by Scandinavian Kings, one of which, King Cnute (who reigned from 1016 - 1032, was related to Harlald Hardrada. Becau... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Could someone tell me more about the US Navy plans for a British invasion between WWI and WWII? What kind of books would you recommend for the topic? | [
"It was part of the color coded war plans. The British empire one was war plan red, Germany black, Japan orange etc as well as a bunch of other scenarios like problems in Mexico or Cuba. Basically red found that the British would have an upper hand and use Canada as a staging ground for invasion but eventually the ... | [
"France/Belgium/Germany seems relevant. Sandwiched between both major powers, Belgium was used by the Germans as a backdoor into France in both World Wars. Is that helpful? In truth I'm a little confused as to what exactly your looking for. Could you elaborate a bit more? Perhaps if you give us some insight as to t... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why was the UN building built in the US? | [
"That's actually a pretty cool story involving some real heavy weights of that generation. There were several factions within the UN, each with their own idea of where the new HQ should be, the most notable were the US faction and the Swiss faction (not actually Swiss, just in the sense that they were in favour of ... | [
"They were made in chronological order from when the state became part of the US."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Is it possible to build a WW2 era tank or fighter plane with current manufacturing equipment, or would we need to recreate tools and equipment that has been outdated? | [
"Mass-produced vehicles of that era were built on assembly lines with hard tooling (think gigantic 500 ton presses to shape thousands of identical components) and a certain degree of loose-tolerance hand-work (riveting, welding, machining, etc) with materials that have long gone out of style (wooden structures, fab... | [
"Every device has its own history in that regard, but I'll give you some general thoughts. Some things are lost due to social change or upheaval. The loss of the form of society that produced these devices will cause the loss of the devices. If a device only is useful in an urban context and the society loses it ma... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Writing a meta-historical novel. Is it realistic that upper classmen in X Century Italy could have read Sun Tzu's Art of War? | [
"Is that X the Roman numeral for 10? If so--no. There is no way anyone in 10th century Italy (Christian or Muslim) could have read *Art of War*."
] | [
"Wouldn't that be a primary source for the attitude of The Minutemen to the war? If I use Catullus or Horace or some other poetry, I treat it as primary. What would it be secondary to?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
In the Medieval II Total War Crusades expansion prologue video, it shows an army of Crusaders marching through the desert in a formation creating the cross from a bird's eye view. Did this ever actually happen? | [
"My mistake; the video I'm talking about is in the native game, the announcement of a crusade. Link: _URL_0_"
] | [
"One particular moment which is in the wrong battle is where Black Cleitus saves Alexander. That event actually happened at the battle of the Granicus river (Arrian I.15.8). If you listen to the Robin Lane Fox commentary it is explained that because there are only two battles in the film (Gaugamela and Hydaspes) an... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage about movie accuracy:"
} |
Life in the medieval commune | [
"Ok, there is a lot to unpack here. First of all, it needs to be stated that so many of the great Marxist theoreticians have completely misguided views on the Middle Ages (especially Marx :/). Now, there were certainly many mutual aid societies in medieval Italian cities (which I know best). If you want reading mat... | [
"To the area where the tide is high."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Have we ever found a landfil from an ancient civilization? | [
"There is a sizable \"hill\" in Rome (Monte Testaccio) which is [almost entirely old broken pieces of millions of olive oil jars](_URL_1_). Archaeologists use the site to gather information about the Roman economy at various times."
