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[Meta] Historians Meet-Up in London this weekend | [
"Great idea. Just my luck to find myself at the other end of the country as soon as something interesting to do crops up back in London."
] | [
"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 Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
Did American culture ever impact Europe the way the "British Invasion" did? | [
"Well the British Invasion was a second wave response to Chuck Berry, Bill Haley, Buddy Holly,Gene Vincent (as rockers) and of course Blues greats like Broonzy, Son House, Leadbelly (and many more). It was literally the Brits adopting (and clearly expanding / moving forward) American musical ideas. perhaps this was... | [
"Two reasons. 1. The Beatles. They were HUGE, and seemingly came from nowhere. They became the most popular band in history, and inspired many small time bands and musicians in England to try and go big as well. 2. Empire. GB used to basically rule the world, and a lot of the world took up parts of British culture ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
What's the origin of brunch (the meal)? | [
"The origin of the meal itself is murky. But the word \"brunch\" was coined by Guy Beringer in 1895 in an article entitled \"Brunch: A Plea\" in a periodical called Hunter's Weekly. He claimed it as a meal for \"Saturday night carousers.\" _URL_0_"
] | [
"Why do you say that it's logical that breakfast be the heaviest meal of the day?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
How much would a hooker/prostitute cost in the 1950s? I need to know. | [
"Your best bet would be to dredge up a copy of [USA Confidential](_URL_0_). But be warned, the book is a racist, sexist and homophobic look at 1950s America. It was a bestseller of the decade, probably because of equal parts decent Americans getting a glimpse of the immoral activities of parts of this country. That... | [
"It'll cost you upwards of $1000 a month. You might as well purchase a second hand one for ~5000$ and sell it or bring it back home when your six month period is completed."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
What was the relationship between the Cold War and the 1990-91 (Second) Gulf War? | [
"From a United States perspective, the Gulf War signalled the end of a bipolar world in many respects, instead giving rise to the era of the US being the world's \"sole superpower\". Bush talked about this a lot, how the Gulf War and the international coalition-building that surrounded it signalled the beginning of... | [
"Was any Asian country capable of helping the United States during the revolutionary war?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
} |
The new Total War game focuses around the idea that Attila the Hun was a sign of the coming apocalypse for the Romans. How true is this? | [
"My answer [here](_URL_0_) should help. Let me know if you have any questions!"
] | [
"It depends on what you mean by fear of the \"end of civilization.\" Various large conflicts have caused certain people to think the world was ending, usually through religious interpretation of the conflict, but these beliefs weren't necessarily popular or common. An example: Some people, particularly in the more ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
} |
When did the "spare the woman and children" doctrine first develop? | [
"The wikipedia page on this is pretty thorough: _URL_0_. In a nutshell, it first shows up in 1852 with the sinking of the *HMS Birkenhead* in 1852, being referred to thereafter as the Birkenhead Drill, and was later made famous in the sinking of the *Titanic*. Apparently it wasn't as widespread as we usually think... | [
"Side question, but definitely related: Were whipping boys used outside of the English court? Also, when did the idea of using a whipping boy fall out of favor?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
} |
Why were quills dipped in ink used for composing letters? | [
"Quills were used because they were hollow and would suck up ink, much like a dropper. A small diagonal cut was made at the tip of the quill so that it provided a little tip at the end and ink would not spill. The art teacher in my school told us that and showed an example using an eagle's feather."
] | [
"You know how we place tombstones on graves with inscriptions on them? They did that back in ancient times as well. Only the inscriptions were on and inside the tombs."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
How did "letters with lines through them" become so ubiquitous in currency symbolism? | [
"For what it's worth, overlapping letters, creating ligatures, and inserting dashes into/over letters is quite common as a feature of shorthand for many commonly used words or letter clusters in pre-print writing systems. In the Latin-based system, for example, common words might be shortened to just the beginning ... | [
"It doesn't sound dumb -- that is a very interesting question. The exclamation mark originated as shorthand for *io* which is a joyous outcry in Latin. The letters of *io*, stacked, give us the exclamation mark. If whispers occurred as frequently in early Latin texts as joyous exclamations (and questions) we might ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
} |
Why is this map published in 1757, depicting the German principalities, titled "Carte De L'Empire D'Allemagne"? | [
"\"Germany\" was often used as a geographical shorthand for the Empire - from 1512 nominally the \"Holy Roman Empire of the German nation\" (though the long title was little used) despite its inclusion of territories occupied mostly by non-Geman peoples. \"German Empire\" seems a less frequent usage, just \"the Emp... | [
"Rabelais give a very interessant story of the life of a student / teacher in the late Medieval Time, early Rennaissance (in Gargantua I think)."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the answer:",
"neg": "Represent the answer:"
} |
What was the first culture to figure out STDs, and how did they deal with it? | [
"Humans (along with many animals) have an instinctive wariness around people with contagious diseases, and the appearance of good health is an important part of sexual selection. Man With Boils On Penis probably had a hard time socializing or mating even before cultures existed."
] | [
"At least in my country, it's a law to help prevent the spread of STD's. Can't see a simpler way to put it."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Thursday Reading & Research | May 03, 2018 | [
"I read a most interesting [article](_URL_0_), *Made in Occupied Japan: The Birth of the Consumer Goods and Industrial Design Industries in Japan (1945-1955)*. It is written in French, sorry for non-francophones, but at least the photographs are valuable. I've been interested in material culture lately, and it was ... | [
"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 title about Literature:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document about Literature:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
did being physically tall help a medieval king get more respect? | [
"The only king i am relatively familair with in terms of height is Henry VIII and his height certainly didn't hurt. He was, IIRC, about 6'2 or 6'3, so pretty tall. In his early years, it certainly helped him estabilsh himself as an athlete (in tournaments and tennis and whatnot) and I certainly doubt it harmed him.... | [
"1. not the first woman to win a nobel prize 2. only won 1 nobel prize rather than 2 3. died in 1906 from traffic accident so any later accomplishments in life wouldnt be possible marie's life was a lot harder than pierre's. people who are actually knowledgeable about science history know pierre."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
What was the alliances' part in the ignition of WWI? | [
"I think you are referring to the fact that there was a web of alliances in Europe at the time and that combat of one would have resulted in combat of everyone. If you require some specific evidence of the alliances take a look at the [German-Austrian Treaty (1879) and the Franco-Russian alliance (1894)](_URL_0_) A... | [
"Was any Asian country capable of helping the United States during the revolutionary war?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Hi AskHistorians, we've built a tool for oral historians to document stories with only a smartphone, where would be good places to promote this within the history community online? | [
"Try /r/anthropology - I've worked as an oral historian and know a number of other anthropologists who have as well. Plus, sometimes our interests overlap."
