What are some turning points in history? [more inside]
posted by RedEmma on Nov 28, 2009 - 64 answers

What are the most fun, memorable, interesting, exciting, and long-lasting learning experiences you have had? [more inside]
posted by Cygnet on Nov 20, 2009 - 25 answers

Where in Western Pennsylvania / Northern West Virginia are the places you'd take your Mom but not your kids? [more inside]
posted by arabelladragon on Nov 16, 2009 - 18 answers

Have you read an informative, engaging book on German history? If so, what is it? [more inside]
posted by bluishorange on Nov 10, 2009 - 18 answers

At the end of World War II, would a Polish-ethnicity girl/young woman and her family from Lwów/Lviv have been given the option of moving west of the Curzon line to post-war Poland, or would they have been forcibly resettled? [more inside]
posted by mdonley on Oct 25, 2009 - 8 answers

I enjoy vintage articles about the early days of the Web. Suggestions? [more inside]
posted by starman on Oct 20, 2009 - 7 answers

On Tuesday I'll be showing a new arrival to New York City around for an hour or so in the late afternoon. He's interested in the city's history, particularly the Bowery/Lower East Side. He has seen all the major tourist stops and I'm completely ignorant of the latest cool/interesting/weird spots downtown and most places have the lifespan of mayflies. Any ideas on how to prepare an awesome, emergency walking tour? [more inside]
posted by The Whelk on Oct 11, 2009 - 12 answers

Why don't we have a great railroad system in this country? [more inside]
posted by birdwatcher on Oct 8, 2009 - 40 answers

Long-lost childhood books: a history book printed after one of the World Wars. I don't know the title or author, but I'll tell you everything I remember. Hivemind, please help me find it! [more inside]
posted by cmyk on Oct 8, 2009 - 5 answers

How did rich European gentlemen on a "grand tour" of Europe in the 18th Century manage their finances? I can't imagine they carried enough money (or gold) to support months or years of travel--was there a system of banks they could use? Or credit notes? Also, how did they arrange to get their packages shipped home?
posted by mstillwell on Sep 13, 2009 - 9 answers

TorontoFilter: I used to play chess all the time at the chess tables at Yonge and Gould before they tore them down about ten years ago. I know that these tables had a proper name. There was a City of Toronto plaque there that they removed about six months before they removed the tables. Does anyone remember what the official name was?
posted by 256 on Sep 9, 2009 - 2 answers

I am working on republishing a 19th century memoir but I have come across a few terms I don't understand. Please help me figure out if they are typos in the original manuscript or real terms. [more inside]
posted by clockworkjoe on Sep 2, 2009 - 22 answers

"The United States is in no sense founded upon the christian doctrine." is often attributed to George Washington. Where did he say this? Google turns up many unattributed versions of this quotation, but I couldn't find any attribution or source. Anyone able to do better?
posted by ivey on Aug 24, 2009 - 5 answers

What are some good recent military history books? [more inside]
posted by mkb on Aug 5, 2009 - 18 answers

Help me find this history of an ocean/sea: If I remember correctly, it was written by a French historian while he was held as a POW in the Second World War, and was either about the Atlantic or the Mediterranean. [more inside]
posted by carnival of animals on Jul 26, 2009 - 3 answers

Is there a way to delete login names, search terms, and URL histories in IE6? [more inside]
posted by snwod on Jul 20, 2009 - 4 answers

I'm looking for significant, interesting, or unusual churches (for architectural, cultural and/or religious reasons) from around the world. More thoughts inside. [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief on Jul 6, 2009 - 48 answers

What are the best nonfiction sources about the atrocities surrounding the Mexican-American War and related Native American wars? [more inside]
posted by Bookhouse on Jun 29, 2009 - 12 answers

What's the oldest recorded use of the Spam Solutions Form Response? [more inside]
posted by pwnguin on May 15, 2009 - 13 answers

I'm looking for quotations or citations about "the aquarium," from before it existed. [more inside]
posted by sleevener on May 3, 2009 - 3 answers

Translating from a Bavarian Legend - what is a Hiesel/Hiesl/Hiasl? [more inside]
posted by RedReplicant on May 3, 2009 - 7 answers

My wife and I are looking for recommendations on what to see and where to go on a three-to-four day trip to Germany. More details inside. [more inside]
posted by chrisamiller on Apr 30, 2009 - 23 answers

So, it seems I'm changing vectors slightly, and taking up the challenge of getting a PhD in history. The problem? I did very little actual history classes as an undergrad and graduate student. I have until August to patch holes in my knowledge....help! [more inside]
posted by strixus on Apr 21, 2009 - 9 answers

Is there more to the Quebec slogan "Je Me Souviens" than "I Remember"? [more inside]
posted by spoobnooble on Apr 5, 2009 - 9 answers

I'm too ignorant to properly evaluate a historical claim that I just read. [more inside]
posted by prefpara on Mar 28, 2009 - 34 answers

Help me think of examples of individual women or groups that worked toward nonviolent social change!! [more inside]
posted by thankyouforyourconsideration on Feb 24, 2009 - 23 answers

