Questions tagged [historical-research]
For questions seeking guidance on how to research a particular historical topic
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Was there ever a male-equivalent to a harem in the Ottoman Empire?
I am currently doing research on Ottoman views toward homosexuality. I have also researched homosexuality relationships that Ottoman Sultans have had.
Seeing how there were harems, it made me wonder: ...
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How did German racial laws affect people who weren't Jewish but one of their parents wasn't German?
It's a bit strange question but I can't find anything in this topic. So currently I'm working on a book that is set in the 1940's in Germany, and one of the characters in it was born to a British ...
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Criticisms of Toynbee's 12 volume *A Study of History*
I remember reading that a mistake made by Toynbee, a "howler" in the opinion of the critic, was of such magnitude that it invalidated Toynbee's contributions to history almost in toto, if ...
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Can anyone help identify this passenger steamship with double funnels and two masts?
I believe that this unidentified passenger steamship could possibly be from the New England area or the Great Lakes. I have already ruled out this vessel as being the S.S. Boston of the Eastern ...
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When did horseback riding start? Are Doosheh cave petroglyphs authentic and correctly dated?
I am trying to reconcile 3 answers I have got so far. Perhaps there are more. My main question is about when horseback riding started.
In Ashmolean Museum (Oxford, UK), the information panel in the ...
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Where can I find an historically accurate ordinary items database for dungeon-stocking and art
I swear I had found in the comments of one of Matthew Colville's "stocking the dungeon" videos a link to an enormous database of accurate lists of ordinary items that list REAL items that ...
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Can anyone find a copy of "Notes on secret societies" by C.T. Dobrée on the internet?
"Notes on secret societies, compiled by C.T. Dobrée, is a guide to Chinese triads or secret societies operating in Malaya in the post-war era, with information on the secret codes of language and ...
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How do I learn more about untitled artworks on the internet? (like this specific Basquiat painting)
Since many of Basquiat's works are untitled, I'm having a hard time finding more historical details on the internet about specific paintings he made. For example, how can I learn more about this ...
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Which specific day of 1964 was the tree Prometheus (WPN-114) cut down?
In 1964, one of the oldest non-clonal living things in the world, Prometheus, a Great Basin bristlecone pine, was cut down. (This is important background information for a story I'm writing, and ...
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What's the earliest researched based evidence for Holi?
Holi is an important festival in Hinduism, generally falling between the months of February to April, as per the relevant calculations of the Hindu Luni-solar calendar.
I'd like to have an account ...
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Where can I find historical taxation/revenue datasets for imperial countries in the early 20th century?
I'm a grad student trying to conduct research, and my project depends on finding a dataset which enumerates taxation and revenue by colonial-era and post-colonial governments within the early 20th ...
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How long does a generation last?
Question:
Generetion, as a time period, is a widespread concept (or perhaps an idea) in History, in Social Sciences, and also in common language. Do historians have some sort of consensus on the time ...
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What did a wine gauger do in the 1900s?
I am researching my family tree to create a Christmas present for my dad. I ordered my grandad's birth certificate and his father's occupation is listed as 'wine gauger of 48 Cheetham Street ...
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Where can I find illustrations online depicting Idrisi's coffer in the Queen's chamber in the "Khufu" pyramid
I believe I have found sufficient evidence that points to a block of stone, not necessarily a coffer as stated by Idrisi, being inside the niche in the Queen's Chamber blocking the entrance to the ...
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Where online is the text of newspaper articles from the 1800s transcribed?
I'm trying to research, and form a corpus from, writing in English for average laypeople before 1900, published in Canada, US or UK. As a proxy for ordinary writing, I've chosen newspapers.
Many are ...
user8309
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Do Columbus' letters reveal that he was a Marrano? [closed]
In this popular CNN article, the author raises many arguments to prove that Columbus was a Marrano (hidden Jew), I found none to be very compelling besides for the following one:
At the top left-...
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Has anyone written a history centered on predictions/expectations about the future?
I think the way men represent to themselves the future ( I mean here what is about to arrive within a period of say, half a century) is part of their present. The anticipations ( positive or negative) ...
user41010
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Did the German ship SS Hansa (former Albert Ballin) continue her journey to the West after 30 January 1945?
Looking for refugees or families of refugees who were on board the Hansa on January 30th 1945 when she left Gotenhafen with the Wilhelm Gustloff. I am trying to find out what happened to the Hansa ...
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Is there a meaning in a name marked on the rear of a headstone rather than the front?
I have found a family headstone with the names of the deceased on the front (with many details), and a military cross (for their son) in front of the stone. On the rear of the stone is a name and age,...
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Is there a list of all resolutions made by the Arab League?
I was interested in looking at all the resolutions that were made by the Arab League. I have found a list of sessions made by the Jewish Virtual Library, however I was wondering if there is a compiled ...
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Where can I find this paper by Jean Buridan?
I'm trying to make a timeline of momentum for my physics class and I keep running across a paper by Jean Buridan called QM XII.9: 73ra. I don't know what any of this means, and I don't know how to ...
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Is the entire history, we read, accurate? [closed]
In today's era, having great advanced technologies, we get many rumors. So how can we write the historical facts so firmly.
We talk about ancient personalities, their quotes, their lives, etc. so ...
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Is there a location to find the personnel roster of the No. 300 Polish Bomber Squadron during WW2?
I'm working on a research project and I am looking to confirm that certain individuals were part of the No. 300 Polish Bomber Squadron during WW2.
Is there a place online or offline where one could ...
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Is there any evidence in history to suggest that there was a Melanchro (dark-skinned) population in Colchis as claimed by Herodotus?
