The Feed

Posted by /u/Asleep_Wealth5602

We are historians of childhood and food, authors of 'First Helpings: A History of Children and Food'. Feel free to AMA.

Our names are Dr Deborah Albon and Dr Amy Palmer and we are the authors of ‘First Helpings: A History of Children and Food’ published by Reaktion Books. This book explores the relationship between children and food in history, drawing on a rich variety of social records, cookery…

Posted by /u/Wooden_Airport6331

I am an American conscript in Vietnam. I refuse to continue. What happens to me?

In this hypothetical, there is a moral and/or psychological reason that I won’t continue, like PTSD, perhaps witnessing or participating in civilian casualties. Perhaps I believe that my death is already inevitable. I feel that have nothing to lose by deserting. Could I be execu…

Posted by /u/RedlineFan

In an episode of "WKRP in Cincinnati", Dr. Johnny Fever is paranoid that the "phone cops" are after him. Did the Bell System have any actual phone cops or was this a total fantasy?

I'm also asking this based on telephony historian Evan Doorbell's recollections of investigators employed by the Bell System coming after him and other early phone phreaks in the NYC area.

Posted by /u/optiplex9000

I've been watching Ken Burn's WW2 Documentary and it shows an American news reel from the 40s with footage from the Germans setting up the Atlantic Wall defenses. How did Americans get their hands on this footage from the Germans?

Posted by /u/OfficialAli1776

Why are Egyptian ruins so well preserved compared to Greco-Roman ones, despite being older?

Obviously a major exception being a Pantheon, but I went to Greece and Rome and the ruins were, well, ruins. The Athenian Acropolis was in really sorry shape, the Parthenon is barely being held together as just an exoskeleton of its former self (I know about the Venetians blowin…

Posted by /u/MagisterMystax

Why did the Reformation largely end up dividing Europe between a protestant north and a catholic south?

When you look at the countries that ended up going protestant during the Reformation, it's mostly the northern half of Europe: Scandinavia, the Netherlands, Britain (though I am aware Scotland stuck with Catholicism far more than England), and Germany ended up largely divided al…

Posted by /u/Thundertushy

What was life as a diabetic like in Rome in 2nd Century AD?

Aretaeus of Cappadocia described life with diabetes as short, disgusting and painful. What would life as a 2nd Century AD person with diabetes have been like? Let's assume that the person is wealthy enough (i.e. prosperous merchant or landowner) to have a physician on staff to s…

Posted by /u/Sea-Situation-6758

Where do lawns come from?

Trying this again since Reddit filters removed my last post: Do historians have theories for why lawns are so common in the United States? Why do we waste so much time and money taking care of grass around our houses when they dont produce anything useful or seem to serve any pu…

Posted by /u/Storkiest

What is the history of the "Love Spell/Wish/Potion gone terribly wrong" trope in fiction? What are the earliest examples?

Obsessed with Obsession. Certainly not the first film to take on the concept of "wished for love and it backfired horribly", what was the first? Have approaches to the concept changed over time?