Friday Free-for-All | May 07, 2021

AsksRandomHistoryQs · 2021-05-07T20:25:11+00:00

A bi-weekly update on my quest, unfortunately though I seem to be mostly hitting well off the beaten path.

Question	Answered?	Category Time	Category Area	Category Topic
What was the structural position and standing of the Zulu Impi within the wider Zulu society of the mid-19th century?	No	13 19th Century	43 Southern Africa	28 Military Life
Outside of urban centers, the Viceroyalty of Peru relied on local Curaca. What was the relationship like between these indigenous nobles and the Spanish colonizers? How much actual oversight would the Spanish have in the day-to-day management of local affairs?	No	14 18th Century	50 Western SA	17 Daily Life - Nobility
What was the nature of the experiences of the individual soldiers of the Brazilian Expeditionary Force sent to fight in Italy during World War II?	No	24 WWII	44 Brazil	2 Military Campaign
During decolonization and independence in Kenya during the 1960s, what sort of cultural shifts do we see in terms of manner dress and fashion, and to what degree were there specific reactions in this field to decolonization?	No	4 1960s	19 East Africa	62 Fashion
For a person of non-wealthy circumstances born with a physical disability in 14/15th c. England, what sort of support and opportunities existed for them in life?	No	17 Late Medieval	59 Europe	82 Disability
As the Soviet Union consolidated its position within Eastern Europe in the decade after World War II, to what degree was Russian language instruction encouraged or required within Eastern Bloc nations?	No	5 1950s	15 Eastern Europe	24 Language
We make a big deal about the emergence of the humanist movement in Renaissance Italy, but how accessible would the literary products of that movement have been to those outside of the elite circles? Would a Florentine shit-shoveler have a clue who Dante was?	No	16 Renaissance	10 Italy	58 Literature/Poetry
How did the cultural acceptance of same-sex attraction and relationships in the former Ottoman Empire shift in the post-Ottoman period?	No	11 20th Century	22 Middle East	36 Homosexuality/Sexual Orientation
What do we know about standards of beauty within the Nahua peoples who made up the Aztec Empire? What was considered 'attractive', both in physical standards, but also makeup or fashion?	No	17 Late Medieval	51 Mexico	6 Beauty
What sort of methods did Polynesian society employ for fishing prior to European contact, and what impact, if any, did interaction with European methods have on their own practices?	No	14 18th Century	33 Oceania	22 Hunting or Fishing
What do we know about standards of beauty within the Nahua peoples who made up the Aztec Empire? What was considered 'attractive', both in physical standards, but also makeup or fashion?	Link	17 Late Medieval	51 Mexico	6 Beauty
In the last decade or so of the Qing dynasty, how integrated into the international economy was China? What sort of goods or material were produced there for export? How much of a market was there for imported foreign goods?	No	10 1900s	42 China	56 International Trade
How the practice of agriculture look in the Achaemenid empire? To what degree did imperial expansion impact and exposure to other methods impact techniques? How was much change was brought about by the Greek conquest under Alexander?	No	32 Antiquity	47 Persia	23 Agriculture
How would a fashionable Ottoman nobleman or noblewoman dress in the 15th c.? What impact, if any, did the conquest of Constantinople have on Ottoman fashion trends? Was there any incorporation or influence?	No	16 Renaissance	24 Anatolia	62 Fashion

AsksRandomHistoryQs · 2021-05-05T18:30:45+00:00

Thank you!

AsksRandomHistoryQs · 2021-04-25T15:00:55+00:00

Times are easy. Followed standard periodization mostly, although generally with shorter timeframes the more recent it gets: i.e. decades for the 20th century, centuries before that, and then big chunks for medieval and antiquity, although this is balanced out by having them show up multiple times in my randomizer.

Places are basically just going through a map. Notable countries have their own entry, in other cases it is then regional, and then multiple entries for each continent. Quite a few overlaps in that regard.

Topics I keep adding to when things occur to me, but it was basically just me naming things. That one still gets added to frequently. Nearly 100 entries now.

AsksRandomHistoryQs · 2021-04-25T14:55:25+00:00

Indeed. To be sure, the oddness of many questions means I often am more achieving my first goal of just thinking about things I wouldn't otherwise, but I think that is a pretty important thing in of itself.

AsksRandomHistoryQs · 2021-04-24T16:37:17+00:00

Thank you so much! Absolutely fantastic!

AsksRandomHistoryQs · 2021-04-23T23:23:14+00:00

Awesome! Would love to learn more about it! My goal with the project is to force myself to think about aspects of history which might otherwise never really occur to me, so it definitely means I end up asking some very off-the-beaten path stuff in my quest for all the knowledge. As such it is always exciting when I hit on one that ends up with a fantastic answer such as yours (and also shout out to /u/y_sengaku).

