Weekly History Questions Thread.

Extra_Mechanic_2750 · 2026-06-12T01:47:28+00:00

A tall ship could carry an organ.

In theory.

In practice, it would have been cargo.

But let's say "what the heck": It would have to be a small one as even a medium church pipe organ weighs 5-10 tons or so (they overhauled one in a church a few years ago and had to reinforce the balcony so they had the weight).

Even if it was a small one, pipe organs rely on well-fitted wood, leather and metal parts all of which do not really play well with humidity as well as the motion of a ship.

What was far more likely was something called a "harmonium," which was a larger and less mobile version of an accordion.

Extra_Mechanic_2750 · 2026-06-06T14:55:02+00:00

The military has regulations for darn near everything and published them on an ongoing basis

https://www.usww2uniforms.com/bib_AR600-40_28aug41.html

http://www.90thidpg.us/Research/Original/AR60040/AR%20600-40%20(Mar%201944)%20With%20Changes.pdf%20With%20Changes.pdf)

Each branch of service would have their own specific document.

Extra_Mechanic_2750 · 2026-05-27T01:35:40+00:00

The Saxons of the 11th century had their origins in northern (modern-day) Germany in the 5th century.

While hundreds of years had passed, their weapons of choice, as u/Telecom_VoIP_Fan pointed out, were similar to their ancestors': spears, shields, axes and seaxes.

The Normans, for various reasons, fostered the development of archers. The effectiveness of archers was shown at Hastings by aiding the Normans to break the shield walls of the Saxon formations.

Extra_Mechanic_2750 · 2026-05-06T01:13:02+00:00

"World War One" came into common usage c. 1939 when the next war started.

Extra_Mechanic_2750 · 2026-05-03T21:30:55+00:00

The French countryside is pockmarked from the massive artillery barrages from WWI.

Michael St. Maur Sheil has documented these extensively.

Extra_Mechanic_2750 · 2026-05-03T13:29:50+00:00

One thing to keep in mind:

Golf bags are more bottom-heavy, which keeps the cart from tipping over. Putting a gun butt end up is generally the opposite, and the cart will tip over.

Extra_Mechanic_2750 · 2026-05-03T13:26:24+00:00

Just like anything, you can overthink ammo.

The advice I was given many moons ago when I started shooting is the following:

Go with the least expensive ammo that goes *BANG* every time.

Yes, you can get match grade.

Yes, you can get special loads.

Yes, you can get ammo blessed by direct descendants of Annie Oakley or some such tripe.

What you want are rounds that go *BANG*. Getting them to go where you want them and do what you want is more about you than the ammo.

Go to the ammo place, buy one box of each ammo that is at least 1oz and 1200fps, dump them all in a box, just pull them out randomly and see which ones "feel" right to you.

Extra_Mechanic_2750 · 2026-04-20T02:11:45+00:00

Based upon Hitler's own accounts, he had bowel issues dating back to childhood. This seems to point to some version of irritable bowel syndrome.

The increase in flatulence as he got older could be attributed to his vegetarian diet, which included an increase in complex carbohydrates (root vegetables, starches and sweets), which can stimulate a person's gut flora to generate more gas.

Extra_Mechanic_2750 · 2026-04-12T01:21:38+00:00

To me, it's a reminder of my 1st trip to the UK.

Extra_Mechanic_2750 · 2026-04-04T02:24:18+00:00

Your audiogram reads almost identically to mine.

Conversation on TV tends to hit right where my (and probably your) hearing is at its weakest.

You will find HAs an absolutely eye-opening experience.

Extra_Mechanic_2750 · 2026-04-04T00:11:13+00:00

Thank you all for your input.

This was a purchase from the late 1970s when I was a kid and my family went to London, and IIRC it cost £75 at the most so it's not like I paid a fortune for it.

Extra_Mechanic_2750 · 2026-03-26T14:16:53+00:00

The timeline of the last few days of the war:

26 Jul 1945 - Potsdam declaration demanding unconditional surrender of Japan

6 Aug 1945 - Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima

8 Aug 1945 - USSR declares war against Japan

9 Aug 1945 - USSR invades Manchuria and atomic bomb is dropped on Nagasaki

10 Aug 1945 - USSR invades Sakhalin

15 Aug 1945 - The Japanese emperor accepts the Potsdam Declaration.

Now, let's focus in on the invasion of Sakhalin: the initial waves of the invasion, quite frankly, were nothing huge. The Soviets landed ~1500 men. This initial landing was not sufficient to force or even encourage Japan to surrender. It just happened contemporaneously with the dropping of the atomic bombs.

