Lee Harvey Oswald, Mark David Chapman, John Wilkes Booth, James Earl Ray. None of these names are seemingly ever said without their middle name. It's hard to think of non-assasins who are referred to this way. Middle initial sometimes but really rarely full name including initials. Why is this the case?

Pretty much all said in the title, but were there any colonists who thought what they were doing was bad and if so, do they have written accounts (I.e. diaries, journals, etc.)?

I’m curious as to why people stopped using hieroglyphs, building massive tombs, and basically forgetting where everything was built. Why did the ancient culture disappear? Was there a time when Egypt was uninhabited for some reason? Why are there no Pharos now? Has anyone tried to trace the lineage of ancient Pharos to modern men/women? Why does it seem like there was a massive break in continuity between then and now?

Sorry, lots of questions. I’m genuinely curious. Thank you so much for any insight!

If you could recommend any books on this subject I would appreciate it!

Why does Hitler’s declaration of war on the US bewilder so many? Wasn’t it apparent to all that “neutral” America was supporting Britain’s war effort against Germany? Were the Nazis expected to have been so appalled by their chief ally’s treacherous action that they’d immediately disavow them?

Learned a little bit about the Persians in class this week and was wondering the best books on Cyrus and the Persians.

I was wondering if there was a rough estimation of the $$$ value that US troops looted during WWII? I was specifically wondering about US GIs in Europe, but would be curious to learn about any kind of allied looting in any theater.

I saw this comment elsewhere on Reddit:

"They[sic] biggest reason they rebelled is that the British government told the robber barons - sorry, the founding fathers - that the land west of the Appalachians belonged to the natives and they were to halt their expansion."

I don't understand how a culture from the other side of the globe had the same concepts from the west/middle east having the hell as a place of punishment

I’m interested in reading about the history of Egypt and what was there before the pharohs and pyramids, etc as well as the pyramids and everything we’ve learned in school.

Can anyone recommend a good book on this subject? I checked out Amazon and there’s so many I’m not sure what is a highly recommended one .

Did the french king demand Williams submission?

I just finished watching the movie: “Midway”. At one point (I believe) the Japanese admiral Yamamoto remarks during an attack and a recently downed plane something like, “brave soldiers, too bad for terrible aircraft”. Considering their important role in the battle, what was the quality of the US airplanes in the Pacific Theater of WWII, particularly at Pear Harbor and Midway? We’re they inferior to the Japanese? Old? Or badly made? Or is there no truth to this movie quote?

Especially since he used that time to write Mein Kampf, it seems one could judge his interment as a pretty good deal for him. I find myself very frustrated at what seemed like a complete failure of justice.

Just think of how different the world would be if he had been given 25 years or something to that effect!

Thanks for your thoughts.

I keep reading conflicting information. If he was the product of Henry VIII and Mary Boleyn, why did Henry not recognise him as he did Henry Fitzroy, especially after the death of Fitzroy (although I note the closeness in dates between his death and the birth of Edward)? Is there a definitive answer or is it a mystery? Thank you for any comments!

Why didn't the antique Azteca develop an advanced maritime navigation, despite being excellent astronomers? Why didn't they conquer the near island of Cuba, and use it to control the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico, as a base for further military expansion? The Spanish did it.

In medieval history, we see seigneurs of various kinds selling their rights to tax this or that, to levy market tolls, to administer and receive payment for courts of justice, and so on. What would the advantage be of selling these rights? Would the seigneur simply receive an immediate payment of needed cash, accepting the loss of a regular income to cover their present debts?

I apologize for the scope and clumsy wording of the questions; I've been seeing a lot of random social media posts about how The Church 'stole' Friday the 13th to overshadow Norse/Pagan rites of fertility centered around Freya.

What is the source of those claims, did Philip the Fair plan to subvert pagan concepts of the 13th by choosing to begin his arrests and prosecution on that day (is October and Samhain linked at all in this decision), and how important was Friday the 13th to Norse or pagan societies?

Thank you!

It's a common fantasy trope to say that a character is "X winters old". I was wondering if this was an invention from literature or something people actually did. Does this fact have a name so I can look it up and compare across cultures and time periods? (rural 15th century in the Andes or urban Roman Antiquity for example)

From a public health standpoint, did government responses to the Black Death include any efforts to improve sanitation or procedures for handling a pandemic going forward? Did anybody learn anything?

I know rats traveled on ships so were there economic activities of the major trading cities like Venice more vulnerable to diseases like the Black Death and did it lead to the collapse of some major trading cities

I know that Lebanon,Syria, Palestine and Jordan were split between Britain and France, but why wasn’t turkey itself split?

Zsa Zsa Gabor's last husband was "Prinz von Anhalt". He was just some guy that got adopted by German royal Marie-Auguste of Anhalt when he was 38 and she was 80. Apparently she was adopting lots of older guys for money so they could call them selves "Prince". But why even go through that, can't I just call myself Prince Rudeboy67 of Saxony or Marquis Rudeboy67 of Burgoyne. I mean whose saying I can't.