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Why didn't the Separatists (who wound up in Plymouth, MA) settle in Leiden?
|
[
"They felt that the Dutch influence on their children was too strong and they saw their culture becoming more and more Dutch until eventually the two cultures would become indistinguishable. They wanted to keep their identity and their beliefs."
] |
[
"Europe kicked the Puritans out and sent them to England, and then England kicked them out and sent them to the US."
] |
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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In Victorian novels, potential husbands or wives are judged by how much they ‘get a year’ - for women, who were obviously not employed, where did this money come from?
|
[
"Thanks, that makes a lot of sense. I have always read about this in a ton of books but never really thought about what the source was."
] |
[
"It means that a girl is now being considered as a young woman, and signals she is eligible to be courted. Marrying off daughters was an important part of high society at the time. Since inheritance, titles, station, and careers were for men, a woman's fortune was almost entirely dependent on whom she married. Presenting her during a high profile social occasion gave her the best opportunity of finding a husband of high station. Similarly, if the woman was socially \"flawed\" (think Edith), then she would be presented in low profile situations with lower aspirations, so as not to embarrass herself or the family."
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the Reddit post about Victorian courtship and flirting:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage about Victorian courtship and flirting:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage:"
}
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When did the "Made In China" phase of China's economy begin?
|
[
"During Deng Xiaoping's tenure, China began to adopt market reforms that would eventually turn it into the manufacturing powerhouse it is today. More specifically, the start of \"turn around\" can be traced to [1978](_URL_0_), when Deng was advised to institute reforms by Singaporean prime minister Lee KuanYew during a state visit."
] |
[
"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 query:",
"pos": "Represent the answer:",
"neg": "Represent the answer:"
}
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Need a little help and insight for Russian past.
|
[
"I think you came here on the wrong day. Better come back tomorrow, and by tomorrow I mean when it's April 2nd on Howland Island."
] |
[
"How successful have you been with everything but YouTube?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit query about History:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage about History:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage:"
}
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Where did the "Fez" hat originate from
|
[
"It's named after a [city in Morocco](_URL_0_) where it originated centuries before Sultan Mahmud II made it a part of official dress code in the Ottoman Empire. [History of Fez]( _URL_0_)"
] |
[
"As a follow on question, did it have any particular significance with regards to foreign countries (e.g. \"My hat's bigger than his because I'm a better ruler\")?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
}
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In Netflix's Narcos some of the cartel bosses mention "running things from Spain." What was Spain's involvement in the Drug War?
|
[
"Also, how historically accurate is this show? I can imagine some is exaggerated."
] |
[
"FARC splinters into two groups: communists and narcos. It started out as a political party then militarized during the dirty wars in response to/in the same spirit as the CIA backed assassination programs. It funded the militarization with the proceeds of coca trade. Now that the proxy war is over, they are going back to being a political party. The elements of FARC which are enriched by coca are abandoning all pretense of moral justification and continuing as drug lords."
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
}
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Help with U.S. Army WWII history? Investigating a family member's last letter.
|
[
"At the Top of your great-uncle's letter his return address is \"Co. B 10th Inf\" which means B company of the 10th Infantry regiment. Here is the wikipedia entry for the 10th Infantry regiment. _URL_1_ According to that wikipedia (Mods forgive me!) entry, your Great Uncle's unit was the 5th Infantry division. Here is their wikipedia entry _URL_0_ I'm going to pull a few of the relevant volumes of the US Army Historical Series off the shelf and respond to this comment later with a bit more details about that unit's actions in August and September 1944. Maybe there is a detailed regimental history for the 10th online as well."
] |
[
"As for finding records of his service you would have to have one of his surviving kin, you as a grand child do not count, to request copies of his paper work. My mother got a copy of my grandfathers DD214 among other paperwork. _URL_0_ This is the link to how you start. Your best bet to following his steps would be obtaining his paper work and noting his division, regiment, and unit, and then finding HOPEFULLY a website of survivors of said division who have kept a detailed record of the events or some general information online. My grandfather was in the 7th armored division, so I can look at their website and determine generally exactly where he was and what actions he was part of, such as I know he was involved in the \"Battle of the Bulge\"."
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the query about history:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph about history:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
}
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[coinage] In the ancient Mediterranean and SW Asia, we often see profiles or portraiture of varying quality on coins. How accurate can we consider these images to be, relative to the person being depicted?
|
[
"The ancient Greeks definitely had a tendency to idealize their portraiture according to their own aesthetic. Alexander the Great was one of the first to put his own image on currency, and he often showed himself with the skin of the Nemean lion(to liken himself to Heracles), as well as with the horns of a ram, suggesting a legend he propogated that he was the son of Zeus. There is more variation in later Roman coinage portraiture, particularly after Julius Caesar. Augustus, for instance, often depicted himself years younger in his coinage, as well as in other artistic depictions such as sculpture. Others gave a reasonably accurate depiction of themselves, in keeping with the Roman realist style, but like Alexander the Great, they would add attributes or accessories to associate themselves with the gods."
] |
[
"When worn or damaged coins are taken out of circulation, it's helpful to know how long they've been around, in order to plan coining volume for the future to keep the amount in circulation steady or growing. Governments also have the right to declare money older than a certain date no longer legal tender, the date clearly tells you which coins are good and which should be exchanged. Originally, Monarchs put their faces and dates on coins as a sort of propaganda, since there were very few other ways to visually communicate with their subjects, who largely couldn't read but could do math."
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
}
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I read a biography on Stalin when I was younger which claimed that where he grew up, many people still walked around in chain mail. Is this accurate for late 19th century Georgia? Also, during the middle ages would it have been common for people to wear mail or other armor outside of warfare?
|
[
"For medieval Europe: a striking feature of medieval romance literature (starring, frequently, knights) is that as soon as travelling knights arrive at their destination, they take off their armor. The texts mention this *explicitly*, a rare appearance of this sort of detail, but don't make a big deal out of the process. Just, Gawain arrives and takes off his armor and goes to see the king. (I'm thinking here of episodes in the early 13th century Vulgate/Lancelot-Grail cycle of texts, which predates the gradual adoption of plate armor). This would seem to suggest that mail was not a thing to be worn indoors. I can't say how typical it was to wear mail while traveling. The knights of the Arthurian saga are always running into trouble while abroad even in their homeland, and the evidence from Crusade chronicles is somewhat mixed."
] |
[
"How many women do you think were going to war and wearing armour? War was almost entirely a masculine endeavor and, while there are a few examples of female warriors and commanders, the further we get into the High and Late Middle Ages, the fewer women we see in combat (outside of rebellions and the defense of their own homes). Prior to suits of plate armour, any women who needed to wear armour would have worn the same thing as the men: a hauberk (chain mail shirt) if they could afford it, leather armor or whatever else they could scrounge up if they were of less means. Joan of Arc had an inexpensive plate suit specially made for her, which fit her well, but otherwise almost all stories of women in plate armour are just stories, not based in reality."
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
}
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Why wasn't information about America spread by the Vikings?
|
[
"We had another recent [question](_URL_0_) on this topic a few hour ago (was there something in particular that inspired you question, or is it just coincidental?). People in mainland Europe knew about Vinland as early as seventy years after the Norse arrived there (probably sooner, but that's the earliest written record of Vinland we currently have). It's also important to remember that the Norse were only in a small part of a North America for a very brief amount of time. They only established short-lived temporary outposts in Newfoundland before heading back home to Greenland."
] |
[
"A related question were there public figures at the time who were apologists that tried to justify for the actions of the Japanese military at Pearl Harbor?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
}
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What was the role of race and class in introducing zoning in America?
|
[
"Hi, you may be interested in \"red-lining\"; here's the latest thread on the topic, [Can I get askhistorian's perspective on redlining and institutional racism](_URL_0_), which leads to several others"
] |
[
"My studies on race, urban, and media history has profoundly changed the way I view American society. Understanding media's role in the \"red scare\" and government's response to socialism, along with its fight against labor, allow me to understand the world I live in today. If we include Cold War history, almost the entire 20th century history in the U.S. revolves around the battle between two disparate economic ideologies - socialism and capitalism. The battle between these two ideologies touched every U.S. citizen in some manner, but the greatest burden fell on the nation's poor. Detroit is a good example of what happens to a city when it ignores the plight of the poor, while concentrating on the wealthy. Thomas Sugrue, *The Origins of the Urban Crisis : Race and Inequality in Postwar Detroit* provides a chilling history of this event. Moreover, I don't understand why more historians don't become angry over the repeated examples of government's ill treatment of the poor."