] | [
"What period are you interested in? It's important for you to give some more detail about areas and periods you're specifically interested in so the community here can recommend some better books."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
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What are some good books to read regarding the period of US history known as the "Filibuster" period (i.e, William Walker)? | [
"Check out Robert E. May's *Manifest Destiny's Underworld*."
] | [
"Maybe it's just because of where I grew up, but we learned a lot about Reconstruction, industrialization, the Spanish-American War and the various political movements that happened between 1870 and 1910. That being said, relative to the Civil War and WWI, there are more important periods in US history."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
} |
What happened to the famed Lost Colony, aka the Roanoke Colony? | [
"Here is an article about a plausible theory by anthropologist Lee Miller, who wrote a book about it: _URL_0_ As the article states: Some were probably killed, Miller believes, and some indeed may have gone to the nearby friendly Indian settlement of Croatoan, as their cryptic messages suggested. But many, perhaps... | [
"Christopher Columbus thought he was sailing to India but accidentally found a new continent. As such he called them Indians."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
Is there a review process for documentaries before they are aired? | [
"Your question puzzles me, do you think there's some central committee that's in charge of documentaries? There is not. The people making them decide whether or not to bother with accuracy. Certain broadcasters have an agenda such as getting high ratings through sensationalism or pushing a political angle. Some doc... | [
"On older shows music clearances and other legal rights may prevent certain episodes from being released for streaming."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
} |
There was a 23 year period between the Peace of Paris (1783) and Abdication of Francis II (1806) in which the United States of America and Holy Roman Empire co-existed. Did these two entities have any notable political relations or interactions during this period? | [
"I'm going to ask this as a question: Are there not still legacy treaties in place between USA and Holy Roman Empire? Stemming from Revolutionary War mercenaries that performed well?"
] | [
"It was a peace treaty that ended the Thirty Years' War. It was the beginning of a era of international law, states were bound to respect the sovereignty of each other and not interfere in the internal affairs of other states. This concept is still with us today."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Where does the stereotype of the sissy Frenchman originate? | [
"Best guess is that it started after WWII; it basically ignores France's illustrious military history prior to 1940, including Napoleon and the Victory in WWI, and portrays the collapse of France in 1940 as symbolic of the French 'national character'. It's also worth noting that this subsequently ignores the Frenc... | [
"If you're talking about America, that's simply not true. Go to any big Reddit thread and you'll see hundreds of comments talking about what a glorious socialist utopia Europe is. Many Americans also have varying degrees of obsession with British culture. Half the women in my family got up at 3 in the morning to wa... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Questions about Mad King Ludwig II of Bavaria | [
"There was a documentary on BBC 4 that dealt with this, tracking his life and the castles he built. _URL_0_ It's been a few months since I've watched it but the castles are thought to be a part of his escapism from the realities of the loss of power Bavaria saw as Prussia moved towards unifying Germany. As well as ... | [
"Looks like Charles I of Great Britain to me."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
When did the term 'Sparta/Spartan' displace 'Lakedaimon/Lakedaimonian' in popular use? | [
"Related: what happened to the similar but different term Lakonia?"
] | [
"I highly recommend you check these posts by /u/Iphikrates, who's basically the patron god of Spartan history. [Is the military worship of the Spartans justified?](_URL_0_) [How does Sparta compare to Athens and Persia in the Fifth Century BCE?](_URL_2_) [Were the Spartans really all that great as warriors?](_URL_3... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
in the 12th century, would the king of England have done any thing particularly out of the ordinary on Christmas day? | [
"Christmas day was usually one of the three great days of the year for the crown-wearing ceremony. William I usually held his Christmas court at Gloucester or Worcester, and this habit was maintained, at least in part, by his immediate successors: [Victoria County History, Gloucestershire](_URL_1_) For more on the ... | [
"The people who made the laws had a different opinion on what was acceptable at the time than you do now."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
I have read many articles praising Germany and Switzerland for their apprenticeship system which makes their Industry globally competitive. How did they develop in the context of Modern Industry? Why didn't it develop in other countries like the US? | [
"Maybe an idea to include a link to such an article? That'd clear up the context a bit, whether we're talking about historic appprenticeships, or a modern apprenticeship system, or a connection between the two, et cetera."
] | [
"I believe Tony Blair (former PM of the UK) asked This very question to the current PM of Germany. The answer was '...because, Mr. Prime Minister, we still make things in Germany.' This anecdote goes a long way towards explaining why Germany is such a powerhouse in Europe. German exports are highly prized for thei... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
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} |
What are some of the earliest examples of political humor? | [
"_URL_0_ The above link should take you to Aristophanes' *The Clouds* from 423 BC. It ridicules Socrates, and could easily be categorized as political humor. It has been nearly two dcades since I read it, but if you look up references as you read (or have a commentary open next to the text) it still keeps a good de... | [
"Welcome to the one of the strongest arguments against the prohibition of firearms."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the answer:",
"neg": "Represent the answer:"
} |
What sort of role was planned for smaller members of NATO in the event of a Soviet attack? | [
"I can't answer, but Albania, Slovakia (as part of Czechoslovakia) and Romania were all members of the Warsaw Pact during the Cold War."
