Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2019 June 2

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June 2

Older United States Marine Corps Physical Fitness Test

I'm looking for a chart of the standards of the United States Marine Corps Physical Fitness Test as it was back in the 1980s, prior to subsequent changes. So far online I can only find up-to-date charts of the current physical fitness standards, but not historical charts. Any help? Thanks, —Kevin Myers 12:04, 2 June 2019 (UTC)

Archive.org has 1956, don't know if that's any use. 70.67.193.176 (talk) 16:15, 2 June 2019 (UTC)

Not quite, but thank you for looking. —Kevin Myers 01:38, 3 June 2019 (UTC)

Do you mean the run, situp, pullup test? It was a 3 mile run capping out at 18 minutes, 2 minutes of situps capping out at 80, and pullups, capping out at 20, all for a maximum of 300 points. If that is the one you are interested in, I can see if I still have my manual which included the PT point breakdown. 68.115.219.130 (talk) 12:34, 3 June 2019 (UTC)

Yes, that's the one! I'm particularly interested in the age brackets. Like, how many pullups and situps was an older Marine expected to perform, by age group, etc. Thanks! —Kevin Myers 19:35, 5 June 2019 (UTC)

The Voice of the Sacred Crane

As far as I can work out, this term seems to refer to those extremely rare occasions when the Japanese Emperor speaks or issues commands in formal contexts. Normally, he listens to his advisors and "consents in silence" to their proposals. When Hirohito addressed his nation after the bombing of Nagasaki, this was the first time his subjects had ever heard his voice (he'd been Emperor for almost 19 years by then).

I came across the reference in Paul Ham's Hiroshima Nagasaki (p. 384), but he didn't explain its origin. Google is of very little help. What is/was this Sacred Crane all about, and what do we know about the tradition of imperial silent consent. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 12:32, 2 June 2019 (UTC)

A few more snippets from Google Books: [2] suggests that it was an informal term; [3] has a little on the origins. One more with a different slant on the origin: [4] Henry^Flower 12:45, 2 June 2019 (UTC)

Thanks for that. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 18:52, 4 June 2019 (UTC)

African Free Trade

Does Africa have any free trade agreements with any other nations not a part of Africa? If so, what nations are they? 162.246.18.149 (talk) 13:48, 2 June 2019 (UTC)

I doubt whether Africa as a whole has trade agreements with anybody else. A number of individual countries in Africa benefit from Everything but Arms, etc... AnonMoos (talk) 18:54, 2 June 2019 (UTC)

Hi, I think the articles you need are List of bilateral free-trade agreements and List of multilateral free-trade agreements. The European Free Trade Association includes South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho and eSwatini. Jordan and Algeria have an agreement. So do Morocco and Turkey, Tunisia and Switzerland, etc etc etc. 70.67.193.176 (talk) 20:27, 2 June 2019 (UTC)

I was wondering what eSwatini was. I bet it's still known in parts of the English-language media as "Swaziland". The North Macedonia, Myanmar and Mumbai etc. renames were discussed extensively in U.S. journalism, and I remember coverage of the Burkina Faso rename in connection with the 1984 LA Olympics, but I completely missed eSwatini... AnonMoos (talk) 06:03, 3 June 2019 (UTC)

Oldest exact date

What is the oldest exact date known to historians? A date for an historical event that is known down to the month and date. KAVEBEAR (talk) 14:59, 2 June 2019 (UTC)

I googled "oldest specific date" and this is the first item that turned up:[5] ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 15:23, 2 June 2019 (UTC)

Some more background and potential candidates are mentioned in Recorded history, which suggests dates in ancient Egyptian kings lists (compiled 2nd millennium BC) and dates in ancient Chinese annals (compiled 5th century BC). The article is not very specific beyond that, but links will take you on some fascinating reading, like Turin King List and Spring and Autumn Annals. 70.67.193.176 (talk) 16:37, 2 June 2019 (UTC)

• For right down to the month and date, there's Julius Caesar being assassinated on the Ides of March (March 15) in 44 BCE. Loraof (talk) 18:17, 2 June 2019 (UTC)

Note that this was the Julian calendar, which is not identical to the Gregorian calendar that most people use today. --47.146.63.87 (talk) 05:11, 3 June 2019 (UTC)

KAVEBEAR -- the best answer is probably events associated with solar eclipses (which can be calculated with considerable accuracy into the B.C. period), depending, of course, on whether you can narrow down the information in the historical source to indicate a single possible eclipse. See Eclipse of Thales, Assyrian eclipse, Mursili's eclipse... AnonMoos (talk) 18:42, 2 June 2019 (UTC)

You are looking for some Chronological synchronism, which links to Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt, which says that,

A recorded date during the reign of Senusret III can be correlated to the Sothic cycle,

However, you'll have to read the primary source to know the said date (obviously during Senusret III reign, that is, 1878 – 1839 BC). Besides, it seems there are some doubt, meaning, it may be wrong (or not...). Gem fr (talk) 16:08, 4 June 2019 (UTC)

References