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Why did Christians destroy plutos gate?
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[
"Alot of temples fell into disuse and disrepair after te rise of Christianity unless they were used as a church, which to my knowledge didn't happen too often. Many, along with other buildings not in use like theaters and arenas, were scavenged for building materials, not deliberately destroyed. From what I've read they did not completely destroy it and an earthquake marked its final destruction. That it was a temple to Pluto, the God of Hades, which the Christians associated with Hell and the Devil could have played a part in it being selected over other buildings to be torn down as well."
] |
[
"They constitute idoltry. Even though nobody worships them and they just sit there and Isis knows this they broke them to repersent their hatred for idol worship and how Islam came to destroy the ideology."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
}
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Tuesday Trivia | Gods and Creation Stories
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[
"The story so far: In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move. - Douglas Adams \"The Restaurant at the End of the Universe\" Books longer than the series itself could be written about the affect \"The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy\" series has had on modern culture. Among the notable mentions though is the place the above quote has found amongst the nonreligious crowd as an easy creation story. Ranking probably second in importance to the answer to everything being 42."
] |
[
"Next Week's Theme: 'Royalty, Nobility, and the Exercise of Power' To be followed by: \"Eastern Europe\""
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
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Why Do Paintings of George Washington Look So Awkward?
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[
"Really, what we're talking about is opinion and perception, not history. I'm not sure why Washington looks \"awkward and even a bit ridiculous\" to you; perhaps you could expand on it a bit and enlighten us? These portraits of Washington were painted while he was in his thirties and forties, the first in [1772](_URL_0_), the second in [1776](_URL_2_), and the third in [1779](_URL_1_). When I look at these images, I see a large, vigorous man in the prime of life. Washington, a Virginia aristocrat and once-and-future soldier, consciously patterned himself after the European officer class, and that is reflected in his dress. The formal pose, hand thrust in waistcoat, head tilted enigmatically, is a convention of period portrait painting, not a reflection of his natural posture."
] |
[
"Being Black Does Actually Have (Relatively Minor) Health Consequences, It's Just That They're Obviated By Modern Life. There's An Energy Cost To Have Extra Melanin, Even A Small One, So If You Don't Need It It Won't Be Selected For. Melanin Reduces Vitamin-D Uptake From The Sun If Sunlight Is Lower Than You're Adapted For. Vitamin-D Deficiency Was Very Common In Black Children In The Northern US And Europe Before Modern Technology Made Nutrients More Easily Accessible. Being Black Or Brown Outside Of The Tropics Would Have Been Maladaptive For Most Of Human History Because There Would Not Have Been Enough Sunlight For Proper Nutrient Uptake. Capital Letters."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the post:",
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How did the Mexica (aka Aztecs) deal with the umbilical cord after birth? Was there any cultural significance attached to it or was it merely disposed of?
|
[
"Aztec births were a highly ritualized affair involving spirituality and midwifery. When the umbilical cord was removed it was preserved and when a son reached adulthood he would bring his to a battle field and bury it. A daughter would bury hers next to the family's hearth. There is an illustrated book called the Florentine Codex, I believe, that describes most (if not all) practices in regards to birth and raising children. [Edited for link] (_URL_0_)"
] |
[
"The umbilical cord connects the newborn animal to the placenta, which is an organ that attaches to the mother's uterus and is the channel through which nutrients flow to the embryo as it grows in the uterus. The placenta is expelled from the mother immediately after birth, and each animal has a separate one. Most animal mothers will eat the placenta, which is very rich in nutrients, severing it from the umbilical cord in the process. The rest of the cord will dry up and fall off in a few days on its own. The umbilical cord has no nerves, so the severing, drying and falling off do not cause any pain."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
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[Meta?] Does anyone have any tips for running an historical society?
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[
"It is important first of all to have a clear idea of why a historical society needs to be organized - what is its mission and who does it serve? If that is clear, many other answers will follow (including whether it is necessary to form a historical society). If you have a clear idea of who you want to serve - and who NEEDS to be served - asking your constituency for input is the next step - and there again, answers are likely to unfold. Good luck."
] |
[
"This is really cool! Is there an easy way to search through it for a particular topic?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
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Why did General Longstreet appear to shift his views so radically after the Civil War?
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[
"Without commenting on Longstreet himself, I think it's worth noting that just because someone fought for a particular side in the Civil War that doesn't *necessarily* mean they were perfectly ideologically aligned with that side. In a society in which family and community ties were extremely important, people often fought for reasons of loyalty to their family/city/state to the exclusion of ideological considerations. Even Robert E Lee had complex and contradictory attitudes toward the issues of slavery and secession."
] |
[
"Most likely, he did not approve. David McCullough's biography infers that those who blame Truman for setting the conditions for the Vietnam War are incorrect, that 'he never intended for the CIA to become what it did' during that conflict, and that he held to his intended, more limited approach, during Korea. You pointed it out first, but make of the the non-commenting what you will; from the McCullough book (which I highly, highly recommend): > Lyndon Johnson came to Independence several times again, hoping to enlist Truman's endorsement of the war in Vietnam. But Truman, who as President had first pledged American support for the French against Ho Chi Minh, made no statement about the war. Privately, he had become more and more disillusioned with Johnson's leadership."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
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What did the British do the Irish after they took over the island? also what were the Key terms of the Good Friday agreement?
|
[
"The Good Friday Agreement 1998 set up a Northern Ireland Assembly to govern the region. This is a devolved assembly subordinate to the British Parliament. The Assembly parties form a coalition executive under a First and Deputy First Minister. Cross border institutions were to connect Northern Ireland departments with their equivalents in the Republic. The Republic of Ireland agreed to remove its constitutional claim to Northern Ireland and replace it with recognition of the right of the majority of Northern Ireland to decide its future. Several reforms were included but put in the hands of separate committees or measures. These included police reform, the decommissioning of paramilitary arms and the release of prisoners."
] |
[
"Follow up. If the American colonies were so upset by the raised taxes from the French and Indian war how did other British colonies view the war of independence?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
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How was the Great Wall of China effective?
|
[
"I've talked about this question (exactly, more or less) [here](_URL_0_)."
] |
[
"Was any Asian country capable of helping the United States during the revolutionary war?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the question about History:",
"pos": "Represent the comment about History:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
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Was there any point during WWII where Germany could've "quit while they were ahead"?
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[
"The only point where Germany could have conceivably quit while they were ahead would have been just prior to the invasion of Poland. At that point German had annexed Austria and most of Czechoslovakia. The international community had accepted these territorial acquisitions. Britain and France had gone to war with Germany because of their invasion of Poland, and Britain would not have made any amicable peace with Germany that did not involve the liberation of Poland. Germany's only options quitting the war at this point would be to relinquish all post 1939 conquests or decisively defeat Britain and bring them to the negotiating table. After 1941, with the entry of the USSR and USA into the war, decisively defeating Britain became impossible. At Yalta, the Allies agreed that not to make a separate peace with Germany, and the only peace that would be accepted would be the unconditional surrender of Germany."
] |
[
"In WWI, they just didn't join a side (partially because their economy wasn't doing so well). Instead, they made money by selling goods to both sides of the conflict. In WWII, they were occupied in a pretty bad civil war, which the Nationalists eventually won in 1939. The Nationalists were reasonably closely aligned with Nazi Germany, so Hitler didn't feel like invading them, and they never declared war on the Allies because their country was in shambles after the Civil War. Basically, Spain wasn't a threat to anyone during the Civil War, but at the same time no one could spare the resources needed to invade them."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
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Counties of the Kingdom of Hungary
|
[
"Hello, maybe this [map of 15th century Hungary](_URL_0_) will help. It's not the best resolution, but at least you can read the names of the counties."
] |
[
"They were made in chronological order from when the state became part of the US."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
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George Grenville: was he the biggest cause of the American Revolution?
|
[
"Grenville was Prime Minister only between 1763-65. All subsequent controversial bills--the Townshend Duties, the Quebec Act, the Intolerable Acts--were passed by other ministries. There was a lot of turnover leading up to 1776. We have Rockingham, 1765-66; Chatham, 1766-68; Grafton, 1768-70; and Lord North, 1770-82. You also need to consider the collective process by which acts made it through Parliament. The Prime Minister was not some kind of dictator. There's also King George III to consider, who was not exactly a figurehead. My point is that power was diffused. Also look at the flip side of the dispute. Why were these acts controversial in the first place? Why were the colonists so intransigent? Why did the colonists have such radical beliefs regarding the power of Parliament? Why couldn't they reach a compromise? Wouldn't it be more logical to say that the colonists themselves were the biggest \"cause\" of their own revolution?"
] |
[
"Was any Asian country capable of helping the United States during the revolutionary war?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
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Did Napoleon, at any moment in his adulthood, used to spend a significant part of his free time studying mathematics?
|
[
"Napoleon wasnt a mathemetician in our conventional sense, he recieve no education in anything resembling advanced or conceptual mathematics. Rather, Napoleon was a trained artillerist, who recived an education in ballistics. This is an important distinction. Napoleon learned applied math, military math to help him become a better artillerist and engineer. He was taught at a military academy, by career officers. Napoleon's formal education was oriented towards the effective employment of his weapons, the practical side of math, so I find it unlikely that he would have devoted much effort to theoretical geometry. Rather, the claim seems to me to be the residual effects of Napoleon's genius in other fields, a sort of \"Napoleon can do anything\" myth."
] |
[
"No real research or understanding of it, but my speculation is: I just want to spend as much time as I can unconscious so I can spend as little time as I can thinking about this."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
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Reading Suggestions for Slovak/Czech History?
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[
"In regards to Slovakia, I know of one recent book that specifically covers the history if the country: *A History of Slovakia: The Struggle for Survival * by Stanislav J. Kirschbaum. It is more a political history, but does go back centuries and is specifically about Slovakia."
] |
[
"Next Week's Theme: 'Royalty, Nobility, and the Exercise of Power' To be followed by: \"Eastern Europe\""
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the question:",
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Why was there no attempt of Castille/Spain annexing Portugal?
