We all know there are stories about demon possession, evil/demonic presences harassing people and/or homes throughout the history of christianity. However I can't really think of any stories like those further back. Sure, there are stories of evil creatures and bad gods, but those don't seem to be the same.

NOTE I'm not interested in debates on whether the stories are real or if it is in someone's head. I'm just curious if there are equivalent stories before christianity arose.

Is it thought to be from an unknown natural process or from unknown human trade routes? I could imagine maybe bottle gourds floated from africa to South America, but the sweet potato thing stumps me

Trying to understand what constituted to people being purged under Stalin's terror. Thanks to any and all respondents :)

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Just wanted to know since they were the only monarchy under German role at the time.

In other words, where did he look up to?

I already know a bit about it, but I would like to do some more research.

I read that SS military troops were hardly allowed back in the military unless they were drafted (more or less) but most other military including officers were able to get back in. I also read that bureaucratic positions went back to a lot of Nazi party people as well, but I was wondering more about the intelligence groups.

I've read about Hallstatt and La Tene cultures, but they didn't cover nearly the entire area of the Celtic-speaking world. What other ethnicities existed that primarily spoke Celtic? Why was the language group so wide-spread?

My wife is a direct descendent.

It just seems incredible to me that a doctor could abandon his Hippocratic oath and serve at Auschwitz. It seems even more incredible a doctor could do this while feeling bad about it (ie knowing what he was doing was morally wrong, but doing it anyway).

Is this true?

Hi!

Did the first Opium war help create conditions to precipitate it or are there no - or almost no - connections between the two events?

Thanks in advance for your answer!

I know the basics - Henry inherits the Duchies of Normandy and Aquitaine and forges what some refer to as the Angevin Empire. But I've been reading some stuff on his reign and found what looks like some succession war for the Duchy of Normandy. Could you tell me how this war was fought and who against?

Gunpowder weapons were first fitted onto ships and came into use at the battle of Arnemuiden in 1338. Cannon then was still in it's early stages for use in Western Europe.

In a timespan of 200 years, the face of warfare changed drastically from the days of fighting in a great melee, archer skirmishes, or waiting out foes in a siege, to blasting down walls with cannons or deploying them on the field and lining up soldiers in pike and shot battles.

How much then had changed for naval battles? Had the formula of lining up ships, firing and ramming changed within that time like battles fought on land?

I’m personally enamoured by the Spanish language but notice strong resemblances with Arabic in terms of vocabulary and even personal names. I understand this is due to the centuries of contact between the Arabs and Iberians. To what extent did Arab rule permeate into the Iberian languages like Español, was it superficial, restricted to vocabulary or did it penetrate into the grammar of Spanish language. Also, as Iberia was once heavily Muslim, I believe there was also a strong Persian presence in the peninsula. Have Iranic languages left a strong mark on Español? (Eg. “Vale” in Spanish and Farsi mean “Ok”).

And secondly, how is that conflict described in Chinese historiography?

As I am a millennial, I didn't grow up during the Nixon years and was just interested if Nixon had such a cult of personality that his supporters never gave up on him. Thanks /r/AskHistorians !

I'm thinking of the US Navy TBM Avenger, RAF Boulton Paul Defiant, IJN B5N "Kate," and similar types. Given a lot of fighter v fighter battles involve above-and-behind attacks, an aft facing top gun would seem useful. Were they?