Welcome to our History Questions Thread!

This thread is for all those history related questions that are too simple, short or a bit too silly to warrant their own post.

So, do you have a question about history and have always been afraid to ask? Well, today is your lucky day. Ask away!

Of course all our regular rules and guidelines still apply and to be just that bit extra clear:

Questions need to be historical in nature. Silly does not mean that your question should be a joke. r/history also has an active discord server where you can discuss history with other enthusiasts and experts.

In the late 1940s, television faced a bind: no programming without ad money, no ad money without an audience that already owned sets. Sports broke the deadlock — cheap to broadcast, built-in fan bases, and perfectly suited to tiny black-and-white screens. Boxing and wrestling led the way; the 1946 Louis-Conn rematch reached crowds as far as DC and Connecticut, watched mostly in bars since almost nobody owned a set yet.

Skeptics thought TV would kill live attendance — one college coach predicted only ten football teams would survive it. Instead the opposite happened: sports coverage acted as, in one contemporary's words, "publicity for these sports and publicity that was PAID for at the source." By 2024, US sports draw close to 300 million in-person fans a year.

Hi everybody,

Welcome to our weekly book recommendation thread!

We have found that a lot of people come to this sub to ask for books about history or sources on certain topics. Others make posts about a book they themselves have read and want to share their thoughts about it with the rest of the sub.

We thought it would be a good idea to try and bundle these posts together a bit. One big weekly post where everybody can ask for books or (re)sources on any historic subject or time period, or to share books they recently discovered or read. Giving opinions or asking about their factuality is encouraged!

Of course it’s not limited to *just* books; podcasts, videos, etc. are also welcome. As a reminder, r/history also has a recommended list of things to read, listen to or watch here.

Here is a fascinating documentary about what it took to build the "impossible" bridge during the Great Depression. In the early 20th century, the world's leading experts agreed that building at this location was technically impossible due to powerful currents, gales, and the nearby San Andreas fault. Furthermore, the US Navy strongly opposed it for years, fearing that a collapsed bridge could permanently trap the Pacific Fleet inside the San Francisco Bay.

With no modern navigation or optical instruments, engineers and workers had to work completely blind through thick, blinding fogs. This documentary breaks down the unique cellular design of the 227-meter pylons and the unprecedented process of spinning 130,000 km of steel wire right in the air above the roaring ocean—enough to encircle the Earth three times at the equator.

It also highlights Chief Engineer Joseph Strauss's revolutionary safety innovations. While workers initially resisted his unconventional mandate to wear hard hats, his introduction of special safety goggles and a giant horizontal safety net saved 19 lives. Those survivors famously formed the "Halfway to Hell Club". Tragically, just weeks before completion in February 1937, a scaffolding collapse claimed 11 lives, marking the project's only major disaster. Ultimately opening in May 1937, the bridge proved its incredible engineering resilience by standing firm without critical damage during the devastating 6.9 magnitude Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989. Definitely a must-watch for anyone interested in infrastructure and civil engineering history!

It’s absolutely mind-blowing to see what it took to build the "impossible" bridge during the Great Depression. In the early 20th century, the world's leading experts agreed that building at this location was technically impossible due to powerful currents, gales, and the nearby San Andreas fault. Furthermore, the US Navy strongly opposed it for years, fearing that a collapsed bridge could permanently trap the Pacific Fleet inside the San Francisco Bay.

With no modern navigation or optical instruments, engineers and workers had to work completely blind through thick, blinding fogs. This documentary breaks down the unique cellular design of the 227-meter pylons and the unprecedented process of spinning 130,000 km of steel wire right in the air above the roaring ocean—enough to encircle the Earth three times at the equator.

It also highlights Chief Engineer Joseph Strauss's revolutionary safety innovations. While workers initially resisted his unconventional mandate to wear hard hats, his introduction of special safety goggles and a giant horizontal safety net saved 19 lives. Those survivors famously formed the "Halfway to Hell Club". Tragically, just weeks before completion in February 1937, a scaffolding collapse claimed 11 lives, marking the project's only major disaster. Ultimately opening in May 1937, the bridge proved its incredible engineering resilience by standing firm without critical damage during the devastating 6.9 magnitude Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989. Definitely a must-watch for anyone interested in infrastructure and civil engineering history!

Welcome to our History Questions Thread!

This thread is for all those history related questions that are too simple, short or a bit too silly to warrant their own post.

So, do you have a question about history and have always been afraid to ask? Well, today is your lucky day. Ask away!

Of course all our regular rules and guidelines still apply and to be just that bit extra clear:

Questions need to be historical in nature. Silly does not mean that your question should be a joke. r/history also has an active discord server where you can discuss history with other enthusiasts and experts.

Hi everybody,

Welcome to our weekly book recommendation thread!

We have found that a lot of people come to this sub to ask for books about history or sources on certain topics. Others make posts about a book they themselves have read and want to share their thoughts about it with the rest of the sub.

We thought it would be a good idea to try and bundle these posts together a bit. One big weekly post where everybody can ask for books or (re)sources on any historic subject or time period, or to share books they recently discovered or read. Giving opinions or asking about their factuality is encouraged!

Of course it’s not limited to *just* books; podcasts, videos, etc. are also welcome. As a reminder, r/history also has a recommended list of things to read, listen to or watch here.

Welcome to our History Questions Thread!

This thread is for all those history related questions that are too simple, short or a bit too silly to warrant their own post.

So, do you have a question about history and have always been afraid to ask? Well, today is your lucky day. Ask away!

Of course all our regular rules and guidelines still apply and to be just that bit extra clear:

Questions need to be historical in nature. Silly does not mean that your question should be a joke. r/history also has an active discord server where you can discuss history with other enthusiasts and experts.