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[
"Well, there was a period of 60 years were Spain dis control Portugal. You might want to check out the answers to this question- [Why Spain has never invaded/kept Portugal under its reign?](_URL_0_) which has some good links to answers in the faqs."
] |
[
"By demise of \"its ally\" are you referring to the defeat of Napoleon in 1814 or Napoleon seizing control?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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Is there any definitive proof to confirm or deny Anne Boleyn's alleged deformities?
|
[
"From what I remember most of the surviving contemporary sources that she had extra fingers and/or moles were recorded by the Spanish ambassador, who as a supporter of Katherine of Aragon, obviously had a motive for making her look bad. So I'd take them with a grain of salt, so to speak."
] |
[
"Many believe her fame reached its peak during 1911 when she went missing from the Lourve in Paris for almost 2 years only to be found safe and sound. The only damage done to the Mona Lisa was the fact that she had been returned without any eyebrows. To this day scholars and historians alike wonder what happened to this fair maidens brows. Some say she never had them. Others, conspiracy theorists and such, insist they were traded in for government secrets that later won WW2. Regardless of the truth it still remains the largest mystery of the last 1000 years"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
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Was Anne Boleyn really in an incestuous relationship with her brother? Is there any proof about it? Or was it a conspiracy against her?
|
[
"Is something going on with Anne Boleyn in pop culture right now? This question was just asked a week ago. This question was explored here: _URL_0_"
] |
[
"The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn by Eric Ives is a fantastic read. It's one of the most in depth accounts of her life (seeing as so many other accounts tend to look at Anne as just one in the succession of Henry VIII's wives), and he poses very convincing arguments that paint Anne's execution as a result of political maneuvering and changing alliances beyond her control, rather than the far too simplistic reasoning that it was only because of her failure to produce an heir (or the even worse argument that it was because of her character). It also keeps a very balanced picture of the queen. When dealing with such a controversial figure as Anne, it's all too easy for authors to slip into the traps of either demonizing her or overly defending her. Ives strikes a neat balance between the two."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
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Native American History: What is an interesting contemporary issue with a Native American Group?
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[
"The examples are pretty good ones. Water rights are a big issue for multiple tribes and they're quite a bit on it. I'm sure someone will be doing casinos but there's a ton in there if you're looking for the subject. Some others from the top of my head: Cherokee Freedmen, thinning of tribal rolls by tribal governments. Best of luck."
] |
[
"If you're interested in Precolumbian history 1491 is a good start. If you are looking for modern revisionist history you can look to Howard Zinn's work, especially \"A People's History...\" Were you looking at the treatment of any subject in American history in particular?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
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What would I find in a 1920s wallet?
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[
"While you wait for a more specific answer, /u/Argos_the_Dog answered a similar question a while back: _URL_0_"
] |
[
"What drugs were popular in 19th century Britain?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
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In ep. 2 of Hardcore History's Blueprint for Armageddon, Dan Carlin says "...Germanic barbarians in formerly Roman territory looking up at crumbling aqueducts and wondering what sorts of giants once roamed the Earth that could build stuff like that". Well, who did they think built them?
|
[
"Not to discourage other answers, here is /u/BRIStoneman and /u/itsallfolklore take on the question of [giants building Roman buildings](_URL_0_) in the context of England."
] |
[
"The recipes for the stuff Romans were using was unfortunately lost to time, as were certain aspects of architecture such as building a dome. This happened because the late Roman Empire was down and out, the government stopped public works projects because it couldn't afford them, the trade of making mortar was lost to time, and after repeated wars and sackings the libraries had been burned which really solidified the loss of knowledge. As well, I am sure the people would look at the buildings and think \"how in the hell...\", but you can't spend too much time pondering the past when the present is filled with disease, war and famine."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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[META] What would it take to get the comments link to display the number of non-deleted comments and can this be done?
|
[
"Simple answer, it can't be done. That is a reddit-level site \"feature\" which is part of their anti-spam measures. Longer answer, there are ways which it could be 'hacked', through CSS tricks or link flair. The problem there is that it would require either an incredible amount of manual work from the mods, or else very, very extensive automation. This is discussed more in [this META thread](_URL_0_)."
] |
[
"A few things to bear in mind: 1. This cannot be accomplished through CSS, and is pretty much impossible for now unless someone is *very* creative 2. Sometimes the mods mark a post as answered if it is very sufficiently answered and understandable (and has received a lot of attention/comments), or of OP said \"I get it, thanks!\" and didn't mark as answered. So yeah, it would be nice, but the best you can do is edit the text of the post to link to the good answer or just gild the comment (although anyone can do this). edit: we can also change the text of the \"answered\"!"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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What accounts for the "spirit of exploration" that led the Vikings to discover Iceland, Greenland, and eventually North America?
|
[
"In his book *the Vikings* by Robert Ferguson he claims that there are several theories and factors. I can't remember all of them but one was that people would get bannedshed (sp?) and have to find new places to live. Another one was that people were looking for new places to trade/ live because the economies \"back home\" might have been not-so-good/ the economies could only sustain so many people. If you want to learn more I loved Ferguson's book and I highly recommend it (I listened to the audio book, and I got it from Audible)."
] |
[
"Are you talking about the Vinland sagas? These are stories about a guy \"Erik the Red\" who was thrown out of Norway for being a murderer. He settled in Iceland for a while and got into more trouble, which encourages him to seek new land to settle. The two books you want are: \"Saga of the Greenlanders\" and \"saga of Erik the Red\" There has been research into the contents of these stories, and there is archeological evidence of a Norse settlement at L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland which is dated to the correct time period. But I think it would be incorrect that it was \"greenlanders\" who did the exploration..."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
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What were static electricity shocks believe to be during antiquity and the Middle Ages?
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[
"Not discouraging further answers, but u/hillsonghoods wrote [this about a year ago](_URL_0_)."
] |
[
"They were created to explain the unexplainable like lightning, earthquakes, rain, etc... The gods did it."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the question:",
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I've been told that during the Falklands war the artillery on British ships missed a lot because they failed to correct for the Coriolis effect on the southern hemisphere. Is there any truth to this?
|
[
"A reply to /u/vanavv We can compute this. The Coriolis coefficient is f = 2 \\Omega sin(\\phi), where \\Omega is the rotation rate of the earth, \\phi is the latitude. For the Falklands we have about 52' S. So f = 1.14e-4. The earth's rotation rate at the equator is about 465.1 m/s, let's discount this to 440 m/s at the southerly latitude. The Rossby number, giving the significance of the Coriolis effect, is given by Ro = U/(fL), where U is the product of the velocity vector of the system under consideration to the Coriolis effect. I don't know the shell velocity over its trajectory, so if /u/thefourthmaninaboat can give me that information we can do further computations. L is the length vector, so let's quote /u/thefourthmaninaboat and give it the max range which is generously about 15 km."
] |
[
"Because as the cannon was on the planet's surface, it was already moving 1500 km/h in the same direction as the surface. This velocity is added to the velocity from the projectile firing. That said, if you shoot a cannon shell a long way north or south, you *do* see an effect from Earth's rotation, called the Coriolis Effect. You might want to stop watching flat-earther stuff, it just tries to make you dumber."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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Were authors really paid by the line or word in the 19th century?
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[
"Authors being paid by the word were generally writing for magazines or periodicals. Some of Dickens' works were first published in serial. The trend really exploded with pulp magazines (super cheap magazines filled with stories etc) during the first half of the 20th century, with many famous writers using this form of work (since it offered regular and reasonably secure pay. Some famous authors who wrote for pulp mags include Lovecraft, L Ron Hubbard, etc. Serialisation was actually quite common for authors as a form of publishing until more recent times and was always a very common way for sci fi and fantasy authors to write."
] |
[
"What drugs were popular in 19th century Britain?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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How did Martin Luther get home after the Diet of Worms? Why didn't the authorities execute him while they had him there?
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[
"On his way home from the Diet of Worms Frederick III of Saxony had men \"kidnap\" Martin Luther and take him to a secure location known as Wartburg castle. Luther was kept under an assumed name, safe from Imperial authorities. As for why they didn't execute him at the Diet of Worms. Well part of the reason Luther came to the diet of Worms in the first place is that he was promised safe passage to and from the Diet in exchange for sharing his views with the Emperor and agreeing to go on trial."
] |
[
"Martin Luther had a history of announcing theological debates this way even before the thesis. This was simply a way to announce publicly to the church and town about him wanting to challenge the traditional beliefs and practices within the church. There was nothing special about doing it this way. Source: \"Here I Stand: A life of Martin Luther\" by Roland H. Balton"
] |
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Considering how often English kings wrested political control from much stronger blood claimants, is it arguable that heredity played a much smaller role in political life than the public largely believes?
|
[
"It might help if you provided some examples for us. Are you thinking of the Middle Ages or the modern period? Within my own area, I can only think of four really nasty fights over inheritance - William of Normandy and Harold Godwinson in the 11th century, Stephen and Matilda in the 12th century, Richard II and Henry Bolingbroke at the tail end of the 14th, and Richard III and Henry Tudor in the 15th. Of these, two saw stronger blood claimants successful (William and Matilda), and a third was a fight between first cousins who both had reasonably strong connections (Richard & Henry Bolingbroke). Henry Tudor is the only example I'm aware of of someone who lacked a strong blood connection seizing the throne during the Middle Ages, and that's because it was an outright rebellion, not a fight over who was the qualified heir."
] |
[
"Saying they \"didn't have problems\" is overstating things somewhat. There were several plots against her during her reign, but she had the support of others in government. Even though England hadn't yet become a constitutional monarchy, Elizabeth made a point of seeking and heeding advice from advisers throughout her reign, which was a golden age of stability compared to what came before and after. Overall, I get the impression that her gender was a minor issue compared to the other problems facing England."
