Recent comments in /f/history

elmonoenano t1_j3j6z2s wrote

Reply to comment by dripstonchruchill in Simple/Short/Silly History Questions Saturday! by AutoModerator

One thing they used was the iconic cowboy hat. It has two features that help with cooling. The first is the broad brim to provide shading. Cowboys basically grew out of the Mexican adoption of Spanish cattle raising culture. When Americans start flowing into west Texas at the end of the 19th century, they learned from the people that were already there. The brim on a cowboy hat isn't as broad as a sombrero, but it's the same idea, to shade the wearer.

Many hats have a lower crown to trap heat by the wearer's head to keep them warmer. The cowboy hat has a higher crown. This let heat released from the wearer's head escape or at least not be trapped right by the head. 10 Gallon cowboy hats are the most extreme for the cowboy hat style. You also see something similar with the famous cigarillo hats that the caballeros wore (Emiliano Zapata favored this kind of sombrero and now it's often called a Sombrero de Zapata https://www.mexicoescultura.com/galerias/actividades/principal/image79_2.jpg).

Anyway, in 1865 John B. Stetson recognized these needs, saw what the Mexicans were doing and invented his version, The Boss of the Plains hat. B/c it met the needs of cowboys so well they adopted the hat and it became iconic. It had other features that were useful to cowboys, but the brim and the crown were the important things for heat.

The Cowboy Museum has a little video that talks a little about it. https://youtu.be/HNqAzyBfXe0

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Starbourne8 t1_j3j59ta wrote

Reply to Earliest evidence of the use of the Mesoamerican 260-day calendar, ‘centuries earlier than its previously known use in textual records,’ revealed by the orientations of newly-uncovered ruins along Mexico’s southern Gulf Coast by marketrent

The 365 day calendar is vastly superior to any other type. Not even close.

It’s nice to be able to count how many times the sun will come up and go down again before the next winter solstice.

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War_Hymn t1_j3ir661 wrote

Reply to comment by megamindwriter in When did government departments and government budgets become invented? by megamindwriter

There are archeological records of state revenue and expense going back to clay cuineform tablets of the early Sumerian city-states 4000-5000 years ago.

I feel you might have some misconception about how ancient governments work...it wasn't as simple as some king or duke sitting on his throne and handing out a handful of silver or gold whenever something needs to be paid for.

By the late bronze age, there were highly developed states like Egypt or Zhou China that had an extensive and sophisticated bureaucracies in place to manage state affairs and track money coming in and out. Middle/Late Kingdom Egypt alone had a population of 2-3 million people - trying to govern this much people without keeping records or delegating to departments would had been very difficult.

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War_Hymn t1_j3ioboo wrote

Reply to When did government departments and government budgets become invented? by megamindwriter

>They were not present in medieval time periods.

Why you say that? Throughout history, even small feudal kingdoms had certain state functions delegated out to courtiers and offices. Such positions or offices include Chancellor of the Exchequer in England (which was established in 1316 and still exists and functions today as the UK's ministry of finance).

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Bentresh t1_j3ihhvc wrote

Reply to comment by RSwordsman in When did government departments and government budgets become invented? by megamindwriter

Yes, as the Wiki article correctly notes, highly complex systems of administration and bureaucracy had already developed by the Bronze Age.

To add a few relevant publications:

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mutherfuqq t1_j3ih8zr wrote

Reply to Earliest evidence of the use of the Mesoamerican 260-day calendar, ‘centuries earlier than its previously known use in textual records,’ revealed by the orientations of newly-uncovered ruins along Mexico’s southern Gulf Coast by marketrent

I’m currently traveling in Guatemala. There are an estimated 7 million+ Mayan people in the nation and many still adhere to this 260 day calendar referred to as the Tzolk’in. It is used in conjunction with the 365 day calendar referred to as the Haab’. Both of these calendars were used for different purposes that I really don’t know much about! It has been interesting to see how the Mayan people here in Guatemala also observe and celebrate the Gregorian calendar, New years was a blast. Below is a link to the wikis for the 260 day calendar wiki.

Tzolk’in

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fleebleganger t1_j3ih2zn wrote

Reply to comment by cld1984 in Earliest evidence of the use of the Mesoamerican 260-day calendar, ‘centuries earlier than its previously known use in textual records,’ revealed by the orientations of newly-uncovered ruins along Mexico’s southern Gulf Coast by marketrent

Sunshine was a huge deal before lightbulbs.

Artificial lighting used to be really expensive, so light in the morning and evening, while receiving shade at midday would have absolutely thought of.

My opinion is the modern world, especially in developed nations, is too dependent on conveniences like light bulbs, microwaves, salted roads. Now no one has to give any thought to other people or the world around them, just what they need in the moment. People being selfish isn’t new, but now the whole world seems to cater to being selfish.

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tyco_brahe t1_j3i81im wrote

Reply to comment by WanderingAnchorite in Earliest evidence of the use of the Mesoamerican 260-day calendar, ‘centuries earlier than its previously known use in textual records,’ revealed by the orientations of newly-uncovered ruins along Mexico’s southern Gulf Coast by marketrent

This is really interesting, and I think you hit the nail on the head with the human gestation period.

It might not even be mal-nutrition. If you count from the first missed period, you get around 36 weeks / 9 months / 252 days. It's completely possible for the 260 days to be what they observed from the first indication of pregnancy (missed period) to birth and it doesn't require mal-nutrition or premature birth.

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Hattix t1_j3i0of8 wrote

Reply to When did government departments and government budgets become invented? by megamindwriter

The Roman Empire had a bureaucracy. Indeed, Diocletian reformed the bureaucracy by founding administrations in Mediolanum (Milan), Nicomedia (Izmit), Trier (Treves) and Antioch. These bureaucracies streamlined the running of a large empire, together with Diocletian's partitioning of that empire, which cut the cost of operating the empire.

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MrDickPickles t1_j3hzpt5 wrote

Reply to Earliest evidence of the use of the Mesoamerican 260-day calendar, ‘centuries earlier than its previously known use in textual records,’ revealed by the orientations of newly-uncovered ruins along Mexico’s southern Gulf Coast by marketrent

All of South America is a treasure trove of undiscovered artifacts and settlements. I want to go down there with a metal detector but I’m scared of getting robbed or worse killed for the things I find.

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dropbear123 t1_j3hthk2 wrote

Reply to comment by iron_horseshoe88 in Bookclub and Sources Wednesday! by AutoModerator

I'm struggling to think of much

I liked Fracture: Life and Culture in the West, 1918-1938 by Philipp Blom but that is more about the culture, mindsets/views and lifestyles of the time rather than an overview of the politics.

It's been a while since I've read it but you could try The Dark Valley: A Panorama of the 1930s by Piers Brendon . It has a little bit on the 20s and then in the 30s it covers each of the major powers with their own chapters. It's pretty long as well

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danonck t1_j3hrwkt wrote

Reply to Earliest evidence of the use of the Mesoamerican 260-day calendar, ‘centuries earlier than its previously known use in textual records,’ revealed by the orientations of newly-uncovered ruins along Mexico’s southern Gulf Coast by marketrent

There's still so much we don't know about the pre-Columbian civilizations it's exciting and scary at the same time. The worst part is we will never fully understand the scope of their advancement in technology, science etc.

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RSwordsman t1_j3hp2q9 wrote

Reply to When did government departments and government budgets become invented? by megamindwriter

Bureaucracy existed well before the middle ages. It could just be that European systems favored a more centralized government with less delegation structure for their agents.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bureaucracy#History

It's safe to say that after the manorial system, it came about with the rise in republican government as a good way to divide power among several officials.

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