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Hey Pandas, What’s A Topic Of History That You Have Studied/Know A Lot About That Isn’t From The Past 250 Years?
I'm not asking for any specific reason, just curious lol. I'm a big history nerd, especially when it comes to Rome (including Byzantium) and I want to be a Classics professor at some point. I speak Latin and I know a lot about Rome, from it's founding to politics to daily life (I'm so sorry to the class I read Shakespeare's Julius Caesar with).
I was wondering if anyone else has an interest in any specific period or culture from the past, especially if it's obscure, and especially if you have/will have a degree in the subject or if you are a professor, archaeologist, historian, and/or translator.
Bonus points for if it's not very well known, or not taught in public schools. Tell me about the Islamic Golden Age, the ancient kingdoms in Sub-Saharan Africa, pre-Christian beliefs of Germanic and Celtic tribes, East Asia during the Middle Ages, precolonial cultures in the Americas, or religion in ancient Egypt. That's why I said nothing from the past 250 years- I already know people like the world wars and the civil war.
Also facts! Please!
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The geological history of what eventually became the US state of Minnesota. How the glaciers shaped the landscape. How Lake Aggissi (sp?) Created the rich farmland in the central and southern part of the state (sediment, lifeform decay). No one I know personally cares but I find it fascinating.
Off topic but I also know more than a "normal" human about bugs. Kind of a know your enemy kind of fascination. Centipedes do not stand a chance in my house:)
Fellow geologist here. We think it's fascinating too. No one else does, but they don't know what we do: rocks tell stories!
Elizabeth I
The bronze age collapse and the potential origin of the sea peoples, who probably came from Sicily and other Hellenic regions.
Early Canadian History. Jacques Cartier’s voyages, Samuel de Champlain founding Québec, European impact on indigenous culture, la bataille des plaines d’Abraham… and so on and so forth.
Being a Canadian, I thought it would be nice to know my country’s history.
Spoiler alert: 90% of it was Québec complaining about not being special. No offense aux Québécois.
I am oddly obsessed with ancient history. I know a bunch about (deep breath) early hominids, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Nubia, Indus Valley, ancient China, the Hebrews (I'm Jewish btw), Greece, and Rome. I know basically everything about the last 3.
Greek mythology. Not the glamorized Hollywood version but an actual study of the religion, it’s practices and it’s popularity.
I love Greek mythology too, and even though stuff with inaccuracies can be fun (ex. Disney's Hercules and Percy Jackson) it p***es me off when people act like they're the definitive versions of the stories (Hercules is the Latin name and Hades is NOT evil). I'm also a pagan and I work with two Greek deities (Aphrodite and Hades) so it's also important to me personally. Idk where I'm really going here but I'm obviously also a Greek myth fan.
I am not an expert at all but I have studied a lot of human evolution in my paleontology studies. I have a lecture some time ago (layman not at the university) about gender roles in the paleolithic. Its a very interesting topic if anybody wants references.
I just love XVI to XVIII century naval warfare. I have been studying the subject for a long time, I am a historian by trade, and as a hobby I build model ships. It is absolutely fascinating.
Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon was born on Corsica in 1769. He eventually came to France and became an artillery officer for the French Revolution. Then, the battle of Toulon occurred, in which Napoleon saw his first victory. He soon rose through the ranks, becoming a General, and successfully fought in the Invasion of Italy and won many battles in the Egyptian Expedition. He later became Consul, and then Emperor, winning many more battles until he was dethroned by the European Coalition of Kingdoms. He came back, but unsuccessfully. I could go into more detail but I don’t have the time.
History has been a hobby of mine since I was a small child, so there's lots of topics. The ones that come most to mind are ancient history (Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, Rome, Indus Valley civilizations, etc), precolonial civilizations of the Americas, and the Warring States (Sengoku Jidai) civil war period of Japan that lasted from the late 1400s to early 1600s and led to the reign of their last shogunate and over 200 years of near total Japanese isolationism.