] |
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Canada, Australia, New Zealand: these former British colonies enjoy an unusually high quality of life compared to the rest of the former British Empire, and sometimes even outdo the UK itself in democratic/journalistic freedoms, medical care, etc. How did this come to pass?
|
[
"[I quite like the topvoted answer in this thread.](_URL_0_) Perhaps another user will have more to contribute, or you can use the /u/ function to ping the person who answered this question if you have follow-ups."
] |
[
"And building on what bourbonsoakedscholar mentioned regarding there being a large number of countries in South America with different histories and outcomes, we can find countries in the region that have done quite well for themselves, albeit perhaps not reaching the level of economic development seen in the United States and Europe. Costa Rica comes to mind as a great example of avoiding militarism and dictatorships, establishing a stable democracy, high levels of education and literacy, good environmental stewardship, and have placing 63 on the [United Nation's human development index](_URL_0_)."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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What did ancient Chinese mathematicians use for variables in formulas?
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[
"Mathematic formulas, ie symbolic math is a fairly modern idea. I'm not that familiar with ancient Chinese math, but the ancient Greeks (with the exception of Diophantes) didn't use that many special symbols for their math. They expressed things geometrically, often in a very wordy style, or even more often using pictures. Instead of saying x^2 + y^2 = z^2 they would say \"the area of one square added to the area of a second square is equal to the area of a third square\". This way they didn't need any variables. I would presume the ancient Chinese used similar methods."
] |
[
"The Romans could do fractions and had quite very advanced mathematics and geometry. They didn't have calculus, but there was still a lot they could do."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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How did South America end up so much worse off than North america? (Crime, economy, etc.)
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[
"And building on what bourbonsoakedscholar mentioned regarding there being a large number of countries in South America with different histories and outcomes, we can find countries in the region that have done quite well for themselves, albeit perhaps not reaching the level of economic development seen in the United States and Europe. Costa Rica comes to mind as a great example of avoiding militarism and dictatorships, establishing a stable democracy, high levels of education and literacy, good environmental stewardship, and have placing 63 on the [United Nation's human development index](_URL_0_)."
] |
[
"Yo ho ho! Yer not alone in askin', and kind strangers have explained: 1. [ELI5:why is mexico a third world country while the U.S and Canada are first world ](_URL_6_) 1. [ELI5: Why is Mexico so poor compared to the US and Canada? ](_URL_4_) 1. [ELI5: Why is Mexico so underdeveloped in comparison to the US and Canada? ](_URL_1_) 1. [ELI5: Why is Mexico so much less developed than the other two North American countries? ](_URL_0_) 1. [ELI5: How did Mexico end up poorer than the US and Canada? ](_URL_5_) 1. [ELI5: Mexico is on the same landmass as USA and Canada. Why is it much poorer and more corrupt? ](_URL_3_) 1. [ELI5: Why is Canada so much more developed as a country than Mexico? ](_URL_2_)"
] |
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}
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In the television show MASH, much reference is made to the fact that military discipline and order can not be expected from doctors...was this true to real life?
|
[
"Enlistees in the U.S. Army who already have a medical degree (MD or DO) are automatically commissioned officers, usually with the rank of Captain. Physicians do not have to attend basic training or officer candidate school, unlike most other military personnel. Unlike many other officers (especially careerists), physicians in the U.S. military usually have substantial life experience outside of the military, which colors their approach to military life. The U.S. Military has historically struggled to retain skilled medical personnel and therefore was disinclined to subject them to some of the harsher forms of military discipline, since physicians require many more years of training and education (usually outside of the military) than most other types of specialists, and have many job opportunities outside of military. [The history of the U.S. Army Medical Service Corps has a chapter on the Korean conflict that you may find illuminating.](_URL_0_)"
] |
[
"The process of basic training is basically reprogramming (what is sometimes called \"brainwashing,\" although that has negative connotations.) Sleep deprivation impairs critical thinking skills and lowers defenses. It's all part of the process of taking a bunch of random young men from very different backgrounds and places and rapidly turning them into a single team that follows its leaders without questioning. I'm not trying to make any judgment in saying that; it's just the best way we've figured out to reduce the possibility of those young men going into war and immediately getting themselves killed. *Full Metal Jacket* is probably the best example of the \"why\" of the process without stating the obvious -- although, of course, there is one major malfunction with the process in that film..."
] |
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Catiline was just an unsuccessful Caesar.
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[
"Hard to tell. Most of what we know comes from Cicero and Sallust, especially the former is hardly a neutral party in this whole kerfuffle, and he was certainly blowing his own horn whenever he wrote anything down. So I don't think you can dismiss Catiline as \"evil conspirator\" on the basis of Cicero's reports alone; especially knowing that the latter was not opposed to dirty politics either (see his Philippicae or his remarks about Octavian) - and this doesn't even cover the question of \"true history\" vs. \"moralizing history\" (which makes us approach Sallust with caution) and the question if the so-called conspiracy actually was worth the term. (word of caution: this isn't my area, as you can see from my flair. I *have* read Cicero's *In Catilinam*, but not Sallust)"
] |
[
"Late Republican Rome? Easy. Caesar was the most famous and Crassus was the richest."
] |
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[META] AskHistorians Meetup: New Orleans, LA, Thursday August 29
|
[
"You are required to bring tributes of cookies for me though. I just made this rule up, so therefore, it's a DEFINITE requirement! ...In all seriousness, I'm totally looking forward to it. Everyone who can make it totally should! Heck, I'm thinking about skipping out on my day of classes to be there. No excuses! :D"
] |
[
"The notion was part of the prejudices and fantasies of ancient people. Anybody who even thinks the signs matter should read up on where the ecliptic of the solar system travels these days. This plane of the ecliptic determines where the sun \"resides\". For instance, astrologers will tell you that we are now at the end of Ares (Mar 21 to April 19). Guess what? Ares actually has the sun from April 18 to May 13. The ecliptic has slipped since Roman days, and the constellations don't line up. Scroll to the bottom of the text in the link for the dates. Read the article for the reasoning. _URL_0_ Here is where the sun is these days: Capricorn - Jan 20 to Feb 16 Aquarius - Feb 16 to Mar 11 Pisces - Mar 11 to Apr 18 Aries - Apr 18 to May 13 Taurus - May 13 to Jun 21 Gemini - Jun 21 to Jul 20 Cancer - Jul 20 to Aug 10 Leo - Aug 10 to Sep 16 Virgo - Sep 16 to Oct 30 Libra - Oct 30 to Nov 23 Scorpius - Nov 23 to Nov 29 Ophiuchus - Nov 29 to Dec 17 Sagittarius - Dec 17 to Jan 20"
] |
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{
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What did pre-modern people make of static electricity.
|
[
"Hi there, Not to preclude further discussion, but /u/Hillsonghoods has written [this](_URL_0_) excellent discussion of pre-modern interpretations of static electricity, which you'll hopefully find interesting!"
] |
[
"What color is the skin of most of the people who make and utilize those drawings? Theres your answer"
] |
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What were The Soviet Union's claims to a better quality of life?
|
[
"I don't have enough cited knowledge to say anything without violating subreddit rules, but you may be interested in a documentary called [My Perestroika](_URL_0_). It's about a group of adults who were in their early 20s when Communism fell. They were children in the 70s when approval of the regime was higher and discuss things like how living standards and views about the west, their leadership, their history, etc. changed as they grew up."
] |
[
"Was any Asian country capable of helping the United States during the revolutionary war?"
] |
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How did early Venetians build foundations underwater?
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[
"The base of foundations of Venice are not masonry, but rather wooden pilings. Pilings were driven into the clay and then limestone masonry built on top near the waterline. Wood in salt water is surprising durable. The anaerobic environment does not allow organisms that cause rot to survive. [Boston's Back Bay neighborhood is similar](_URL_0_). It was built on the former tidal flats and the groundwater levels are carefully controlled because if the wood is allowed to dry out, then fungus can take hold and the piling must be replaced."
] |
[
"New York is the oldest, densest city in the US and one of the densest cities in the world. People have been living there for more than a hundred years. When they dig they find all kinds of pipes, cables and wires for water, sewage, electricity and telephones that they need to work around or replace. Also NYC is on bedrock. It is much harder to dig."
] |
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Just watched the German video of the neo-nazi march turned against itself. I was wondering how shaving one's head become analogous to being a fascist?
|
[
"Skinheads originated as part of an English counterculture during the 1960s and 1970s. Early Skinheads were young, working class Brits, and the subculture was along similar lines to 1970s Punk Rock. It was not originally racially or politically motivated. However, sometime during this period, certain Skinheads also became involved in racist and xenophobic movements like the neo-Nazis and the National Front, although they were a minority of the subculture overall. However, the image of violent, racially motivated Skinheads became synonymous in the media with these racist and xenophobic movements. As this image attached to news of racial violence traveled into mainland Europe, violent racists there started adopting the image as well, and over time, the image of Skinheads became fully synonymous with White Power racism."
] |
[
"Am i the only one who thinks that this and the other examples below are a good thing? Hear me out, maybe the best way to take the power away from these horrible horrible people and ideas (and the people who still believe them) is to disassociate their symbolism from said movements. Imagine if in a hundred years the swastika symbol is associated in peoples minds with nothing more than any other shape? Its lost its power. Just my opinion."
] |
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How did gamblers in the 1800s determine the ordering of the poker hands? Was probability theory sufficiently well understood at the time that they were able to correctly compute the likelihood of being dealt each hand? Was there any debate about which hands should beat which?
|
[
"Not an answer to your question, but I've always found it fascinating that the rules of blackjack work out to an ideal edge for the house with perfect player strategy, even though the rules were created long before the technology and existed to correctly prove the correct strategy or to prove the house edge. I'd love it if anyone could shed light on that too."
] |
[
"Blackjack, as played, has enough of a history (that is, a history with the current deck, not a history as in \"500 years ago...\") so that you can know the odds going forward and adjust your bets accordingly. Compare that to roulette. Every spin of the roulette wheel has the exact same odds, which favor the casino. By the end of a particular blackjack shoe, the odds might slightly favor the player. If you know that, and bet high when the odds are in your favor and low when they are not, you can come out ahead. There are lots of ways that casinos prevent this, but it is at least conceivable to do. With roulette, it's impossible. I am unfamiliar with the rules of most other games, but I don't believe any have a known history like blackjack."