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
}
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When did the notion of going to the beach to have fun start?
|
[
"hi! there's lots of room for more input but you may be interested in a few earlier posts * [Did ancient peoples \"go to the beach\" as we do today?](_URL_1_) - Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, Polynesia (surfing), 19th c Britain & France * [When did we start going to the beach?](_URL_6_) - various * [Question about beach culture in England.](_URL_4_) - 19th c Britain * [Why were pier-based amusement parks so popular in the early/mid 20th century?](_URL_2_) - 19th c Britain & USA * [When did \"going to the beach\" become a popular way to spend time?](_URL_3_) - ancient shoreline middens, Nazi Germany * [When did \"going to the beach\" become a popular, recreational activity?](_URL_5_) - 20th c USA, a survey of artistic portrayals * thread in [Why was surfing seemingly the focal point of popular youth culture in early 1960s America?](_URL_0_) - 18th c & 20th c Hawai'i (surfing)"
] |
[
"Isn't it just another way to take your mind off it?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post about Health:"
}
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How is a historical event proven?
|
[
"There is no such thing as \"proven\" with absolute certainty. Even video evidence can be manipulated. The best that we can do is to have a very strongly supported claim, as opposed to weakly supported claims. We can however rule things out using evidence. The academic field of historiography deals with using valid methodology in determining what in historical documents is true, and what is not. There are several principles that one can point to in this process. Such as: * [Criterion of dissimilarity](_URL_1_) * [Criterion of embarrassment](_URL_0_) * [Criterion of multiple attestation](_URL_2_) There are others, including considering how contemporary to the actual events the written account is. (As we know the gospels were written years after Jesus died). While historiography mainly applies to documents, there are similar principles in the consideration of, for instance, archeological evidence."
] |
[
"What do you mean by downfall? This is still a dominant part of current culture."
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
}
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Place of the Invasion of China in Japanese Strategy?
|
[
"I'm a bit fuzzy on details by now, but I remember that the leadership and the junior officer ranks of the Kwantung Army ( 關東軍) of the IJM was aggressively in favor of military expansion into more central parts of China, especially after the Japanese takeover of Manchuria. I believe that a big part of the rest of IJM was heavily opposed to the Kwantung Army's intentions and the Kwantung Army as an organization, which was by far the (unintentionally for the central command) most autonomous section of the IJM-- that is, the central command was steadily losing its grip on the Kwantung Army leadership as the gulfs between different factions of the IJM deepened. I may be wrong on this count, but I think the Japanese invasion of China began partly as the accidental result of power struggle within the IJM. It's been a while since I read on this subject so I may be wrong or giving a less than true impression of what the historical record shows."
] |
[
"Next Week's Theme: 'Royalty, Nobility, and the Exercise of Power' To be followed by: \"Eastern Europe\""
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
}
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Why doesn't the Bible mention the Sea People?
|
[
"As a related add-on question (that is connected): I heard that one theory is that the Philistines were part of what's known as the \"sea people\". How likely is that? It'd certainly explain why they're not mentioned in the Bible (because they are, but not called Sea People)."
] |
[
"The main reason is because of the religious background of the United States."
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
}
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Before the extremely well sealed houses of today, how did people deal with bugs?
|
[
"I've lived in houses going back to the 16C in England, and had friends that have lived in others. None of these were ever fancy places: for instance a friend grew up in a converted blacksmith's shop with terrible rising damp. None of them had noticeable problems with insects. That's not just heating or modern sealing, because I've visited traditional northern farm-houses which have either have a drafty corridor from front to back, or in the older ones, have half the house as a shed which was originally a byre. Occasionally you might hear rats in the loose filling of the thick walls, but neither rats nor insects were a problem indoors."
] |
[
"Well actually one of the leading causes of carbon monoxide poisoning is lighting an actual fire inside during extreme cold weather and this still happens today. Without a doubt people would die if they were in hostile environments and didn't know proper fire techniques or if they tried to light a fire in a closed room with no ventilation."
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
}
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Did the cavemen really wear loincloths or are they only in place in depictions because of censorship issues?
|
[
"The Australian Aborigenes did use loincloths having arrived to Australia before humanity had even invented the bow; the Timorese use penis-sheaths being utterly fine about the dangling balls; the Tupi use thin bands (fastened on a belt) to cover the clitoris but nothing else. Clothing taboos vary wildy but they are rarely abscent completely; it must've developed for the erotic twist when you are taking it off."
] |
[
"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 query:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
}
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Why do flags of the same regions tend to utilize the same palettes?
|
[
"For Africa it is called \"Pan-African colors\", inspired by Ethiopian colors, red-gold-green, which by 19th century is the only independent African state (barring Liberia which was *de facto* American protectorate). For Europe there are \"Pan-Slavic colors\" which is used by almost every Slavic country. The colors were inspired by Russian colors, white-blue-red. Russia is the only Slavic state independent in early 19th century. (Poland being just re-partitioned in Congress of Vienna and Balkan Slavic states were yet to start their revolutions against the Ottomans)."
] |
[
"Rainbows have many colors. Human sexuality has many varieties. From a design perspective, you could note that each of the colors occupy the same amount of real estate on the flag space, symbolizing equality."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage:"
}
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How were the standard map colors for various countries decided?
|
[
"There are no standard map colors for countries, [as a quick search of historic maps will reveal.](_URL_1_) A search of contemporary images [demonstrates the same thing.](_URL_2_) Political maps typically have four (sometimes five) colors that are used to distinguish adjacent territories from each other. Though mapmakers had known for decades that this nearly always worked out fine, meaning no territories of the same color ended up adjacent, [it wasn't until 1976 that it was proven mathematically.](_URL_0_) When color is added to maps, red tends to come to the visual foreground and appear the most prominent. It also was the color most frequently used for two-color printing. So English-language maps, with the majority of 19th century examples originating in Great Britain, often used red to depict the United Kingdom and its empire."
] |
[
"What two types are you talking about? There are many ways to classify solar panels."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
}
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How and why did NATO start using their own designations for Soviet military equipment?
|
[
"Giving foreign equipment reporting names that are easier to remember and pronounce didn't start with the Soviets. E.g. the U.S. military had given every japanese warplane its own nickname in WW2. \"Zero\" for the Mitsubishi A6M fighter, \"Kate\" for a type of bomber etc. It also happened with german equipment. To this day, many americans refer to the Panzerkampfwagen IV as \"Mark 4\". And giving your own equipment official nicknames has been standard practice for just as long."
] |
[
"Adding to this question, what sort of post-launch information were the Germans able to get? Was there any data to help them make adjustments to the next wave?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
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I want to start studying western civilization in my spare time. Where do I start? What are some good books?
|
[
"Check the book list in the subreddit's sidebar under 'general'."
] |
[
"I'm looking for recommendations for books to read if I want an overview of the history of the LGBT+ movement in the United States but don't have any previous background knowledge in the subject."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the query about Education:",
"pos": "Represent the answer about Education:",
"neg": "Represent the answer about Literature:"
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Rimsky-Korsakov is said to have composed "Scheherazade" in a summer home in "Nyezhgovitsy along the Cheryemenyetskoye Lake" - But I can't find any other references to this town or lake, anywhere. Where are they?
|
[
"_URL_0_ tl;dr It's the name of a private estate outside of town of Luga in Leningrad Oblast."
] |
[
"Simon Sebag Montefiore and Sheila Fitzpatrick at least both mention Stalin's webbed feet. Montefiore says that he was so embarassed by them that when doctors would examine them at the Kremlin, he would cover the rest of his body and head with a blanket. As far as it being \"a sign of the devil in Russian folklore\", this particular quote comes from Anne Applebaum's review of Kotkin's biography in The Atlantic. I can't find any evidence of such a superstition, beyond a mention in Elizabeth Warner's *Russian Myths* of *rusalki* (which are something like a cross between river mermaids and vampires) having webbed feet. It's all a little academic since Stalin was Georgian and grew up in Georgia, so he would have grown up with different folklore traditions from Russian ones. Sources: Simon Sebag Montefiore. *Young Stalin* Elizabeth Warner. *Russian Myths*"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the query:",
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Can anyone recommend good books/resources on King Philip's War, especially focusing on the Natives' experience in the Central Massachusetts area?
|
[
"Have you read Jill Lepore's book? It's called *The Name of War: King Philip's War and the Origins of American Identity* and is, despite the name, a good account of the war itself, especially when it comes to reconstructing Algonquin motivations and the differing ways Indians and English colonists understood the war was waged. I'm not sure that her efforts to tie King Philip's War into American identity over the next few centuries were as successful, but, well, it's still Jill Lepore, so a very good book."
] |
[
"Just asked this in the other sticky, but maybe this is the better place for it: Does anyone have any good book recommendations about the Nigerian Civil War or about Biafra as a country?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence about Literature:"
}
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What impact did the Chinese intervention in the Korean War have on the strategic decisions made in the Vietnam War?
|
[
"This is answered in this thread to some degree: _URL_0_ Basically it's one of the biggest reasons why the US didn't mount a full scale ground invasion of North Vietnam and settle the NVA's hash once and for all. We bombed the hell out of the country, but our military high command was worried that a ground invasion would illicit a massive Chinese intervention just like what had happened when we attempted to take North Korea after pushing them out of the South. We wanted a a situation in Vietnam like what occurred after the Korean War ended; the two sides divided and secured. That of course did not happen."