] | [
"The British commissioned a study, [Operation Unthinkable](_URL_0_), which worked out two possible scenarios: 1) The Western Allies launch a surprise attack on the Soviets 2) The Soviets launch a surprise attack on the Western Allies The results of both were the same: Soviet numerical advantage would completely ov... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
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} |
When was it first discovered that the brain is responsible for cognition? What did people think was responsible beforehand? | [
"I've written answers to two similar, related questions recently: [How did the idea that the heart is the source of emotion develop?](_URL_1_) and [When and how did it become common knowledge that the head/brain is the seat of thought?](_URL_0_), which between them should help answer your question!"
] | [
"Follow-up question: If it is purely a modern idea, where did this idea come from, and how much validity is there to it?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
When did the socialdemocrats start moving away from the revolutionary left in the 20th century? | [
"The major steps of separation were linked to the Russian revolution; either because of the October revolution (split between Mensheviks and Bolsheviks), or because of the founding of the Third International (Comintern). For example in France, the founding moment of social-democracy is the congress of Tours (1920) ... | [
"Do you mean: \"Did the fear of communism enable the working class to obtain improved social conditions in 1950s until the 1980s in Western Europe?\""
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Why did myscegenation happen so much more in central and south American colonies than it did in north America? | [
"hi! you may be interested in this section of the FAQ * [Racial differences between North America and Latin America](_URL_0_)"
] | [
"The main thing is that Poland immigrants going to North America went to the United States. Greek immigrants going to North America went to the United States. Irish immigrants going to North America went to the United States. Spanish immigrants going to North America went to Mexico, because it was a Spanish colony ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
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} |
When did "going to the beach" become a popular way to spend time? | [
"If that is okay, I'd like to give some insight on how \"summer holidays\" were established in Germany. Obviously, people living near the shore went to the beach in the summer in their free time, just like others went to lakes or rivers. The idea of *holidays* for everyone in Germany was really an invention of the... | [
"Well, if Hawaiians are anything like like Californians, it might be a \"locals only\" type situation and you may want to make some friends before taking a wave."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Did Charles Manson indirectly help stop the Vietnam War? | [
"Manson was more concerned with starting a race war which he would emerge as a leader. In reality he had no effect on public opinion of anything except how horrific the murders commited by his \"Family\" were, and how crazy he and his followers were."
] | [
"What do you want to hear more about? The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? The Israel vs. Palestine situation? The Arab Spring? The recent attacks on US embassies?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
Did early tool-user humans utilise dinosaur bones? | [
"I've worked on both early hominids and the history of fossil discovery, and I can't think of anything here. History tends to deal with humanity after the advent of writing, and indeed it sounds as though you've found some of the [scholarship](_URL_1_) dealing with early fossil hunters. We have good evidence not on... | [
"What sounds worst? Plant-eating bacteria or flesh-eating bacteria?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
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Normally when you decide to go to Grad School, it's recommended you go to a different university to get different views. Does the same apply for college? | [
"It's nicknamed \"academic incest,\" and you should, especially if you're going from a BA history to a master's, because you'd have the same round of professors which isn't good. The thinking is that you need to study under different people and get different views. Things are a little looser if you're going from o... | [
"There are multiple reasons why, but some of most common is a lot of jobs want years of experience, or skills that some students are not taught during their college years. Another reason is they got a degree in the wrong field. It's best try to get internships if possible during your college years."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
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Recommended reading for WWI or about the roman empire | [
"A work not in NMW's reading list, and one of my personal favorites, is Andy Simpson's *Hot Blood and Cold Steel: Life in the British Trenches in the First World War*. It sounds just like the personal experience you want. Martin Middlebrooks' works, *The First Day on the Somme* and *The Kaisers Battle*, both focus ... | [
"Catherine Merridales Ivans War. It describes the experiences of ordinary soldiers of the red army in the second world war."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post about Education:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph about Education:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
Has any nation ever publicly acknowledged the enemy forces heroic act against their own forces? | [
"The US Navy has named four ships, including a ballistic missile submarine, for the Indian leader Tecumseh of the Shawnee. He was most notable for uniting tribes against the US during the War of 1812. (Edit: War of 1812. --Tecumseh died in battle against the US in 1813.)"
] | [
"They would either be arrested, or in the process of overthrowing the government. Military command's pretty rigid."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
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Starter on Military History | [
"What period are you interested in? It's important for you to give some more detail about areas and periods you're specifically interested in so the community here can recommend some better books."