] |
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I found a documentary about history never told in schools from WWI - JFK - 9/11. Historians of reddit: what do you think about this video? Does it have basis?
|
[
"I clicked to a random part of the video and it started talking about how the Illuminati picked Hitler, at which point I immediately quit the video to preserve my sanity."
] |
[
"Check out the /r/AskHistorians archives. If you ask there they will search for you. Historians have issues with *'Guns Germs and Steel'*...so if you want a better answer than the top one here, go there."
] |
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There's a TIL on the frontpage that voter fraud likely got Kennedy elected over Nixon. Is there any reputable evidence for this?
|
[
"Please note that, in AskHistorians, the onus is on *you* to provide appropriate evidence for the historical claims you make. Stating that it can be found on Google is not helpful. Mentioning something you may have heard once is not helpful. Guessing based on what you remember from X number of years after the event is not helpful. Proper comments for this subreddit should be in-depth, comprehensive, and informative while properly situating the answer in its historical context. It should also be backed by appropriate primary and secondary sources, whether or not explicitly mentioned in the comment (i.e. you should always be ready to provide sources *if asked*). In other words, answers here should be such as an historian of the subject would give. Thank you."
] |
[
"This [Wired article](_URL_0_) gives a good, ELI5-level discussion of the history and issues. I can't attest as to its accuracy, but I have no reason to question it either. TL;DR: Some conservatives (and in one case, apparent fascist troll) stacked the nomination ballots legally, causing a backlash in the final voting."
] |
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Did the Duke of Edinburgh really "fight" in WW2 or was he given safe postings, as the intended husband of the future Queen?
|
[
"Given he was still a Danish and Greek prince at this point (both titles he would later renounce to marry) and given that his brothers-in-law were Nazi sympathisers, and especially given that the Princess Elizabeth was 14 years old in 1940, was Philip actually seen as her intended during the war? Or just an impoverished Greek prince with British connections?"
] |
[
"There are two kinds of queens: * Queen Consort - the wife of a king, has no power or claim to the throne * Queen Regent - a ruling monarch Since the male line has precedent in England, having a King on the throne and a Queen Consort is more common...having a Queen Regent like Elizabeth is unusual. So giving the title of King to the husband of the ruling Queen Regent would be confusing, and lead people to believe he was in charge. Having the title of Prince Consort reaffirms his status as being inferior to the Queen Regent. The Duke of Edinburgh title was conferred to him by King George VI upon his marriage to then Princess Elizabeth. No doubt the marriage had something to do with the King's decision, but he is a Duke because the King made him one, not because he is married to a Queen."
] |
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"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
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How were Transgendered people viewed in the United States in the 1950's?
|
[
"Clarification op, are you talking about the phenomenon we describe as being transgender or about individuals specifically called transgendered?"
] |
[
"What drugs were popular in 19th century Britain?"
] |
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Did Ragnar Lodbrok really die with the snake pit?
|
[
"Ragnar may or may not have been a historical figure. The sources available to us place him right on the edge of a sort of legendary, imaginary past, alongside bunches of Scandinavian kings like Halfdan the Black, the Scylfing clan and others. It's been suggested that Ragnar might be a composite character - a mash-up of various real historical people. As for whether or not he was thrown into a pit of snakes, if he ever even existed: almost certainly not. There aren't bunches of the critters in northwestern Europe, and lots of these legendary kings meet almost comically grisly ends, like the Yngling dynasty of Swedish kings who supposedly drowned in vats of mead, were sacrificed to trolls and met other such outlandish fates. It's a literary trope."
] |
[
"Herodotus writes in his Histories how Cyrus the Great raised a massive banquet and left it guarded by only a few men as he performed battlefield maneuvers. 1/3 of Tomyris's army split off to capture it. They were all killed. Tomyris would go on to win the battle, however. She supposedly dipped Cyrus's head in a skin full of blood to make good on her threat to give him his fill of it. Edit: corrected an inaccuracy about the fate of Cyrus's skull."
] |
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{
"query": "Represent the title:",
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It is said Ragnar Lodbrok was killed by a pit of snakes. How common was death by snakes?
|
[
"It's usually suggested that this story (which dates only to the 12th century, about 350 years after the supposed events it describes) is a poetic invention - and even the historicity of Loðbrok himself is in some doubt. [This earlier thread](_URL_0_), featuring u/alriclofgar, goes into the problem in more detail. The thread also mentions other instances of snake pits being used as a method of execution. As an aside, only one species of venomous snake - the adder - is indigenous to the British Isles, and it is scarce. While its bite can be fatal, it is not invariably so. So a pit full of adders would be hard to populate and not hugely efficient as a method of execution."
] |
[
"Pre-Conversion Scandinavians saw the open ocean personified as a couple of gods; Aegir and his wife Ran. Aegir was the brewer of the gods (with his enormous bubbling cauldron; see the symbolism?) and generally a decent sort. His wife, however, was known as the seawitch and would cast her net, pulling unlucky sailors to their watery grave. It was said that those who drowned in the open sea went to live with Ran in her hall, much like the modern Davey Jones' Locker. The sea giveth, with riches and new lands for the taking, and the sea taketh away, with a watery grave."
] |
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
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Did the United States use biological warfare in the Korean War?
|
[
"No they did not. It was a propaganda campaign, which Chinese, North Korean, and Soviet officials concocted. The confessions that US soldiers gave only came after they were tortured by Chinese and DPRK interrogators. You can read the exact details in this summary of recent evidence on the [Wilson Center](_URL_0_) webpage (it's very long, but you can read the conclusion at the end)."
] |
[
"Why is the US so upset over the labeling of US treatment of Native Americans as a genocide?"
] |
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Where to find colonial tax data?
|
[
"The best place to go is the County Court Minutes, which are available on microfilm at the State Archives of North Carolina. For other possible sources, see the data and references in Marvin L. Michael Kay, \"The Payment of Provincial and Local Taxes in North Carolina, 1748-1771,\" *William and Mary Quarterly*, 26 (1969): 218–40, and Alan D. Watson, \"County Fiscal Policy in Colonial North Carolina,\" *North Carolina Historical Review*, 55 (1978): 284–305."
] |
[
"It's a big system. It also carries a bit from state to state. Are you interested in the application process? Policy? Logistics?"
] |
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"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
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I never understood the war of 1812.
|
[
"You may be interested in some of my older answers here. If you have more specific questions I'd be happy to elaborate. [On the general causes of the war](_URL_1_) [On prisoners' experiences during the war](_URL_2_) [and on the Great Lakes Region](_URL_0_)"
] |
[
"End of the world: No End of civilized society: definitely End of mankind: 50/50 Its all speculation though."
] |
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"query": "Represent the title:",
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What literature on military theory would West Point graduated that fought in the American Civil war have been familiar with?
|
[
"Jomini was widely read around the world at the time. His influence in the US would not be usurped by Clausewitz until the Vietnam era. All the drawings you see of civil war battlefields are textbook Jomini. The advantage that Jomini has over Clausewitz is that he is easy to understand. While both focus on Napoleon as the source of their theory, Jomini is really the most distilled “for dummies” version. Clausewitz at the time of the American civil war was still most widely read in Prussia. While Jomini dominated elsewhere. I’m in a class about strategy right now and we read Clausewitz, but only briefly discussed Jomini. Now, he’s seen as outdated while some of Clausewitz’s theories are very strong still."
] |
[
"Do you mean a contemporary society to themselves, or can they include past societies?"
] |
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After many years of war, around what time did the French and the British stop being mortal enemies?
|
[
"The short answer is Entente Cordiale in 1904, which means the alliance between the two is just now a century old. Prior to that, the two powers were certainly at odds, and this rivalry was critical to the development of each nation-state (I am thinking of Linda Colley's Britons as one example). As Richard Mayne notes in his collection Cross Channel Currents, the entente cordiale was not the first agreement between Britain and France but certainly the most effective and enduring, as it helped to create a great cooperation between the two. Still, the Great War played a pivotal role (as Britain was brought into the war not by the Entente agreement but rather by the Treaty of Belgium (at least according to diplomats at the time) in cementing the relations between the two states as one of cooperation."
] |
[
"Was any Asian country capable of helping the United States during the revolutionary war?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
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The musical *Hamilton* makes the case that Aaron Burr, who was surrounded by brilliant men , was not a figure of influence. We remember him only because he killed Hamilton. What historical VPs are unfairly forgotten - for their heroism or ideas or writing or impact in their own time?
|
[
"Sorry, we don't allow [\"example seeking\" questions](_URL_0_). It's not that your question was bad; it's that these kinds of questions tend to produce threads that are collections of disjointed, partial, inadequate responses. If you have a question about a specific historical event, period, or person, feel free to rewrite your question and submit it again. If you don't want to rewrite it, you might try submitting it to /r/history, /r/askhistory, or /r/tellmeafact. For further explanation of the rule, feel free to consult [this META thread](_URL_1_)."
] |
[
"First, the US has 44 administrations, but only 43 different presidents. Grover Cleveland was the only US president to hold 2 non-consecutive terms, so both his terms are counted as different administrations. Even in such a small group as that, you can't expect every president to be a stand-out. William Henry Harrison, for example, died 30 days into his presidency, so you can't expect to hear much about his presidential accomplishments. The ones we do remember tend to be memorable due to a combination of their image and their achievements. Being a recent president helps, too, as many people can name most of the presidents during their lifetime, but are weaker on earlier presidents."
