I suppose im mostly curious for a western/European/Christendom frame of mind but would still be interested to hear about other cultures.

For instance, the USSR relied on espionage to expedite development, so they would be out. Did all nuclear nations receive help from a previously nuclear arms capable country, be it with consent or not, or has some nation developed the bomb independently.

My ancestor from Philadelphia enlisted in a Connecticut regiment under a completely different name - why would someone do this? I know some Confederate defectors took aliases to avoid being hung for treason, but he was in the Union.

Was it because they didn’t have as much coal and iron deposits as the aforementioned countries? I know Alsace-Lorraine had these deposits, but that was seized by Prussia in 1871.

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I know of events like the Great Game between Russia and Britain, The War in Afghanistan by the US, etc. However, I've never understood why people have been fighting over Afghanistan all throughout history.

The 99 year lease affected the “new territories”. What was the UK’s strategy and vision when it decided to agree to giving up the island and the peninsula.

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Unable to find an estimate online.

Thanks!

In naval warfare, "Crossing the T" is a manoeuvre in which one side is able to fire full broadsides while the other can only respond with minimal force or sometimes not at all. Successfully executing the manoeuvre often yields a decisive advantage to the side able to bring more guns to bear. However, at the Battle of Trafalgar, Nelson approached the enemy in such a way that he Crossed his own T. Why was this approach successful given that Nelson put himself in a disadvantageous position at the onset of the battle?

In most films set during the second world war, Flak rounds just seem to explode into a cloud of black smoke, shaking the aircraft a bit, but nothing actually happens. Were they really that innefective?

I recently listened to Malcolm Gladwell’s Revisionist History podcast on Churchill and his friend Lindemann, which focuses on the Indian famine. That, plus an admittedly funny line in an epic rap battle of history (“And let’s admit it: you’re not all that great!/You tossed away lives at Gallipoli like they were scraps off your plate!”) made me realize that there is a growing field that paint Churchill in a negative light.

I only really know him as Mr. “We Shall Fight on the Beaches”. What are some aspects of his life/career that are not so heroic?

I came across the Arthurian legend, and now I wonder if it's a legend, a myth, or is it truth.Are there any sources, if it really happened? And if you consider it as myth or legend could you explain me why you think so?

I've heard from various places that king Richard I was gay. I've also heard that he can't be gay because he fathered bastards in heterosexual affairs. He could be bisexual, which would give credibility both to whatever claims of gayness were made against him and the claims of straightness made against him.

So, what was this famous king's sexual orientation?

My dad contracted Polio in the Rural South in 1949, and while I've had first hand experience with the impacts of Post Polio Syndrome for almost 4 decades my knowledge of the overall impact of the disease is limited to what I learned in middle and high school.

Looking around most resources seem either overwhelming in their scope or just a blurb, and internet searches often lead to anti-vax or anti-anti-vax. So Reddit Historians can you point me in the direction of some good books or other resources about Polio in North America in the first half of the 20th century?

Because it took a long time before the secret to silk was discovered. Wouldn’t something like gunpowder also be kept super quiet?

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I know there was some trade between North Africa and West Africa and East Africa, but did West Africa engage with trade with East Africa or Central Africa, espicially since the Sahel was fairly habitable