] | [
"Relevant entertaining and informative youtube video Electrocution in Water: _URL_0_"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
Before knowledge of electricity, what did people think of static shocks(and the visible electric discharge in the dark)? | [
"If you're interested in the subject, I highly recommend the documentary Shock and Awe: _URL_0_ It covers exactly what you're asking about. How we went from treating static electricity as a novelty to actually using it as a tool. One thing I found really interesting was how Electricians were originally party magici... | [
"Electricity switches back and forth in the lines hundreds of times a second, this is called alternating current. The movement of electricity in the lines causes the air around the wires to become slightly charged with electricity, we'll call this ionized. This ionized air creates tiny, usually invisible, electrica... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
How well could Native Americans predict weather? | [
"Many traditional Native people today are good at observing animal behaviors to predict the weather. There's other things I won't get into online, but I would say Native people traditionally have an excellent understanding of weather. These previous related conversations might be of interest: * [How did native Amer... | [
"Why aren’t Americans trying to speak the Native American language?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Just how strong were the strongmen of ancient times? And how did they train? | [
"I might can answer this question but I'm not sure what era you are talking about. Do you mean ancient strong men like Milo of Croton from Greek history? If so it is hard to say because their lives are intermixed with mythology, and that is outside my area of knowledge. If you mean strong men from the Strongman era... | [
"In a culture where hand to hand combat is important, like in the olden days, being left handed was an advantage because it was unexpected. This didn't answer the question at all."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the answer:",
"neg": "Represent the answer:"
} |
My family has a ton of German WWI artifacts and a few from WWII. What should we do with them? | [
"If you feel a particular stigma from ownership of the Nazi paraphernalia, destroying or discarding it would be an absolute travesty. Should you sell them? Many surplus/recreational stores salivate for period equipment in 'wearable' condition. You'd have no trouble finding stores that deal with the large re-enacti... | [
"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 Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
What is the symbology of the dead canine pendent that I see in so many portraits of Habsburg related royals? | [
"it is not a dog, but the Golden Fleece from Greek mythology which was a symbol of the titular order. This [photo](_URL_1_) of the Spanish order shows clearly the sheepskin (and why it sort of looks like a doggo at a distance!). The headship of the Order of the Golden Fleece was the Habsburgs' patrimony from the Bu... | [
"Follow up: Is there any connection to figureheads on ships, sometimes also depicting semi nude females?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Before the launch of the first satellites, how did scientists know that there was no gravity/oxygen in space? | [
"The gravity aspect has sort of been handled in other comments, but the [Michelson-Morley Experiment](_URL_4_) hasn't been mentioned. This was the experiment that proved there was a vacuum in space. There was an idea before this that there was some sort of \"[luminiferous aether](_URL_3_)\" in space that was the me... | [
"Because there's a lot more nothing than there is stuff, and the stuff tends to group together. That said, space isn't a pure vacuum, and there are still random atoms floating out there. That's actually part of the reason it's hard to determine a \"boundary\" between our atmosphere and \"space\" or the boundary bet... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document about Physics:"
} |
What happened to the indigenous people of Newfoundland? | [
"Someone else may have to provide a more comprehensive answer, but it is my understanding that there has been some debate whether the extinction of the Beothuk people (the native inhabitants of Newfoundland) could be called a genocide or not but, either way, they were declared extinct in 1829 (though there is some ... | [
"What drugs were popular in 19th century Britain?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
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} |
Historians, what are some of the best history books that have come out in 2016? | [
"My favorite book of 2016 is definitely [Bad Girls at Samarcand: Sexuality and Sterilization in a Southern Juvenile Reformatory](_URL_0_) by Karin Zipf, which analyzes the use of forced sterilization to deal with women showing socially undesirable qualities in early 20th century North Carolina. This book won LSU's ... | [
"I'm looking for recommendations for books to read if I want an overview of the history of the LGBT+ movement in the United States but don't have any previous background knowledge in the subject."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question about Literature:",
"pos": "Represent the text about Literature:",
"neg": "Represent the text about Literature:"
} |
Have the Amish always been significantly different than other rural Midwestern farmers? At what point did technological and societal changes really set the Amish apart? | [
"From the time they first settled in the US, the Amish have been different. They spoke German and eschewed the clothing that was popular. They had specific rules about dress and behavior, like no buttons, which set them apart even before modern technology. They also have their own religion that is a branch of Prote... | [
"Most black people in America can trace their heritage back to slavery times, and most slaves were in the southern states working on large plantations. Even after slavery was abolished, racism was rampant and black communities rarely intermingled with their white counterparts, causing a retention of that southern ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
When or in what did Andrew Jackson write this quote? | [
"It's an anecdote from Jackson's secretary [Nicholas Trist](_URL_1_), first recorded in James Parton's 1861 biography, *Life of Andrew Jackson*, [page 607](_URL_0_). Note that some contemporary sources (e.g. Daniel Patrick Moynihan) consider the quote apocryphal."
] | [
"And to hijack this in a related way, what were the alternatives to \"America.\""
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
When did "they" stop being an acceptable gender neutral pronoun? | [
"You should ask at /r/linguistics if you don't find an answer here. That's the best place you're going to find for actual experts working in the field providing answers. Also, \"they\" is still very much acceptable and in wide use. The notion that it is not is more of a pet peeve that you're encountering. It's not ... | [
"Can you clarify what third-person singular pronouns he is using and what the alternative, gender-neutral pronouns would be?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
} |
What was life like for men who stayed home during WWI? | [
"In the British Empire organisations of women would hand out white feathers to men of military age who had not enlisted. In the British Empire a white feather is a symbol of cowardice. The idea was to shame the men into enlisting."
] | [
"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 Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
Is the common belief that scientific grow was hindered by religion in the medieval times correct? | [
"No, in fact for much of the time religion and scientific advancement went hand in hand. You need only look to the middle eastern civilizations of the past, where great Muslim philosophers recorded their scientific endeavors and advancements. Scientific study in Europe stemmed from the old Greek traditions of natur... | [
"Folks want to point back to cultural achievements and be identified with them. A lot of what we call advance civilization didnt happen until the species left the continent."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
} |
Were there any ways of telling what time it was in 19th century America? | [
"There were many clocks, in private houses, on public buildings, and many people carried watches. There were mantel clocks, and grandfather clocks in big cases. Some clocks not only told the time but had decorative moving dials that showed the phase of the moon and the month of the year - or perhaps the sign of the... | [
"What drugs were popular in 19th century Britain?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
I've discovered that the Canadian ND party was founded by an Orangeman. How did a party founded by a staunchly protestant, Anglo-Saxon, club turn into a progressive one? | [
"Can you source your claim? And can you cite who in particular you are referring to? The New Democrat Party was the culmination of about 40 years of movements to create a viable third party. I don't know of one person who can claim responsibility for creating it?"
] | [
"I'm guessing most of them would have been staunch Conservatives, with the exception of Lady Sibyll and her husband Mr. Branson who describes himself as \"a socialist, but not a revolutionary\", so probably the left wing of Labor or possibly some obscure smaller party (there were several of those). Sir Richard Carl... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Lots of things come and go, so why is disco used as the poster boy for things that have died out? | [
"I don't think this is a particularly historical question. Any instances of disco being used as a \"poster boy\" for things that have died out would have occurred after disco died, and therefore very recently. Furthermore, it's a matter of pop culture, and a contentious one at that. I've never really thought of dis... | [
"You could ask this for almost anything; Cars, fashion, furniture, even food. It evolves over time. Sometimes a designer tries something new and it's a big hit and others follow. I know you're looking for a black and white answer but the truth is that it's a gray area and subjective."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Day of Reflection | June 16, 2014 - June 22, 2014 | [
"Here's some gems I caught this week: - /u/Bernardito on [Did Himmler actually search for Atlantis?](_URL_1_) - /u/AC_7 on [What was the experience of Japanese POWs upon their return to Japan after WWII?](_URL_0_) - /u/firedrops on [Apart from voodoo in Louisiana, did other elements of African culture, language, an... | [
"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 argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
What evidence is there that proves or disproves the legend that a 'lost legion' of Crassus' ended up in China? | [
"Is there any evidence that the legion was lost? and not just destroyed at Carrhae? There is no evidence that I know of, of any kind of incursion of Romans in Han China at the time."