] |
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Was GK Chesterton a particularly influential intellectual? If so, why don't we learn about him today?
|
[
"Well, he's not the most popular philosopher, that's for sure. I've read his books and I adore him - the thing is that in popular memory there is not enough room for many great thinkers as /u/YThatsSalty've mentioned. He was a great Christian apologist and a conservative, those are not the most popular ideas. But if you share them, you most probably know Chesterton. It's just like any, well, sepcialist knowledge. You won't learn about Geertz in classrom, you will eventualy hear his name if you study e.g. sociology or anthropology. Also, he is somewhat popular in Poland. Loads of his books and essays have been translated and published many times (before the War, even during communism and of course in last 20 years). I've seen his name today in an article I've read in quite popular weekly. Chesterton was briliant, we should mention him more often."
] |
[
"in 374 AD Ambrose became Bishop of Milan and went from being a fairly moderate Catholic who was tolerant of Arian Christians to a staunch anti Arian who tried to stamp out Arianism. Pretty radical change, I don't remember reading a clear explanation as to why. Any one able to confirm or is it a mystery?"
] |
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How does one exactly "capture" a city in modern times?
|
[
"While we've approved the comment, please remember that AskHistorians is *not* a place to discuss current events -- please keep historical discussion here within the confines of our [\"20-year rule,\"](_URL_0_) that is, through 1996 inclusive but no further. For more discussion on this rule, you can consult [this Rules Roundtable](_URL_1_). Thanks!"
] |
[
"What do you mean by downfall? This is still a dominant part of current culture."
] |
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What kind of clothes would a ship boy wear during the early 1800?
|
[
"How detailed and accurate does it have to be? Also are you going to make the costumes or find them piece by piece? Budget? I can give you some suggestions depending on how much resources you have on hand. Edit: also what are the scenes you would appear in? Are you working the entire time?"
] |
[
"What drugs were popular in 19th century Britain?"
] |
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How were the large pre-industrial Chinese cities like Kaifeng and Hangzhou able to grow beyond 1 million inhabitants?
|
[
"At least for Lin'an (as Hangzhou was then known), the population increase (for the city and the region as a whole) was not a planned thing. For a good period of time leading up to and following the relocation of the Song court to Lin'an, there had been a steady influx of Northern migrants who were fleeing the multi-party wars in the North. This had a major impact on the languages of the region as well, which is my particular focus on this time period. The Yangtze Delta has always been a focus of immigration well before the 20th century. It wasn't that someone said \"lets make this place huge\" so much as it was already fairly well populated, and then wars in the north pushed a huge number of people into the area. Why the Delta and not somewhere else is because the area was already fairly well off and had the ability to support the numbers. In case you have follow up questions I'm actually in the field at the moment so cant get online so easily. It might take a while for me to respond, but ill definitely try."
] |
[
"As far back as we can reasonably record, India and China were massive civilizations containing the bulk of the world's population - they're both excellently suited for large-scale agriculture."
] |
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
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Did eastern and western philosophy independently come up with earth, wind, fire and water as basic elements.
|
[
"Eastern philosophy (specifically Taoism) uses 5 elements rather than the 4 in the west. It is composed of fire, earth, water, **wood**, and **metal**, which is quite different so I would conclude that they were not independently developed at all. Furthermore, what you think of as wind (as represented on ROK's flag with 3 solid lines) is not correct. It represents the concept of heaven (or sky) which seems like it is analogous with wind or air, but it is more close to the concept of change which is in contrast with the concept of earth which is the unchanging. In typical Taoist symbolism, there are eight different trigrams. The four that were chosen represents opposing forces (earth vs heaven, water vs fire). The flag is all about representing balance, which is why these symbols are places on opposing corners as well. Hope this helps."
] |
[
"The ELI5 is that we assume that the soul is the opposite of the body, and since the body is mortal, the soul is not mortal. As for why he would just assume that the soul is the opposite of the body, I think the relative looseness of his reasoning probably had something to do with his plans for the following day."
] |
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
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What was the first song with the I-V-vi-IV chord progression?
|
[
"[Andalusian Cadence!](_URL_2_) Also known as the Diatonic Phrygian Tetrachord--sometimes written as i-bVII-bVI-V (or, in the key of A, the descending sequence A, G, F, E) [the Dorian tetrachord--](_URL_1_) A popular melodic pattern of Ancient Greece[5] offers a possible starting point for the Andalusian cadence. A sequence more or less close to the Greek tetrachord structure might have been known to the[ Moors in Southern Spain](_URL_0_) and spread from there through Western Europe. The French troubadours were influenced by the Spanish music."
] |
[
"Without getting into too much music theory, every scale is based on an 8 note series of steps. In the case of country/blues, it's typically a I-IV-V progression. A song like Sweet Home Alabama is a play on this in the key of G. It's just the reverse order, (V-IV-I, D-C-G). It's just putting together chords from the scale in your desired key. The chords follow a standard pattern. M(ajor)-m(inor)-m-M-M-m-Diminished-M with the first and last being the same chord. All of this is, of course, basic theory. Not hard and fast rules. A lot of music does not follow these rules."
] |
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"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
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What led New Jersey to becoming the most densely populated state?
|
[
"It's a small state adjacent to two great port districts, and to two very large cities. That created opportunities for manufacturing, for warehousing and supply of New York City and Philadelphia, building dense settlements like Trenton, Hoboken, Jersey City, and Newark. Easy access to the office jobs of Manhattan (and to a lesser extent, Center City Philadelphia) led in the 20th century to the creation of \"bedroom\" suburbs that are less dense than industrial cities but much more dense than farmland."
] |
[
"Because many TV writers live in New York City, and New Jersey is right next door. So those people have a lot of topical references to throw around. Oh yeah, Newark NJ was once considered the most dangerous city in America due to gang violence. And the state has more Superfund (environmental disaster cleanup) sites than any other."
] |
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La Navidad – What do we know about the first Spanish colony in Americas?
|
[
"Is it against the rules to ask for book recommendations on this topic? if not I would like to do so."
] |
[
"The Phillipines was part of the Spanish empire for over 300 years. It was even named after King Philip II of Spain."
] |
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Could a modern person have an understandable conversation with a Colonial American?
|
[
"While you wait for an answer to those three questions, you might try reading the answers to this related question from nine months ago: * [What is the furthest year I can go back in time to England and be able to communicate with people?](_URL_0_) > Probably some time in the early 1500s, though the late 1400s might be possible with some patience and concentration. There might be some head-scratching over pronunciation, multiple meanings, and figures of speech but you'd be able to recognize what you heard as English."
] |
[
"Are you considering the 18th century to be in conjunction with the great divergence?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
}
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How accurate is Mel Brooks' "History of the World" in terms of choreography and lyrics? I'm particularly curious about the Catholic Church and its use of Esther Williams-esque synchronized swimming to inflict torture on potential heretics.
|
[
"I can't answer all of your questions, but nuns performing choreographed seduction were pretty commonly used by the Catholic church during the counter-reformation in areas that were rapidly converting to Protestantism. Synchronized swimming was a favorite tactic in Mediterranean regions but some form of seductive dance was done by nuns in every country in western Europe. A remnant of this movement is Irish step dance; historically the nuns dressed in skirts revealing the ankle and lower leg to attract converts. This movement alone is thought to have saved Irish Catholicism. Of course Brooks takes some liberties by placing these events during the Spanish Inquisition, while no record of this practice exists before the counter-reformation in the 16th century. It is important to remember that this work is pulp-history, like the Da Vinci code. Don't rely on it as a historical source, but I'm glad it's inspiring you to further inquire about history!"
] |
[
"A soldier might have been, but probably not your average citizen. Ancient art tended to portray the ideals of their society, the same way we Photoshop a celebrity today. For example (and I'm not kidding about this), there's a difference in dick size between Greek and Roman statues due to their respective views on masculinity."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the post about movie accuracy:",
"pos": "Represent the text about movie accuracy:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
}
|
During the Napoleonic Wars, the national debt of the United Kingdom was as high as 200% of GDP. Any nation trying to borrow that much now is unthinkable. How did the United Kingdom retain the ability to borrow so much, especially in the face of such a protracted war?
|
[
"Pickety explains this rather well in Capitalism in the 21st Century. During the 19th century, inflation was more or less non-existant and interrests where stable at around 4%. During this period, most investors sought a stable haven for their money with little expactations to actually cash out the original investment (unless something unforseen happened), meaning that all a country as UK needed in order to service a debt at 200 % was the capacity to pay about 8% of GDP every year in interrest. Modern financial systems are much more complex with varying inflation, interrest and a lot more alternatives for investors to deposit their money, which means that \"runs\" are much more likely. However, it should be noticed that the US on a global scale still works in a way similar to what national governments did during the 19th century, as a safe haven for investors."
] |
[
"This has already happened, and is one of the reasons why the idea that a country needs a 'balanced budget' is antiquated and ridiculous. Large national debts used to be more of a concern because the political climate was much more volatile than today. A coup might lead to a new political leadership that would refuse to honor the debts of the old one. Modern governments in developed nations are extraordinarily more stable today than ever before. This gives creditors confidence that a country can continue to service its debts basically indefinitely, and is why national debts in developed countries will continue to climb. Is there an end in sight? Right now I don't really see a reason for it unless there is some unprecedented natural disaster that totally turns the order of the world on its head."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
}
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How did the people or "doctors" of your era and geographical areas deal with acute severe pain or chronic pain management?
|
[
"I know in Anglo-European countries meadowsweet and Wattle bark were used in tinctures or tea's from the middle ages right through to the mid Victorian era, These are the natural ingredients that were used to extract the first forms of aspirin. I can't verify if one would use these methods for chronic pain historically, or if you would be more likely to turn to cannibis or opium."