Can you please recommend some books on daily life, home life, and general society in the UK and the US in the 1840s - 1880s for me? I already have What Jane Austen Ate, and What Charles Dickens Knew and An Elegant Madness. It doesn't have to be specifically on daily life- creative nonfiction like Larson's The Devil in the White City or Johnson's The Ghost Map are awesome, too.
posted by headspace on Feb 16, 2009 - 13 answers

Help me identity this 1910s/20s/30s British poet (from precious little information). [more inside]
posted by taramosalata on Feb 14, 2009 - 3 answers

Help me make a list of must see costume dramas/period films/tv. I love costume dramas and period films/tv and I'd like to see more of them. Recommendations please? [more inside]
posted by katyggls on Feb 3, 2009 - 50 answers

A history of the camera and its' effects on modern society in five paragraphs. [more inside]
posted by Northwest on Jan 22, 2009 - 8 answers

I heard a term somewhere that referred to the modern phenomena of sounds being decoupled from what produces them, in the sense that it's no longer a one-to-one relationship between sound and thing. So whereas previously every time you heard a bark you knew it was a dog, now it could be a TV, a computer, or a robot dog. Likewise, a big professional sound system could sound like almost anything. I think the originator was an academic. I distinctly remembering seeing mention of this on wikipedia once. What was that term? Who coined it?
posted by phrontist on Dec 9, 2008 - 5 answers

Curious coats of arms on a 16th century map-- can you help with identification and significance? [more inside]
posted by RedReplicant on Nov 30, 2008 - 16 answers

How come we don't have another Einstein of our era? [more inside]
posted by rintako on Nov 10, 2008 - 32 answers

I am looking for the best, most powerful, most engaging stuff on the internets about the Valley Forge encampment. [more inside]
posted by By The Grace of God on Nov 7, 2008 - 2 answers

I've never read the Bible, and I'd like to. Which version should I read and what resources are good ones to help me understand and historically contextualize what I'm reading?
posted by arcticwoman on Oct 16, 2008 - 25 answers

I was wondering if anyone has explored the notions of alternate geological history, i.e. different continents to the ones we know, and the mechanisms by which they might have arisen? [more inside]
posted by Chairboy on Jul 14, 2008 - 11 answers

So Mrs Mutant purchased a BBC series , The Tudors, and watching it has raised lots of questions about the real events. [more inside]
posted by Mutant on Jun 10, 2008 - 15 answers

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? [more inside]
posted by miss lynnster on Jun 6, 2008 - 9 answers

Friends and I saw Darkon this weekend. Given that many of us (not me) are historians, the question was, "What happened next?" (spoilers) [more inside]
posted by kalessin on Apr 28, 2008 - 6 answers

In 1895 a Scottish printer by the name of James B. Ferguson introduced Icelanders to football (soccer) and gymnastics. Is there any way to find out what happened to Ferguson after he left Iceland in 1896? [more inside]
posted by Kattullus on Jan 7, 2008 - 8 answers

Where could I find the exact dates of the last ten (1997-2007) Macworld keynotes by Steve Jobs, done in San Francisco? I thought some apple history sites would list it, but rampant googling has only turned up info on the last couple years of shows.
posted by mathowie on Dec 5, 2007 - 4 answers

From an historical point of view, how much time needs to pass before an event is no longer remembered? How much time between 'oh god that was awful' until 'that happened a lot of time ago so I don't care about it?' [more inside]
posted by Memo on Nov 7, 2007 - 24 answers

Can you provide context for a gas masked army of children? [more inside]
posted by zamboni on Jun 29, 2007 - 16 answers

I'm looking for books or articles in English on the city of Luna, founded in Italy in 177 BC and destroyed in AD 1016. Specifically I'm trying to find information on the AD 859 sack of Pisa and Luna by viking raiders under the command of Hastein (or Hásteinn), but additional information on the city would be good too.
posted by Kattullus on Jun 10, 2007 - 6 answers

I'm looking for a book I read back in 1999/2000 about Jesus. [more inside]
posted by katyggls on Nov 17, 2006 - 5 answers

I'm looking for a good book on the history of bureaucracy, care to recommend some? [more inside]
posted by Kattullus on Apr 20, 2006 - 8 answers

Help me find a romantic holiday destination for my friend's anniversary... [more inside]
posted by longbaugh on Nov 29, 2005 - 3 answers

How can I get my hands on a Vienna phonebook from circa 1938? I will be spending a weekend in Vienna next month, and I would love to see the apartment where my late grandfather lived before fleeing the Nazis. Unfortunately, nobody in the family knows the address, and there aren't any letters or other documents to provide it. Things are also complicated by the fact that I won't be visiting on a weekday, so any archives that might have this information will presumably be closed. Plus, I don't speak German. Am I out of luck, or is there any way to track this information down in the next few weeks?
posted by yankeefog on Oct 18, 2005 - 38 answers

I've got some Chinese paintings from my late grandfather, and I'm having trouble finding more information about them. Here's what he had to say about them (image, transcript inside) and here's a scan I made of one of them (image). I don't know enough about this subject to make educated guesses, and the information from my grandfather is either inaccurate or just a dead-end. So basically, I'd like to know anything that you know about this. I'd be happy to scan more of the prints as well if someone needs additional information. [more inside]
posted by j.edwards on Apr 19, 2005 - 6 answers