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Posted by /u/LurkingTamilian

Have there examples in history of a society forgetting how a particular technology is created but only know about maintaining it?

It is a common trope is Sci-fi for an ancient advanced civilization to collapse leaving behind artifacts that newer people can use and maintain but not develop themselves. Do we have documented cases of this in real-life? I am not counting cases like the pyramids which might hav…

Posted by /u/CaptainMikul

Why did it take so long to invent the T Shirt?

I was watching a video of a guy putting on a chiton, and it's basically just a square, turned into a tube, and then stitched to make a neck hole. A lot of ancient garments seemed quite involved to put on. Even early modern period, buttons are on everything. What is it about a t-…

Posted by /u/jocundry

Would an African or Western European be more exotic to the Ancient Greeks?

There is a particular movie out right now that has created controversy because a woman of Greek mythology is portrayed by an actor of African descent. Certain people are concerned that this is not historically accurate. However, a number of the movie's cast look like they are of…

Posted by /u/Powerful-Mix-8592

Why did so few French people migrated to the Americas during the 19th century?

During the 19th century, there was a wave of emigration out of Europe, driven by poverty, famine, endless warfare, etc. The top emigrants were the Germans fleeing poverty-stricken and heavily militarized/war-ravaged German states, followed by Irish fleeing the Potato Famine, Ita…

Posted by /u/fhota1

To what extent is the story of the workers on Qin Shi Huang's tomb being buried alive with him believed to be true?

So Im sure the work on the tomb was brutal and a lot of people died doing it, especially given his love of mercury and how bad that is for you, but the part about how after he was buried the tomb was sealed with hundreds to thousands of skilled craftsmen inside so nobody could k…

Posted by /u/metacyan

These Catholic sisters want to start a new order with a difficult mission: Helping clergy abuse survivors

Posted by /u/DopplerRadio

Why did Suriname end up with such a large Indian diaspora?

I recently learned that Suriname has a much higher Muslim and Hindu population than most countries in the Americas, which led to me trying to understand why that was the case. To quote Suriname's Wikipedia article: "Hindus are the second largest religious group in Suriname, comp…

Posted by /u/Fickle_Quiet_7707

Was the singing of La Marseillaise allowed in German occupied France?

In Casablanca, there's a famous scene in Humphrey Bogart's Café where its patrons defiantly sing it in the midst of several German officers singing "Die Wacht am Rhine." Would singing La Marseillaise in public be dangerous for a Parisian in 1942?

Posted by /u/Extension-Beat7276

Why are Non-Greeks so prevalent as foundational figures in Greek Mythology?

I have noticed that especially for the oldest non-divine figures we see a lot non Greeks becoming very important to the mythological lineages. For example we have Cadmus and Europa, who were both Phoenician. Then we have also the Lydian/Phyrgian Pelops where the Péloponnèse gets…

Posted by /u/reeseesg7

i hate how people say someone's sudden death is "god's plan"

even if i was religious, this would be a very questionable thing to say in response to someone's death. like was it god's plan for the victims of Sandy Hook to be shot dead? calling it god's plan made it sound like they (god) directly caused the person's death