Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with historical

Amo Amas Awhat?

The Whelk — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 13:23:36 -0800

Is there a Medieval Linguist in the house? I need a very short conversation between Cistercian nuns in Saxony translated into Medieval Latin. Any help so I don't sound like a complete idiot warmly welcomed. Background, it's 1301 in Lower Saxony at Wienhausen Abbey

"He wishes in all humbleness to adore the relic."

"Impossible."

"But abbess, he has brought a wonder! He says it is a gift. He only wants a moment with it."

"Bring him to me."

Total Side Question: I can't figure out if the nuns wouldn't used Old German or Latin when speaking to each other rather than writing religious texts. Some sources say Old French, even.

Stone Piles -- Historical Meaning?

psc1860 — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 06:09:12 -0800

I sometimes see decorative piles of stones in front of --primarily rural-- homes. I like the effect very much. I wonder if there is an historical meaning or symbolism to these stone piles or if it is merely an enhancement.

Sensational scenic Shenandoah short-sabbatical suggestions

DetonatedManiac — Sat, 16 May 2009 09:54:00 -0800

Travel Filter: Planning trip from NC to Appomattox and Shenandoah Valley VA for Memorial Day weekend. Looking for off the beaten path, cultural or natural destinations and any other "must see" recommendations on food, lodging or attractions Family is doing a road trip to Shenandoah VA from NC. The only set destinations are Appomattox Court House National Historic Park and Shenandoah National Park for the nature trails (and maybe some battlefields around there).

We will probably set off from Roanoke VA Saturday morning after a late Friday night drive from NC, Appomattox most of Saturday, Shenandoah Sunday and Monday morning, arrive home Monday evening.

The plan is pretty loose, there are lots of little gaps there for a great local restaurant or interesting town or whatever attraction or little gem you can think of.

3 main things I am looking for are:

1) amazing things not many people know about (trails, museums, battlefields, mines, restaurants, beautiful drives, you name it)
2) good indoor destinations in the Shenandoah area in case the weather does not cooperate.
3) good trail recommendations in Shenandoah.

Our goal is to keep to rural/scenic driving and natural and historic oriented destinations (but any ideas welcome). We will probably stay well west of Richmond, but as long as we can hit Appomattox for most of a day and Shenandoah on another full day anything is possible.

We have done the "big" attractions in Virginia - Monticello, Williamsburg, Natural Bridge, and want to avoid them only because we don't really want to fight a big crowd. Otherwise those type of things are perfect.

Thanks in advance for the help!

I'm not asking you to do my research for me buuuuut....

The Whelk — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 10:51:40 -0800

Emergency Research Materials Needed: Due to not being an adult about things I now have to write a quick story set during the Indian Rebellion of 1857. And I have to finish it by Sunday. Yes, I've already read Wikipedia. I've got some knowledge of Indian/British politics and daily life of the time period, but I'd like more. Cause of the time limit, I'm leaning more towards shorter or more digestible accounts of the period. What are some good websites focused on the 1850s in India? What articles should I read? Where do I even find them?

Anything about daily life or habits would be greatly appreciated

Is there a book in the same vein as Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything, only covering history instead of science?

wordsmith — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 13:58:05 -0800

Is there a book in the same vein as Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything, only covering history instead of science? Something that's fairly light and fun(ny?) to read, not dense and textbook-like.

Help me find faux historical news program about Midievil Europe.

slavlin — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 10:18:37 -0800

Help me find a historical faux-news program that I remember from my childhood. I remember seeing a program when I was young (early 80's) that was formatted like a daily news program, but was about a medieval Europe. I seem to remember it being an educational program and it might have been on the in class "Channel One" that was in the schools or on PBS.

I was hoping that someone might be able to name this program for me or point me in the direction of it if it is out on DVD. Any takers on this one?

Conserving and sharing art (naïve question).

jet_silver — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 21:19:09 -0800

A piece of art given me some years ago might be of historical interest. How do I get in touch with someone who might want to take a picture of it, or catalogue it, or whatever? This is really two questions. I was given this watercolor by the artist's son-in-law twenty-five years ago. It is not a picture I would sell. It might have escaped detection since it was handed around a bit and wound up with me in a very informal way, so anyone looking for it wouldn't know to contact me. There aren't any appeals for people who own the artist's work to get in touch with so-and-so in a Google search for the artist's name (Yngve E. Soderberg). How would I know if someone were looking for examples of his work to catalog?

Given that a lot of hits for the artist's name are art auction houses, should I have the work appraised? The painting's value isn't of much interest to me, but are minor works insured such that they can be restored? It's a lovely work (to my untutored eye) and it has a special significance for me.

Great historical media collections

Hargrimm — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 12:28:40 -0800

Where can I find lots of historical media? I'm looking for any kind of photos or film, newsreels, anything. I've always been fascinated by old photos of the Civil War and such, as well as newsreels and archive footage from WWII-era. I'm interested in military stuff as well as everyday life. I'm tired of searching everywhere for a few pictures and newsreels - please help me find some centralized collections!