] |
[
"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 query:",
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What are some good historical/biographical texts regarding Boudica of Britain?
|
[
"While it doesn't quite answer your question, there was a great [post](_URL_0_) on sources for Boudica by u/iguana_on_a_stick recently, which is well worth a read."
] |
[
"Just asked this in the other sticky, but maybe this is the better place for it: Does anyone have any good book recommendations about the Nigerian Civil War or about Biafra as a country?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post about Literature:"
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What was the Nature of the First Triumvirate Between Caesar, Pompey and Crassus?
|
[
"You may be interested in [this answer](_URL_0_) which /u/XenophonTheAthenian posted last month. The question concerns Pompeys marriage to Caesars daughter, but XenophonTheAthenian opens his answer with an explanation of the \"First Triumvirate\"."
] |
[
"1. The First Salute by Barbara Tuchman 2. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown 3. The Civil War by Shelby Foote 4. Reconstruction by Eric Foner 5. The Proud Tower by Barbara Tuchman 6. Parting the Waters by Taylor Branch 7. Brute Force: Allied Strategy and Tactics in the Second World War by John Ellis 8. The Years of Lyndon Johnson by Robert A Caro 9. A Bright Shining Lie by Neil Sheehan 10. A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn 11. 1491/1493 Charles C Mann Sorry, couldn't keep it to 6."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
}
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Has there ever been a time in recent history that there wasn't an active conflict in the world?
|
[
"a popular question! more suggestions are welcome, but meanwhile check out this section of the FAQ* [War-Free Periods in History](_URL_0_) *see the link on the sidebar or the wiki tab"
] |
[
"Having an external issue is a good way to keep the population from being concerned about internal problems, of which there are plenty in Argentina."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
}
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I’m an innocent soviet citizen who has been abducted by the KGB on suspicion of crime against the state, what will happen to me over the few weeks? Is there a chance of release? What if they force me to sign a false confession and I refuse?
|
[
"I can recommend some memoirs of arrest and imprisonment under Stalin. \"Into the Whirlwind\" by Yevgenia Ginzburg describes her arrest, interrogation and imprisonment during the Great Terror. She was the wife of a well-known poet who had enemies in the literary establishment. She and her husband were arrested on spurious charges which changed from one interrogation to the next. \"True Stories\" by Lev Razgon describes his own story and that of other prisoners. He was a journalist, also arrested on spurious charges in 1937. \"The Great Game\" by Leopold Trepper. He was a GRU (military intelligence) officer who headed the \"Red Orchestra\" spy ring. The last quarter of the book describes his arrest and imprisonment on no charges at all and his time in the prison of the Lubyanka building and the other prisoners of state that he met there. & #x200B; & #x200B; & #x200B; & #x200B;"
] |
[
"Sure, but probably not for what you confessed to. In all likelihood, the only way that you're going to serve time for the crime is if you offer some proof that you did it, and accept a plea bargain in lieu of a trial. If, however, there is sufficient reason to doubt your confession, you might be charged with interfering in a police investigation."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the title:",
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}
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What (if any) is the significance of collecting the femur in burial sites along with the skull when moving the body?
|
[
"Long bones such as the femur do factor in body size measurement formulae. Also, growth and fusion of the epiphysis on long bones (it is very distinct on the femur, especially) is an indicator of the age of the deceased. So the combination of information from the skull (including teeth) and the femur are instrumental in learning more about the physiology, etc. of the subject. Source: a class on Human Osteology; I can find more concrete, text sources if need be."
] |
[
"Many of those bones/skeletons have been buried for thousands of years. That is a lot of time for scavengers and changing conditions to disturb the body. Alternatively maybe the animal in question was killed and butchered, in which case not all the body parts were necessarily buried in the same time at the same place. Also, in some cases the skeleton is only discovered after part of it has been damaged by backhoes or excavators or whatever way reveals it."
] |
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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If a citizen of your country would be transported back to the time of your speciality in your country, would he be able to communicate with the natives? Why?
|
[
"a popular question! not to discourage any further contributions on the topic, but check out this section of the \"popular questions\" wiki* [How far back could I go and still communicate?](_URL_0_) *see the \"popular questions\" link on the sidebar, or the \"wiki\" tab above"
] |
[
"This is not a question that any historian, including yours truly whose expertise is just *that*, is going to be able to properly answer. We deal with the past, not what's happening right now. :)"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit post about history:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument about history:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
}
|
I recently saw an art installation about the relationship between Abe Lincoln and Joshua Speed which strongly suggested a homosexual relationship. Can any scholars shed any light on this?
|
[
"I've heard of the assertion that Lincoln was gay but never in a context where it was being taken seriously, nor have I ever come across any evidence which supports it. I would be very interested to see what evidence people are using to make this claim and how they are using it. If credible evidence is presented that supports the claim, I'll hear it out and might take the argument seriously. But not before."
] |
[
"As a side question, did Andrew Jackson have disdain for Native Americans? The popular view of Jackson today does not match with what I've read in the primary sources and to my knowledge his actions were not fueled by a hatred of Indians, but this isn't the area I got my degree in so I would appreciate some input from a historian of the antebellum era."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
}
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Why do far northeastern states such as Maine and Vermont have such low minority populations?
|
[
"If I might expand on this question - there was a history of discrimination and strongly negative views against Franco-Americans in Maine for many years, to the point where Stephen King references the likelihood of being stabbed in a bar by a man who only speaks french in one of his early books, but I've never encountered a good primary source and would love to read more about the local behavior and attitude towards the Canadian French in Maine."
] |
[
"Theoretically, a higher population would be enough. In practice, it would be hard. Developed countries tend to have low population growth. Also most of Canada is very cold. Most northern countries (Russia, Sweden, Finland, Mongolia) don't have a high population density."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post about World Affairs:"
}
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Why is Leonardo DaVinci regarded as such an amazing inventor if so few of his inventions actually worked?
|
[
"I believe that you hit it on the head in the last line. He had some incredible ideas that were centuries ahead of his time."
] |
[
"It's not necessarily because of some genius we've never seen since. There are mathematicians and physicists as smart as Einstein in our world today. Einstein is famous for two reasons: Firstly, he came up with some groundbreaking theories about gravity, space and time that hold true to this day, and are extremely important in modern physics. And second, his wacky hairdo and sense of humor made him a pop culture icon. John von Neumann arguably contributed as much as Einstein, but nobody knows who he is because he's not as memorable."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
}
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Saturday Reading and Research | October 07, 2017
|
[
"I have taken an interest in the Pacific Campaign and the history of naval aviation and am now looking for recommended reading. On my shortlist so far: Title | Authors ---|--- *Pacific Crucible* and sequels | Ian W. Toll *Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway*| Jonathan Parshall & Anthony Tully *Kaigun: Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887-1941* | David C. Evans & Mark R. Peattie *Sunburst: The Rise of Japanese Naval Air Power, 1909-1941*| Mark R. Peattie I have heard very good things about Mr Toll's work, which should cover the whole campaign; *Shattered Sword* I heard is the definitive book on Midway; *Kaigun* and *Sunburst* are apparently on the technical side, which is right up my alley. I'd be very interested in suggestions for the same kind of books about the American side!"
] |
[
"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 question about Literature:",
"pos": "Represent the document about Literature:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
}
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Can anyone recommend some excellent history documentaries?
|
[
"My all time favourite documentary is [The World at War](_URL_0_). Made by the BBC in the early 70's, they weave a narrative through the second world war, and then actually interview people who were there - on both sides! Interviewing Russians while in the middle of the cold war was so very cool of them! It's like looking at living history today. Almost all the people who are interviewed are no longer alive; so you can never get this sort of footage today. I just realised which sub I'm in. I clicked the wiki link about documentaries, and this documentary was the first recommendation anyway - so I'll take it as permission to hit the \"save\" button!"
] |
[
"What are some of the primary sources that you have found? This sounds interesting. Would you recommend any books for a fun read?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
}
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When did it became common knowledge that it was different times of day in different areas?
|
[
"Hi, not discouraging other responses here, but fyi, questions on the related subjects of astronomy / theory of spherical earth / determination of time of day / establishment of time zones come up here fairly often. This post from /u/jschooltiger provides a good starting point: it has links to a few more in-depth threads * [Did people who traveled long distances in ancient times, for example, the silk road, understand or even realize there was time zones?](_URL_1_) This one may also be helpful * [When did humans first discover that when it was day on one side of the planet then it was night on the other?](_URL_0_)"
] |
[
"Because there is a lot of distance between us, compared to just about every other country."
] |
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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What tactics, strategies, and skills made the Comanches the best horseman in the world
|
[
"Just wondering why or who considers them the best horsemen in the world? Pretty sure many of the various Turk groups throughout the centuries and the mongols would be in contention."
