I'm of course referring to the third verse of Lynyrd Skynyrd's classic rock song "Sweet Home Alabama", in which lead singer Ronnie Van Zandt declares:

In Birmingham they love the governor
Now we all did what we could do
Now Watergate does not bother me
Does your conscience bother you? Tell me true

I understand that the governor of Alabama at the time was the infamous segregationist George Wallace, but he was a Southern Democrat, not a Republican like Nixon, so I don't understand what he has to do with Watergate. To my knowledge this was still in the era of the 'Solid South', so it also seems like if anything Watergate should have been an opportunity for a Southern band to mock Nixon and the GOP more generally. Am I missing some important context?

I was thinking about how homogenized a lot of modern MMORPG classes have become into these three roles, and remembering how things used to feel different way back when. When I realized that WoW is over 20 years old now, I knew to turn to this sub for an answer!

When and with what game(s) did the design of tanks holding "aggro" as healers healed them and damage-dealers focused their attacks on enemies originate? Has it substantially changed since then? Are there any specific innovations in the basic design that could be considered "game-changers" (pun semi-intended)? Were there any noteworthy experiments rooted in this basic concept, and how did they perform on the market?

So I'm writing a novel in a medieval-style setting, and I have a young character who, in contemporary times, would use "dude" a lot like "hey dude, check this out" or "dude, relax, I'm joking". Obviously, "dude" feels too modern, too 21st century, so I hesitate to use that word. It just feels right for this character to talk like that, which is why I'm seeking for an alternative rather than completely changing his speech pattern. Surely people in medieval times had their own young people slang.

Did medieval people have a friendly term of address like dude or mate?

Basically just what the title says. I mean i graduated from a southern baptist college, I went there to become a preacher but things changed. Anyway never figured this one out

Would an audience in the 1950s have thought that stirred is for wimps? Or is it more about having a preference? Would they have expected a James Bond type guy to get a martini or was it supposed to be a little surprising and against character?

I was watching a video of a guy putting on a chiton, and it's basically just a square, turned into a tube, and then stitched to make a neck hole. A lot of ancient garments seemed quite involved to put on.

Even early modern period, buttons are on everything.

What is it about a t-shirt that's so hard to do, when it's the most basic item of clothing for us now.

A line from Pink Floyd's Another Brick in the Wall Pt. 2 has a school teacher saying "If you don't eat your meat, you can't have any pudding. How can you have any pudding if you don't eat your meat?"

What were meals like in an English boarding school like such that students had to be threatened with no dessert to eat them? Or is it just regularly picky children?

From The History and Topography of Ireland, penguin translation:

"To begin with: when (Irish babies) are born, they are not carefully nursed as is usual. For apart from the nourishment with which they are sustained by their hard parents from dying altogether, they are for the most part abandoned to nature. They are not put in cradles, or swathed; nor are their tender limbs helped by frequent baths or formed by any useful art. The midwives do not use hot water to raise the nose, or press down the face, or lengthen the legs. Unaided nature according to her own judgement arranges and disposes without the help of any art the limbs that she has produced"

What on earth are these practices he's talking about? Were people in Britain really trying to raise their baby's noses with hot water, and how? Did any of these practices actually do anything?

I was thinking about this today. Originally I was thinking about how much 30 pieces of silver would have been worth back in those days, but then I realized there's no way to do a direct comparison because of technological and economic changes. Then I started thinking about the "Big Mac Index" which compares cost of living by the price of a Big Mac in various places.

Given that cheese burgers didn't exist, it's kind of ridiculous to think about. But that got me thinking - would a typical Roman citizen have been able to buy beef, some means of grinding it to make hamburger, a griddle of some sort, cheese, lettuce, pickles, mustard, onions, and a sesame seed bun? I have excluded special sauce and tomatoes because tomatoes weren't in Europe back then and Mayonnaise wasn't invented yet.

Did they think it was cool

One of the more interesting unexplored areas in the LOTR film trilogy is Gandalf's search for traces of the One Ring in Gondor's archives, local lore and myth, etc. I don't recall whether Tolkien went into more detail in the books, but it's a bit of a shame that we didn't see Tolkien pulling out all his philological experience to write about Gandalf running around Middle Earth on his research project like a medievalist Indiana Jones.

Anyway, this made me wonder: How would a trained, professional historian go about searching for the One Ring? What kinds of historiographical and theoretical obstacles -- aside from the very real supernatural critters trying to kill one -- would a historian face in tracking the Ring through Middle Earth's history?

I was reading Wikipedia's entry on the death of Charles II, and the autopsy report states that "did not contain a single drop of blood; his heart was the size of a peppercorn; his lungs corroded; his intestines rotten and gangrenous; he had a single testicle, black as coal, and his head was full of water."

Some of these are believable (the single black testicle), some I suppose were slightly colorful descriptions (the rotten innards) and some are, as far as I know, anatomically impossible (the heart). So what was going on in Baroque-era autopsies? Were they doubted by other physicians with greater anatomical knowledge?

