The Feed

Posted by /u/FarTicket7338

Why did Hitler maintain good relations with Muslims despite his belief in Aryan racial superiority?

He personally met with the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and appeared to treat him respectfully in footage released by the Nazi authorities. He permitted the formation of Muslim SS units which were allowed to follow Muslim practice freely. Shortly before the Battle of Kursk, he invit…

Posted by /u/fuzzus628

Gaming historians, I know you're out there -- where did the "three pillars" RPG game design (tank, healer, DPS) originate, and how has it evolved from its earliest incarnations?

I was thinking about how homogenized a lot of modern MMORPG classes have become into these three roles, and remembering how things used to feel different way back when. When I realized that WoW is over 20 years old now, I knew to turn to this sub for an answer! When and with wha…

Posted by /u/J2quared

Comedian Steve Harvey claimed that state lotteries were created as successors to the “numbers game,” a lottery popular in many Black communities. Is this historically accurate? To what extent did state lotteries replace or draw inspiration…

Posted by /u/afrophysicist

When Euripidies wrote The Trojan Woman, a retelling of the Iliad from the perspective of the women of Troy, was there a contemporary backlash against this, similar to what we would recognise today?

In modern literature and cinema, the recasting or refocusing of stories onto women often provokes a furious backlash (i.e., some of the reaction to Emily Wilson's translation of the Odyssey). Was there anything similar when Euripidies wrote The Trojan Women? Was he accused of su…

Posted by /u/bruhgzinga

Why did Christian slave owners in the US not follow the rules laid out in the Bible about the treatment of slaves, and how did they justify this discrepancy?

Posted by /u/Jaredlong

Why did Albert Einstein become so famous? I understand WHAT he is famous for, but I don't understand why his work made him an international celebrity and a household name.

Brownian motion, general relativity, special relativity, E=mc2. I know WHAT Einstein is famous for and this is not a question about the importance of his scientific contribution. My question is why did Einstein reach a level of such legendary fame that his very name became synon…

Posted by /u/larrycsonka

I read in Mozart: Reign of Love that Symphonies were often chaotic in the 1700s, with people playing cards, making out, and chatting during them. Are there other accounts of this? If so, at what point did symphonies become stuffy?

In Mozart Reign of Love, Jan Swafford posits that operas and symphonies were a social gathering, often being up to 6 hours long. The music was written such that it was lowkey and allowed people to socialize with occasional big numbers to capture attention. They mention people wo…

Posted by /u/SYMPUNY_LACKING

How likely is the Mel Blanc (Voice of Looney Tunes) Coma story? Is it impossible/fake?

Cause I'm aware many people WONT know about the story - despite its ''icon status'' - I'm gonna post it here: On January 24, 1961, Blanc was driving alone when his sports car was involved in a head-on collision on Sunset Boulevard; his legs and his pelvis were fractured as a res…

Posted by /u/HollowWanderer

Why are airborne units part of the army, and not the air force?

If marines are infantry detachments deployed from ships, and are part of the navy, and paratroopers are infantry detachments deployed from aircraft, why are they not part of the air force? Edit: Appreciate this might be a bit off-topic from your regularly scheduled programming b…

Posted by /u/Fast_Tangerine7898

Why do Catholics feel “nicer” and less “brainwashed” compared to Christian’s

Growing up my whole life I’ve noticed that Christian’s tend to hate a lot, criticize you and other religions rather than love, and almost feel like a cult compared to Catholics. I grew up with lots of Mexicans and it just feels like Catholics have that warmth to not criticize, l…

Posted by /u/Big_Airline_3708

Is there any actual historical or economic validity to the "250-Year Empire Cycle" theory?

Hey everyone. I’m a dad who is fairly new to Reddit, trying to make sense of something my adult kids keep bringing up. They’re convinced the U.S. has pretty much run its course. They argue that some empires operate on a predictable "250-year cycle" and we’re officially entering…

Posted by /u/RedHeadedSicilian52

How come Christianity disappeared from the Maghreb after the Muslim conquests, but not Egypt and the Levant?

My understanding is that all of these regions had Christian majorities before the rise of Islam (though, to be clear, many of them followed extremely heterodox brands of Christianity, such as Monophysitism and Donatism). While the percentage of Christians certainly declined over…

Posted by /u/ConsciousMaybe6930

I am a pater familiās in the 2nd century CE Roman Empire. I really, really hate my eldest son for being unfilial, obstinate and arrogant and would much prefer my grandson, his son, to inherit me after my death. What can I do to make this h…

Posted by /u/hoetrain

In 1864, Christian IX reportedly offered to bring all of Denmark into the German Confederation to avoid losing Schleswig-Holstein, and Bismarck turned it down. Why would Prussia reject sovereignty over Danish territory and the Baltic strai…

I have been interested in the Second Schleswig War and the postwar negotiations. According to a documentary source citing Magne Lund & Preben Strange’s Fra Altona til Dybbøl, the sequence around late June 1864 went roughly like this: After the Danish defeat at Duebbel, Bismarck…

Posted by /u/Far_Magician8224

Memento mori. Remember that you will die.

I was shocked to learn that one of our faithful daily Mass-goers suddenly died yesterday. He himself was at Mass yesterday, with his wife. Understandably, she wasn't there today. You just don't know the day or the hour. How humbling this is. Please pray for the repose of his sou…

Posted by /u/Tiny-Stretch-5310

Was the modern design of Zeus (w/ white hair and beard) influenced by the imagery of the Christian God or was it the other way around?

My understanding (might be incorrect) is that the current image of Zeus having white hair and beard came about during the Renaissance and the actual appearance of Zeus depicted by Greeks and Romans had Zeus younger with darker hair and beard. Of course, with that information, my…