] |
[
"The natives of North America never discovered how ridiculously rich the land they lived on was with various ores. Because they never mastered the use of ores and metals in producing various items, they couldn't advance in the same way Eurasian people could. The skill of metal forging was an essential stepping stone to various other technologies, both used through war and day to day life, which shaped the history of the world greatly. In a way, you could say that these civilizations never had their Iron and Bronze ages."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
}
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What prevented European countries like Russia, Spain, or Denmark from developing major automobile industries like GB, France, Germany, Italy, etc?
|
[
"Spain produces [more cars](_URL_0_) per year than the UK and France and Russia only slightly less than the UK and well more than Italy. SEAT sells more cares than any British marque. So your criteria for having a 'major automobile industry' are pretty unclear. Moreover, it's not obvious that _nationalities_ have much to do with it. European countries have had lots of car manufacturers in the past. Even a small country like Denmark without any (significant) present-day production has had over a dozen producers historically. You're sort of 'begging the question' here, implying already in the question that the answer to why a small fraction of auto-maker start-ups have succeeded where most fail is due to their nationality, and not only that but that there's some common trait explaining why some countries succeed and fail. Why would it not - say - be a simple matter of some businesses succeeding and others failing all for their own reasons?"
] |
[
"The United States has about two and a half times the population of the UK, Canada, Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand combined."
] |
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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Does "presentism" have anything to do with making moral judgments?
|
[
"Hiya, this thread should be right up your alley: it has several long responses from various flaired & unflaired users. Also note at the bottom, the links to more posts on presentism in general * [Can anyone help me understand presentism and morality?](_URL_0_) This and the linked posts have all been archived by now, so if you have follow-up questions for any of the users, just ask them here and tag their username to notify them"
] |
[
"Forgive me, but I'm a bit confused as to whether you're asking a question or making a statement. What is this evidence that you refer to? Is there a particular book on the subject you're referencing? Just by itself, the presence of eugenics and anti-semites in other countries doesn't necessarily preclude those countries from being a bit worried by brown shirt thuggery."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
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Are there any notable historical instances of royalty and/or nobility with Down Syndrome?
|
[
"Princess Alexandrine of Prussia, daughter of Prince Wilhelm, was born in 1915 with Down syndrome. Not much is written about her life, but she was featured predominantly in family photographs and was educated at the special education facility Trüpersche Sonderschule that was founded by Johannes Trüper. Source: Horst-Heinz Richter: Johannes Trüper and his Sophienhoehe in Jena . Bussert and Stadeler, Quedlinburg / Jena 2003 Edit: Photo of the Prussian Royal Family _URL_0_"
] |
[
"As an additional question for when this gets answered, what about children birthed to concubines of royalty? Would they be royalty as well?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
}
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When did the "striped shirt, black mask, and bag with dollar sign" stereotype for a robber become popular?
|
[
"Related: [When did prison uniforms change from black and white stripes to orange jumpsuits, and why?](_URL_0_)"
] |
[
"\"Dressed well\" There's your problem pal. Wearing jean shorts with a button up with flames complemented by dirty converse and mangled hair, adding a fedora just doesn't work. You don't look like a 50s crime detective you look like a retard"
] |
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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Sourcing question: where can I find Middle East currency inflation or exchange rates from the 1970s?
|
[
"The world bank keeps data from 1960 on. [Under the list of countries click \"other countries\" and it is fairly easy to follow from there.](_URL_0_)"
] |
[
"Follow-up question: How do historians compare standards of living and income across periods of time? Adjusting for inflation is commonly done, but how do you also take into account the changing value of goods themselves? Purchasing power? Consumer price index? Which of these is best to use? What can we do for time periods in the remote past (say, 2500 BC in Egypt)?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
}
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Saturday Reading and Research | May 16, 2015
|
[
"I need to find out more about Structural Adjustment Programs, especially how they affected post-independence Nigerian political and economic stability. Finding unbiased sources seems difficult."
] |
[
"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 query about News:",
"pos": "Represent the document about News:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
}
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In Honor of Veteran's Day, I Introduce the Veteran's History Project. Help Record American Veteran's Stories for the Library of Congress!
|
[
"This message was run by the mods ahead of time and is archivist-mod approved. :)"
] |
[
"1. The First Salute by Barbara Tuchman 2. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown 3. The Civil War by Shelby Foote 4. Reconstruction by Eric Foner 5. The Proud Tower by Barbara Tuchman 6. Parting the Waters by Taylor Branch 7. Brute Force: Allied Strategy and Tactics in the Second World War by John Ellis 8. The Years of Lyndon Johnson by Robert A Caro 9. A Bright Shining Lie by Neil Sheehan 10. A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn 11. 1491/1493 Charles C Mann Sorry, couldn't keep it to 6."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage:"
}
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What do we know about love and marriage in pre-colonial West-African kingdoms?
|
[
"Are you referring to the lower or upper classes? Most of West Africa was the domination of a mostly pagan populace by a Sunni upper class. I don't have specifics with me at the moment, but the precepts of this upper class on love and marriage equate closely with similar traditions of Islam in the Maghreb, including homophobia and concubinage. This isn't the tribal culture which you seem to refer to but it was an important part of pre-colonial society. As for those > extent cultures like the Nri, Oyo, Benin, and Kaabu etc. my ignorance is as complete as yours. Hope this helped."
] |
[
"A follow-up and related question: how about young people in other parts of the world in this time period? I.e. South Asia, China, West Africa, South America?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage:"
}
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In Western films, prostitutes often settle down and marry farmers. Is this accurate?
|
[
"There was just a [huge thread about prostitutes in the \"Wild West\"](_URL_0_) that might interest you. While I don't recall people addressing your exact question, many answers go into detail about how prostitution in the 19th century American West differs from its representations in popular movies."
] |
[
"He actually went by different names when he did business in different countries, to fit in better. It's like how some immigrants \"Americanize\" their names."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
}
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How do historians choose which terms to use when referring to actions that were understood differently in the past?
|
[
"not a historian, but an archeologist. We tend to avoid judgement-charged words, not just because we should strive to be objective, but also because we usually CANNOT guess the exact judgement-worthy qualities of each case. When we find 1000 years old skeleton with an axe-wound to the head, it is usually impossible to say with cetainity, if it was a premeditated murder, or a house-dispute gone bad, or a duel, or an accident. Similarily, paleogeneaology or archeogenetics can determine who had sex with whom, but whether or not it was a rape, genuine lovemaking within a relationship, or say, a one-night stand, is impossible to say. For example, we can determine the likelyhood that a Mongol invader had a genetically successful intercourse with your european great^n grandmother, but whether this was a rape, or not is all guesswork."
] |
[
"African American was an invented term meant to be comparable to Italian American or German American. But most African Americans living in the United States don't know their exact country of origin, because their ancestors came across as slaves, and they had lost connection with their prior ancestors. Further, many of the prior terms used for African Americans over the last 150 years or so were also used as slurs, leaving them without a good collective term for themselves. So many adopted African American as a term without negative connotation that was still descriptive."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the answer:",
"neg": "Represent the answer:"
}
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During the Napoleonic War era, what scientists, philosophers, artists, and writers were most popular, or, better yet, radical and controversial? Specifically in England.
|
[
"Edmund Burke, an english writer and often described as the father of conservatism had been quite popular following the French Revolution. Particuarly among the upper classes influemced the the anti-napoleon/ pro-monarchy sentiments. Can't give you much more i'm afraid"
] |
[
"Modern English basically starts right around when Shakespeare was active. One could even argue that, with all the words and phrases and usages coined by Shakespeare, he *made* modern English. He's also one of the pioneers of western drama; companies of players and their works were low, common and disreputable prior to Elizabethan times. Shakespeare was one of several who made drama as we know it today into a respectable art form. As for his literary merit, well, I'm sure you've heard it all before."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
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Practical Research Help: Looking for names of victims of the 1983 US embassy bombing in Kuwait
|
[
"Do you have access to a public library or somewhere where you can look at newspaper/newsweekly databases? That is probably going to be your best bet, but even then I don't think it's likely that you're going to get a full list of casualties from an English source, especially since none of the casualties were American/Western. Try looking through the publications with a more international focus (skimming through, however, I didn't find much in *Time*, *Newsweek*, *Foreign Policy*, or *The New York Times*. Perhaps *The Economist* might have something). I did find the name of one of the victims in a *Newsweek* article: Ali Jamal, who was a Palestinian janitor working in the embassy's annex wing at the time of the bombing."
] |
[
"What do you want to hear more about? The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? The Israel vs. Palestine situation? The Arab Spring? The recent attacks on US embassies?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
}
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Saturday Reading and Research | December 09, 2017
|
[
"Ok, I'm out. Finished off Orlando Patterson's *Slavery and Social Death* Friday night. Started up on Harriet Jacobs' slave narrative the next day. I knew what I was getting into; it's written in the form of a sentimental novel. That's fine and I'm not going to pass judgment on Jacobs for doing so. The genre just happens to be one I find damned near intolerable as a reader. I got about fifteen pages in and realized I just didn't have it in me to continue. It's a knock on me, not the book. I needed something much less dry to read after Patterson and I ended up with a book that was much more dry. It'll be *Ar'n't I a Woman?* instead."
