Leon Trotsky was born Lev Braunstein. Stalin was born Ieosib Jughashvili. Lenin’s real name was Vladimir Ulyanov. Why did the Bolsheviks assume noms de guerre and then keep them?

I just finished reading the Iliad for the first time; loved it. The sheer number of call-outs to specific places or people in the book beyond the famous ones make it seem like the Avengers Infinity War of the ancient world. Would all the specific characters named in the story have been known to the audiences who heard it? If your specific kingdom/mythical hero got mentioned was that supposed to be a sign your people were worthy of being remembered?

Unrelated: I feel robbed not getting the Trojan Horse in the story; had no idea it wasn't part of the original telling.

I've been reading up on the history of Christianity out of my own curiosity and reading about all the different factions of the same religion at war with each other and committing genocide against other religions got me thinking about Nazi Germany. So I looked up the percentage of German population and found the majority to be Protestant. I thought that was interesting and I kind of put that aside not thinking a whole lot of it. I don't know much about religion. I continued on reading about the history of Christianity and I just got to the Reformation. Made a quick observation on the parallels between Tetzel and televangelists and the indulgence market. Then I got to Martin Luther and found out he was a major influence on the formation of protestantism. So I wondered if there was a connection there and low and behold I found out about his book "on the Jews and thier lies". I would think this, the writings of Friedrich Nietzche, a manchild with a troubled childhood, a majority of Protestant faith living under a collapsing economy, social phenomenon such as that found in the milgram studies, and group thinking would be enough to create a recipe for disaster. So I wonder how much of an influence these writing of Martin Luther had an impact on Hitler. I wonder how much of an influence the writings of Friedrich Nietzche had on Hitler. Also, do you think he ever knew he had Jewish ancestry? It just amazes me how insane and hateful people and especially groups of people can be. I think I have a clearer picture on this dark episode in human history but there's also a lot I don't know. Does anyone else have any input?

In World War I & II footage it is standard to always see soldiers with helmets as part of their attire. Was there any physical benefit to wearing a helmet (i.e. did wearing a helmet often actually save lives in the hell that was trench warfare and artillery fire?), or was the helmet more of a psychological benefit to the soldier, to allow the soldier to not feel naked among the fire?

The two most famous heavy bombers of WWII, the B-17 and B-29, began design in 1934 and 1938 respectively in response to an Army Air Corps requests. What was the reason for developing new and expensive designs well before it would become clear what role the US would have in any war?

Family legend (very little of this has been verified - although we have found court docs to corroborate some of this)

During prohibition in rural Kansas, one of my great uncles allegedly ran a speak easy out of his home.

The local sheriff was a really corrupt and a drunk. He apparently made late night “raids” of my uncles home, keeping a “tax” of booze for himself.

Everything was tolerated until he threatened my great aunts life, and my distant relative murdered the Sheriff of Arma, Kansas.

He was arrested and put in the local jail. The town revolted and my uncle made a jail break during the chaos.

He fled to Missouri and was tracked down by the authorities but somehow still escaped custody. Fled to the South Carolina, and was again tracked down, and faked his own death by using demolitions to cave a coal mine he was working in.

What we have found are some strange court documents from the county in Kansas. My brother is an attorney and tracked these down by formally requesting from the state of Kansas. It seemingly shows that he eventually plead guilty to a lesser charge and was released.

I am SURE that most of this is over exaggerated. My brothers and I would love the truth. We have an extremely uncommon last name but have hit a dead end with our resources.

Any historians out there interested in helping us solve this family legend?

I have been reading "The Ties That Bound" by Barbara A. Hanawalt and I was struck by the seemingly common occurrence of falling into a body of water (a well, stream, road trench etc.) and drowning. Was drowning a common way to die in Late Middle Ages England? If so was there any particular reason for this? Did clothing or alcohol play a factor in this? Or was it something more mundane like the wells were too deep to easily climb out of?

So let’s say British and German troops were fighting, would they be like, “How dude let me build my trench before we murder each other.” Like how did that work?

I'm sure we are all aware of the movie Monument Men and United State's interest in preserving important cultural artifacts of Europe. I know that movie is not the most historically accurate film and the US may not have been too concerned for Europe's Cultural Resources, but it at least had some basis in reality.

The broad question I have is whether or not the US had concern for the destruction of Cultural Resources of Japan during the Pacific Theater. More specifically, did the US have concern for Cultural Resources of specific Japanese cities when choosing a bomb site for the atomic bomb.

I refer to books, art and even live theatre. Was there ever a market for this or is this an invention of the present?

I've recently been reading up on the argument for Hitler being a weak dictator as I am doing this question for my A Level CWK. However in reading about Mommsen's argument I have been unable to find any specific examples that he gives of Hitler being a "Weak" dictator. He states that Hitler avoided signing policy and that Hitler tended to be disorganised, however i cannot find any sources that Mommsen used or any specific examples he has given of Hitler doing this.

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Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Books focusing on the rise of British power in the region and the interplay between various rivals such as the Marathas, Sikhs, Mysore, Afghans etc. The era seems really interesting to me and want to read more.

Now, they might not have been invented yet, although i find it hard to understand how, they had mustard gas after all.. Why not just bombard "no mans land" with smoke grenades and walk across? Sure some days were windy, but not all of them surely.. There is a flaw in my idea, i just cant see it.. please enlighten me.