16
votes
Who is the latest famous person to have no known likeness?
I'll lead with Sacagawea (May 1788 - December 1812), the guide/interpreter for Lewis and Clark who clearly is both objectively famous, and lacks both an entry in the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica and ...
- 72.3k
14
votes
Accepted
In what sense is Socrates considered as the father of Western philosophy?
Socrates changed how philosophy itself was to be conceived. Rather than a "sophist" ("wise one" - the tag often used for earlier Greek philosophers), Socrates described himself simply as a "philo-...
- 77.4k
11
votes
Accepted
Was having one breadwinner in the family feasible in the early 1900s because of greater pay, lower cost of living, or both compared to today?
Excellent question; we often hear that "life was better before" and that "back in the day when there was a single bread winner, things were awesome." I contend that this presumption is a little off. ...
- 7,468
10
votes
Who is the latest famous person to have no known likeness?
Thasunke Itko or Crazy Horse (c. 1840-1877) has no known image from his lifetime.
There is a photograph allegedly but not certainly of him, and a drawing based on his sister's description made in ...
- 19.1k
8
votes
Who are the "Two Parties" of the Protestants in the Treaty of Westphalia?
The two key articles (Avalon transcription) are these [my emphasis]:
XXVIII.
That those of the Confession of Augsburg, and particularly the Inhabitants of Oppenheim, shall be put in possession again ...
- 72.3k
7
votes
Was there a military practice of reloading while marching/running, in Europe or America during the 18th and 19th centuries?
Through the musket era, formed troops prevailed through achieving higher rates of fire. With rates exceeding 4 shots per minute for Wellington's Peninsular veterans, and claimed to approach 6 shots ...
- 72.3k
6
votes
Is there any short summary of John Rowe's theory of horizons about the Incas?
You might want to go to the source of this theory as presented in the article Absolute Chronology in the Andean Area American Antiquity, Vol. 10, No. 3 (Jan., 1945), pp. 265-284.
This only forms the ...
- 80.8k
6
votes
Accepted
Was the year 2000 a really peaceful time in history for the West?
As near as I can tell, the only western country (for some definitions of "western") that was directly involved in a war in early 2001 was Russia in the Second Chechen War.
Israel, if you count them, ...
- 118k
6
votes
What is a good introduction into (western) civilization?
For the purpose of getting a good thorough grounding in Western ancient history, I highly suggest picking up a copy of Colin McEvedy's The New Penguin Atlas of Ancient History*.
It takes a base map ...
- 118k
6
votes
To what extent is a coincidence that the Dec. of the Rights of Man and the Citizen and the USA Dec. of Independence were approved so close in time?
Well played sir, well played! Drake has persuaded me to offer a bad answer. This is a bad answer because I'm going to cite a set of generalizations without either the sources that I prefer or the ...
MCW♦
- 32.4k
5
votes
Accepted
Why did European countries become more economically advanced than non European countries?
This is the question of modern world history. In fact it is a huge set of questions on which a lot has been written. The Wikipedia article on Great Divergence gives a pretty good summary of some ...
- 18.9k
5
votes
Who is the latest famous person to have no known likeness?
I am intentionally scorning your arbitrary definition of "famous". There is a very famous contemporary British artist called Banksy, of whom there is no image, photographic or otherwise.
- 9,756
5
votes
Were there more than 4 River Valley Civilizations?
China actually had two separate ones: The Yellow river and the Yangtze. The Yellow river is likely the initial homeland of the Han people. However, the Yangtze is where the staple crop of rice was ...
- 118k
4
votes
What is a good introduction into (western) civilization?
One might be better off regarding the Durants as the Newton or Maxwell, not the Feynman or Fermi, of history. Newtonian Mechanics and Classical Electromagnetism is just fine for building a highway, or ...
- 72.3k
4
votes
What's the origin of differentiating between civilians' and soldiers' "rights" in war?
First, let's clarify; declaring something illegal does not prevent people from doing that thing. Burglary is illegal, but it happens. Sexual harassment is illegal, but it happens. So all of the ...
MCW♦
- 32.4k
3
votes
Who introduced Yoga to the West?
krishnamacharya is considered the father of modern yoga in the west. He was the teacher to bks iyengar, pattabhi jois, tkv desikachar, and indra devi. These four students came to the west to teach. ...
3
votes
How did a student grant work in 18th/19th century Western Europe
You can't find much info about grants as scholarships from the government are a fairly recent development. In the 18th and 19th century rich individuals gave grants. The terms of each grant varied ...
- 20.9k
3
votes
ِWhen did sexual life outside marriage became popular in Europe? and why?
In the late sixties. This is called "sexual revolution", and some social scientists explain it by invention of reliable and convenient contraceptives ("the Pill"). Of course, decline in religion is ...
- 38.5k
3
votes
In what sense is Socrates considered as the father of Western philosophy?
In brief (but over-simplified) terms, as to why he is considered a founder of Western philosophy, he lived during the ancient era and Socrates' philosophical ideas have been research/followed by ...
- 6,313
2
votes
Why did European countries become more economically advanced than non European countries?
This question is discussed –though not succinctly- in Jacques Barzun’s From Dawn to Decadence. It largely started with an idealized revival of Greek philosophy. But it wasn’t an event but rather a ...
- 466
2
votes
Why did European countries become more economically advanced than non European countries?
Without being bogged down by multiple stipulations in history I'll attempt to answer this as simply as possible. Most likely Europe advanced rapidly due to mercantilism and the free flow of ideas into ...
- 81
2
votes
Was having one breadwinner in the family feasible in the early 1900s because of greater pay, lower cost of living, or both compared to today?
In the early 1900s, most household work (other than the man's profession) was done at home. That is, nearly all meals were prepared at home (instead of going to restaurants. Clothes were cleaned (and ...
- 104k
2
votes
Who are the "Two Parties" of the Protestants in the Treaty of Westphalia?
'The Protestants' were mainly divided into two factions within the Empire: 'Lutheran' and 'Reformed' churches, the latter often subsumed as 'Calvinists'.
This is really already spelled out within the ...
- 80.8k
1
vote
Accepted
What in Confucianism reduced the importance of the clan structure and made these societies more secular?
This question contains two very large assumptions which, when checked, unfortunately reduce it to nothing as far as I can tell.
The first is about the clan structure in Confucianism. As one of the ...
- 2,429
1
vote
What is the difference between an extensive revolution and an intensive revolution?
Those are now unused terms, they were partially used during the American Independence but here's what they mean:
An extensive revolution is one in which events happen in a similar way in small areas ...
- 305
1
vote
In what sense is Socrates considered as the father of Western philosophy?
Also his works are some of the oldest surviving works. They were translated from latin to Arabic and then to other languages
- 11
1
vote
Who introduced Yoga to the West?
Although Swami Vivekananda is often credited with bringing the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali to the West, it was Henry Thomas Colebrooke in 1837 before Swami Vivekananda was even born.
Essays on the ...
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