(Free would be preferable)

Past prices on oil and airfares?

ricochet biscuit — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 15:17:10 -0800

Is there a resource anywhere that will give me either (a) historical data for the last year or two on the price of oil (b) similar data for airline tickets or (c) ideally, both? In a perfect world, I would like something that would tell me that on March 3rd or September 6th this year, or December 8th last year, the price per barrel of oil was ____ and a good ticket price for air travel along certain major routes (JFK-Heathrow, say) was ______.

I have to write a brief analysis of travel patterns for the last year and while I know that oil is roughly half the price now it was this summer, I would like some citations to back this up. And ideally, I would like to match this to airlines' pricing. Any suggestions?

Looking for a historical US atlas

BradNelson — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 16:35:22 -0800

Can you recommend a good historical atlas of the United States? I'm looking for a book version of this. But with more detail and more maps.

I do not necessarily need maps of battles/wars, the underground railroad, and presidential elections, et cetera, but I would not mind having those. I guess the ultimate tome is this book but I do not want to spend $145.

Also, I would much prefer a book that has all matching (custom-drawn) maps, not a mishmash of maps hand-drawn 150 years ago.

Old Prices for John Hancock Income Security Trust

i love cheese — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 19:04:11 -0800

OldFinancialInformationFilter: Figuring out cost basis for John Hancock Income Securities Trust (JHS) under its previous CUSIP. I'm trying to track down the closing price for John Hancock Income Securities Trust (JHS) for the following dates:

March 17, 1973
Sept 6, 1973
Sept 7, 1973

According to this page, the fund was created Feb 14, 1973, and changed its CUSIP on Dec 31, 1984. The former CUSIP number was #410122105, and apparently the symbol JHS was assigned in 2000.

I can find prices for the fund as far back as 1991, but no earlier.

[you guys did a great job last time I had a question like this.]

Recommended ancient classic literature for beginners

rocks009 — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 23:38:08 -0800

Where do I start with ancient classic literature, especially accessible versions of mythological or vaguely historical tales? Preferably from Anglo-Saxon or Norse traditions, but I'm open to anything really good. The only pre-19th Century classics I had to read in school were by Shakespeare. I enjoyed them and moved on. But now I see that I missed a whole world of classic literature. I have always been fascinated by the the Arthurian legends and started to read Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur once, but struggled with it - I am about to try John Steinbeck's take on the Arthurian legends, which seems a bit more accessible. I really enjoyed Marco Polo recently (The Penguin Classics version), and have just discovered Beowulf. Of the plethora of works out there, which are the best and most enjoyable reads?

Extra credit for pointing me to translations/interpretations that are enjoyable for a non-scholar, while still reflecting the original essence.

Old photos of Cambridge, MA

rxrfrx — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 12:24:49 -0800

I am looking for photos of the Cambridge, MA area taken between 1950 and 1999. I am especially interested in the commercial areas along the current Red Line route (Porter/Harvard/Central/Kendall), and the industrial areas southeast of Central Square. If you happen to know of any repositories of offline photos, that would be cool too. Thanks!

Google Archive Search

cainiarb — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 11:02:32 -0800

Is there a way to search Google for what a URL Web page looked like on a certain date? I have been told that there is a way to search Google for what a Web page looked like on a certain date. If someone edits a page later then the historical data of what it looked like on a certain date would exist in some archive file. I have been to the Way Back Machine Internet Archive and that's not getting me what I need. Does anyone know what the Google site is that does it?

The World's Most Extraordinary Rooms

foxy_hedgehog — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 07:24:37 -0800

Strange as it might sound, I am compiling a list of rooms. I am eager to draw upon the travels, explorations, and creative minds of metafilter to help flesh out the list. The main criterion is that the room should have been used for a purpose at one point, and not be used now. In other words, the room (or space) must be frozen in a moment. Along the lines of the rooms in this post:http://www.metafilter.com/73955/Literary-Voyeurism.

This means that the field is gloriously open- I am including everything from Trotsky's house in Mexico, Freud's library in London, and Anne Frank's Annex to the Hareem in Topkapi palace, the reconstructed Amber Room, Pompeii, and preserved rooms in Chernobyl.

And then there's Churchill's War Room, the Stasi Chief's Office in Berlin, and more and more and more. The rooms can be personal or impersonal, and they don't have to involve famous people or empires. I'd be especially interested in suggestions located in non-Western countries.

Thank you so much for any and all suggestions!

Magic, incarcerated

MrVisible — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 12:34:17 -0800

Help me find real-world magic items. I'm looking for real-life items that have strange histories, weird reputations, or just plain creep people out. One example is the pair of pistols made of meteoric iron that made the news recently. Any object which can be viewed as having a magical nature will do, the weirder the better.

Historical curiosities, medical oddities, anything that incites a sense of weirded-out wonder will be considered. Extra special bonus points if the objects existed in North America in 1914.

I realize that this is a very broad question, but I wanted to tap into the vast reservoir of odd and arcane knowledge that MeFites seem to have.

