History questions not worth their own thread

[Masada]

I don't think it had one... it was just a bunch of different crown colonies.

 

[Yeekim]

AFAIK, "Thirteen Colonies" is the best common denominator you'll find. Not especially official, however.

 

[GoodGame]

"British America". Pretty sexy, no?


According to wikipedia:

British America consisted of the British Empire in continental North America in the 18th century and 19th century. British America consisted of the thirteen colonies. Formally, the British Colonies in North America were known as "British America" and the "British West Indies" until 1783, when Britain recognized the United States of America as a sovereign nation. After that, "British North America" (or, simply, "Canada") were used to describe the remainder of Britain's continental North American possessions. (The term "British North America" was first used informally in 1783, but it was uncommon before the Report on the Affairs of British North America (1839), called the Durham Report.)

FWIW, it seems to be the academic term. The only primary source I could google was by good ole Thomas Jefferson: http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/jeffsumm.asp

I'd guesstimate that they were mostly viewed as separate charters/colonies in the 17th C. and became "British America" in the 18th C.

 

[RedRalph]

thanks for that. I find it amazing that this sint commonly known

 

[Sharwood]

Do archealogists/historians have primary evidence that ancient Athens had a constitution governing its democracy?

I know that there are writings that Aristotle wrote regarding the Athenian constitution, but is there an actual copy prior to Aristotle?

They don't have an actual copy to my knowledge, but Aristotle was not the only person to write of it. He did write more than any other author, at least that has survived.

@Ralph: I've always referred to it as British America or British North America. It's probably the sort of thing everyone thinks they know until someone asks the question.

 

[say1988]

Pretty sure the terms British America did not come into usage until late, British North America was common after the revolution for present-day Canada, though.
If you think about it, though African colonies were normally not grouped together either.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

I've seen photos from Pompeii where there's low poles which prevent chariots passing, I'll take a look if I can find one.

In the city of Rome for the biggest part of antiquity chariots and carriages were forbidden during the daytime unless they were bringing material for public building, so they didn't have that big problem with speeding drivers.

EDIT: Found one in wikipedia:

Spoiler :

On second thought it occured to me, that I've also heard that they're function was to aid paople cross the street. I'm not sure which one would be the right one, or were they made for both purposes.

That picture was pretty much what I had in mind, just a bit shorter, so that wagons and such could go over them. Or perhaps people looking at them long after the Romans were gone thought they were for speed control, when in fact they never served such purpose.

 

[GoodGame]

Pretty sure the terms British America did not come into usage until late, British North America was common after the revolution for present-day Canada, though.
If you think about it, though African colonies were normally not grouped together either.

I think so too. Before then I think people were pretty much peasants in the King's land.

Signed,
The King

God Save The King!

 

[rilnator]

Was the bombing of Hiroshima/ Dresden justified.

Has been posted on this forum about half a dozen times in the last 5 years with the same old arguments going off on totally unrelated tangents. Expect to see it again by the end of the year.

 

[Sharwood]

Was the bombing of Hiroshima/ Dresden justified.

Has been posted on this forum about half a dozen times in the last 5 years with the same old arguments going off on totally unrelated tangents. Expect to see it again by the end of the year.

And that has what exactly to do with a thread called: "History questions not worth their own thread?"

 

[LightSpectra]

What does the word "Thebes" mean, and why did the Greeks decide to call the Egyptian capital after one of their own cities?

 

[JonathanStrange]

Why are coins round and not square?

 

[holy king]

Why are coins round and not square?

because you cant hurt yourself if the thing doesnt have edges.

 

[Irish Caesar]

They're square in Aruba.

 

[Camikaze]

Why are coins round and not square?

So you don't have to worry about their orientation whenever you put them into a machine. That is clearly why coins were originally made round. Or perhaps it was just a matter of efficiency. If they were square, you would have wasted material in the corners. But on a circular coin, almost all parts of the coin are utilised.

 

[Steph]

So you don't have to worry about their orientation whenever you put them into a machine. That is clearly why coins were originally made round.

That was very convenient in the Greek, Roman or Egyptian vending machines.
They undoubtly made their coins round because of that.

 

[GoodGame]

Why are coins round and not square?

Some ancient coins were square. Most coins are probably round so you can carry them in a bag without the bag ripping . Though many coins had holes (often square holes) so they could be carried as beads.

 

[GoodGame]

What does the word "Thebes" mean, and why did the Greeks decide to call the Egyptian capital after one of their own cities?

The name Thebai is the Greek designation of the ancient Egyptian niwt "(The) City" and niwt-rst "(The) Southern City". At the seat of the Theban triad of Amun, Mut, and Khonsu, Thebes was known in the Egyptian language from the end of the New Kingdom as niwt-imn, "The City of Amun." This found its way into the Hebrew Bible as נא אמון nōˀ ˀāmôn (Nahum 3:8),"no" in Hebrew meaning city with "no amon" or "City of Amon" referring to the Egyptian deity Amon-Ra, most likely it is also the same as נא ("No") (Ezekiel 30:14). In Greek this name was rendered Διόσπολις Diospolis, "City of Zeus", as Zeus was the god whom the Greeks identified with Amun, see interpretatio graeca. The Greeks surnamed the city μεγάλη megale, "the Great", to differentiate it from numerous other cities called Diospolis. The Romans rendered the name Diospolis Magna.

The first king of Thebes was Cadmus, after whom the city was originally called Cadmeia. It only became known as Thebes during the reign of Amphion and Zethus, after the latter's wife Thebe.

I guess in the end it was just an honorific on the part of the Greeks, for a wife whose name might be inspired from the respect that the Greeks paid to the Egyptian Thebes?

 

[Sharwood]

Why are coins round and not square?

Once upon a time people shaved the edges off them in order to utilise the precious metals in the shavings. It's much more difficult to hide that on a round coin, especially one with comb-teeth style edges, like Australian coins.

It also takes less material to make a round coin than a sqaure one. This is also why many coins had holes in them.

 

[JonathanStrange]

Ok, square coins and coins with holes in 'em! No wonder the ancients were strange! How come they liked to bite coins - a la Hollywood movies - did they have metal detectors in their mouths? Not worth a thread, as the title says.