User:NorwegianBlue/refdesk/history

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[edit] Trying to remember a person (History)

A while ago, I stumbled upon a Wikiquote article (there was one on Wikipedia, too) on a really interesting man. I think he was an officer in the American civil war who supported equal rights for women, was anti-slavery, very progressive. He was asked to run for governor of Illinois and refused because he was told he would have to pretend to be religious (he wasn't). A lot of his really interesting quotes were about religion and how belief in Hell was contrary to belief in a benevolent god. Does anyone know who he was? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Emmett5 (talk • contribs) .

You could look through Special:Whatlinkshere&target=Governor_of_Illinois and see if any of the article titles ring a bell for you.-gadfium 03:53, 17 June 2006 (UTC)

Would that be Robert Green Ingersoll? --NorwegianBlue ^talk 13:04, 17 June 2006 (UTC)

Yes, it is. Thank you very much! Emmett5 19:02, 17 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Celts and Germans

When did celts stop being celts and start being germans? Joneleth 10:33, 16 April 2007 (UTC)

Who told you that celts were Germans? Aren't celts a group of people that were all over Europe, not just Germany? Think outside the box 11:37, 16 April 2007 (UTC)

When they stopped supporting the 'hoops' (celtic football culb) and started supporting rangers football club(sometimes called 'the huns')- bad football joke Perry-mankster 11:41, 16 April 2007 (UTC)

Ah, a joke! I love jokes. Think outside the box 11:50, 16 April 2007 (UTC)

Ah, sarcasm! I love sarcasm.Perry-mankster 12:34, 16 April 2007 (UTC)

Joneleth, you might as easily have asked when an elephant stopped being an elephant and started to be a dove! The answer, of course, is that the Celts and the Germans are two quite different peoples. Once widspread across Europe, the Celts today are largely confined to Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Cornwall, the Isle of Man, Brittany, and Galicia in north-west Spain. Their cultural and linguistic roots bear no relation at all to that of the Germans. If you are interested in obtaining some more in-depth information on the subject I would recommend The Celts: a History from the Earliest Times to the Present by Bernhard Meier. Clio the Muse 13:17, 16 April 2007 (UTC)

I hate to contradict, but the archaeological and genetic evidence do not support the identification of Celts as "a people". What exist instead are peoples speaking Celtic languages and peoples speaking Germanic languages. The former group (Celtic speakers) includes some minorities in Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Brittany, and arguably the Isle of Man and Cornwall (where dead languages are being revived). There are currently no Celtic-speaking peoples in northwest Spain, although the ancestors of some people in northwest Spain spoke Celtic languages in ancient times. Germanic-speaking peoples include the national group we know as the Germans. Germanic-speaking peoples also include the English, most other inhabitants of the British Isles, and most Americans of all races. About 2,500 years ago, peoples across northwestern, central, and even parts of southwestern Europe and in Asia Minor spoke Celtic languages. Peoples living in parts of present-day Germany, including the area around the Rhine and Mosel valleys and much of southern Germany, spoke Celtic languages 2,500 years ago. The archaeological and genetic evidence suggests that those peoples' descendants still live in those regions today, although they now speak German, or dialects of German. We lack written records documenting this social and linguistic change, but archaeological evidence and fragmentary written references in Roman records suggest that the change took place over several centuries from around 200 B.C. to around 700 A.D. In many cases, the change happened in two stages: 1) The local warrior elite was defeated by the Romans, and the local Celtic-speaking population was subjected to a Latin-speaking elite; 2) Germanic-speaking warriors defeated the Romans several centuries later and gradually imposed their languge and other elements of their culture on the local population, which may by then have been speaking a form of Vulgar Latin. In some areas in central Germany, there is evidence that Germanic-speaking tribes conquered and intermarried with formerly Celtic-speaking peoples, who then adopted Germanic speech, even before the arrival of the Romans or outside the area under Roman control. Marco polo 14:56, 16 April 2007 (UTC)

Do not hate to contradict, Marco; do it, and do it boldly! Clio the Muse 15:05, 16 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Looking for decent maps throughout (modern) history

Hello,

does anyone know a site (or an article here?) where you can either type in a year (like 1925) and find a world map, or at least find many maps categorized by time?

I am asking because yesterday I was watching a documentary about de Gaulle and his relations with other leaders, and when planning a campaign in Africa, he was looking at a completely different map. So I understand now how weird it is to look at my world map when trying to understand history.

If for instance, I were to to understand international politics in 1963 or whatever, a world map of that year would be extremely useful.

So if anyone has any useful links or whatever, I will be very interested.

Evilbu 19:50, 8 August 2006 (UTC)

And we could have pages here like "Political world in 1925", &c. Very nice request (no ideas, though). -- DLL ^{.. T} 19:55, 8 August 2006 (UTC)

Try Ancient world maps and Library of Congress Map collections. There are a lot more links on Maps that will probably get you what you need. Nowimnthing 20:22, 8 August 2006 (UTC)

My all-time favorite online map collection is the Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection from UTexas. It's a truly amazing resource - maps of all types from all parts of the worlds throughout history - and well organized, too. For instance,here is their section on historical maps of Africa. They also have an excellent links section at the bottom of all the map lists. Lots of other good sites. --Bmk 21:29, 8 August 2006 (UTC)

About seven years ago I saw a professor used some commercial software which would allow you to view political maps of the world (or just of Europe?) for any point in time (you could run it like a movie). It was pretty neat stuff. Searching around, I think it was Centennia Historical Atlas Software, which is limited only to Europe and the Middle East (and not cheap, and from the screenshot doesn't look like it has been worked on lately), if you're interested. --Fastfission 22:55, 8 August 2006 (UTC)