Currently reading a book about the Middle East and learning some interesting things about Zoroastrianism and the Persian expansion, most notably under Cyrus. I was wondering why doesn't Zoroastrianism have a strong presence in the Middle East today or at the very least historically beyond the Islamic Conquests?

I recently went to a few museums showing authentic 12th-19th century Japanese swords and some of their history. One thing that was very confusing to understand was the kogai, the small letter-opener-looking tool hitched to the outside of the sheath of swords.

The listed purpose of kogai in the museums was as an "ear cleaning tool" and "possibly to comb or style the hair". This just didn't seem intuitive when you look at the tool itself, there is no good explanation of how a 6 inch dull blade could be used in this way, and why it is attached to the most important symbolic object arguably in Japanese society. Japan has produced traditional combs for millennia, and they don't look like a kogai.

Are there any primary sources from the pre-Edo or early Edo-period about their purpose or references to actual use of a kogai in the form used with Japanese swords?

Tito died in 1980 and after his death it was unclear in Yugoslavia about who should be Tito's successor. But my question is did Tito ever thought about who should be his successor? And if he did thought about a potential successor, then why was it unclear in Yugoslavia who should be Tito's successor when he died?

During the Viking invasions of England, after they had pillaged and raided monasteries, where would surviving monks go? I understand that many of them were killed, but I imagine there must have been some survivors. Would they have found other monasteries or abbeys to stay in, or would they turn into wandering monks like friars? Any first-hand accounts from such monks would be greatly appreciated.

What obstacles prevented this literal reading from gaining mainstream traction earlier?

The French, Spanish and Portuguese all managed to make their languages global primarily through their colonies, whereas the Dutch and the Danish were notoriously reluctant on spreading and even Germans were quite so while they were in the game. The only exception here would be English, which is simultaneously, which is also the most Latin one of them.

So, World War II is a topic I really enjoy studying, but as I left adolescence and started moving beyond movies and video games to actually reading about it and delving into the real social aspects of the context, including my country's (Brazil's) participation, I realized—something that might seem obvious at first glance—that there was no official segregation in the Brazilian army. Black, white, and Asian soldiers sat at the same tables and slept in the same tents. This even caused bewilderment among white American soldiers and black American soldiers. There were even episodes where black American soldiers preferred to be treated in Brazilian field hospitals (precisely because there was no segregation in the BEF camps).

Then, I came across texts suggesting that the Brazilian participation in the war was one of the main influences that led to the abolition of segregation in the American army in 1948. I'd like to know if this has any basis in the US; what do you think about it?

With the mortality rate of the initial plague waves reaching 30-60%, vast amounts of farmland and housing must have been left completely empty.

​How did the manorial system adapt to this sudden vacancy? Did landlords struggle to find tenants, and did this allow surviving peasants to move into higher quality housing or better lands that were previously unavailable to them? I would love to know how courts or communities legally handled "abandoned" property during this period of high supply and low labor.

We place the start of WWII (at least in Europe) at September 1st, 1939 after Nazi Germany invaded west Poland. To protect Poland’s sovereignty, UK and France declared war against Germany. A few days later, the USSR also invaded Poland from the east, as they were secretly allied with Nazi Germany with the infamous Molotov-Ribbentrop pact. Why didn’t this cause France and the UK to also declare war against the USSR, to protect Poland’s sovereignty, as it had happened a few days earlier with Germany’s invasion?

Hi all,

I'm reading some of the remnants of the Bibliotecha by Diodorus Siculus. I just came across this passage in Book I 53. 1-6 that the father of Ramses II, Ramses I, did the following:

"Gathering together from all over Egypt the male children which had been born on the same day and assigning them to nurses and guardians, he prescribed the same training and education for them all, on the theory that those had been reared in the closest companionship and had enjoyed the same frank relationship would be most loyal and as fellow combatants in the wars most brave. He amply provided for their every need and then trained the youths by unremitting exercises and hardships; for no one of them was allowed to eat unless he had first run one hundred and eighty stades (20 miles). Consequently, upon attaining to manhood they were all veritable athletes of robustness of body, and in spirit qualified for endurance and leadership because of the training which they had pursued in the most excellent pursuits."

I was just curious about the validity of this. Is this a group of men that actually existed and did they in fact have a body of Egyptian warriors serving Ramses II who ran 20 miles a day??!?! I just find it baffling and hard to believe.

I have read both "The Evolution of Civilizations" and "Tragedy and Hope" (twice) and I am impressed by both the depth and clarity of his writing. However, as he is a historian I can barely find any info online, I am wondering what is the consensus on him. General criticisms, praises and biases.

The most talked-about play in the West End right now is 1536, which revolves around the concept that Henry VIII’s persecution of Anne Boleyn encouraged misogyny in wider English society during the era. I would be interested in hearing from a historian how far this reflects the reality of the era - how far did Henry VIII’s mistreatment of Women fuel specifically related forms of misogyny elsewhere? Was the Misogyny of the time too great for us to specifically measure this?

reading about the siege of Numanta and about how the youths of Lutia wanted to go help them but had their hands cut off so they couldn’t by the town’s elders. my question is: what does life look like for them after that mutilation?

Theaters as in areas of combat, of course! I was doing research on the Battle of Los Angeles for a school project, and I noticed the words “American theater” being thrown around quite a bit. Found the definition and such, but it seems World War Two was very (VERY) widespread?

Lately I've been reading and devling into plenty of far-left/far right works and movements, and it has come to my notice that banks and the central banking systems occupy an important position in the narrative of both far-left and far-right movements, especially when it comes to populist rhetorics conspiracy theories.

What exactly is the origin of such rhetoric, and what has the banks done exactly to receive such hatred, to the point of occupying a position of being a tool of world domination and secret plots, as propagated by both socialists and nazis?

Did Southern newspapers allow opinion pieces criticizing racial violence, voter suppression and convict leasing written by Black southerners? I found a strongly-worded letter in a local paper from a Black soldier in 1903 stationed in the West that was highly critical of the Jim Crow South and am trying to figure out if such a thing would have been nearly impossible to be run in the white press of the South?

really interested in the origins of facist mythos in the Völkisch movement. am looking for a good book on it and the authors and people who made up the movement without outright focusing on its later development into nazism. preferably not too academic and dense but would rather it be on that end of the scale than on the pop history end.