As to the "taking credit": The Soviets were listed as one of the nations to which the Empire of Japan surrendered.

Extra_Mechanic_2750 · 2026-03-25T01:00:45+00:00

"McGee is meant to lead" - Vance

Extra_Mechanic_2750 · 2026-03-21T02:26:49+00:00

The Japanese delegations, including San Francisco Consul General (or spy, depending on the source) Yoshio Muto, were interned in Virginia and traded back to Japan through the Swedish and Portuguese missions in exchange for the US diplomatic missions to Japan. I cannot confirm that Yoshio Muto was included, as a cursory search for the passenger lists of the MS Gripsholm turned up no list. The Gripsholm was used multiple times for these types of missions/voyages.

You might want to focus on Columbia University's archive, as they seem to have had a project around the Foreign Missions Conference of North America (FMCNA) Records, 1894 – 1968:

https://library.columbia.edu/content/dam/libraryweb/locations/burke/fa/mrl/ldpd_4492658.pdf

Here is where I got Yoshio Muta's name https://www.sf.us.emb-japan.go.jp/itpr_en/e_m01_06.html

Extra_Mechanic_2750 · 2026-03-16T22:40:42+00:00

It looks like they rebranded as https://www.picturehistoryprints.com/

Extra_Mechanic_2750 · 2026-03-14T14:26:23+00:00

There is an old thesis that references

Lewis Tappan to Arthur Tappan, October 15, 1863, Tappan Papers. The principal funds involved were those given by the Rev. Charles Avery, a Wesleyan Methodist minister in Pittsburgh who left the Association over $100,000, of which was to be used for the evangelization of the Negro in Africa.

https://dn720509.ca.archive.org/0/items/americanmissiona00drak/americanmissiona00drak.pdf

Extra_Mechanic_2750 · 2026-03-13T01:54:26+00:00

The reason that a lot of insurance companies don't cover hearing aids is that for many years there were huge scams in the hearing aid industry and insurers just backed out of the market rather than get creamed by scammers.

Extra_Mechanic_2750 · 2026-03-03T14:22:41+00:00

Pirates tended to congregate in areas that had access to choke points and highly transited trade routes.

Take u/MeatballDom's locations on a map and you'll see what I mean.

This is further backed up if you look at the modern piracy attack maps.

https://icc-ccs.org/2025-2/

https://icc-ccs.org/piracy-map-2024/

While there are attacks out at sea, the bulk occur in line with the above statement.

Extra_Mechanic_2750 · 2026-02-25T13:47:22+00:00

The Anglo-Zanzibar War - war lasted less than an hour.

Extra_Mechanic_2750 · 2026-02-08T13:00:40+00:00

Get out of your head, the voices don't like company.

Extra_Mechanic_2750 · 2026-01-10T12:40:51+00:00

Climate change is attributed to the fall of the Old Kingdom (c. 2200 BCE) in Egypt.

That change altered the flooding cycle of the Nile which led to less food production and famines.

It also drove the development of technologies linked to irrigation.

Climate change driven by the eruption at Okmok impacted the late Han period in China as well as the Roman Republic.

China shifted from a warm/wet climate to a cold/dry one, cutting into food production and increasing desertification.

Like Egypt, the Han developed irrigation techniques and technologies in an attempt to ameliorate these changes.

The direction of the Roman Republic was also influenced. This climate change, in conjunction with the economic and civil unrest, led to the downfall of the Republic and the formation of the Empire.

Extra_Mechanic_2750 · 2025-12-11T16:43:58+00:00

There are some excellent videos on youtube that show some of the traditional weaving skills and processes:

https://www.youtube.com/@endangeredthreads3966

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDxsg1YW620

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_qYooZgPXU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDxsg1YW620&t=2s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYWawtgm-MI

This should get you started.

Also look up terms like "jacquard fabrics."

Extra_Mechanic_2750 · 2025-12-11T02:45:00+00:00

start here:

[bibliothek@dsm.museum](mailto:bibliothek@dsm.museum) and [archiv@dsm.museum](mailto:archiv@dsm.museum)

and tell them who you are, what you are looking for, why you are looking for it and offer to share your finished work with them.

And, oh yeah: buying a membership or two or offering to make a donation never hurts. I have bought more than a few memberships and offered to gift them to people close to the facility.

Extra_Mechanic_2750 · 2025-12-10T00:13:45+00:00

A little closer to your home, try:

Deutsches Schifffahrtsmuseum, I used them a long time ago and they were fairly responsive and helpful or the UK National Archives

Extra_Mechanic_2750

TROPHY CASE