In the world cup of 1966, the Union Jack can be seen waved everywhere among England’s fans. Nowadays, it’s the white flag with the St. George’s Cross that the fans are waving. When and why did this switch occur?

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Most mid-20th century tanks seem to have had a hull machine gunner position. With limited arcs of fire and restricted elevation (hence no AA capability), it seems like a fairly redundant weapon - especially as in most cases there was also a coaxial machine gun for anti-infantry use.

It also seems very wasteful of manpower: having a hull machine gunner means you need rations and logistical support for 5 people, not 4, for each tank - hardly ideal when you are trying to maintain a large mechanised force in the field.

Q1. What was the intended tactical purpose of the hull machine gun in the military thinking of the pre-WW2 era? What sort of tactical doctrine gave rise to tank designers thinking a hull machine gun would be necessary?

Q2. How often, and how effectively, were hull machine guns used in practice?

Q3. Did the hull machine gunner have other duties, besides manning the MG, that justified the cost and logistical burden of an additional crewman?

Q4. Why do hull machine gunners mostly disappear after WW2? Was this in response to wartime experiences showing hull MGs to be redundant, or due to other tactical or technological changes in the post-war era?

Many thanks.

I know, I know, there are bits and pieces every now and then, but it seems Ancient Persian material culture (at least the obvious parts) is rather lacking compared to the Greek and Roman ones. Everywhere I turn in Turkey, my father's village included, there are ancient Roman ruins and especially lots of ancient Greek ruins. How come there aren't more Persian ruins?

Does anyone here know of any good sources focusing on topics in public history in the United States? I’m looking for some good summer reading, and I love public history, but I’m having trouble finding anything credible and good to read within the field. Perhaps a journal focusing on public history? Thanks.

Did it make Spanish of the time fantastically rich? Was it spread out across Europe and lay the foundation for industrialization?

I've done a fair amount of general reading on Sumer and come away with a vague impression of a transition over the Early Dynastic period from rule by temples to rule by secular monarchs. I'd be really interested to find out what the current thinking about this is (I don't even know if this view is still widely accepted), what led researchers to this conclusion and more details, assuming any exist, on the political processes underpinning Sumerian city-states. I'm particularly keen on the Early Dynastic period but earlier periods are also of interest. Recommendations for further reading material of any kind would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

I’ve heard, for instance, that belief in unicorns lasted until more recently than one might expect and remain culturally important in the U.K./Ireland but I’ve never heard any legends about unicorns in America. The folklore stopped at the ships as far as I would be aware.

I was reading the life story of my late grandfather and found an interesting series of events. They traveled to Munich via a German freighter out of California and through the canal. Stayed in Munich for about 2 months then went to Italy, returning to the US via France and the east coast. While in Munich they were under surveillance (neighbor family in Munich moved out and a new single man moved in in the middle of the night - at times they could hear him breathing through the walls as he attempted to listen in on their conversations) and what really piqued my interest is a story my 8/9 yr old grandfather remembered some 40 years later of his mom and older brother hiding around a corner to evade an agent following them.

They returned via the east coast US.

Is there evidence of the US using civilians to gather light intelligence pre-WW2?

Edit - grammar and details

What are the best books to read to learn about the eastern front of WW1, commonly called the "Balkan Campaign"? Specifically books that relate the events as they involve Romania and the Ottoman Turks. This has been a difficult subject to find much detailed information for online. Thanks in advance.

I was recently lucky enough to spend a few days in Iceland, and among other places, I spent some time at the National Museum and the Þingvellir historic site. At both places there were plaques/exhibits describing the traditional account of the adoption of Christianity, which I found (and which the exhibits themselves acknowledged) to be very unusual.

To give the very, very short version, Iceland in AD 1000 was said to be divided between Christian and pagan tribes, until at that year's Alþing it was decided by the (pagan) lawspeaker that the whole country should follow one religion and one set of laws, and that therefore Christianity should be adopted. With the caveats that pagan gods could still be worshipped in secret, and that the pagan practices of eating horsemeat and exposing newborns (!) would be allowed to continue, the various chieftains accepted the proposal, and Christianity was officially adopted peacefully.

At the National Museum, it was acknowledged that the story is very unusual amongst the accounts of the Christianization of other nations, and one exhibit even seemed to suggest it may not be accurate, but no alternative accounts were provided.

How much is known by historians about how the Christianization of Iceland actually played out, both before and after the Alþing of 1000? Do we know, assuming that the pronouncement at the Alþing did happen, how it was enacted at local levels? Has there been any challenge raised against the narrative of the peaceful and consensus-based conversion?

I’m really interested in what shifted from Elizabeth of York (daughter of a king with no living brothers) only being considered to bolster the claim of her husband to Elizabeth I (daughter of a king with no living brothers) ruling successfully in her own right.

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