] | [
"Following the collapse of the Khwarezmian empire to Genghis Khan, numerous Khwarezmian soldiers moved to northern Mesopotamia where they served as mercenaries. They would later move further south and seize Jerusalem in 1244 and eventually be absorbed into Mamluk Egypt. Following the battle of Hastings, it seems a ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
Can anyone help me identify the uniforms and time frame this tintype photo was taken. | [
"We might be able to narrow this down quite specifically. The man at the back on the left appears to be wearing the [M1872 Officers' fatigue blouse](_URL_0_), as might the man next to him. This was replaced in 1874 by the M1874 fatigue blouse, as apparently it proved unpopular. Tintypes were at the peak of their po... | [
"Far left is a sticker for participating in a 10k run, mid-right is a turtle, far right appears to be an identification tag of some sort, and I don't know what mid-left is."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Responding to claims that Canadian history is boring. | [
"While I'm afriad I can't help you with biographical stories, Canada featured prominently in both WWI and WWII, by the end of D-Day the Canadians had gone further into France than the Americans and the British. _URL_0_ Canada also has two out of five of the longest recorded sniper kills in history, with no America... | [
"Liberals support change while conservatives believe in tradition."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
Why was Wake Island never recaptured by the US during WWII? | [
"The US never recaptured Wake Island because of its strategy of 'island hopping', which involved bypassing certain Japanese-held territories and invading ones that were of significant importance. This policy of 'island hopping' was started due to the lack of resources that were being deployed to the Pacific theater... | [
"They were hoping to catch the U.S. carrier fleet in Pearl Harbor and sink it. This would have significantly delayed the U.S.'s ability to project its power across the Pacific, and (the Japanese hoped) would either get the U.S. to stay officially neutral or delay their ability to wage war effectively in the Pacific... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Was Moonshine illegal before Prohibition was passed in 1920? | [
"The short answer is yes. In 1791 a tax that came to be known as the \"whiskey tax\" was passed by the US Federal government that had just been established under the new Constitution 2 years previously. This new law met with significant resistance, especially in the western Pennsylvania where what is known as the \... | [
"They can. Specifically, by amendment. Example: The 18th amendment outlawed alcohol. The 21st amendment reversed the 18th."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
In medieval Europe, money bags were often made of cat skins. Making items out of cat skins would be almost unthinkable today. When and how did our attitudes towards cats change? | [
"Only Tangentially related, but is there any property specific to cat skin that makes it more suitable for holding coin?"
] | [
"It's actually pretty common to eat horse meat in most places. In most of Europe and Asia, for one, you can find horse meat in supermarkets along with beef or pork. It seems to be a mostly American taboo stemming from the fact that horses were seen as companions rather than livestock, kind of like cats or dogs, a c... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
How accurate is McNamara's description of events in The Fog of War? | [
"Which events? He describes many events in the film."
] | [
"The footage appears to be an extract from the documentary, \"Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam\" identified as images from the battle of Khe Sanh"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
I'm a citizen of the Roman Empire in 150CE and I want to buy a home. How does the home buying process in Rome work? Mortgages? Paperwork? Realtors? | [
"Interesting question and I have no answer. Just questions of my own. * What were property rights like during this period? * Was it more common for average people to just build their own home? * How would land disputes be resolved?"
] | [
"When you have a mortgage (in the US) - the interest you pay is tax deductible - the property taxes you pay are tax deductible (off your federal income tax) - the principal you pay goes towards YOUR equity in the house these things do not apply if you are renting-to-own The \"requirements\" for buying a house are h... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
Proto communist Ireland? | [
"According to T. M. Charles-Edwards, (*Early Christian Ireland* , 2000), this was not the case. Ireland was a hierarchy obsessed with status. Legal scholars developed complicated systems to rank and compare different social roles. In each community there was a king, bishop and senior legal/artistic figures. The mai... | [
"British Empire -- > Post-WW2 / Cold War America -- > British and American pop culture -- > Silicon Valley."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
} |
How easily would Scipio Africanus and Flavius Aetius have been able to communicate if the former were resurrected in the time of the latter? | [
"Hiya! So, this is technically a breach of our [No \"What-If\" rule](_URL_0_), but since you're effectively asking about how Latin changed in the time period between the two mens' lives, we're prepared to let the question stand. To any contributors, please keep your answers on-focus. Thanks! :)"
] | [
"What book are you reading? I've never heard of a \"Calvino\", and I am assuming \"Crasso\" and \"Varo\" refer to Crassus and Varus. Crassus was an important figure of the Late Republic, while Varus was the Roman commander responsible (in part) for the defeat at Teutoburg Forest in 9 A.D. Neither feature in any sch... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer about History:"
} |
Day of Reflection | January 27, 2014 - February 02, 2014 | [
"This has been a good week for quality answers from unflaired (for now) users, so let me highlight some of those: * /u/Manethon decided to stop lurking recently to tell us about [the relations between various religious groups and the state in pre-Constantine Rome](_URL_6_) and returned today to talk about how the [... | [
"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 title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage:"
} |
Does Japan have a rightful claim to Okinawa? | [