] | [
"Well I imagine now they would be more interested in searching for signs of life, as they now know that is a distinct possibility with liquid water."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
When, where and why did the tradition of Santa giving coal to naughty children originate? | [
"In *Santa Claus, Last of the Wild Men: The Origins and Evolution of Saint Nicholas, Spanning 50,000 Years*, Phyllis Siefker argues that Santa Claus does not resemble the stern Saint Nicholas of Dutch tradition, but rather the wild Belsnickel or Pelznichols (roughly meaning \"drubbing Nicholas,\" or the Nicholas wh... | [
"So when and where did playing cards as we know them come into being anyways?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Who are Dhul Qarnayn and Gog & Magog, historically? | [
"I addressed this a bit here in [this link](_URL_0_), if you didn't already see it. There is, as with most things from the early period, huge amounts of speculation on these issues, but it was an extremely popular myth that linked Dhu al-Qarnayn and Alexander. If you are interested in seriously readying up about ... | [
"ISIS stands for: Islamic State Iraq Syria So all together it's The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post:"
} |
How far does the german-turkish partnership (iof you can call it that) date back? And whats the biggest benefits of the partnership? | [
"Actually throughout most of it's history Germany as represented by the Austria-Hungarian Habsburg empire, together with their catholic allies Spain and the Papal states, was hostile to the Ottomans. The ottomans were in turn allied with the french and the british, later the dutch as well"
] | [
"A very vague question that has lots of answers but in short: * Industrial success * Almost constant innovation in multiple sectors and industries * Military success, monetary and financial domination (especially in setting up the US Dollar as pretty much the de facto international currency in global transactions)... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
} |
Is there any evidence for the claim that captured Britons brought in triumph before Claudius in AD 50 bowed to Agrippina by mistake? | [
"It's in Tacitus, *annales* XII, section 37, though it doesn't say what your author wants it to say: > ad ea Caesar veniam ipsique et coniugi et fratribus tribuit. atque illi vinclis absoluti Agrippinam quoque, haud procul alio suggestu conspicuam, isdem quibus principem laudibus gratibusque venerati sunt. novum s... | [
"The Romans didn’t like the idea of someone to rival their king. So they crowned Jesus king of the Jews and crucified him."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How was Augustus of Prima Porta discovered? How is it in such exceptional condition? | [
"The Prima Porta statue was discovered in 1863 at Livia's villa near Prima Porta. Livia's villa is in excellent condition, with its frescoes being particularly famous, and it's little surprise that the statue would be in good condition. There were also almost certainly multiple copies of the statue floating around ... | [
"I'm not familiar with the Last Supper and Statue of David's history, but I do know that the Mona Lisa was stolen right out of the Louvre, and later recovered, which contributed significantly to it's presence in the public's eye."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Were there any (remotely) credible challenges to the Wrights' claim to first manned flight? | [
"Ask anyone from Brazil, and they'll tell you that not only was [Alberto Santos-Dumont](_URL_7_) flying powered balloons long before anyone else, but he was the first guy to design, build and pilot a **REAL** aeroplane - the [14-bis](_URL_8_). The Wrights were in the air, I'll grant that, but they weren't *piloting... | [
"> Was it ever recreated or or successful in any way? It was almost certainly made up by the Polish journalist Igor Witkowski in order to sell his books about alleged \"wonder weapons\" of the Nazis. There is no evidence that anything of the sort ever existed or was attempted, so certainly there is no way to recrea... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
Did Moctezuma II really believe Cortes was 'an armor-clad God'? | [
"hi! there's lots of room for input about Moctezuma II specifically, but you may be interested in these earlier posts * [Is there any truth to the commonly cited fact that the Aztecs believed the Spanish were gods?](_URL_0_) * [How accurate is this top comment from r/pics about Quetzalcoatl?](_URL_1_)"
] | [
"Columbus didn't communicate with the Aztecs. He never met them. Hernan Cortes was the man responsible for destroying the Aztec empire. When Cortes first landed in the Yucatan he met Geronimo de Aguilar, a Spanish Franciscan priest who had survived a shipwreck followed by a period in captivity with the Maya. This... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
It seems like holding a handgun sideways is associated with gangsters because this is how they were often depicted in early/mid-90s Hollywood films. So, um, why were they depicted this way in early/mid-90s Hollywood films? And why is there a racial component to all this? | [
"It started in the 60s in western movies, actually. At that time it was a product of camera framing - you could get a better view of the actors face and the gun in certain shots by holding the gun sideways. It didn’t really explode culturally though until the sidegrip was featured in the opening of the film Menace ... | [
"Most of the world does not have this odd sense of priorities. Most of the world is far more relaxed about nudity and sex than the USA, perhaps with the exception of the Middle East. Personally, I think the source is religious. Many Americans still adhere to a very traditional religious-based sense of morality, wh... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Was the Schlieffen Plan actually a German military plan? | [
"Are you asking a *question* here, or looking to debate a position? If the latter, this is not the correct subreddit, and you should consider reposting this to /r/history instead."