] |
[
"A disease is an anomaly in your bodily functions that results in health issues. This is what doctors treat. A syndrome is a collection of signs and symptoms that are caused by said disease (things like fever, tireness, pain, skin ailments etc etc) and you typically use syndromes to describe a disease. A disorder what the disease causes to the body. For example, a disorder resulting from lung disease is respiratory failure or coughing fits."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
}
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When writing of Cesare Borgia, Machiavelli notes that “the duke erred in this choice and it was the cause of his ultimate ruin” (p. 33). Since the choice he is talking about was the first action Borgia carried out without the advice of his father, is Machiavelli casting doubt on Borgia’s abilities?
|
[
"An oddly specific question. It does seem to imply that. Machiavelli actually met Cesare, and used Cesare as an example of the dangers of relying too much on another person in maintaining power. Cesare was certainly violent, but he wasn't a halfwit and was competent, in a ruthless manner. He probably could have done quite well on his own, but he got comfortable with having guaranteed support from the Papacy and when his daddy died and an enemy of the Borgia became Pope, that support vaporized, as did his authority. Machiavelli isn't really calling Cesare incompetent or incapable, but rather, is sort of casting him as a capable person who got too comfortable with relying on something out of his control."
] |
[
"I have a related tangential question: While Machiavelli's 'The Prince' often seems to be interpreted as a 'how to' for unethical small-time nobility to gain and maintain power, I've often felt that this is too literal a reading. It's my understanding that Machiavelli was a dedicated civil servant (a 'technocrat', in modern parlance) who spent the bulk of his productive life working in support of the Florentine republic. I've always read the book more as an exposé of the unethical underpinnings of monarchy rather than a practical how-to. I'm certainly not an expert in Medieval Italian political trends, though, and I'd appreciate some insight into what Machiavelli's actual political beliefs may have been."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the answer:",
"neg": "Represent the answer:"
}
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is it true that soviet soldiers yelled ura when beggining a charge?
|
[
"Yes, it was a common occurance during ww2. Russian soldiers have used \"Urrah\" (or \"Ura\") with a very long last a as a battle cry for a charge for a long time, at least since the Russo-Ottoman War of 1877. Compare to the US Marines and their \"Oorah!\" war cry. It is still done at the victory parade in Moscow every year. [See this video from 2007](_URL_0_). [Here's a video of the Bulgarian army doing it at a parade](_URL_1_)."
] |
[
"when i was in the army in 1999 we had wwII american helmets as standard equipment. (most of the greek army grunt equipment was and i guess still is, american hand-me-downs) the chin strap is annoying as hell but start running or doing anything other than drinking greek frappee and checking out the foreign girls on vacation on the island, and you pretty much have to use it. don't use it and it WILL fly off you head at some point."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
}
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What was the United States' role, if any, in the Falklands War?
|
[
"Ronald Reagan secretly offered the Royal Navy the USS Iwo Jima, one of our first amphibious assault/helicopter carriers as a replacement if they lost one of their carriers. Other than that there was some political pressure used to try and stop Argentina's purchase of more French Exocet missiles after they proved so effective against British warships, but not much. Mostly the US just contributed by getting out of the way, which conflicted with the spirit of the Monroe Doctrine, which is usually central to US policy involving Latin America."
] |
[
"Was any Asian country capable of helping the United States during the revolutionary war?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
}
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The Coca-Cola Company have created Fanta to circumvent embargo and IBM provided counting machines to concentration camps. How do American companies manage their German and occupied countries subsidiaries during the WW2?
|
[
"Follow up, if this warrant a new post please tell me: How did politicians and the general public react when they found out these companies were aiding Nazi forces in WW2?"
] |
[
"- Surrounding yourself with corrupt people who financially gain from your policies, and who in return provide you with \"donations\" - Ensuring the wealthiest citizens benefit from your policies and are exempt from prosecution for the laws they break - Changing laws to marginalize opposition - Silencing journalists - Employing state media to control the narrative - Creating nationalist fervor through a perceived outside threat from foreigners - Indoctrination of ideology in schoolchildren Many countries that are not currently dictatorships have already checked off a few of these boxes, including the United States."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
}
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[META] What to do when a seemingly well-written answer is removed from a post after reading it?
|
[
"An answer can be well-written, logical, cite several sources, and still be incorrect. Often moderators leave a comment telling the redditor why their post was removed, although on very busy threads it isn't always possible to do that. Moderators also sometimes work with the redditor about how to improve their answer. One of the major issues is often that the redditor simply doesn't have enough background in the subject to answer follow-up questions, doesn't provide sources on request, or demonstrates some fundamental misunderstanding which calls the quality of their answer into question - such as relying on older sources, pop history, or largely discounted theories, which can be hard to spot, especially if you aren't already an expert on the material."
] |
[
"I'm with you; I think that the rules in this sub are overly restrictive. But the official answer is that if a question is answerable in a very short way, the *question* itself probably wasn't appropriate as an ELI5."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
}
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Has bearing arms in the classical sense--sword and scabbard at waist--been abolished in the US or can a person technically still legally practice it?
|
[
"There was no historical moment when open carrying swords was made illegal across the US. Instead, the answer varies from state to state, and is a thus more of a legal rather than historical question. In my state, for example, open carry of swords is allowed, so long as no one feels threatened; but you should really discuss this with a lawyer rather than a group of historians."
] |
[
"The courts have been the arbiters of what constitutes \"arms.\" In the 18th century, the weapons we have today could not have even been imagined, but they didn't need to imagine it. It was always the case that society would use the courts to test the laws. So, right now, can you form a cyber militia legally? If no, someone would need to challenge it to see if it passes the test. My guess is that this is something else distinctly since what you're talking about is such a different concept from firearms."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
}
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What caused the fall of Tenochtitlan in 1521
|
[
"Cortes had thousands of Tlaxcallans on his side as well as other groups that had been conquered by the Aztecs and did not like living under their rule. Cortes also dismantled and had porters carry Narvaez's vessels and cannon from Veracrus to Lake Texcoco and rebuilt the boats in order to hammer away at the city until it was rubble. But mostly it was the thousands of natives that rose up against Aztec rule."
] |
[
"Yes. Slavery in Rome was not tied to race/skin color like it was in the United States during the 1700-1800s"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
}
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Hilary Mantel's portrayal of Thomas Cromwell
|
[
"Not my period or place, but my understanding from talking to colleagues and in reading many of the excellent book reviews of the work (e.g. the one in the [London Review of Books](_URL_1_) and the one in the [New York Times Book Review](_URL_0_)) was that generally speaking, Cromwell has been portrayed as a power-hungry Machiavellian jerk as opposed to the principled and martyred Thomas More. By contrast, as you've no doubt picked up, Mantel really portrays Cromwell as a clever politician with a heart of gold, and More as a cruel and sanctimonious prick. This is, I gather, a purposeful inversion on Mantel's part from the traditional mode in which the period of Henry VIII is talked about by (traditional?) British historians. I'd love to hear more on whether this is quite the case, though. The historians of the period I know have emphatically said that they loved the book but it should be understood primarily as a work of fiction."
] |
[
"I recently read The Wars of the Roses by Alison Weir, and then followed it up with The Princes in the Tower. It's definitely not a broad overview of the Plantagenets, but it's very detailed on the Wars of the Roses and then the downfall of the House Plantagenet, and the rise of the Tudor line."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit post about Literature:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document about Literature:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
}
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Mythology Question: What current explanation do we have for the common myths of Noah's Ark and the Matsya Avatar in Hindu Mythology both of which deal with saving all known plant and animal species from a great deluge?
|
[
"Flood myths exist all over the world, but there's nothing especially unique about this: there are **dozens, if not hundreds,** of myths and folktales that are found in many widely-dispersed cultures. That doesn't mean any of them is *true*, nor even based in fact. I've written a couple of posts about other examples [in this thread.](_URL_0_) The key point is not that \"common origin does proves a historical kernel\"; that's just untrue. Rather, the takeaway is that \"some story-types have a tendency to survive and propagate in widely-dispersed cultures\"."
] |
[
"There is [no geological evidence of one single world-wide flood](_URL_1_). The next best theories are: * That there were strong floods in some local areas in ancient history or prehistory, the stories of which ended up as myths in those areas. Those myths were then borrowed by neighbouring cultures and spread. One example of this is the flood recorded in Jewish mythology, which is very similar to an earlier flood myth in Babylonian mythology. It's known that the Jews spent some time in exile in Babylon, after which their religion shows strong Babylonian and Persian influences (devils, flood, and so on). That earlier Babylonian flood myth may be based on floods which occurred in [cities conquered by Babylon](_URL_0_). * That ancient people observed fossils of fish and marine animals on the sides of mountains, and created a story about a large flood to account for this."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
}
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(about political turture in Byzantium) "The last to use this method voluntarily was Michael VIII Palaiologos, although some of his successors were forced to use it again by the Ottoman Sultans." Any examples? Why/How/On Who did the Sultans force Byzantine to use it?
|
[
"What torture method? What's the context of that quote? Who said it?"
] |
[
"They were pretty common across all of Europe. The French did it a lot and more consistently than the English. Philip the Fair, Philip the Tall, Louis le Hutin, Louis the Fat, Charles the Mad; I would say up through about 1400, more French kings had them than not. Spanish kings too had a number, some Russian as well. Personal opinion: the tradition was dying by the Renaissance for many European countries. (I've done a lot of royal/noble genealogy study) Oh, and let's not forget the Byzantines. The Bulgar-Slayer (Basil II) was a genuine epithet, as well as Copronymus (Constantine V, who supposedly defecated while being baptised)."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
}
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Day of Reflection | July 28, 2014 - August 03, 2014
|
[
"/u/LinuxLinus had my favorite answer of the week, [a great post on baseball and the 1920 death of Ray Chapman](_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 Massachusetts Press, 1988. > > Howe, Daniel Walker. “Church, State, and Education in the Young American Republic.” Journal of the Early Republic 22, no. 1 (April 1, 2002): 1–24. > > Kaestle, Carl. Pillars of the Republic: Common Schools and American Society, 1780-1860. 1st ed. Hill and Wang, 1983. > > Spring, Joel. The American School: From the Puritans to No Child Left Behind. 7th ed. New York: McGraw Hill, 2008. > > Katz, Michael B. “Horace Mann: What Went Wrong?” Reviews in American History 1, no. 2 (June 1, 1973): 218–223. > > Messerli, Jonathan. Horace Mann: A Biography. New York: Knopf, 1972."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
}
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Working Definition: Nation
|
[
"As /u/callalilly77 noted most people actually associate the word \"nation\" with the concept of a \"nation-state\". A nation-state is a distinctly _political_ entity - in that it consists of a government that rules over a defined geographical area that is confirmed and respected by other nation-states by international treaty. This model is traditionally attributed as becoming the standard in Europe after the Peace of Westphalia in 1648; which spread / was imposed worldwide due to European Imperialism. It must also be noted that nation-states may have numerous distinct societies/cultures within its borders; which is why it's dangerous to assume that a nation-state automatically has a shared identity through culture, language, and history. This is particularly true in many former colonies whose borders were not defined by the people actually living in them."