] |
[
"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
|
{
"query": "Represent the question about Literature:",
"pos": "Represent the document about Literature:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
}
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Is George Lucas a historical figure, or is he a myth created by Sith Lords?
|
[
"Most modern scholars agree that George Lucas was a historical figure who, despite following the Light side of the Force, ended up furthering the Sith's goal to destroy the legacy of the Jedi. Despite the Jedi and the Rebel Alliance's rapid success and expansion decades prior to his reemergence, George Lucas' return heralded multiple, coordinated and degrading attacks on the history of the Jedi and the galaxy as a whole. Some have argued that Lucas had an ulterior, monetary-based motive. Others point to Lucas' recent bastardization of the history of Terran hero Indian Jones as relative evidence."
] |
[
"Remember that relative to the proportion of people in galaxy, only a tiny, insignificant amount wield the Force, even during the height of the Republic before the Clone Wars. Now imagine after Vader killed most of them off. Even if they were alive before the Clone Wars, chances are most have never encountered a Jedi or Sith before. And to a reasonable person, like Han or the Grand Moff that got bitch choked, the Force is just mythological superstition - and to be fair, in their experience, why would they not think so? A galaxy is Huge!"
] |
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 historically accurate is the movie Braveheart? Who was William Wallace really and what did he do?
|
[
"hiya! There have been several posts on Braveheart (so do search *Braveheart, William Wallace* if you want more); I've pulled a few which focus less on the inaccuracies of the film (which it seems just exhausts people - see here for an [intro](_URL_9_) and [takedown of the opening sequence](_URL_6_)) and more on reality: * [What is actually known about William Wallace?](_URL_5_) * [How formidable was William Wallace?](_URL_7_) * This post on Edward I gives a bit more context and mentions Wallace [What kind of a man was Edward I? How did he get his nicknames \"Longshanks\" and \"The Hammer of Scots\"?](_URL_8_)"
] |
[
"So when and where did playing cards as we know them come into being anyways?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
}
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Thursday Reading & Recommendations | June 27, 2019
|
[
"Are there any books on Berlin during 1920s?"
] |
[
"1. The First Salute by Barbara Tuchman 2. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown 3. The Civil War by Shelby Foote 4. Reconstruction by Eric Foner 5. The Proud Tower by Barbara Tuchman 6. Parting the Waters by Taylor Branch 7. Brute Force: Allied Strategy and Tactics in the Second World War by John Ellis 8. The Years of Lyndon Johnson by Robert A Caro 9. A Bright Shining Lie by Neil Sheehan 10. A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn 11. 1491/1493 Charles C Mann Sorry, couldn't keep it to 6."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the question about Literature:",
"pos": "Represent the text about Literature:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
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Are there any good blogs that point out in/accuracies in historical fiction?
|
[
"I read from this blog called [TURN to a historian](_URL_0_) which analyzes the historical (in)accuracies of AMC's *TURN: Washington's Spies*. I highly reccomend reading from it."
] |
[
"I wish there was a subreddit dedicated to just explaining movie and video game plots."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
}
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One of my (Non History) professors keeps saying that the 30 Years War was entirely because of Czech Silver Mines and had nothing to do with Religion. Is there any reason behind why he would say that?
|
[
"Hello There, Please have a look at the discussion between myself and u/Aethelric [here] (_URL_0_). It may give you a better idea of the historiography and the different debates presented by historians. Your professor's assertion falls under the theory the war was about the centralisation of power under the direct control of the Habsburg monarchy, over the particularisms of the Estates. But Aethelric does a pretty good job to underline some inherent faults with such a claim."
] |
[
"There really isn't any convention. In fact many wars go by different names in different countries. For example in Russia what I call WWII is called The Great Patriotic War. What I learned about as The French and Indian War is simply the North American part of the Seven Years War in England. Although, even having been educated in an Alabama public school, I do not refer to the Civil War as the Great War of Yankee Aggression. Which when you think about it, calling it The Civil War only makes sense in the USA."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
}
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Why are some churches given call "First _____ Church"?
|
[
"More often than not, they are the first established congregations of that particular branch of religion. So the First Baptist Church of Coolsville is, in fact, the first Baptist church established in Coolsville."
] |
[
"Denominations shown as branches: _URL_7_ Comparison of Christian denominations by facts and stats: _URL_6_ Comparison of Christian denominations by beliefs: _URL_6_ Comparison of Christian denominations by social and ethical positions: _URL_7_ Comparison of Christian denominations by practices: _URL_7_ Comparison of Christian denominations by Catholicism and Protestantism, generally speaking: _URL_6_"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post:"
}
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During medieval times, were there any jousting superstars like we have now for sports?
|
[
"The definition of \"Superstar\" has of course varied over time, but yes. There were people famous for their jousting prowess. There are numerous examples in literature. Heralds, of course, added to the whole thing, blowing up their skills far beyond their actual level. If I were you, I'd read [tales from froissart] (_URL_0_). Contained are multiple examples of jousting and the heraldry before and after. It's good reading. However, usually, a jouster's skill didn't go beyond the local or county level, so in reality they aren't what we'd think of superstars."
] |
[
"Every country develops their own sports. English sports are just more widespread because they conquered most of the world at one point and brought their culture with them. Also, while modern soccer may have originated in England, variations of the game have been played in other places for thousands of years. I don't know about the other sports, but I suspect many of them had pre-English predecessors as well."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
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Historians of Reddit, What has happened in the years after a Political Party dies and where does the replacing party rise from?
|
[
"The easy answer is that in the American political system, major parties don't die. The last time a major party died was in the lead up to the Civil War, when the Whig Party broke apart on the issue of slavery. Since the end of the Civil War (150 years ago), we've had the Democrats and the Republicans. While some major challenges have been brought up against both parties, and both parties have adjusted themselves, both parties have also survived. For more information, you can check out my comment on a similar question: _URL_0_"
] |
[
"To be a little less specific, what did people think the future in general would be like before the Industrial Revolution?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
}
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The Sherman Antitrust Act passed 51-1 in the Senate, though there were 88 Senators. In fact, similar questions during that time rarely had more than 60 votes each. Why did so many Senators abstain from/not show up for votes in the past?
|
[
"It's uncommon for every legislator to be present for a vote. In fact, that's why the \"party whip\" is a position. It's their job to make sure that their party members actually show up to vote. This isn't always ducking responsibility, after all committees have to meet sometime not to mention being present to the constituents and getting reelected is also a major part of the job."
] |
[
"Citing the vote count makes it sound more lopsided than it was. There are 435 seats in the House of Representatives, 233 Republicans, 199 Democrats (and a few vacancies). Most of the Democrats walked off the floor in protest and abstained. 17 Democrats voted with the Republican majority to find Holder in contempt. These 17 were basically Democrats in conservative districts trying to position themselves for the November elections knowing the vote didn't have any real consequences."
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
}
|
What happened in France's colonies immediately following the Revolution of 1789?
|
[
"France had very few colonies left in 1780s. New France aka Quebec had just been conquered by the British. Its Indian presence was limited to a few tiny enclaves like Pondicherry. France also had not started its colonization of Africa yet. The most important French holding at that time was Saint-Domingue, present day Haiti, which is very important for its production of sugar, which depended heavily on slave labors. After revolution, there was agitation by the creoles for equal right with whites and by the slaves for emancipation. The tension finally culminated in Haitian revolution which led to establishment of Haiti."
] |
[
"Well, a worldwide war requires a certain level of globalization. Still, Winston Churchill argued that the Seven Years' War (1756 - 1763) should be counted as the first world war."
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document about history:"
}
|
What would english farm-women in the 1890s have used to support their breasts?
|
[
"Corsets were still a regular garment for all (Euro-American) women at this point in time. While we today think of them as vanity garments, they came in a range of styles just like modern bras. Some were meant for body modification and had restricted movement, but most were there as chest and back support, as well as supporting heavy skirts, and were surprisingly comfortable and functional. Brassieres aren't common until the 1910s, coming in as the corset goes out of style. There are earlier bust reducers or improvers that resemble them vaguely, but they're still meant to be worn with a corset. [Plain, mass-produced styles](_URL_0_) were easily purchased through [catalogues](_URL_2_) if there were no shops near by. Some were [produced with straps](_URL_1_) for better support and posture."
] |
[
"it was a practice that came from Europe. back then we didn't have powerful soaps and shampoos like we do today and the frequency at which we bathed could be every two or 3 weeks. so we had improvise. the artificial wig would be drenched fragrances and talcum like powder to absorb sweat and odors. as better plumbing technology appeared we took baths more often to the point where we didn't need the wigs any more."
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
}
|
Who sold the United States all those guns?
|
[
"The Dutch republic was one source of weapons and ammunition. They were sold to the Americans via the small island of St Eustacius (in the Carribean). This arms trade was one of the reasons for the fourth Anglo-Dutch war, which the Dutch, badly, lost. See .e.g. Barbara Tuchman's *First Salute*."
] |
[
"One of these is not like the others."
