The United States was not viewed as a "Great Power" on the level of nations like the United Kingdom or France until around 1900 or so. Less than 50 years later the US had become a superpower with only the Soviet Union able to challenge its authority. Did this massive change in the geopolitical landscape just come out of nowhere, or had there been a growing idea of America eventually taking over, and it was solely a matter of when, not if?

It's often stated how Operation Catapult, while seen as a shameful thing to do by the Royal Navy, reinforced the international perception that the British will fight to the end. How did Hitler and other Nazis see it? Did they see it as a foolish move, or did they also see it as a sign of strong resolve?

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What is the best way to trace family history that doesn’t involve signing up to a website like ancestry.com? Our surname is Fortuin. My family kept saying it was a French surname and when I went to Europe I found lots of Fortuins from Poland who died at Dachau. Some more digging then said it was actually a Dutch surname. I can’t really find any origin stories just information about where other Fortuins reside (USA and South Africa predominantly)

I recently heard of this king, known as Charles the Beloved then later the Mad. Do we know what condition he suffered from that caused these outbursts of ‘madness’? When did they start, and why so randomly? My initial thought is possibly some kind of triggerable schizophrenia, but I’m by no stretch of the imagination any sort of psychologist.

Thanks in advance.

I apologize as this is somewhat difficult to word, but what I'm wanting to ask is what the original scope/intent of Nazi concentration camps were. As in, were they always intended to lead up to genocide, where they meant to end after the war, were they intended to create a permanent slave class, etc

Jesus of Nazareth, one of the most important men who have ever lived. We have paintings of his likeliness dating back millennia, common folk, kings, queens, clergy, military generals, knights, warriors, world leaders all have adored him and followed his teachings. The majority of secular historians agree that he lived. What is frustrating is that the main documents we have about his life which are the gospels have been translated to a copy of a copy of a copy. For secular historians, the gospels could be considered to be compromised documents because it talks about his performing of miracles and glorifies Jesus. The earliest manuscript of the New Testament is from the gospel of John on papyrus from the year 180. Jesus died around the year 33 AD. This would be comparable to if we first wrote about the archduke Franz Ferdinand, who died in 1914 in 2019. All we would have to rely on are what people said about him while he was alive since no one living today knew the archduke Franz Ferdinand personally. How can we write an accurate account of his life in 2019? What do we truly know about the historical Jesus?

A single rider could have used a buckler on the forearm of his firing hand to protect his chest and face as a default posture. Horses could have been outfitted with thick leather armor. For fights on foot, buddy teams could have alternated holding a tower shield and reloading while their partner engages the enemy by rifle.

They had some learned commanders leading the westward expansion by force of arms, who must have had an idea that protection could be helpful. But I've never heard or read anything about cowboys carrying shields. Did they? If not, why not?

Given the amount of cigarettes handed out in ration packs, would pretty much all soldiers take up smoking? I remembered hearing that there was the sentiment that cigarettes were the 'last consolation' in a hellish environment. And were they all addicted by the war's end when they returned to the States?

This might not be something VERY historically related but i need some help. Atm I am 14 and I got interested in history when I was about eleven. Ever since then I've been watching videos and reading books I find interesting but I want more. Can anyone give me advice on what I should do to quench my hunger for adventure and knowledge? If that doesn't sound odd.

Alfred of Wessex is said to have sent envoys to the Shrine of St Thomas in India. Ibn Khordadbeh records traders from France travelling to India and China in the early medieval period. Do we have any records of people from South and East Asia making the journey to Western Europe? How are they likely to have been treated?

I’ve always been really fascinated with that lava-like mass in the basement of Chernobyl, but it seems like the most recent info we have on it is over 20 years old. It’s supposedly still mega dangerous even after all this time yet they’re starting to give tours now at Chernobyl. The information I can find is very vague, just “it’s weaker now but still deadly.” Is the basement sealed off or something? Has anyone actually visited this thing? Have there been attempts to move/study it? It’s apparently hundreds of tons, but none of the sources I could locate were credible. Any more recent info would be super helpful, thanks!

Hi all, it seems most people are of the belief that Australian Aboriginal people did not practice any kind of agriculture apart from "firestick farming". However I'm certain I read somewhere several years ago that there is evidence of eel farming. Does anyone other finds that point towards farming practices? Cheers

I guess I don't really understand the Russian monarchy. Women like Catherine became Tsarina, but it seemed like there was a lot of pressure for Nicolas to have a son. Why was it such a big deal that their only son was Alexei, who had haemophilia? Couldn't one of their many daughters take over?

The narrative we sometimes hear now is "Constantine beat his Roman rivals and became emperor. He was more pro-Christian than his rivals. So this a huge reason why Christianity became big"

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But how big was Christianity right before Constantine wins? As in, was its momentum already so great that it would have eventually became dominant without Constantine? How did Christianity get in the running to become a huge religion that an emperor would be willing to throw his weight behind?

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It must have already been pretty big for Constantine to decide to throw his weight behind it, right?

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I listened to the History of Rome podcast by Mike Duncan. I am trying to fill in the gaps in my mind between these eras:

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1. Christianity looks like a new, small offshoot of Judaism and so Pontius Pīlātus just decides to crucify Jesus

2. Christianity has underground organizations around Europe

3. Mike Duncan in his podcast describes Christianity as becoming a religion for poor people and women. And it is seen as a sign of decline of the empire by the aristocracy.

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...And then I am trying to get a bigger picture of how we get from 3) to "Christianity has enough popularity/acceptability that a Roman emperor would be amenable to it"

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Was the forward momentum towards monotheism and Christianity already inevitable by Constantine's time?

Until recently I have studied history at my college. As pard of the course one module was on religious change during the Tudor era in England. The module goes through the reigns of the different Tudor monarchs from 1529-1570.

While the module was good at explaining and giving a clearer idea of Henry’s relationship with his children and their relationship with him; I found it lacking in regards to the feelings his children had towards each other. The only bits that were revealed were Edwards desire to prevent Mary from succeeding him as a result of his Protestant and her catholic faith. And also Mary’s paranoia towards Elizabeth following the Wyatt’s Rebellion.

So my question is, in general how did the three see and think of each other, and how did their feelings on one another change over time?

I've seen a lot of snarky tweets and screenshots of "if you think Ariel has to be white, boy do I have something about Jesus to tell you."

I tried to do a search but didn't find much so I apologize. What is the history of Jesus being portrayed as looking like my Uncle Rick in the 90s? What would Jesus have looked like? And is this sort of change done with many religious figures? I feel like, for example, there's a sort of universal Buddha look we all know.

Any insight is appreciated.

Some quick Googling indicates the Remount Service only began in 1918, which strikes me as a bit ironic given that the US Army would be the first to entirely motorize over the next few decades, but neither here nor there really, as the real question I have is what they were doing before that? What was he horse acquisition landscape like then?

For as long as I can remember, I have carried an Ullr medallion on me while I ski. My family impressed on me that as the Patron Saint of skiing, he would keep me safe on the mountain.

After some quick research, it seems like what we know about Ullr is quite tentative.

What do we actually know about Ullr? How would he have been invoked where Norse mythology was the dominant religion? What are some symbols or talismans that represent him?

Thank you!