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Posted by /u/Playergh

Did Italian soldiers in the Second World War consume more water than other armies because they had to boil pasta?

The notorious board/war game The Campaign for North Africa has, among its numerous small details, the rule that the Italians consume more water than the others because they use it to boil pasta. Is this increased water consumption supported by sources, and did the Italians even…

Posted by /u/Arthur-reborn

How common was it in Vietnam to avoid being drafted by the Army by joining the Navy/Air force first?

My dad came from a poor family and turned 18 right at the height of the Vietnam era drafts. He knew he was most likely going to be drafted and there wasn't much he could do about it. So him and his brother both signed onto the Navy before he could get a draft notice. He ended up…

Posted by /u/Wild0TT3R

How comfortable were people with nudity and mixed-gender settings in medieval Europe (14th–15th centuries) (Bath)?

Hi, And more specifically, during bathing time? Of course, in an era when religion and its precepts held great sway, I can easily imagine that public nudity was not well tolerated. But what about when people went to the public bathhouse, or any other place for washing the body?…

Posted by /u/optiplex9000

My father grew up in a small town in the US in the 70s. He told me a story where he was able to call home from his school by dialing just 4 numbers. When did phone calls start requiring 7 numbers like 555-5555 instead of just 5555?

Posted by /u/CatsDoingCrime

What is the current consensus on the historicity of the Trojan War?

In honor of a... certain movie that recently came out, I started to wonder: what actually is the current historical consensus on the Trojan war? I know for a while historians thought it was largely mythical, but then the actual city of Troy was found (and the guy who found it da…

Posted by /u/Courcheval_Royale

"In World War 2, city of Pittsburgh produced more steel than all of Germany/Axis" Is it a claim based on actual research,or is it another example of anecdotal evidence becoming popularized?

Posted by /u/faithhopeandbread

Did most Europeans really think war was exciting and heroic before World War 1?

This is something I hear all the time regarding the first World War: Up until then wars were quick, heroic and romantic ways to earn prestige and bolster your nation's standing on the world stage; only once the horrors of trench warfare &c. were fully realized did that perceptio…

Posted by /u/Mr_Emperor

Was there a domestic ornamental rug making tradition in Medieval Europe? What types of patterns were common and who would have access to them?

Central Asia is famous for its luxurious "Persian" rugs that are in high demand even today with cultures from Afghanistan, to Northern Africa and beyond having ornamental rugs in regular people's homes, often as replacements for furniture. And I think about Spanish New Mexico wh…

Posted by /u/haevow

Did the average slave see slavery as an inevitability?

From what I know, most slaves generally did not buy into the narrative that slavery was natural, just or “the only system that works”, unlike the many ways capitalist ideology works today. But that leads me to wonder, even if slaves did not belive that the practice of slavery wa…

Posted by /u/peenaculada

When George Washington said ‘banditti,’ who exactly was he picturing?

Reading a book about Washington and he uses the word a lot, usually in reference to frontier warfare and Indians but it strikes me that the loan word had its own associations rooted in Italian history and geography. Wikipedia says the word bandit entered English from Italian cir…

Posted by /u/bileelthorkva

What was Canada's response to the AIDS crisis?

As a Canadian who's also queer, I've only ever learned about the response to the AIDS crisis that the US made, never the response my own country made. What did the Canadian government and healthcare system do? What was the response by queer people and other victims of AIDS at th…

Posted by /u/DarkGodCthUwU

Should Neopagan attitudes regarding direct relationships with Gods be viewed as extentions of Protestant attitudes regarding personal relationships with God and the decreased importance of spiritual mediation by clergy?

Hi! I was raised Protestant, and one talking point I've heard regarding Catholicism vs Protestantism (I'm sure it's an oversimplification) is that Protestants, at least many American varieties, prioritize a personal relationship to God with less emphasis on priestly mediation an…

Posted by /u/Blu_Will_Enthusiast

Why is Iowa’s abbreviation IA and not IO or IW?

Posted by /u/collegeblunderthrowa

What is the early evidence or record of humans drinking hot beverages - not necessarily coffee or tea, just any drink they consumed hot?

I don't mean beverages that were made by heating and then left to cool down. I mean something consumed while still hot. I'd also be curious as to what those early hot beverages might have been, if we know.

Posted by /u/mind-killer-fear

What criteria should determine whether violence against a colonial government is classified as terrorism or armed resistance?

This week marked 80 years since the King David Hotel bombing in Jerusalem. On July 22, 1946, members of the Irgun planted explosives beneath the hotel’s south wing, which housed the British Mandatory government’s Secretariat and military headquarters. Ninety-one people were kill…

Posted by /u/HowlingBurd19

Why was the average age for an American soldier in the Vietnam War younger than that of WWII?

Posted by /u/MembershipProof8463

Is the theory that Vanir and Aesir used to be different pantheons/beliefs something that holds up?

I've been curious about this for a while, heard it a couple of times and I wanted to know what the general consensus on it is

Posted by /u/AnteaterKey2626

How were the Valois dukes of Burgundy able to incorporate so many territories into their domains?

Given that Philip the Bold was only the fourth eldest son of John II of France, how come they would become the most powerful European dukes by the mid-15th century? I see they managed to become dukes of Luxembourg, Brabant and Guelders, and counts of Hainaut, Namur, Holland and…

Posted by /u/ferret_king10

Has anyone here found a satisfying answer for Divine Hiddenness?

I'm a Christian but lately I've been questioning my faith severely, with divine hiddenness being one of the main reasons. I can't find an answer for this question, and it is making my faith feel awful. I honestly don't know if I can have much faith at all without some kind of un…

Posted by /u/seekinghelpincreate

Why does American media prominently portray Soviets as refering to eachother as comrade?

Was comrade(or a word similar to comrade in Russian) a common term of endearment or something, or is this just to sell the fact that they're communist with communal language?

Posted by /u/garrus4016

How did the practice of horseback riding begin and spread amongst early humans?

Horseback riding just seems like a very ridiculous thing to try if you don’t already have the idea. “I’m going to jump on the back of this massive, powerful animal we sometimes hunt for meat and tell it where to go.” And then all of the sudden the whole of Eurasia is doing it? I…

Posted by /u/Parking-Staff-4930

Catholics and Orthodox argue Protestant doctrines like sola scriptura were theological inventions absent from the early church. Is there a serious historical case that early Christianity actually supports Protestant distinctives?

I keep coming across the argument that Protestantism "invented" doctrines that have no basis in the early church, and that the church fathers actually line up with Catholic or Orthodox theology instead. I'm curious whether this holds up historically — is the patristic record gen…

Posted by /u/extraneous_parsnip

It's said we only have a handful of the plays of Sophocles, Euripides, Aeschylus, etc. How did the plays we do have actually survive? And how do we know there are so many missing?

I suppose my question is really in two parts: How does a ~2500 year old play survive such that we can be reasonably certain of its authenticity and authorship? How can we have evidence of, but not the text of, lots of other such plays?

Posted by /u/DGBD

Why are there so many Neo-Gothic churches in Ireland?

Seems like so many churches are gray stone Neo-Gothic/Gothic Revival buildings. It’s especially true of Church of Ireland (Anglican) churches in my experience, but plenty of Catholic ones as well like St. Colman’s in Cobh. Was it just a function of so many being built in the 19t…