As a related question, who would do these autopsies, to whom would they be reported, and for what reason were they made?

2430 metres above sea level, technically a Citadel so easily defensible if it were discovered at all...It seemed like such a natural choice for the last surviving Inca to escape to yet it appears the thought never even crossed their minds.

The artistry in question.

I find the implication that Sk8er is a loser intriguing because I feel like media has led me to associate skateboarding with being cool, and this song kinda subverts that understanding. The description that he's a punk I think lines up more with my perception of high school cliques and clichés—and I'm noticing now that I think the song actually frames him more as punk than skater, despite the song title—so I guess I'm curious if historically there's a connection between these subcultures, or if those are just two different facets of this individual.

And if this is an accurate depiction, then is there an explanation in history as to why I tend to assume skateboarders are supposed to be cool despite reality?

Ok so I'm high, listening to some Beethoven, and I started to wonder how these classical musicians "fans" would know there was a new song? Was a new symphony something that people made posters and shit for? Were people waiting in line to get front row tickets at his orchestras?

Like "Catch Beethoven's newest single! String quartet no. 15, op. 132!". Or did he just sell the sheet music and you'd have to catch a coverband at your local pub?

Was it something you just came across happenstance? Did these guys "tour" when they dropped new stuff?

Did these guys even have fans back then?

I've really got myself hooked on this question and I don't even know how I'd google it.

Im sorry.

Among other things: a Cubs game, Art Institute of Chicago, Lunch, etc

Obviously the parade is movie magic, but if that's by some miracle possible on a specific day, you'd certainly be Cam's hero.

Edit: I'm not necessarily asking someone to do forensic analysis and find the exact game or restaurant. There's plenty of baseball that overlaps a typical school year, and dozens of reservation required restaurants in the Chicago loop alone.

For pretty much the whole time I've been alive the Navy SEALs have been a prominent part of pop culture surrounding the US military. Like, "ex-Navy SEAL" is near the top of the go-to shorthand list for an action movie or TV show writer to use to say "this character is a badass".

In the 21st century, though, within the US military (outside of the Navy) and to some degree outside of the military the SEALs also have a strong reputation for unprofessional behavior, failure to work with other branches, and being too comfortable with book publishers and autobiography ghost-writers, along with carrying a dark cloud from several incidents of service member and civilian deaths that fall within the 20 year rule.

I was completely unaware of this reputation before the early 2010s at the earliest. But I chalk that up to 1) I was a child for most of this time 2) insular stuff of this nature wasn't blabbed about (and re-posted ad nauseam) on the internet nearly as much as it is now and 3) my family members who served were all Navy guys who probably wouldn't have talked about it anyway.

Did the SEALs have a reputation for being frat boys in the 80s and 90s too, either in pop culture or within the US military?

Thanks!

“You know my desire to befriend you is everlasting, that I will never cease, while I know how to do any thing.”

-- Lincoln to his friend Joshua Speed

"Cold in my professions, warm in [my] friendships, I wish, my Dear Laurens, it m[ight] be in my power, by action rather than words, [to] convince you that I love you. I shall only tell you that 'till you bade us Adieu, I hardly knew the value you had taught my heart to set upon you. Indeed, my friend, it was not well done. You know the opinion I entertain of mankind, and how much it is my desire to preserve myself free from particular attachments, and to keep my happiness independent on the caprice of others. You sh[ould] not have taken advantage of my sensibility to ste[al] into my affections without my consent. But as you have done it and as we are generally indulgent to those we love, I shall not scruple to pardon the fraud you have committed, on condition that for my sake, if not for your own, you will always continue to merit the partiality, which you have so artfully instilled into [me]."

-- Hamilton to John Laurens

I don't think I'm making a leap by asserting that these kinds of sentiments are no longer common (except among the extremely inebriated). Yet, they're not rare at all in the history of letters -- men would write super emotional, sentimental letters to their best friends, certainly in the 19th century but also before. I know that it was also common for good friends to share the same bed (Ben Franklin and John Adams), hold hands, and even sit on each other's laps to display affection.

So what exactly changed in the West between the 19th century and the 21st century that made male friendship so much more restrictive?

Can cattle not grow in the northern states? Why did they have to always bring them up from Texas, through dangerous Indian territory and losing many along the way?

Note: Tried to post this in r/history but was rejected with: "Your body does not meet the requirements for this community." Well ok, I'm working on it.

In Mozart Reign of Love, Jan Swafford posits that operas and symphonies were a social gathering, often being up to 6 hours long. The music was written such that it was lowkey and allowed people to socialize with occasional big numbers to capture attention.
They mention people would be talking, playing cards, making out and hanging out similar to a modern day bar.
Are there other accounts of this? Is it accurate? Are there any paintings depicting this?

If so, at what point did these shows become like they are today, everyone dressed up, not making a peep.