] |
[
"In brief: - To expand territory - To exploit resources - To escape enemies - For protection against enemies - For less competition"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document about Psychology:"
}
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How was the early United States able to afford things like the Louisiana Purchase and the Mexican Cession with no income tax?
|
[
"The US government was almost entirely funded by tariffs on foreign goods. Notably in 1828, Andrew Jackson paid the entire debt by raising tariffs on British imports. This is commonly called the Tariff of Abominations. The federal government has also raised money through land sales and excise taxes on sugar, alcohol, and tobacco. Lastly, in the 1790s, the federal government was imposing taxes on land and other properties but was overturned by Thomas Jefferson in the early 1800s."
] |
[
"Follow up. If the American colonies were so upset by the raised taxes from the French and Indian war how did other British colonies view the war of independence?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
}
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When Eratosthenes was calculating the size of the earth in 240 BCE, what physical medium was he making his notes and calculations on and how would it have looked? What would the layout of numbers look like? Also, how was the information disseminated - just word of mouth?
|
[
"I think you'd need to ask Eratosthenes in what medium his calculations were performed, and he's unlikely to answer. That sort of information is not preserved, although we know that some of his (now fragmentary) works laid out much of the scientific and mathematical reasoning of various projects. Sand was a common medium of working geometric calculation as late as Eratosthenes' time--Archimedes was calculating in dust when he was killed, according to Livy and Valerius Maximus--but it's anyone's guess precisely on what surface Eratosthenes calculated this specific calculation. Eratosthenes was an Alexandrian scholar and, like most Alexandrian scholars he published scholarship. The calculation of the circumference of the Earth was published in the Περὶ ἀναμετρήσεως τῆς γῆς, \"On the measurement of the Earth.\""
] |
[
"The surfaces for writing on in the ancient Mediterranean and Near East were papyrus, clay (where papyrus was unavailable), wax on wood (for short-term notes), and parchment. Paper didn't arrive in the Mediterranean until the 8th century CE, at which point the idea was imported from China. European paper at that time was made of linen or hemp rather than wood. Put another way, paper was invented once (in Han China) and from that one-time invention it eventually spread over the world. I don't have access to Bauer's book, but it would be easier to assess the exact nature of the claim if you could tell us her exact wording and context when she makes this implication, and/or what evidence she cites. If, for example, she claims only that the Egyptians invented the first paper-*like* writing material, that would be more defensible."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
}
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What would history look like if told from the American Indian perspective?
|
[
"Your question is a little confusing toward the end. There are multiple nations within the Native community so there wouldn't be a shared history as far as major events go. The Bloody Island Massacre would be a major event to Pomo history while the Trail of Tears wouldn't be relevant despite the larger number of deaths."
] |
[
"To be a little less specific, what did people think the future in general would be like before the Industrial Revolution?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
}
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What model of piano would be found in an 1860's Old West saloon?
|
[
"additional question: did the average 1860's saloon have a piano, or is that a hollywood thing?"
] |
[
"What you are describing are both styles and eras. These are the major ones as I understand them, from oldest to newest. I added a little description of what I experience personally: * Medieval - 1400's and earlier - haunting, beautiful, I'm in a mossy forest sharpening my battle axe * Renaissance - 1500's - I'm in a dimly lit cathedral with chanting monks * Baroque - 1600's - I'm at Versailles eating cake and sipping bubbly * Classical - 1700's - I'm going to the Vienna opera in my horse-drawn carriage * Romantic - 1800's- I'm canoeing through the wilderness with my native guide * Contemporary - 1900's - I'm going to the Met in my tux"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
}
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How far back in history do we see the use of patents?
|
[
"Although actual patent laws which were actively enforced by the state are generally thought to have started with the Venetian Statute of 1474, much earlier precedents do exist. In 500 BC in the Greek city of Sybari, culinary innovators were able to patent their dishes for a whole year. Some earlier uses in Western Europe included the letters patent issued by the English sovereign, which granted the recipient monopoly in the respective fields of commerce or science. One such letter was sent out in 1449 by Henry VI to John of Utynam, a Flemish man, for a 20 year monopoly for his invention. The first Italian patent was granted by Florence in 1421, where the Florentine architect Filippo Brunelleschi patented his invention, which was a barge with primitive hoisting gear."
] |
[
"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
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage:"
}
|
How was America viewed in the first century of its growth?
|
[
"Alexander von Humboldt, a man with a pretty darn good moral compass for that time, thought it was the best thing ever—if it got rid of slavery. He visited with a handful of the U.S.’s first few presidents after his journey across Central America and had a great relationship with Jefferson in particular. For context, Humboldt was a Prussian aristocrat and polymath. While he did advise the royal family he was generally disliked by the aristocratic class for being super progressive and undermining existing power structures. He hated Prussia so much he tried to live in Paris whenever he was in Europe. Needless to say, others thought much less of the new state. All I know’s what Humboldt thought. So to answer your question more broadly, it depends on who you asked."
] |
[
"They were made in chronological order from when the state became part of the US."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
}
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[Meta] should/can voting be restricted on this sub?
|
[
"Just a small note: If you see a top level comment that is dubious in content or that you simply do not trust, then report it to the mods (or ask for a source!). While we don't have a rule that all top level comments must include a source, we do have a rule that you have to provide a source if asked to. If not, we'll simply remove the comment (no matter how much karma it has) until source has been provided."
] |
[
"Are you sure new users should be exposed to /r/all?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
}
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Why was there a kingdom of TWO Sicilies?
|
[
"In 1303 the them Kingdom of Sicily (which controlled the south of Italy and the island of Sicily) lost the island of Sicily to the King it Aragon. However, despite no longer ruling the island of Sicily, the rulers of what had been the Kingdom of Sicily (referred to as the Kingdom of Naples after Sicily was lost) continued to refer to themselves as the king of Sicily. At the same time, the rulers of Aragon (who actually controlled Sicily) also referred to themselves (along side other titles) as the king of Sicily - resulting in two rulers who both claimed to be the king of Sicily. When the Kingdom of Naples and Sicily were officially reunited in 1816, the term Kingdom of Two (*i.e. both, not just one*) Sicilies was used to reflect that there was now just the one crown, and not two separate crowns held by one person simultaneously."
] |
[
"**DidYouKnow** 'Israel' is not mentioned in any of the maps bought/made in the Middle-East. its just Palestine all over."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
}
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In which language did Castro (Cuba) and Gorbachev (USSR) communicate?
|
[
"As a side note, within Komintern, the international communist party, the \"official\" language was german. Komintern was dissolved during the second world war."
] |
[
"I can't answer, but Albania, Slovakia (as part of Czechoslovakia) and Romania were all members of the Warsaw Pact during the Cold War."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
}
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I always hear about how Northwest Pacific Indians had an interesting economic system. What was it actually like?
|
[
"I think what you're referring to is the fact that Pacific Northwest societies initially confounded anthropologists who had learned to draw a fairly rigid distinction between nomadic hunter-gatherers and sedentary farmers. What were found in the Northwest were societies that still subsisted on fishing, hunting and foraging, but had learned to use these resources effectively enough (developing refined techniques for marine mammal hunting, learning to harvest salmon runs at natural choke points, for example) that they not only could live in sedentary villages as opposed to moving around in search of food, but develop more complex social structures as well—property ownership, specialized forms of labor, a hereditary nobility, even slavery. These are all things that traditionally had been seen as dependent on the development of agriculture. (Source: Calloway, Colin G. *One Vast Winter Count: The Native American West before Lewis and Clark*. Lincoln, U. of Nebraska Press, 2003.)"
] |
[
"I understand the question you're asking, but it's not a very good one. There isn't one timeline of human culture, where some communities are closer to \"advanced\" than others. Native communities had the technology they needed to cook and communicate, and the knowledge to travel by boat and use plants as medicine. It wasn't important to them to travel far away from home to see what was out there. Their networks were what mattered. Unrelatedly, no large animal native to the americas could be domesticated for riding. This is a problem of biology and the evolutionary timeline, not a failure of a people."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
}
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Who is the emperor in H.C.Andersens fairytale; "the emperors new clothes"?
|
[
"The emperor in the story doesn't represent a specific person. In fact, it's an adaption of existing folk tales featuring foolish rulers transmitted via Spain, Arabia, Persia, etc. It's a very ancient theme. But in the story, the emperor rode in a carriage and visited the theater. What sort of emperor was Andersen imagining? While the Holy Roman Empire had been dissolved several decades before the story was published, there was still an emperor in Austria. If I had to guess, Andersen was imagining one of those. Perhaps Francis the II and I, the Doppelkaiser."
] |
[
"* \"Although they originally nested in trees, storks easily adapted to human activity, and today call rooftops and chimneys their most common nesting sites. When Scandinavian parents needed a convenient explanation for how babies arrived, they repeated the story of a stork delivering new bundles of joy down the chimney chute. Hans Christian Anderson wove this folklore into his 1838 fairy tale \" * source _URL_0_"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
}
|
Spanish Gold Inflation.
|
[
"What essentially happened was that the Spanish became importers as opposed to exporters. Spain was so wealthy, that they simply paid for all of the goods they required from other European nations including textiles, weapons, ships even. Spain would simply buy it since they had enough wealth to outsource any internal development. This eventually led to their downfall as well, because at the turn of the industrial revolution Spain was so far behind the rest of Europe in terms of industry that they lost a lot of their stature and prestige. I wouldn't say it became worthless, because they were using it to purchase all of their needs and the rest of Europe was more than happy to provide those services for Spain, but it eventually did lead to stunting the advancement of the nation itself. However, I am not an export in economics, so it may have had a larger economic affect than I am aware of"
] |
[
"Sleep - Shake Unconscious - Splash Coma - Wait and Hope Vegetative State - Wait and Bury"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
}
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What do Historians think of Paul Johnson's "A History of the American People"?
|
[
"Not to discourage further responses, but a /u/kieslowskifan post from a couple of years ago [answered a similar question](_URL_0_)."