] | [
"A lot of people here really like the book, and Its still fairly relevant. It has some problems though, especially considering her glossing over of the events of September 1914, which I would argue is the most important month of the war. A book *I* would recommend would be [The Marne 1914](_URL_0_) by Holger Herwig... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post:"
} |
Why did the pattern of the inaugural speech change after Roosevelt's second term? | [
"You might have to wait for someone with presidential history credentials for an exact answer, but I do want to highlight a technology shift: > Calvin Coolidge on March 4, 1925 was the first to have his inaugural address broadcast via radio > Read more: _URL_0_ I want to make an overarching observation that the ... | [
"What is the veracity of the claim that TR was included so there would be two Republicans on Mt. Rushmore?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
} |
AskHistorians Podcast 120 - Dueling in 19th century America w/ u/Georgy_K_Zhukov | [
"I'll use this as a chance to recommend related high quality podcasts for users whose interest was peaked by the podcast/topic: both Ben Franklin's World and the Age of Jackson podcasts which are conducted by a history Ph.D. and a grad student respectively and interview authors about their recent work (and, in the... | [
"/u/restricteddata on [Nuclear Weapons Proliferation](_URL_3_). /u/kookingpot on [Early Zoos](_URL_5_) /u/quouar on [Margaret Sanger](_URL_2_). /u/DavidAOP on [Pirate Towns](_URL_1_). /u/elos_ on [Germany](_URL_4_). /u/edxcitizen87539319 debuting /u/Polybios to talk about [William I and William the Silent](_URL_0_)... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document about News:"
} |
Is there any evidence tying "southern hospitality" to the Civil War? | [
"For clarification purposes, are you asking whether Southern Hospitality is the result of the South losing the Civil War, and their subsequent occupation by the North -- necessitating the boarding of Northern soldiers in Southern homes?"
] | [
"Nothing. Robert E. Lee was a US confederate general, the military leader of the Civil War faction that advocated the continuance of black slavery. The connection between this and the anti-Semitic element of the Nazis it tenuous at best."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
WW2: What do these patches mean? | [
"The circular patches with the \"A\" are the insignia of the US 3rd Army, which in WW2 was under the command of Gen. George S. Patton. The triangular tricolour patches are the insignia of the US 16th Armoured Division. If you look closely, the embroidery below the 16 shows a tank track. The 16th Armoured was establ... | [
"Honestly, I've never seen this uniform with the two black spots before and I tend to be knowledgeable about WW2 uniforms. However, it may have to do with with them being locked up and/or a tradition in the division or company. I'm not entirely sure and I will get back to you with a better answer. Edit: Found the ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
AMA: Small Arms Pt. II - The World War Two Era | [
"I feel like this is a question that should be answered by a panel like this. a popular question on this subreddit is why, on the on-set of WWII, America was the only country with a semi-automatic rifle while everyone else were using bolt-action rifles. Is this an accurate depiction of the arsenals of the different... | [
"Next Week's Theme: 'Royalty, Nobility, and the Exercise of Power' To be followed by: \"Eastern Europe\""
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Did high-society parties have nitrous oxide parties in Nineteenth century London? | [
"I hope it's within the scope of the subreddit to ask a clarifying question. What do you mean that they had bags of nitrous that they sprayed into the air? This would be a side question for /r/science or /r/dentistry, but from what I understand you need a sizeable concentration to get any affects. Dentists mix it w... | [
"No. Opium smoking started sometime in the 16th century in China, and wasn't popular enough for there to be 'opium dens' until the 18th century or so. Most accounts of opium dens in Europe are 19th or early 20th century."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Could American Independence have been achieved without the Revolutionary War? | [
"This is a counterfactual question. I suggest you try /r/historicalwhatif."
] | [
"Was any Asian country capable of helping the United States during the revolutionary war?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
Rousseau had five children by Therese le Vasseur, all of which they sent to an orphanage. Was this a common or acceptable practice at the time? Was it more common for unmarried couples? | [
"A follow up: I remember hearing with regard to Rousseau that children who were raised in such orphanages would be regarded and treated better by society/community than if they were to remain with an unmarried woman. Is there any truth to such a claim?"
] | [
"Franklin acknowledged one illegitimate son, William Franklin, who later stayed loyal to the British during the Revolution and was appointed royal governor of New Jersey. As far as I know, he didn't have any more extramarital liaisons, or at least none that became known. Much later, when posted to the French court ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
Why do Amphoras have round bottoms? | [
"_URL_0_ Whats best for stacking on stable land may not work so well on a rocking boat."
