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Yeah, I imagined the Atlatl in the same category as arrows, are they ?

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And once the Opium war happened was when Britain actually started importing opium to China

Great. I started reading the story and got to "fire island" then started thinking of a David Sedaris' story.

Thanks for the link. I’d not heard of Cry Havoc before. I’ll have to add it to my list.

Explorers have searched for the Savannah for over two centuries but have not found anything until now

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Opium was unregulated in Britain until about 1862, when sales were restricted to pharmacies only. Serious regulation didn't happen until 1920 when sales of opiates required approval by a doctor.

Short, simple, easy reads. More like good introductions into the major events/points of each topic, not really a deep dive or anything new.

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Imagine how many shoeys that boot has seen.

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I know! Everyone laughed at that place (“what do they have? Squirrels?”), but my kids and I liked it.

That said I miss the Zooquarium

And it's not like the fabric cooling was made from was not turned in something else. It can be sold in the second hand market for poor people to reuse as they need. Or could you kept and recut to a new style or a new size. For example the husband's clothing would get resized or cut down defect one son then is it where out again would recut to a smaller sun and at that point it could be reused as stuffing, rags or used up in a quilt. And you can imagine how many uses a woman's skirt or dress could be used on. The further back you go the more likely in Western fashion the simpler the shape of the clothing pieces. So we'll have extremely long chain of uses before they essentially become utterly useless. Even to that point their industries where they'll turn used beat up cloth back into fiber for other uses. Typically called rags, but not the modern idea of a washcloth. For example the US dollar bill system uses rag fibers in making the paper part of the bill.

That's just a human side of things. Since all the vipers were natural the silks and wolves would be getting eaten by bugs because it's protein. And then the cotton, women in plant fibers mold would love because it's literally a plant. And the talks of decomposing reveals by one pet peeve if you ever see a a skeleton it would never have its clothing still viable in any form because all the bacteria and fungus that decomposes the flush with annihilate the fibers of clothing. But it's only since the past 80 to 90 years that synthetic fiber has been a thing that you might be able to see large chunks of the clothing still intact. Because it's literally plastic.

That's an interesting idea.

I'd be very interested to know when the earliest stringed musical instruments appeared.

(And before that the earliest use of "string" or "rope" in some form).

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Egypt has its pyramids, Rome has its Colosseum, and now Australians too can swell with pride as they show off their dirty old boot.

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What evidence supports Mary Magdalene as a prostitute, and what alternative theories about her role in Jesus' life have emerged among scholars?

It's one of their proudest traditions.

Don't forget the simple sling. You can kill nearly any small to medium sized animal with a bit of woven cloth and a rock.

This is really a tough question to answer because it depends what your friend is interested in. If there’s a specific time or issue that interests them more than others then I would suggest finding something regarding that. For instance, if they like Samurai movies or Medieval knights then look for a decent, not heavy, book regarding that time frame.

You could also try something more general that covers a broad expanse of time such as Dan Carlin’s book, The End is Always Near. It’s been a while since I read that but I remember him releasing many historical events to modern day so it is more relevant and interesting.

Not a book, but you should also show them the YouTube channel called, Crash Course World History. It’s done by a history teacher in an engaging way and is meant to cover historical eras in an easy and relevant way - meant for people exactly like your friend. I would recommend starting there and then if they find a historical era or civilization they want to know more about then diving into some related books. Hope that helps!

Adding to all the excellent answers here, there were also cases like that of Charles VI of France, who ascended the throne at the age of 11 in 1380. However, he was regulated to the position of a regent by his uncles who called most of the shots in how things were done. He had a very hard time, even after coming of age, asserting his position as the monarch. He eventually did, though that was also debilitated by the madness that seized him in later years.

Interesting question honestly. You got to wonder what was going through a noble's mind when he saw that the heir was young, sick, or mad. They respected traditions but they were also pragmatic enough to see that there were ways of working around an invalidated monarch.