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
}
|
Why Didn't They Identify "Jane" Of Jamestown?
|
[
"You're not entirely wrong about passenger lists. In fact, you can look at the names of 104 Jamestown settlers [here](_URL_0_). Interestingly, they are several marked as \"boy,\" but none marked as \"girl.\" As to why we don't know who she is, I would direct you to [this website.](_URL_2_) The relevant quote is: \"We know so little about Jane because, like most women and children of the time, she was not recorded in the historical documents.\" Now, the website above also speculates that Jane arrived on the ship the _Unity_. [Here is a list of passengers on the Unity](_URL_1_). You'll notice that sometimes, just families are listed, without the names of the wives/children. The first names of the women also aren't given. To the best of my knowledge, we don't know enough about Jane to say who she was married to/the child of/the servant of, and that's likely why we can't determine her exact identity."
] |
[
"\"Local Man Asked For Hit Advice On Reddit Before Murdering His Wife, Police Say\" - I can see it now..."
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
"neg": "Represent the post:"
}
|
Where do you get REALLY specific historical information?
|
[
"There often actually are very specific collections available, on specific subjects. For example, the place the titanic was built. The biggest local library near there is likely to have gathered a lot of material on that, including newspapers and such. Then theres the good old physical paperwork from back in the day. The ships bringing in the coffee would have manifestos saying how much they brought in and where from. The captains would keep a diary too. Plantation owners as well. But yeah as you said, tracking all that down can be a pain. Public collections like libraries and archives are usually your best bet. I dont know where you're at, but around here librarians jump for joy when they see somebody thats actually interested in books these days. Theyre extremely helpful, often giving addresses and events to try and help you out."
] |
[
"This is really cool! Is there an easy way to search through it for a particular topic?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the Reddit title about Education:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document about Education:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
}
|
Was there any chance for the Central Powers to win WWI?
|
[
"The Germans were at the height of their power in the beginning months of 1918 - however threw it all away on wasteful offensives which bled them dry by the summer of that year. By the end of summer it was all over when fresh reinforcements from America and Canada were pouring in. I did a paper on the food crisis in Germany at the time, and there was no shortage of food. The trouble was shipping it to places it needed to be - which left hundreds of thousands of people starving. Both sides were equally guilty of silly charges and tactics which got many people killed - in the end Germany could afford the losses the least. edit. So, did they ever have a chance? I suppose - had they not threw everything away in those failed advances in 1918 then they could have bled the others out and they would have had a better chance."
] |
[
"Was any Asian country capable of helping the United States during the revolutionary war?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
}
|
How well do academic works in history sell?
|
[
"A monograph such as you named would depend mostly on library sales and sales to specialists. I am more familiar with the UK market but we are often talking about 100s not 1000s of copies. This is also why the default is hardcover. Authors get an advance on royalties and rarely make any real money. In fact, given that years of research and £1000s of grant money go into most monographs, most historians lose money. Production costs for these books are high because the typesetting, proofreading and indexing are very specialised. Obviously if a publisher has a potentially popular book on their hands they will throw more resources at it and try to get it into more shops. To really make money from original research, you need a popular subject and a mainstream publisher like Penguin or HarperCollins."
] |
[
"In my view, as a teacher, and former professor, the purpose of an interview requirement is to use primary sources: asking people who were there. Otherwise, you can efficiently read a historian's account. Did the teacher approve your topic already?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
}
|
In Dracula, in a letter to Mina Murray, Lucy Westenra mentions that her suitor is "only nine-and-twenty". At what point did the English speaking world change and refer to someone instead as twenty nine?
|
[
"By the time *Dracula* was written in 1897, this custom was entirely out of style in the English speaking world, and that had long been the case. ([1](_URL_4_\"), [2](_URL_3_), [3](_URL_2_\"), [4](_URL_0_\").) Bram Stoker's character, Abraham van Helsing, is supposed to be Dutch. So Stoker here is most likely trying to make the character sound a bit Dutch. The Dutch word for \"twenty-nine\" is \"negenentwintig\", literally \"nine and twenty\". Modern German uses the same convention. \"Neunundzwanzig\" means \"nine and twenty\". If you go back to the 1600s up until about the mid-1700s in English, you sometimes see [both conventions side by side](_URL_1_). By the time of the Revolutionary War, however, \"nine and twenty\" was pretty much completely out of style. For example, all, or almost all, writings refer to the year \"seventeen seventy six\". The term \"seventeen six-and-seventy\" is pretty much unheard of."
] |
[
"One of the old meanings of \"late\" was \"occuring in the recent past\". Nowadays this meaning only really survives in the phrase \"of late\" and the adverb \"lately\". In this sense, when a person was described as late it meant that they had only recently died (i.e. they were a living person up until the recent past). And although it no longer fully carries the connotation of the death being in the recent past, it is still only really used for people who were alive in living memory (eg it would sound odd to refer to \"the late Ludwig van Beethoven\", just about OK to refer to \"the late Jimi Hendrix\", and fine to refer to \"the late Chuck Berry\")."
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
}
|
Can we consider the Magna Carta to be a constitution?
|
[
"There is no single, written, constitution of England, or the United Kingdom that England is part of. However, there is [a collection of laws and conventions](_URL_0_) which are collectively understood to be the UK constitution - and the Magna Carta is one of the earliest of these. So while it is not itself a constitution, it is part of an unwritten constitution for England and the United Kingdom."
] |
[
"It was the convention held in the United States which lead to the drafting of the Constitution. Do you have a more specific question?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
}
|
Saturday Reading and Research | June 11, 2016
|
[
"I have been recently binging on everything Hellenistic Era but especially Ptolemaic Egypt. Does anyone have any good recommendations on architecture in Ptolemiac Egypt? Because I am building a recreation of Alexandria around the time of Cleopatra VII (so I can include the Caesareum and later versions of the various temples), it is a monumental task and I could always use more reference."
] |
[
"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
|
{
"query": "Represent the query about Literature:",
"pos": "Represent the argument about Literature:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
}
|
When and Why did vertical parking lots like these (see in-text) stop being used?
|
[
"Just an addendum to your question - these only really faded in the U.S. (and according to /u/jimmybabs are still in use here too), so it might be better to ask why they declined in the U.S. Vertical parking lots are still built and used in Europe and Asia, and they are all over Japan."
] |
[
"Google maps is now done by airplanes flying a grid pattern over the area. They have 6 camara pointing at different angles to capture sides of buildings. Source: I've done work on a contracted Cessna 182 doing aerial photography for Google Edit: this is only done in urban areas like in the photo you linked."
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the answer:",
"neg": "Represent the answer:"
}
|
What led to the rise of anti-intellectualism in the US/internationally?
|
[
"Sorry if this is off-topic, but are you referring to [this](_URL_0_) kind of anti-intellectualism? If so, at least outside the US it is common since (at least) the XVII century."
] |
[
"What are some of the most important contributions to the study of U.S. history by non-U.S. scholars? Are there any good analyses of trends in specifically non-U.S. scholarly views of American history?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
}
|
Why did anarchist bomb throwing stop seemingly suddenly?
|
[
"Hi, could you edit your comment to remove the \"bonus\" question? This subreddit has a 20-year rule against discussing current affairs, and further, does not permit speculation. Thanks!"
] |
[
"Capitalists wanted to help other capitalists fight off communists. It failed short term, but succeeded long term."
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the Reddit post about History:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence about History:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
}
|
There is a scene within the movie Gangs Of The York where newly arrived Irishman straight off the boat are directly recruited (much to dismay of 1 family) into the Union Army to fight in the Civil War. Is this scene acurate or simply a minor drama plot in a film?
|
[
"a follow up question would be about something In the book Gone with the Wind where the Irish father was upset with the Irish immigrants taking bounty money offered for military service. What was this bounty and was it real or Margaret Mitchell's fantasy for the book?"
] |
[
"The movie is generally speaking taken accurately from the book. Many of the scenes that are added are for sake of time or for Hollywood (the stabbing on the slave ship for instance). The only major change that I disagreed with is in regards to Ford's character. In the movie Solomon reveals to Ford that he is a freeman which Ford character does nothing about. In reality Solomon never revealed his former status to Ford, and in fact says something to the fact that he later thought Ford would have freed him had he been aware. Personally I think the actual version of events would have been better even for Hollywood especially because of the sharp contrast with Epps. Outside of that just keep in mind that slavery differed wildly from locale to locale."
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
}
|
Saturday Reading and Research | June 17, 2017
|
[
"So I'm calling to, well, everyone! As a few are aware, my goal these days is to compile an essentially complete bibliography of modern works which deal with dueling. I'm doing pretty well so far, with well over 100 books, and according to Mendeley, 373 journal articles/chapters from essay collections. But I continue to discover new things! Only last week I got my hands on: > Parker, David S. 2006. “‘Gentlemanly Responsibility’ and ‘Insults of a Woman’ Dueling and the Unwritten Rules of Public Life in Uruguay, 1860-1920.” In Gender, Sexuality, and Power in Latin America Since Independence, edited by William E. French and Katherine Elaine Bliss, 109–32. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. So anyways, I am calling on everyone to help me in my mission! Do you know of some out of print book from the '70s with a non-descript title, which just so happens to have a chapter about dueling? Let me know! Perhaps it is something I've missed."