(This is for a role-playing campaign. Do not be alarmed. The premise is that these items are charged with a magical energy, which can be harvested. Quests ensue.)

I want different headers on every page, just like Charles Dickens

largecorp — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 07:39:26 -0800

My copy of "Our Mutual Friend" by Charles Dickens shows the chapter name on the head every left page, and a summary phrase of the spread's content on the head of every right page. Is there a name for that style? I'd love to know any history of it, why it's not done now, and how I could set it up in a word processor for use in my own docs. Thanks!

So, do ya think it still works?

miss lynnster — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 16:25:29 -0800

Allegedly, this is the original key to the choir loft of Mission San Luis Rey. A) How can I confirm its origins? B) What should I do with it? My mother went to school at the Mission in the 1930s and tells that she was given this artifact by a priest who befriended her. It's just been kinda hanging out in our family ever since. I don't know how to verify its history, and I am not sure what the best place for it would be. I DO know that the best place for it probably isn't sitting on top of my television. No idea of its worth historically or monetarily. When I called the mission, they just sounded confused.

Good Historic books

Margalo Epps — Sat, 24 May 2008 13:59:11 -0800

I'm interested in reading more fun books, written in 1945 or earlier, which clearly set themselves in the time and place that they were written. Examples include Anne of Green Gables, Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers, Pride & Prejudice, and China to Me. Some more of my particular favorites are:
Jane Austen: Persuasion
Elfrida Vipont: The Lark on the Wing, The Spring of the Year
L.M. Montgomery: Rilla of Ingleside, The Blue Castle
Emily Hahn: England to me
Dorothy L. Sayers: Clouds of Witness
Noel Streatfeild: Movie Shoes, Theater Shoes, On Tour

I'm not as interested right now in finding good historical fiction -- it's just not the same as a book coming out of that time and place. (Witness Dorothy L. Sayers' series and the two additions that were written in the 1990's.) I'd also like the books to be reasonably easy to read, fun, or light (or medium). I don't want to have to read anything else to understand or enjoy the book.

I like children's fiction, mysteries that aren't too gory or scary, regular fiction, biography, biographical stories, and probably more that I'm not thinking of just now.

I've seen this post.

more historical mags, please.

Chrischris — Thu, 08 May 2008 21:06:00 -0800

pursuant to this excellent post, what other repositories of historic/interesting/important periodicals exist online?

How do you knock a chunk off an iron meteorite?

Naberius — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 22:17:25 -0800

What hand tools would be needed to remove a chunk of iron from an iron meteorite you've discovered in the field? It's the 1860s if that makes a difference, and you're on a remote hillside, and there's an iron meteorite. You need to chip, saw or otherwise knock off a couple good sized pieces of iron from it. What kind of tools could you reasonably have that would do the job? Would standard metal hammers and chisels of the period work, or would the meteorite be just as likely to break them as vice versa?

Short of a diamond-bladed circular saw (heavy and unlikely to be within an extension cord of a socket when you need it) how do modern geologists take samples from a chunk of iron?

Getting historical prices for a stock that no longer exists.

i love cheese — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 14:49:34 -0800

What was the price of Alcan Aluminum (NYSE: AL) on March 2, 1985? Alcan Aluminum was bought out by Rio Tinto last year. I sold some shares that I'd received back in 1985. I'm trying to figure out the cost basis for my shares, but since AL is no longer listed, I can't find the historical stock price on Google finance or ETrade.

I'm sure some financially competent mefite knows how to look up historical prices for stocks that no longer exist. If you are that person, thanks!

Bonus points if you can tell me how many times the stock split between 1985 an 2007.

Historical car pricing.

punkfloyd — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 14:26:27 -0800

Are there any websites that compile historical MSRPs for cars? Like if I wanted to know how much a dude had to pay for a new Camaro in 1979. I suppose I could piece together this sort of information in by scouring sites like Edmunds, etc.. but I'm lazy and I want one simple source.

Is Jack Vance hoaxing me? Does "The Lonton Times Historical Atlas" exist?

grumblebee — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 09:51:49 -0800

Is there such a book as "The London Times Historical Atlas"? Google and Amazon are clueless. In an interview published in 1986, Jack Vance stated that "the best way to teach someone to be a writer is to force them to read twenty books I would set out for them": he then names, in addition to Wodehouse and Baum, Cervantes's Don Quixote, Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows, Richard Adams's Watership Down and The London Times Historical Atlas ("my favourite book - I don't know of anything more clutching for the imagination"). -- Wikipedia [emphasis added]

Much historical value to an old Guam WW2 Navy flight logbook?

Quarter Pincher — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 06:59:00 -0800

My grandfather recently showed us an old handwritten flight logbook from when he served in Guam in WW2 with the Navy. Would scanning this serve any interest to someone? Might it be considered classified info? It's a frailish, brown, pencil-written log books of flights, I presume in and out of Guam, in the WW2 time period. I thought scanning it might preserve the records made in it (no matter how scribbly).. is there someone who might benefit from its information?