] | [
"Why do you have so many lips and chins?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query about History:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence about History:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence about Biology:"
} |
Is there an estimate of human general body performance for the last 1000 or 5000 years ago? How far would our ancestors go? | [
"In the American colonial period, Russian, French and English fur trappers and traders often covered twenty miles a day or more on foot for weeks at a time, on broken terrain in the American Northwest. Then at the end of it make camp, hunt, prepare food, sleep, and wake up and do it again. They generally lived off ... | [
"Humans natural lifespan without technological advances (medicine, agriculture, shelter, etc) was between 30 and 40 years. Putting us right in the middle for most apes. It is our technologies that let us expand our lifespans to 80-100+."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Uncle was in the Austro-Hungarian military, and my family wanted to know more about his role. Imgur link. | [
"I can't answer comprehensively, but his collar insignia denotes he was an Fänrich (Ensign, or most junior commissioned officer, almost a warrant officer or cadet officer; think \"3rd lieutenant\") in a machine gun unit."
] | [
"One account I can think was the case of John R Fox who called down one on himself in Italy in 1944 when Germans overran his position killing himself and earning himself a medal of honour (which was bestowed in 1997 by Bill Clinton). He is one of the few coloured men so far awarded a medal of honour. _URL_0_"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
} |
Could Cú Chulainn's spear Gae Bulg have been originally imagined as a bone harpoon? | [
"Since the Gae Bulg was made of bone and had many barbs, it's not unthinkable that some storytellers imagined a bone harpoon when they described this, the \"spear of mortal pain and death.\" Was the Gae Bulg originally a bone harpoon? That is, in some prehistoric setting, did a storyteller find inspiration in a bon... | [
"The modern day reproductions of the pendants are usually based off of actual archeological finds like [this](_URL_0_). This design is also found on several runestones and is most likely the way people pictured Mjölnir. Realistically it would have been an impractical weapons, unwieldly and with a very limited range... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
We've always been at war with Eastasia. Why did the conflict start in the first place? | [
"Friend, I think you've gotten things mixed up, we're at peace with Eastasia, we've always been at war with **Eurasia**. I suggest reporting to your nearest Ministry of Truth official to make sure you're remembering the correct account of history."
] | [
"Just the US as far as I know. To the rest of the world he was just another dictator. Possibly something to do with the proximity of communism to the US."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Are there any historically documented instances of well-to-do families "hiding" monstrously deformed or mentally-ill children? | [
"Not deformed but the Kennedy's had a daughter that was mentally retarded. Her name was Rosemary. She was JFK's sister. Her father was ashamed of her and had her lobotomized before she was institutionalized. Her sister, Eunice Mary Kennedy Shriver, founded the Special Olympics due almost, if not 100%, entirely beca... | [
"Besides sex acts that don't result in pregnancy, there were various attempts at contraceptives, pessaries made of various unpleasant substances, douches same, condoms made of animal skin, rhythm method, etc. All of these go back millennia. Some of them maybe even worked a little bit. There are some other things th... | eli5_question_answer | {
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What historical topics are there that are relatively important yet is underrepresented in the English language? | [
"East Asia and Africa are two big ones."
] | [
"Why is there such a paucity in experts in South Asian History in the subreddit compared to say other regions such as East Asia or the Middle East? A lot of the questions about the region's history remained unanswered and the number of questions seem to be much lesser in comparison."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
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Can anyone help identify which era & civilization this 'soldier' is from? | [
"It appears to me to be either of Germanic or Spanish making, unfortunately, the helmet style is very similar between the two cultures depending on what time period you loon at. However, the style of the beard is less early Germanic than it is Spanish so if I had to guess I would say it is a Spanish soldier sometim... | [
"Starting at Image 6 as requested, but will do the rest tomorrow: The title says \"Zanoza\", which means 'splinter'. Smaller type underneath says \"magazine (journal) of artistic satire; edited by R. L Antropov. The caption of the illustration is Sacrifice to the God Baal. It's hard to see what the victims have on... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
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How did Europe feel about America claiming independence? | [
"France- Supplied weapons and advisers and after Saratoga supplied Admiral De-Grasse and Rochambeau as well as more than 5,000 troops. Adams was sent with Franklin after the rejection of the Olive Branch petition to secure support and received it through a shell company in the Caribbean. Prussia- Prussia didn't se... | [
"Was any Asian country capable of helping the United States during the revolutionary war?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
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The Black Death: Was it actually beneficial to society in the long run? | [
"This is the reply that you'd get from any book on the subject: The church's power was weakened and in many places the social roles it had played were taken over by secular groups. Europe was overpopulated before the plague, so more land and food were available for peasants. More farmlands were available for pastu... | [
"Could the rebuilding of Japan after WWII be considered a partial colonization by the United States?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
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The head of a South Indian university recently claimed Ancient India had stem cell technology and aviation, citing the Mahabharata. What's the origin of this recurring, bizarre notion of "hi-tech Ancient India"? How recent is it? | [
"There was an [AMA with someone researching pseudo-archeology](_URL_7_) that might be of interest to you. They mentioned that there's a lot of this sort of claim centered around different cultures. Edit: Pinging /u/DSAArchaeology in case he has any insight on this claim."