] |
[
"Well, if you want general history books about the US from the right and from the left, then read *A People's History of the United States* by Howard Zinn (left) And from the right, *A Patriot's History of the United States*."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
}
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Was life expectancy better in the American Colonies than Great Britain by the time of the American Revolution?
|
[
"Since no one has responded, I believe that life expectancy was higher among the Americans due to an improved diet and more rural lifestyle. Of course it really varied by colony, the Sugar colonies in the English west indies would have had lower life expectancy. This really isn't my field of study so I am having to strain to remember lectures and readings on social history."
] |
[
"Was any Asian country capable of helping the United States during the revolutionary war?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the answer:",
"neg": "Represent the answer:"
}
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Is the History Channel's "Vikings" accurate with regards to hairstyles?
|
[
"According to the series' [creator Michael Hirst](_URL_3_) & [stylist Dee Corcoran](_URL_1_), Ragnar's style was invented on the spot, when the actor arrived for shooting with shorter hair than expected. Solution: add extensions to the top & shave the rest off! You'll find comments in the linked interviews regarding the other two. Beyond that, I'll give you a few related posts & leave the rest to the experts in Norse culture / archaeology * [How did the vikings wear their hair?](_URL_2_) * [Did Scandinavians shave half of their heads?](_URL_0_) * [What kind of effects would be had on the hair of the Vikings (who have been said to bleach blond/white of their hair colours)?](_URL_4_)"
] |
[
"They put out a program on the mound builders about 15 years ago which hinted that they might have been built by immigrants from the Old World. The program was sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Just about lobbed my remote at the screen."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
}
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Has Australia ever had a Constitutional Crisis?
|
[
"In 1967 we had a referendum regarding Aboriginals it was \"to enable the Commonwealth to enact laws for Aborigines. To remove the prohibition against counting aboriginal people in population counts in the Commonwealth or a State.\" source _URL_0_ This meant a change to the constitution and a major moment in our history. Maybe not a crisis but a major change to Australia and our legal system. There were some opposition to the referendum but very little, 90.77% voted for it."
] |
[
"The President can Veto Legislation Passed by Congress. Congress can Impeach the President. The President Appoints Judges to the Supreme Court who must be approved by Congress. The Supreme Court can Overturn Legislation passed by Congress and signed by the President. No one Branch has all the Power. There is a Balance of mechanisms for them to keep each other in Check."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
}
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Why do mariners measure speed in knots rather than miles/kilometers per hour?
|
[
"[One nautical mile corresponds to one minute of latitude. Thus, degrees of latitude are approximately 60 nautical miles apart. ... One of the most important concepts in understanding the nautical mile though is its relation to latitude.](_URL_0_)"
] |
[
"Speed is the distance you cover in a period of time. Roads that are patroled by aircraft have lines painted on them. These lines are a set distance apart. When you cross a line, someone in the aircraft starts the clock. When you cross the next line, the clock stops, and your speed is just that set distance divided by the time it took you to cover it. So, if the lines are 1 mile apart, and you covered that distance in 1 minute, you're doing 1 mile per minute, or sixty miles per hour."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
}
|
If "Goodbye" is shot for "God be with you," how did western people take leave of each other before this became a common phrase?
|
[
"First it all, goodbye is just an English word, not some kind of universal Western expression. Furthermore, it's not the only expression used for that purpose in English, there is also \"farewell\" which has cognates in many other Germanic languages."
] |
[
"\"Shalom\" literally mean \"peace\" - languages have the same word for \"hello\" and \"goodbye\" because the literal interpretation works well as both a greeting and a farewell. English used to have phrases like this, but they've fallen out of use - eg \"Good Day\" and \"Cheerio.\""
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
}
|
Why couldn't the Vikings hold on to everything they conquered?
|
[
"Generally, the Vikings were not \"conquering\" in the sense that thy were building an empire like the Romans or Chinese. Instead, the Vikings would generally just raid, and take back the spoils. They would sometimes colonize(Greenland, Iceland, Russia) and assimilate(Normandy, parts of England) with the locals, but there was no \"Viking empire\" that conquered and governed everywhere they raided. There are some examples of Vikings carving up kingdoms in Britain like Harold hardardaa (spelling?) and king Knut. However, these usually just assimilated with the locals."
] |
[
"Are you sure they were defeated at all?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
}
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I'm a Lebanese American and my dad always says " We aren't Arabs, we're Phoenicians."
|
[
"Hi! In case no one answers your question here, you can try again this Saturday when the Automods submit the next Saturday Reading and Research Post. It's a weekly post where you can talk about what you are reading and ask for recommendations. For example, [this](_URL_3_) was last week's. Hope you find your books!"
] |
[
"Because they're not the same people. Serbs are Serbs. Macedonians are Macedonians. Croats are Croats. There are Christians and Muslims, too. And I'm barely even starting on it."
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
}
|
European Cities 1700-1920: Help needed for Senior Research Paper
|
[
"I can't really help you on the sources question unfortunately, but I can give a few comments. First off, sounds like a very interesting and well thought out plan for a paper. I would suggest narrowing your geographic focus, and you may need to narrow the chronological one as well, since you have a lot of good questions to ask. From experience, students often bite off more than they can chew and end up doing a lot of research on things they can't fit into the final product. As for finding sources, one way you could try to do that would be by looking around for professional historians at universities beyond your own. If you ask them in the way you wrote your question here, you might find some historians who study this stuff every day who would be willing to help. Good luck to you"
] |
[
"Next Week's Theme: 'Royalty, Nobility, and the Exercise of Power' To be followed by: \"Eastern Europe\""
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
}
|
I've begun to regretfully realise that I've become more familiar with American history than with that of my home country England. What notable or interesting books can you recommend on any subject within British history?
|
[
"When the US has only existed for a fraction of the length of time that the kingdoms in the British Isles have, I think you can understand just how immense the history of Blighty truly is. I say first you must commit to a time period before proceeding. Do you want Brythonic, Roman, Romano-British, Saxon, Norman, Viking Invasion, Angevin, Late Medieval, Tudor, Stuart, Civil War, Georgian, Regency, Victorian, Edwardian, Wartime or Modern? Simply take your pick and look for a good reading list from a library. In the meanwhile Yale University also has some recordings from old lectures available on You Tube that has a playlist on some British history that is definately worth a look into if you so desire."
] |
[
"Britain is famous to Americans because America was founded by former British subjects. American schools tend to only really teach history that is relevant to America, even world history. Our founding fathers based a lot of their principles on Greek and Roman principles, so we learn about ancient Greece and Rome more so than, say, ancient China or India. Same applies to Britain- most people in the United States were British when it was founded, so we focus on learning more about Britain than other European countries. This is how it was when I was in primary and secondary school. My wife is a social studies teacher and says it's changing to include a more balanced curriculum, which is awesome. Go watch Crash Course World History on YouTube if you really want a brief history of everything. Shout out to John and Hank Green!"
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the title about history:",
"pos": "Represent the document about history:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
}
|
What are the most famous historical documents that are now considered as pure fabrication?
|
[
"The Protocols of the Elders of Zion may not be the most famous fabrication, but it perhaps led to the most harm. It was an anti-semetic propaganda book that contained the \"leaked secret plan\" of Jewish leaders to take over the world by manipulating the rise and fall of world powers for millennia. It fed into the strong undercurrent of anti-semitism in Europe, and was used as justification for attacks on the Jews by both Czarist Russia and the Nazis. Even though it's a proven fake, it is still touted by Western white supremacists and is required reading in some Muslim countries."
] |
[
"What information do you have that leads you to believe that their depictions are accurate, and not merely full of fictional details?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
}
|
Has it ever ended "well" for Aboriginals / Natives / Indigenous people who allowed / couldn't stop colonists from settling?
|
[
"Could the rebuilding of Japan after WWII be considered a partial colonization by the United States?"
] |
[
"Surviving long enough that you can then steal the land from the native Americans who helped you survive. The one case where Americans should have been worried about immigrants coming in and destroying the culture."
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
}
|
Would WW2 tactics be plausible in WW1?
|
[
"Well, if we consider that British, American, French, and Soviet operational methods in WWII closely mirrored the 'Methodical/Scientific Battle' methods mastered by the French and British from 1916 onwards, then yes. Of course, tanks were significantly less advanced, as were aircraft, motorized transport, and wireless communications. By 1918-19 however, set-piece attacks of this type had become quite advanced, and the tactics utilized by Montgomery in 1944-45, and to an extent by the Americans, had their origins in WWI."
] |
[
"There's probably quite a few reasons: -people are more familiar with WWII than WWI -WWII was more mobile and took place on far more fronts -WWII saw the development of a ton of world-changing technology -WWII largely set the geopolitical landscape for the rest of the century -many people feel that WWII was a clear-cut good vs. evil story (democracy vs. fascists and imperialists) -WWI happened before the golden age of Hollywood, while WWII happened during it -WWII is largely seen as the true premier of American dominance -etc."
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage:"
}
|
Are there any books tracing the history of the idea of Utopia? Any comments on the subject?
|
[
"Let's not forget [Utopia](_URL_0_) by Sir Thomas More."
] |
[
"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 post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
}
|
What was a typical day in the life of an ordinary sailor like during the Golden Age of Exploration?
|
[
"I would recommend a book titled [Spain's Men of the Sea](_URL_1_)"
] |
[
"Did sailors generally know the name of the ships they're fighting?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
}
|
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