] |
[
"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
|
{
"query": "Represent the Reddit query about Literature:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post about Literature:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post:"
}
|
History Teacher Needs Help
|
[
"I'd just like to caution you against heavily drawing upon Howard Zinn's *A People's History of the United States.* As [others] (_URL_0_) in this sub have noted, it's revisionist history. I always hated when my high school history teachers fed us agenda-driven history, it just loses its objectivity."
] |
[
"Sleep - Shake Unconscious - Splash Coma - Wait and Hope Vegetative State - Wait and Bury"
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage:"
}
|
What's up with the black circles on this uniform?
|
[
"Honestly, I've never seen this uniform with the two black spots before and I tend to be knowledgeable about WW2 uniforms. However, it may have to do with with them being locked up and/or a tradition in the division or company. I'm not entirely sure and I will get back to you with a better answer. Edit: Found the answer on The Pacific wiki. The uniform has two black spots so it would be easier for the guards to notice those two in the brig cells. Source: _URL_0_"
] |
[
"As a follow up to that reply - Why did all of the riflemen miss?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
"neg": "Represent the passage:"
}
|
Why do we not use some kind of metric time?
|
[
"It did change during the French Revolution, as the rest of the metric system was introduced. The Revolutionary calendar was reasonably successful within the French Empire, but decimal time never was seriously implemented. And after the end of the French Empire the revolutionary calendar was largely forgotten. One reason I could see for this is that length and weight, the main other measurements in use back then, are properties of objects. It is relatively easy to use multiple systems of length or weight side by side, for various objects. But time organizes ideally all events, and to use different systems side by side defeats all purpose of calendar and clock. It is interesting to note that except some minor alterations to the calendar, calendars and the units of time have never been altered in the West at all, except for this experiment in the French Revolution."
] |
[
"I don't think there is such thing. For example, there are several equally valid notations for derivative."
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
}
|
What can you tell me about the spread of positional decimal number systems? Are there any notable nondecimal or nonpositional systems in use today?
|
[
"Ah, I've just recently received a book about the history of numbers for my last birthday. For basic subtracting, adding and counting, non-positional number systems like the Roman and Cuneiform systems were adequate. The modern Hindu-Arabic system was popularised by the mathematicians of India, spreading throughout the Middle East during their Golden Age. I believe Europeans were first exposed to it during the Moorish/Spanish wars in Iberia and the famous treatise on algebra by Khowarizmi, I think."
] |
[
"> Or is it entirely feasible that we could've just as easily used, say, base 12 if we had 12 fingers? It is entirely possible that we could use any workable number of base units, and different civilizations have in the past used different bases. Base 20 or base 60 were some of the more common and influential ones."
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage about Mathematics:"
}
|
Could China be considered an Ally in WWII?
|
[
"The answer is an unqualified YES. Now, it wasn't uncomplicated. The Guomindang was supplied and trained by the germans early on, and this relationship was not over when the Japanese invaded. But by the time the US became involved in the war in general, the chief supplier and the coordinator of the China theater's actions (as much as possible) was the US. The communists largely managed their own combat operations against the japanese, and were far more engaged in actually fighting than the GMD. But again, even though there was minimal contact between the US and the Communists, they were fighting the same enemy. They were Allies. There is much more to this story, and a wonderful read on it is Tuchman's *Stillwell and the American Experience in China*. But basically, you have US supported GMD and USSR supported Communist China fighting the Japanese - so all allies, all the time. No death match needed. Just some simple facts."
] |
[
"Could the rebuilding of Japan after WWII be considered a partial colonization by the United States?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
}
|
Did any other countries have widespread AIDS protests like the USA did?
|
[
"Jumping in really quickly - I've been a bit of a ghost due to my super busy RL job (yay! politics.) There were protest in other countries. ACT UP had a few international chapters (ACT UP/Paris and ACT UP/Germany come to mind, I'm sure there were others.) I don't know too much about the AIDS crisis on an international level. One thing to keep in mind is how AIDS impacted different communities in different countries and at different times. AIDS in the US first came about largely confined to gay men and a few other small subpopulations. It also entered gay populations in other parts of the \"First World,\" primarily Europe. However, in other parts of the world (parts of subsaharan Africa, India, parts of Asia) HIV exists in primarily heterosexual populations. This has certainly shaped activism in different countries. Sorry, I don't have a ton of information, but I'd be happy to answer any other questions you have about the AIDS crisis!"
] |
[
"Would you mind clarifying the question a little? Are you asking if the American participation in the Vietnam War is responsible for the recession of communism *now*?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the sentence:"
}
|
Thursday Reading & Recommendations | June 20, 2019
|
[
"Does anyone have any recommendations for books that are about the Korean War, particularly ones that focus on the North Korean/Soviet/Chinese side of it? It's not a topic that I know a ton about, and I'm interested to learn more about it. I'm not opposed to books that are more American/South Korean focused though, if anyone thinks that they're also worth reading"
] |
[
"1. The First Salute by Barbara Tuchman 2. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown 3. The Civil War by Shelby Foote 4. Reconstruction by Eric Foner 5. The Proud Tower by Barbara Tuchman 6. Parting the Waters by Taylor Branch 7. Brute Force: Allied Strategy and Tactics in the Second World War by John Ellis 8. The Years of Lyndon Johnson by Robert A Caro 9. A Bright Shining Lie by Neil Sheehan 10. A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn 11. 1491/1493 Charles C Mann Sorry, couldn't keep it to 6."
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the Reddit query about Literature:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer about Literature:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
}
|
Has there ever been a culture who's written history used a series of knots for words/letters?
|
[
"The closest thing I can think of are the Incan [Quipu](_URL_1_) (which mostly recorded numbers),and North American [wampum belts](_URL_0_) which were used to record treaties, stories, etc."
] |
[
"As the name suggests, hieroglyphics (God's words) were not a vernacular written language in the same way English is. Egyptian commoners didn't use hieroglyphics to write road signs and letters to each other. I don't know enough to say for certain, but I'm guessing that there was no written language for the lower classes in Egypt. Hieroglyphics were a specialized script for priestly writings and wouldn't have needed to be comprehensive."
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
}
|
[US history] I always hear that Democrats and Republicans "swapped sides" in history. When was this, and why did it happen?
|
[
"There's a [section](_URL_0_) devoted to this in our Popular Questions wiki."
] |
[
"It *has* happened before. We used to have the Whig party in the 1800s. When it collapsed, most of its members migrated to the Republican party. Additionally, the \"familiar\" parties we have now have shifted and changed their positions quite radically over the years. It's not unlikely, not would it be unprecedented, for the Republican party to reform itself in a different political direction than it is heading in right now."
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the query about Political Science:",
"pos": "Represent the text about Political Science:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
}
|
Why places like the Cayman Islands or the Turks and Caicos Islands remain under British control while others like St. Kitts and Nevis got their independence?
|
[
"The independent Commonwealth Caribbean countries have been largely unsuccessful financially, regardless of how long they have been independent. For example, the country that has been independent for the longest time, Haiti, is the most impoverished nation in the region. British control, as you call it, provides a solid legal and financial structure for the dependent countries. After gaining independence there were struggles to modify laws and provide for a stable structure that enables economic prosperity for the nation. The citizens of dependent nations are, in general, much better off than their independent neighbors. Source: Commonwealth Caribbean Law and Legal Systems, Antoine."
] |
[
"I think you're cherry picking examples. let's not forget that Nigeria, Jamaica, Belize, Pakistan, Egypt, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Iraq, Zimbabwe, Sudan, and parts of Somalia and Yemen were all colonies as well. Many other colonies experienced tragedies on a massive scale, and weren't particularly stable until recently, like Uganda, Cyprus, Sri Lanka, and Sierra Leone. Also, a substantial portion of Canada speaks French, so I'm not sure the brits get all the credit."
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
}
|
In your period of expertise, who is the most famous person in the world and who is the richest person in the world?
|
[
"Late Republican Rome? Easy. Caesar was the most famous and Crassus was the richest."
] |
[
"NYC is the most important city, culturally and economically in the US. It is probably the most important city in the whole world, especially the western world. It is the city every other big city wants to be. Obviously the person in charge of the most important city on the planet is a pretty important and influential person."
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
}
|
During the Yugoslav wars, there was a ton of rape. Is it an urban legend that women would put apples with a hole and razor blade inside their cooch to shred incoming cocks, or was this real?
|
[
"Your question was removed for showing extraordinarily poor taste. If you would like to ask about sexual assault during the Yugoslav wars, do so like an adult."
] |
[
"Abortions have always been a thing, they were just pretty unsafe and could either kill you or lead to sterility. Different herbs have been used as birth control or to induce miscarriage. Sometimes animal intestines or treated linen were used as condoms until rubber condoms were made in the 1850s. You can still buy lambskin condoms if you have a latex allergy. Some cultures used different things to block semen, like sponges, citrus peels, crocodile poop, etc. Edit: Yes people, crocodile poop. Form a little cup, let it dry, you've got yourself a proto-diaphragm."