] | [
"You may get better answers in /r/AskAnthropology. The earliest smelting pre-dates history, back around 9000 BCE. So we don't have a written record of why or how the practice started. That makes this more an anthropological/archeological kind of question."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
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Did people have nice smiles before dentistry? | [
"See also [this topic from three weeks ago](_URL_0_)."
] | [
"Because our ancestors used to have claws there."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
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} |
Looking for information on US Navy "The Forgotten Convoy" during WWII | [
"Thank you! I can't wait to share this with my family this Christmas!"
] | [
"They signify what country's military they represent. USS = United States Ship HMS = Her/His Magesty's Ship, meaning UK. HMCS = Her Majesty's Canadian Ship"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document about Language and Culture:"
} |
How did people in the past think of light? | [
"The [\"seeing rays\" theory](_URL_0_ started with the Classical Greeks, and was one of the dominant explanations for sight for many many centuries."
] | [
"What do you mean by downfall? This is still a dominant part of current culture."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
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} |
Guns,Germs and Steel | [
"You're not alone in your distaste for the book. There are several excellent discussions of in our [FAQ](_URL_0_). To sum up those responses, Diamond's depiction of history is in turns inaccurate, uncritical, and decades out of date. His descriptions of disease and conquest are dead wrong, his use of primary source... | [
"Side 1 - For Vaccines: -Science Side 2 - Against Vaccines: -Paranoid idiocy"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
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} |
Were the Gracchi brothers revolutionaries? Were they ahead of time ? What did they actually do? | [
"Not to discourage further discussion, but you might be interested in [this previous thread](_URL_0_) with u/LegalAction and u/XenophonTheAthenian."
] | [
"How revolutionary was the general populace in areas controlled by the anarchists? Did they actually believe in the anarchist ideals? To what extent were those ideals actually carried out?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
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Did the craftsmen at the Taj Mahal really have their hands cut off to prevent them from reproducing the work? | [
"It's a myth that's been attributed to several famous buildings. Considering that the labor force was more then ten thousand workers, if he *had*, it would have been serious news. There's also the myth that he cut off the hands of the designer, but that's also a myth. Finding sources for this is tricky, as proving ... | [
"It ran out of funding, and there was no interest in funding it further. The original sculptor died, and while his son *did* continue the work, it was decided that it looks fine the way it is. It *does* fulfil it's purpose of attracting tourism."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
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This 1944 OSS spy training film about undercover work implies that small details, such as the way one ties a knot when tying down a boat, can blow a spy's cover. Is this true, and are there any examples of World War II spies having their cover blown this way? | [
"This is kind of related, but in Inglorious Bastards, one of the allied spies in the movie blew their cover when they displayed the number three on their hand in a \"non-German\" way. Do different geographical regions represent numerals on their hands in different ways, and is Tarantino's plot point based in realit... | [
"One thing to remember is that IIRC the majority of spies were often natives of the country they were spying in. In the cold war, say, it was a lot safer for us to find a Russian sympathetic to our cause (or able to be bought) than it was to surreptitiously insert an American into Soviet society. It's the reason th... | eli5_question_answer | {
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Are there any defining moments in Britain' history in terms of becoming a superpower? | [
"This is kind of a generic question just asking for an overview of big events in British history. I'd point out two that solidified the British Empire's path to power. Other events are mainly just the British people enduring and continuing. The most obvious would be the Articles of Union in 1707 joining the crowns... | [
"Just asked this in the other sticky, but maybe this is the better place for it: Does anyone have any good book recommendations about the Nigerian Civil War or about Biafra as a country?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
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How much would a wheelchair had cost back in 1890's San Diego, California? | [
"In a Sears & Roebuck catalog 112, circa 1900, you can see them on [page 656](_URL_0_) from $10.75 to $21.75. Not sure what the shipping would add."
] | [
"What drugs were popular in 19th century Britain?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
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