"Japan officially annexed Okinawa in 1872. What do you mean with \"rightful claim\"? Did the USA have a rightful claim over what is USA today? Japan forced Okinawa to join Japan. That's it. It did not need to ask for any \"rightful claim\". I think in discussions about territorial dispute the importance of the sta... | [
"If you are located just to the west of it, and you don't love Japan, you call it the East Sea. If you don't think China should have any claims over it, you call it the Sea of Japan."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
I am interested about accuracy and authenticity of a map - Europe at the death of Charles the Great | [
"I don't know exactly what you mean by \"authentic\". There is no such map dating from the 9th century. The map itself is not very good - it overemphasizes the reach and coherence of a lot of polities. England, for example, doesn't exist, and what did exist certainly didn't look like that. EDIT: After some discussi... | [
"About two thousand years. Roughly the same as the difference between Latin and Italian."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
} |
Are there digitized English language texts of unknown importance that haven't been read yet by anyone in hundreds of years? I would love to spend my free time reading them and do a possibly important yet tedious job to make an impact in the field. | [
"There is an exceptional database of digitized texts connected to the University of Michigan library - Early English Books Online. It goes from about 1400 to 1700. There is also a modern text transcription for most of the texts, which can be very helpful if you haven’t trained in reading Renaissance writing. You m... | [
"What's going on here, lads? I look forward to this thread every week. Do we not have anything to talk about? How 'bout that thread yesterday about Western v. non-Western historians? Fun times! Hooray mod team, I hope you were all stocked up on malt liquor! Or how about writing methods? Does anyone else feel like ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
What did China trade for? | [
"In addition to silver there was also opium. In the nineteenth century, the Ching dynasty outlawed the trade but small companies smuggled it to China from British-administered Bengal where it was grown. When an incorruptible Chinese civil servant confiscated and burned a bunch of it, there followed the [First Opium... | [
"Only if the federal government let it. See: American Civil War"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
Does a rebuke of the ‘great man history ‘ sometimes lead to predeterminism | [
"\"Sometimes\" is a weasle word, but yes, the \"great forces\" view of history can lead to a disparaging of agency (e.g. choice) and various flavors of determinism (some of these approaches, like Marxism, are explicitly deterministic). There are of course ways around this; one need not embrace a totally anti-indiv... | [
"Entrenched corporate interests politicizing it for their personal gain plus apocalyptically-minded churches who see it as a competing eschatological scenario."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Tuesday Trivia: Awesome Archaeology! This thread has relaxed standards—we invite everyone to participate! | [
"Mount Olympus is the name of the home of the twelve Olympian Gods in ancient Greece. The name itself predates the Greeks themselves, and there is no one Mount Olympus, as the highest local mountain tended to be named this way wherever Greek tribes lived. The highest of these is located 80km south of Thessaloniki, ... | [
"Keep your answers simple! We're shooting for elementary-school age answers. But -- please, no arguments about what an \"actual five year old\" would know or ask! We're all about simple answers to complicated questions. Use your best judgment and stay within the spirit of the subreddit. - as per the Subreddit's gui... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
Why was the US willing to invade North Korea in the Korean War, but wasn't willing to invade North Vietnam in the Vietnam War? | [
"Because they're connected in that the UN invasion of North Korea and the intervention of the Chinese that came as a consequence became one of the reasons for why the US chose not to invade North Vietnam. The US didn't want to risk triggering an even larger conflict than they were already involved in. A US invasion... | [
"Was any Asian country capable of helping the United States during the revolutionary war?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
} |
How did the term "bully" go from a positive exclamation to a term for someone who beats people up? | [
"FYI, if you don't get answers here, do try x-posting to /r/etymology"
] | [
"It has a lot to do with common usage. The words \"imbecile\" \"moron\" \"idiot\" and \"retarded\" used to refer to very specific mental afflictions or IQ levels, however people began to use them as insults and over time they became offensive to the people who actually had these afflictions because these words were... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Quality of the post-Civil War U.S. Army | [
"Followup question: How did the US army at this point compare to European ones. One of the things that I was taught in US history is that a main reason for Napoleon the 3rd getting out of Mexico is that the US army was already mobilized and strong. Was this true?"
] | [
"Only if the federal government let it. See: American Civil War"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
} |
Did medieval archers/cannonners use the Aristotelian theories of ballistics trajectories? | [
"> It is a well-known quirk of pre-modern theories of motion that objects can only have one kind of motion applied at any time. An arrow would therefore first move forward in a straight line, and then stop its forward movement and drop straight down. Pardon, but do you have a reference for this? Anyone firing an ar... | [
"Bronze, brass, and soft iron will all work quite well for cannon barrels as long as they're thick enough and the powder burns relatively slowly. It's the quality of the gunpowder that would make the big difference here; for example the English naval fleets once had a serious problem with cannons exploding because ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
Were adventurers (The Elder Scrolls, D & D, ...) a real thing? If yes, where they found outside of Europe? | [
"This question has been asked before. Take a look at [this thread](_URL_1_). /u/Searocksandtrees compiled a [list of threads](_URL_0_) about mercenaries and knight-errants that might be of interest too."