On Quora, I encountered a variety of unsourced claims on this subject which I will list below
There are accounts of Black Colchians:
In 522-443, a Greek poet named Pindar described the Colchians as
...
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Where is an image of the oracle bone that describes the nova?
(Related to my previous question)
Does anyone have a link to an image of the oracle bone that has this specific inscription:
The inscriptions include the oldest observation of a nova (1300BCE) ‘A ...
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What are the best resources for studying oracle bone inscriptions?
Can someone please recommend the best resources for studying Chinese oracle bone inscriptions?
Rather than general or specific information about oracle bones, I'm looking for collections or catalogs ...
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How can we be certain of customs in the primitive age?
I am currently reading Our Oriental Heritage by William Durant.
In Chapter IV. The Family, Durant writes of woman:
In the hunting stage she did almost all the work except the actual capture of the ...
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Weird weapons in medieval times [closed]
I know that this will be a bit vague, but here goes: what’s the weirdest weapon ever made/used in the medieval times? I meant in terms of how it’s used. I wrote the man catcher question so I would ...
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Were man catchers actually used in medieval times?
I know that man catchers were invented sometime during the medieval times, but were they actually used during the medieval times?
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Origin of 'diff' tool [closed]
I can't seem to find any evidence that would place the origin of diff tool to the year 1972 (as stated on wikipedia). So where is any initial research paper on it, first release, source code?
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How do I find the sources which determined the year of the fall of Babylon?
I'm really asking a general question about the study of history. Allegedly, the Babylonian Empire fell to the Persians under Cyrus the Great in 539 BCE. All articles regarding this event simply take ...
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Historical documents of Mount Athos
I have heard of a project of cataloging and digitizing of all of Mount Athos documents. Is there a website to find more information about this project, and to follow its progress?
I'm having a hard ...
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When did cultures start to emerge in ancient Peru?
Upon understanding John Rowe's theory of horizons, I became a bit confused about what should be considered a culture. This concept isn't very clear to me.
According to John Rowe, the earliest period ...
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When was William Manchester institutionalized?
William Manchester is most famous for writing the Death of a President (1967). I showed my neighbor a book of his because he is a history buff. He said that he knew of him because his mother cared for ...
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Is there a list of bills in the reign of George III & onwards?
I am researching the history of trackways, canals mines and railways from the reign of George 3rd through to the end of Queen Victoria’s reign. Is there a list of all bills presented to Parliament ...
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Where I can find historical literacy rates of Eastern European countries?
I am looking for literacy rate of Eastern European countries for last 100 (or more) years. I am especially interested in Russia and Poland.
The only data I was able to find was OurWorldInData and ...
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How, if at all, is published pseudohistory publicly addressed by scholars and academia?
To start of I would like to make it clear that I am not a historian or academian of any kind. I'm only interested in history as a hobby.
I was just browsing to buy an audiobook in area of Ancient ...
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How much knowledge of the past was destroyed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries?
Apart from the buildings themselves, what items of particular historical value were lost during Henry VIII's reign? Wikipedia's 'Dissolution of the Monasteries' makes some mention of libraries but ...
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Does there exist a comprehensive list of every ancient document and artifact ever recovered?
If I wanted to become an expert on Mesopotamia, for instance, and I wanted to read every text written in that region from the dawn of recorded history to the 5th century CE, could I find a complete ...
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Why is (the best) soot to be taken from glassmakers, according to Diocorides' "Materia Medica"?
"Fuligio pictoria [soot] that the painters use is taken from the glassmakers, as that is the best." (Diocorides, De Materia Medica 5-182)
http://www.cancerlynx.com/BOOKFIVEWINES.PDF
While glassmaking ...
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When is the first time any variation of the name Misraim is used to refer to Egypt?
I asked a question here previously related to this, and I would like to be more specific in this question. There are numerous ancient records such as the Ugaritic tablets, the Assyrian & ...
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Recommended electronic versions of old public domain US history textbooks?
I realize it's common practice for historians use primary sources, but what I want is some old US history schoolbooks pre-copyright, say 1700-1900. Something high-school level or higher (i.e. not for ...
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Study of causal structures and dynamics in history?
I was not really sure how to phrase this question, but ok, let me try nonetheless. My background is in natural sciences, but I have always been interested in history as well. Over past years I have ...
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How do I organise my "What-if" research paper?
I am a young, inexperienced freshman in high school, and my class has been assigned a short research paper. It involves asking a what-if question regarding historical cause-and-effect (for example, "...
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Where can I find reliable primary sources written by Ancient Egyptian laborers?
I am working on a Year 12 New Kingdom Pharaoh assignment. I have chosen Ramesses II and must determine if he was an effective king. I have decided that he was, but now I just have to provide the ...
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Who was the Gold Rush memoirist James G. Ward?
The historian Richard Pierce quoted in his citation-free "Biographical Dictionary" from certain "recollections of California in 1848" (presumably not a work title) by one James G. Ward. The ...
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What were the largest newspapers in mid-1800s California?
I'm reading about current events in 1850s and 1860s California and want to check several newspapers' reporting on the same events. Which newspapers? In addition to the paper local to wherever ...
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Does any library hold the archives of the Russian-American Company?
I am researching Russian visits to Alta California during the Mexican War of Independence, which were mostly or all projects of the Russian-American Company. There is a collection of Company documents ...
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Are quantitative or mathematical methods becoming more dominant in the 21st century historical research? [closed]
Most people think that history is all about reading important events in the form of a story or narrative. Rarely do they associate the study of history with mathematics or any quantitative ...
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What makes studying science different from studying the history of science?
Put differently, do science historians need to explain, say, the discovery of thermodynamics in a mathematically rigorous manner like a physicist would? Or can they omit the highly technical aspects ...
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