Greetings! Are there any books that deal on the topic of Ashurism, the religion of Ancient Assyria? Are there any written documents (clay tablets) on their sacred texts? Thank you very much!

Were there any Asian (south, east, etc), African (not brought there as slaves) or Middle Eastern immigrants in Colonial America?

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I've always taken for granted that the modern concept of "fans" arose with the pulp science fiction fan groups of the mid-20th century, but as they say -- "there is nothing new under the sun."

Are there any earlier instances of this kind of fandom?

I'm especially interested in hearing about fans or groups that nitpicked canon in fiction. For example, did Sir Arthur Conan Doyle have to deal with letters arguing about canon in his books?

I am Puerto Rican and extremely interested in learning more about the belief systems of the Taino people. I can only find sparse information on their gods, culture, and system of belief. If you could direct me to relevant books, articles, etc., it would be very helpful.

Thanks!

I want something that isn't focused on politics or the cold war more than necessary but is more of a technical and organizational account of how NASA and other agencies actually worked from the 1950s-1980s.

I know that the phrase "separate but equal" came into use after it being upheld after Plessy v. Ferguson, but where did it actually originate? Wikipedia references a doctrine but can anyone tell me what doctrine? Thanks!

Most depictions of medieval and renaissance naval warfare show soldiers wearing armour.

Were they armoured in reality? I imagine it would be quite a detriment if you happened to fall in the water, but also quite a boon in hand-to-hand fighting.

I'm specifically interested in the 15th to 16th century.

Why didn't the US just let countries adopt the systems they wanted? It seems like if communism was truely an inferior system the US would have more examples to point to to say how communism is doomed to fail.

I was at a party a little while ago, and someone was talking about how indiginous peoples had suffered from some kind of depopulation shortly before contact, which left them in a poor situation to deal with European contact.

Is there any evidence for this?

From what I've gathered, I think this person was mistaken because pre contact population figures vary so widely.

Suddenly stoping drinking alcohol can kill you. How many alcoholics died because their supply was cut off abruptly?

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Notes 'n' stuff - I'm guessing it's actually a smaller number than expected; they might've had stockpiles or something. But then again, stuff like that wasn't all that well-understood back then, right?

After watching CNN's documentary "The Sixties" I noticed several scenes of young American men (18-25) who were clearly Nazi or sympathetic to their cause (in dress, speech, and action). So the question immediately came to mind: "Why would this specific age group take up the banner of Nazism?" These are members of the generation born right after WW2 - whose parents saw first hand the atrocities of anti Semitism and what it did to our world. Certainly these adults knew this, right.

I've read extensively how sword fighting was not prevalent in medieval (or even Ancient ) warfare. It occurred, but swords functioned primarily as a sidearm in battle. Most combat revolved around tight formations and utilizing spears/polearms.

Question 1.) What about in Japan during the Shengoku period? Did Samurai fight in tight formations utilizing spears/polearms and only utilized katanas as a sidearm? Was it more chaotic and greater emphasis placed on individual fighting ability?

I've read that Ronin (masterless/Shogunless Samurai) were more like mercenaries rather than a soldiers in an army. A town could hire them to deal with bandits (like in the movie 7 Samurai), for example.

Question 2.) Were Ronins ever hired into armies for battle or was their primary function dealing with local small scaled conflicts like bandit raids or bounty hunting? Did their fighting style change when hired into an army versus something smaller scaled (such as banditry quelling or bounty hunting)?

Edited for time frame clarity