] | [
"High fantasy was largely codified by J.R.R. Tolkien's books set in Middle Earth. Much of the feel of it was set in a kind of medieval England or medieval Europe, and it borrows liberally from English and European folklore in that regard. So: why are medieval themed pieces using British accents? Well, simply put, t... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
How long have people understood that the sun rises and sets at different times in differnet places, or that there are "time zones"? | [
"Some good answers in earlier posts on r/AskHistorians: * [How long have people known about time zones and how were they first discovered? ](_URL_1_) * [When was it realised that time differences (zones) exist?](_URL_2_) * [Did the early Europeans (flat-world era) have any inkling of times zones?](_URL_0_) If someo... | [
"Because the Earth spins. We revolve around the sun and we rotate on our own separate axis. Because of this, the whole world is daytime or nighttime at the same time. Also, the people in the East see the sun first because of the direction that the Earth spins, thus their time should be ahead of those in the West wh... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
} |
In HBO's "Rome" (set during Caesar's civil war), there is a scene in which one character has never heard of the Gracchi or Gaius Marius. Would this have been at all possible? | [
"I know the scene- Pullo asked \"who?\" then Vorenus mentioned Gracchi. And yes, it believable: Pullo is commoner, son of slave so his education is hardly anything to speak of, so he might be unaware of the politicians who lived century ago. However it is near impossible, that he would not knew about Marius (or Sul... | [
"According to Suetonius they crossed a small bridge over the Rubicon. Specifically, he claims Caesar said \"Once across that little bridge, we shall have to fight it out.\" However, it should be kept in mind that Suetonius was writing in around 121 CE. This was a long time after the events had transpired and his de... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
I'm a woman with a family in the American Frontier. My husband dies. How do I continue to provide for my kids? | [
"You should read 'Women of the Frontier' by Brandon Marie Miller (978-1883052973). Each chapter follows one woman's story. Some parts I wished were more nuanced, but it gives an inside look at life on the Frontier for women. Many of the women were separated or lost their husbands. Overall, a quick, but informative ... | [
"Because if you keep reproducing, maybe you will get lucky and some of your kids will grow up to adulthood, get a wife, and farm the scrap of land you own and provide for you when you are old and can't work anymore. You know, like how people did for pretty much all of recorded history."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph about Sociology:"
} |
Roman historians!! -- settle this toilet dispute. | [
"Your professor is absolutely correct. Roman latrines were quite sophisticated and are extremely common, we find public latrines all over every single major city. [Here's](_URL_1_) one in Ephesus. [Here's](_URL_0_) one at Ostia--an old TA I once had has a very nice picture of that particular one (it's quite large) ... | [
"Paging /u/davidaop, our pirate expert, to help with this one."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Was there a definitive turning point in U.S. History where Americans stopped seeing Great Britain as the enemy? If so, what was the event that caused this change of mind? | [
"Henry Adams, who served as an American diplomat in London during the Civil War, and whose father, grandfather, and great grandfather (Charles Francis Adams, John Quincy Adams, and John Adams) had all served as the US Minister to the Court of Saint James (i.e. the American Ambassador in the United Kingdom) dated th... | [
"The Era of Good Feelings was a period of American history (early 1800s) that fell between major conflicts, expectations were high, the major political parties cooperated and people got along. The Era of Bad Feelings is just a cloy way of saying now is a time of conflict, lowered expectations and partisan bickerin... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title about history:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence about history:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
} |
What are the most important history books published in 2014? | [
"Hi! I'm allowing this thread, as it falls under the rubric of historiography. I would ask anyone replying to post a real bibliographic reference to the book they want to talk about, and to explain their choices, since just posting \"I enjoyed so-and-so's book on precolumbian underwater basket weaving\" is not help... | [
"What drugs were popular in 19th century Britain?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Saturday Reading and Research | February 20, 2016 | [
"Two weeks ago, while working through a collection of 250 medieval spearheads dredged out of the River Thames near London (trying to identify when and where they came from), I encountered a really unusual style that I wasn't able to identify initially. I photographed it, and told myself I would research it later. T... | [
"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 about Literature:",
"pos": "Represent the document about Literature:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
In the video games Crusader Kings 2 and Europa Universalis 4, monarchs often "fabricate claims" to justify the seizure of small territories. Did this ever actually happen? | [
"During the 17th century, Louis XIV introduced the \"policy of Reunions\", where he could constantly expand French borders by annexations of small parts of the HRE on the basis of flimsy claims, some of them going back well into the Middle Ages. Teutonic Order fabricated a donation of HRE emperor in order to fight ... | [
"A country is being imperialistic when it's asserting power over other countries through militaristic or political (usually militaristic) means. \"Imperialism\" comes from the world \"Imperial,\" which is a word used to describe any collection of states/territories ran by an emperor or other sovereign figure, also ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
} |
What great books/documentaries/websites should I check out to learn more about the Cold War era? | [
"Westad, \"The Global Cold War\" focuses on the non-superpowers in the Cold war. However he does so primarily through superpower interventions so the basic narrative is still very much on them. Even though Gaddis in \"The Cold War\" writes mainly about superpowers directly, he includes many examples of activities b... | [
"I'm looking for recommendations for books to read if I want an overview of the history of the LGBT+ movement in the United States but don't have any previous background knowledge in the subject."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post about Education:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument about Education:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument about Literature:"
} |
What are some "lost histories" that you wish we had today? | [
"The [House of Wisdom](_URL_0_) was the world's most important library, and the repository for the knowledge of of the Middle Ages Islamic world. It was destoryed when the Mongols sacked Baghdad in 1258. The Book of the Annals of the Kings of Israel is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as a source-text on numerous occa... | [
"So please correct me if I'm wrong here, but I've read on other threads here that getting the opinions of the general public was difficult because very few of the read and even fewer wrote things that survived to today. So I guess my follow up question is this: how can we even begin to understand how the commonfol... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
} |
Do you feel weird thinking about all the lost history? | [
"Personal anecdotes and concerns will be permitted in this thread; alas, however, please keep the speculative musings grounded in good history."
] | [
"Because when you were a kid, you were largely unaware of the problems of the time."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
} |
America's Stonehenge - contemporary interpretations and dating? | [
"The general consensus is that the site is archaeologically useless. If William Goodwin didn't construct the thing out of wholecloth (or, rather, the remains of an early 19th Century farm - some of the stones definitely are colonial in origins), he altered the site so extensively in his attempt to \"reconstruct\" i... | [
"J. Lesley Fitton's *Minoans (Peoples of the Past)* (2002) is highly readable, well set-out and reasonably up-to-date. As well as including the more recently found Minoan sites in her study, she gives an authoritative chronology in the first section, while making clear that this timeline will likely be improved upo... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
Japanese historians: Can you please help me with some sources and sites in Japan? | [
"You said dissertation so I'm guessing you're in school. See if your school has a subscription JSTOR, which is an academic journal database. Lotta good articles there. I also did a subject search on the period in _URL_2_, so see if [any of these books](_URL_1_) are of use to you (put in your zip code for a library)... | [
"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 query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
What does Japanese textbooks say about the Rape of Nanking? | [
"You might want to ask in /r/japan as well. They might have some direct experience as there are a lot of people who teach in Japan in the sub."