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
}
|
I'd like to better my understanding of history and overall improve my speaking. Reading is great but I'd like to chat with someone who is willing to talk to another person about history, all I can think of is Chatroullette and Omegle. Anyone have any suggestions on how I can do this?
|
[
"I'm not sure your station in life, but I just created a history discussion group at my college. We pick a topic then everyone comes with something to share and we discuss the stories individually. It's tons of fun and honestly we've had to keep it invite only cause there's so much demand. If you're in a place like that, try setting something similar up. Or pm me and we can chat on skype"
] |
[
"There is no way to become fluent in a language without speaking with people who are native to the tongue. That being said I would recommend a free website called Duolingo. You could also try watch videos online in French or reading articles. I am no way an expert but these are some great places to start."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit title about Education:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document about Education:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
}
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I remember hearing about a guy who invented malleable glass. When he showed it to the Roman Emperor, the Emperor had him killed immediately. Anyone else hear of this story?
|
[
"I've heard several versions of this. One involves the Emperor Tiberius who killed the inventor. The other involves Cardinal Richelieu and I don't think he was executed, but it was something equally unsavory. I'm pretty sure none of these are substantiated. I'd guess the inventor used mercury or antimony or something with that texture to make his \"glass\"?"
] |
[
"There was this group of knights who decided to set up a bank. They did so much business that instead of owing allegiance to a king, they made their own leader and their own castles. They were still knights so they hired out their services to make more money. Then the king of France got upset and killed a ton of them on a Friday that happened to be the 13th day of the month. (I may have got some stuff wrong, but that's the just of it)"
] |
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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Did reptiles grow during the medieval warm peroid in westren europe and how did the impact medieval literature?
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[
"It's worth noting that the medieval warm period lasted about 200-300 years, and substantial growth of a species of reptile would be a matter of hundreds of generations or more. It seems unlikely that the reptiles would change significantly enough in size that people would notice anything out of the ordinary. Also, there would not likely be as robust a biological record that anyone would notice anything out of the ordinary in terms of reptile size."
] |
[
"Because it wasnt. Back then it was an ice age. It was great while the earth was cooler but then the climate began to change. With this change in climate (it got a lot warmer) the plantlife began to change and therefore the wildlife. Humans started to migrate in search of better climates and hunting grounds."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
}
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Clarification on the aftermath of the Salem Witch Trials.
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[
"\"in october increase mather circulated a tract *cases of conscience concerning evil spirits personating men* detailing why spectral evidence was unreliable...'better 10 suspected witches should escape...[finish blackstone's famous quote]...not that he said the courts were using spectral evidence'\" (Monroe Hellfire nation page 92) this 1692 don't know any more than is in that book but the work referenced here might be what you are looking for as it coincides with the governor turning against the trials publicly and using pardon power on those who disagreed. *pseudo stylized citation: don't use it at home kids"
] |
[
"...Tell us more about the New England vampire scare. Where and when?"
] |
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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What were the justifications of the use of aerial herbicide (such as Agent Orange) before and after the Vietnam War?
|
[
"Not to discourage any new answers but similar questions have been already asked _URL_1_ _URL_0_"
] |
[
"Napalm is not a chemical weapon. It's an incendiary bomb. You are probably thinking of agent orange, which is also not a chemical weapon, but the chemicals used in it may have caused some side-effects on people affected by it. It's still debated whether agent orange was actually the specific reason for these issues though, the science isn't conclusive on it."
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
}
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[Ancient Egypt] A deity named Araragat
|
[
"The invention of New Ageists. As far as I can make out, Araragat was invented by a spiritualist whom I shall not name for fear of increasing his page-rank, [in this 1999 book](_URL_0_) (indirect link, again for page-rank reasons). According to him, Araragat and Thoth and Ra were former kings of Atlantis who set up \"the unity-consciousness grid\", and they are linked to Mayan prophecies and... blah blah blah, you get the idea."
] |
[
"X does make that sound in the word Xylophone. Also: Xavier Xander Xenophobia Xanthum Xanadu *Xenon thanks /u/bovfem"
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
}
|
Who was thrown off of a boat over the discovery of irrational numbers?
|
[
"This is a common myth that's been better answered here, see especially u/Iphikrates' answer: _URL_0_"
] |
[
"In a related question, what are the odds of surviving being stabbed in the belly and falling into the river which runs through a major city in the same time period?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
}
|
When/How did A4 paper become the norm ?
|
[
"In the US, they don't use A4, they use 8.5\"x11\", which is slightly wider and shorter than A4."
] |
[
"No, that's why it's called American Sign Language."
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
}
|
Fresno, California is almost always at or near the top of "worst American cities" lists for some attribute. What are the factors in Fresno's history that led to the city's excellence in being so awful?
|
[
"As a followup question: I live in Modesto, which is nearly always at the bottom of these sorts of list as well, and I'm also curious as to what sort of factors caused these Central Valley cities, which have a surprisingly large population collectively, to consistently be placed on these lists."
] |
[
"Mexico's GDP is not low, being slightly less than South Korea which is often considered an economic powerhouse. Mexican per capita income is over $10K USD. There are certainly a lot of poor citizens and it would take a more learned person than me to expound on the historical causes for that, but do not count that country out, they have _everything_ in terms of resources and they will be a major force in the world before long I believe."
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the answer:",
"neg": "Represent the answer:"
}
|
Is there a recognized "Native American" philosophy, similar to how Western thought and Eastern thought is generalized?
|
[
"Is there really Eastern vs Western thought? I thought that was just a made up stereotype."
] |
[
"> Then, why is it a religion Religions don't need to be a Judeo-Christian style monotheism. Through history most weren't. > and why different from Taoism or other \"related\" philosophies/religions? It's related. There's a lot of overlaps in ideas in the same way there's a lot of overlaps between a lot of the more commonly considered Western religions."
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
}
|
Does anyone have any info on A very ville, NY? It was a small town right outside of Lake Placid, NY, and seems to have few records of it existing.
|
[
"You might start by reading this, then do a search on Averyville on the same sure and see what else you can find. _URL_0_"
] |
[
"It's built on the banks of the Los Angeles River probably chose that site as it was the best to build. The river would have supplied the fledgling city with water and there may have been other reasons it's there maybe a convergence of wagon trails or something. Originally it was a Spanish settlement surrounded by other Spanish settlements (Santa Monica for example) which grew together over time and became \"incorporated\" into L.A. I don't know the specifics but the reason L.A. grew into the surroundings and kept it's name probably due to it being the biggest city in the area."
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
}
|
Found a bayonet in the attic, what are these symbols near the hilt?
|
[
"The bayonet is most likely a Japanese Arisaka Bayonet from the World War II era. These markings are some of the ones used by the Toyada Jido Shokki Seisakusho Arsenal (Toyoda Automatic Loom Works, or TALW). Thus, these are the markings of the factory or arsenal which produced the bayonet (or at least the blade-- many factories of the era got various parts from other factories and put them together with the blade made by the labeling factory, which then got to mark the bayonet showing they had made it.)"
] |
[
"It says Mre d'armes de St Etienne Janvier 1876. Mre is short for \"Manufacture\" and d'armes means (you guessed it) \"arms\". So it is the makers mark for the state owned arms manufacturer in St Etienne, France in January 1876. A little more information about the [site](_URL_0_) I have a sword from the Napoleonic Era that has Imperial France foundry markings along the spine and remember researching the origin so I recognized yours right away. Yours was also much easier to read, as the blade I have has some patina to it. Very cool item you have there!"
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
}
|
What role did worshipers of Set play in Egyptian society?
|
[
"[This link](_URL_0_) tells you more about the worship of Seth and how he was perceived in ancient Egypt. Bottom line, he was never a nice guy god but he was worshiped as a protector of Ra, as a provider of oases in the desert, and as the main God of the 19th nome in upper Egypt."
] |
[
"I'd like to hijack this and ask a follow up question: What sort of laws did the Romans have regarding treatment of slaves as opposed to the USA?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
}
|
How do you (historians) seperate emotion when reading about evil people in history?
|
[
"The short answer is, you don't separate out emotion, and that can and does make the study and discussion of terrible events and crimes hard to deal with. Contrary to the 'realz not feelz' attitude that seems to be awfully popular among many Redditors, empathy is a central part of understanding, and writing, history. Not to preclude further discussion, but I strongly encourage you to read [this Monday Methods post](_URL_0_) penned by /u/commiespaceinvader a few weeks ago, which I hope you will find both relevant and interesting."
] |
[
"I have a few questions for 20th century political historians: How do historians usually work with 20th century political commentators? Are they good primary sources to understand the political opinions of the general public or do they just show the commentators' opinions? Are there any works that discuss how historiography should deal with political commentators? And how do you think future historians will use today's political commentators in their work? Also, a followup: do religious sermons and homilies work in a similar way as political commentators in historiography?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
}
|
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