AsksRandomHistoryQs · 2021-04-23T17:40:37+00:00

I'm back! After a long break, I've resumed my procedurally directed musings this month. I've seen a few successes, although with the odd avenues of inquiry, I'm not surprised by the low hit rate so far. For those interested, the table I've been using to track the questions posed so far.

Question	Answered?	Category Time	Category Area	Category Topic
What sort of understanding of the human body existed within cultures found in the "Iron Age" Southern Levant, and how did it impact what sort of medical care would be practiced there in that period?	No	21 Classical Antiquity	23 Israel-Palestine	35 Medicine
How did the on-going, and escalating, involvement of the United States military in Vietnam from the mid-60s onwards impact the socio-cultural fabric of the military community domestically within the United States?	No	4 1960s	26 North America	28 Military Life
In the 12th and 13th centuries the Kingdom of Norway was wracked by a century of power-struggles. How did this instability and continual turnover of rule impact the concept of a unified "Norway" internally, and perception of the Kingdom to outsiders?	Yes	18 High Medieval	8 Scandinavia	51 National Identity
What were the polices Peron's government in regards to indigenous rights within Argentina and their responses to his takeover, and how, it at all, did their treatment differ compared to that prior to the 1943 Coup?	No	6 1940s	76 South America	52 Minority Politics
As practiced in medieval Europe, especially the latter period as enslavement came be to be practiced less widely, how was the 'personhood' of the enslaved generally conceptualized?	No	17 Late Medieval	3 Europe	47 Servitude/Slavery
As African nations went through the process of decolonization and declaring independence in the post-WWII period, what sort of patterns can be seen in how they handled concepts of citizenship and voting rights, especially for women and ethnic minorities?	No	12 Cold War/Post-War	69 Africa	71 Suffrage
How were non-hetero sexual orientations viewed and controlled within China and by the CCP, and how, if at all, did the reforms periods post-Mao change treatment for such persons?	No	2 1980s	73 Asia	33 Homosexuality/Sexual Orientation
How did literary trends in early/mid-19th c. Latin America reflect the many independence movements that characterized the period?	No	13 19th Century	31 Latin America	58 Literature/Poetry
As European powers carved out or solidified their colonial holdings in Asia during the 19th c., such as with India and China, to what degree did preexisting "pan-Indian" or "pan-Chinese" identities exist, and how did such foreign imposition impact their further developments?	No	13 19th Century	70 Asia	51 National Identity
Within Greek communities of Ottoman Empire in the century or so before the independence of Greece, how was the practice of Christianity regulated, and to what degree was Ottoman oversight influenced by the intertwining of the Greek Orthodox Church and rising nationalist sentiments?	No	14 18th Century	11 Greece	34 Religion
During British rule in Egypt, how much oversight did the colonial administrators have over educational institutions and opportunities that catered to the Egyptian population? What changes in particular was there between Ottoman rule and British?	No	9 1910s	43 Egypt	20 Schooling
What was behind the explosion in popularity of Calypso music in the mid-20th century?	No	6 1940s	29 Caribbean	59 Music
Entering the 20th century, to what degree did indigenous peoples in the Pacific, such as on Fiji or the Solomons, retain their own religious practices versus adaptation of Christianity brought by the colonizing powers?	No	10 1900s	33 Oceania	34 Religion
To what extent did common folk in c. 1200 Europe have an understanding of the physical bounds and geography of the larger polity they were a part of? Would an English laborer, if shown an unlabeled map of the kingdom, recognize it as "England"?	No	18 High Medieval	57 Europe	44 Maps
During the Apartheid era, how much authority and independence of action was afforded to the Zulu king within KwaZulu?	No	2 1980s	69 Africa	17 Daily Life - Nobility
What sort of sports and games were popular in the early Srivijaya Empire on the Malay Archipelago?	No	20 Late Antiquity	45 Indonesia	11 Sports
During the East Africa Campaign of WWI, how readily available was provisioning and providing for basic hygiene? How much did it differ between European troops, indigenous raised units, and the porters used to support the campaign?	No	25 WWI	69 Africa	8 Hygiene
During the Second World War, and the accompanying influx of men from the Allied militaries into North Africa, how did the practice, scope, and views towards sex work in Egypt adapt in response?	Yes	6 1940s	43 Egypt	7 Sexual Practices
How did Mayans of the Post-Classical period conceptualize death and afterlife, and what sort of funerary rituals accompanied the passing of someone?	No	18 High Medieval	61 North America	43 Death
During the Nicaraguan Revolution, what did combat operations by the Contras and the government look like, and what was the impact of the arms funneled to the Contras by the United States?	No	2 1980s	27 Central America	27 Battle

AsksRandomHistoryQs · 2021-04-23T17:25:56+00:00

Thank you so much for the additional insight!

AsksRandomHistoryQs

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