] | [
"Why is the US so upset over the labeling of US treatment of Native Americans as a genocide?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
Did people ever die of carbon monoxide before the industrial revolution? If so, how? | [
"Well actually one of the leading causes of carbon monoxide poisoning is lighting an actual fire inside during extreme cold weather and this still happens today. Without a doubt people would die if they were in hostile environments and didn't know proper fire techniques or if they tried to light a fire in a closed ... | [
"If you aren't at risking of starving to death, getting killed in a war, or dying from simple injuries like a cut or a broken bone, you'll live a lot longer. Modern medicine, agriculture, sanitation, and infrastructure all go a long way to prolonging the average human life."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
} |
What impact did the FLQ attacks and the October Crisis have on the Parti Quebecois' support? | [
"Generally speaking, the October Crisis was a disaster for the FLQ, which had been gaining some level of momentum during the previous decade. Even after the kidnappings, some mainstream Francophone institutions like the CSN, one of the largest unions in Quebec, we're sympathetic to the FLQ cause. The murder of Pier... | [
"That would depend on the political view of the Quebecois prime minister. This almost happened in 1995 when Jean Chrétien was the PM of Canada (he was PM from 1993 to 2003). There was the big vote in Quebec whether or not to succeed and it was voted against by a very narrow margin. Chrétien is from Liberal Party ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
What did Hitler think of Nostradamus? | [
"I would just like to inform you that there are no contemporary primary sources to support the notion that Hitler or German higher ups were interested in the occult. The most extreme believer of what was then fringe theories was Heinrich Himmler but most concerned the ancient roots of the Aryan race. [Please see th... | [
"One of the lessons of history is that we don't learn the lessons of history. Attributed to Hegel."
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
} |
We always hear about the movements against the Koran, the Vietnam and the Iraq wars. What kind of protest happened before that? Did people not protest against WW1 and WW2 or was it forgotten in history? | [
"Australia's WW2 Prime Minister, John Curtin, protested during WW1 against both the war and the possible introduction of conscription (which was not introduced due to opposition from the Australian voters) and was arrested. I believe this makes him the only Australian Prime Minister to have spent time behind bars. ... | [
"The Armenian genocide by the Turks was a war crime. The use of poison gas was too, but all sides used it. I've never seen the German reprisals in Belgium described as a war crime, perhaps because Belgians were actively resisting the Germans. Part of the reason for disillusionment and cynicism was the inflammatory ... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit title about history:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer about history:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
} |
What are some areas of history that are understudied/new? | [
"North American indigenous peoples prior to 1400. I am reading 1491 and it's amazing how little we know about them: populations, culture, commerce, etc, etc. There may have been 100 million people in North America, we really don't know much at all about them."
] | [
"Just curious for everyone's thoughts. What is pop history, how do we differentiate it from academic history, and to what degree is it useful? Added query, what pop history do you find compelling or of exceprional quality?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
} |
12th century Spain: Some men are traveling through the countryside and get confronted by a bandit. In the ensuing scuffle, the bandit is killed. What happens to the body? | [
"I have no information to share, but your question is oddly specific to time and place (which makes it easier to answer, I'm sure), but I have to admit to a profound curiosity why you chose this time and location? I could see someone inquiring on such a matter during the time of Cervantes and Don Quixote, or other ... | [
"In the Satyricon of Petronius (paragraph 111-112) a soldier guarding the crosses to forbade proper burials to bandits is distracted by the mourning of a widow crying days after days on the corpse of his husband. He try to consolate her and then began a relationship with the widow. Relatives of one of the bandits t... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
} |
Photos of the founding fathers without the wigs? | [
"Interestingly enough, George Washington never wore a wig and Jefferson only did some of the time. Both of them pomaded, powdered, and styled their own hair. Haircare of the 18th century includes pomading and powder just like we use conditioner and shampoo today. So, if they were to go without their wigs they likel... | [
"What do you mean on them? The signs, the walls, floors?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
Did hospitals in US cities like Philadelphia have the ability in 1984 to test transfusion blood for AIDS, but didn't due to "special interests" banning the tests? | [
"According to [The Henry J. Kiser Family Foundation's page about the history of HIV](_URL_1_) The virus wasn't even identified until 1984, and the first test was approved in 1985. And [here](_URL_0_) is a paper that summarizes the confusion surrounding the state of the blood supply during the early years of the AI... | [
"It's not gonorrhea that makes us balk at transfusing blood from someone with an STD. It's the underlying reason you contracted it: high-risk sexual behaviors which are associated with more severe diseases, particularly HIV and Hepatitis. And while HIV testing has gotten much better, there is still the potential fo... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
Is America's war in Vietnam at all responsible for the recession of communism throughout the world? | [
"Would you mind clarifying the question a little? Are you asking if the American participation in the Vietnam War is responsible for the recession of communism *now*?"
] | [
"Was any Asian country capable of helping the United States during the revolutionary war?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
} |
How did having a huge overseas empire logistically help/hurt the British during WWII? | [
"i asked a similar question a while ago _URL_0_ and one of the core things people replied about was that the empire supplied a massive amount of raw resources to the british war effort, oil from the middle east was the prime example."
] | [
"Was any Asian country capable of helping the United States during the revolutionary war?"
] | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
} |
in 1924 if you mentioned to someone (someone from the Anglo sphere) the words either “spaceship” or “space- alien” do you think it's likely (more than 50-50) that you would have had to explain the concept to them before going on? | [
"I think it's likely you'd have to explain it. As /u/Erilaz said, Tsiolkovsky's work doesn't come until 1924, and Google Ngram doesn't show *any* mentions of the term \"spaceship\" before 1900, only the briefest mentions between 1900 and 1910, [and the term doesn't really take off (pardon the pun) until 1940](_URL_... | [
"actually, back in high school my physics teacher read to us from a book by some physics guy. This particular bit of book was about sticking your tongue out as a form of non-verbal communication. There was a series of experiments which supported the theory that sticking your tongue out (or probably \"contorting you... | eli5_question_answer | {
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
} |
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