The Feed

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/Various_Implement_92

Why do Detroit, Chicago and Minneapolis have art institutes instead of museums?

I'm from New England and on a trip to Minneapolis I visited the Minneapolis Institute of Art, which is terrific. That got me thinking: Minneapolis, Chicago and Detroit are all institutes of art, unlike the major art museums in East Coast cities like New York, Boston and Philadel…

Posted by /u/ExternalBoysenberry

How Nazi were the Birkenstocks, relatively speaking? (Both the family and the shoes)

I get that we don't and can't have, like, a NYT "what percent Nazi are you?" needle. I'm also familiar with (and sympathetic to) that famous quote I'll paraphrase as: the term for the innumerable ordinary Germans who quietly loathed Hitler but out of fear or convenience went alo…

Posted by /u/yellowbai

Is there any consensus on why Caesar acted so insultingly before his assassination?

Caesar was a political gambler no doubt but he always seemed to have a grasp on reality. He was charming he had social skills. He was at pains to seduce everyone he met with his charm. Cicero went through phases of admiring him and being terrified of him. Then the year before he…

Posted by /u/-Razen-

Why didn't Germany during WW2 capitalize far more on sloped armor for their tanks?

The most notorious and known tanks of Germany are almost all using flat armour. The Tiger I, which rolled down the production lines in 1942, had a famously box-like appearance. Against smaller calibers, it's undoubtedly effective. But as soon as far more potent calibers appeared…

Posted by /u/Known-Delay1371

How true is the claim “every culture had their own ‘great flood’ story”?

I’ve seen this claim in many places, from Internet forums to my very own family and I’ve never been able to figure out if it’s true or not. It’s the kind of thing that sounds just real enough to make you wonder but just vague enough to leave you with no idea where to start when…

Posted by /u/expandablebutthole

Attended my first Divine Liturgy and I'm not feeling well after the embarrassing moment of accidentally uttering the Filioque.

Today I attended my first Divine Liturgy and overall it was a BEATIFUL experience. As someone discerning conversion from Catholicism to Orthodoxy i genuinely felt spiritually at peace, it was an Orthodox Church in America parish so everything was in English which made it much ea…

Posted by /u/minisculebarber

Was slavery abolished multiple times in multiple places around Earth throughout human existence?

In "The Dawn of Everything" by David Graeber and David Wengrow write We’d never have guessed, for instance, that slavery was most likely abolished multiple times in history in multiple places However, they do not go into the claim nor do they provide sources. I do remember that…

Posted by /u/FantasticContact5301

I have read on several occasions that the image of the ninja wearing all-black comes from a kabuki play where a stagehand suddenly enters the narrative of the story to kill someone and is revealed to have been a ninja. Is there any actual…

I am aware, of course, that the modern idea of “ninja” is not historically accurate. There were spies and scouts and even assassins, but the idea of the ninja is just the result of folklore over many years. I am also aware that kabuki theater portrays ninja characters in all bla…

Posted by /u/Tough_Story_1024

How did the St Thomas Christian Community of India survive?

How did the St. Thomas Christian Community survive while communities in China and some other parts of Asia disappeared?

Posted by /u/CatsDoingCrime

Why weren't the proposals of the "cybercommunists" adopted within the eastern bloc? To what extent was cybernetics utilized within said bloc? Finally, to what extent did cybersyn get implemented in Chile, and how was it viewed within the e…

Since you're on the internet, you are likely well aware that literally everything is kind of on fire right now. We're very much all living in a "old order dying, new one being born" moment. That brings with it obvious crisis, but also opportunity. And in this contemporary moment…

Posted by /u/Wichiteglega

Is it true that bears were seen as divine figures in northern Europe like this book claim?

I am quite interested about the cultural history of bears, and I was intrigued by the book L'ours. Histoire d'un roi déchu by Michel Pastoureau, a French medievalist. The blurb on the back cover of the book says this, among other things: "In the Carolingian period, the bear was…

Posted by /u/Organic-Waltz-3726

Why were there fewer historic "empires" in North America?

Please excuse what I'm sure is a very dumb question, I don't know a lot about history. Mesopotamia had Sumer, Assyria, Babylon, Egypt, and eventually the Greeks and Romans. Sumer was settled around 5000-3000 BC. Humans crossed the land bridge to North America long before that. T…

Posted by /u/walter_bitty

Would Homer's audience have understood sneaking into Troy inside a wooden horse as a crime or transgression?

Posted by /u/YourWoodGod

How Accepted is the "Soviets were about to invade Germany" among Historians?

I'm watching a podcast with two historians discussing Operation Barbarossa. As far as I can remember, the "Soviet attack" scenario did not seem to be widely discussed when I was growing up (I'm 31 now). I feel like it's definitely something I would remember, and I consume as muc…

Posted by /u/TemperatureLong2260

having an atheist family is hard.

im 17, technically can drive but too scared and i have always hated it. so i need my mom to drive me to Church, which has become a very rare occasion. it is not her responsibility, but she takes me anywhere i want. horseback riding, friends houses etc anytime. when it comes to c…

Posted by /u/greenlight144000

Decided to become a catechumen today!

After a couple years of inquiring and research as a Trad Roman Catholic going through the differences i decided to become an Orthodox catechumen today! After Glory to Jesus Christ!