When I see second world war tanks like the Sherman, I notice that some Shermans have rounded corners and some have sharp angles. Which was better protection? Was it a matter of production? What was the timeline of their introduction?

By "fighting churchmen" I mean ministers like priests/bishops, monks, and friars who took active roles (i.e. fighting and killing) in battles. I know there were monastic orders of knights like the Hospitallers and Teutonic Order so I'm not asking about those (correct me if I'm wrong but my understanding is most of the actual fighters in those orders were laymen anyway).

And yes, I know "Medieval Europe" encompasses a lot of people, places, and wars over a long stretch of time so if the experts wish to speak specifically on one or two times and places that's fine, or just a general overview is fine too.

I was wondering how much fashion changed from the 18th into the 19th century. And how much work people put into fashion. One can see drawings/pictures of men sporting excellently kept beards and hair. Did it take much effort to keep it? Did the advent of technology change much of this? Did female fashion change a lot too?

From what I know about history, Vikings have visited America before anyone else but they never maintained a foothold and as far as I know never really had a relationship with the natives.

Is there anything in recorded or assumed history that explains this?

Most of my background is from the BBC 'Death of Yugoslavia' documentary so if the premise of my question is wrong I'm happy to be corrected.

But in the documentary, Milosevic appears as an initially minor figure who accidentally finds the strategy of Serb nationalism and uses it to rapidly rise to power in Serbia, then quickly destabilizes and ends Yugoslavia by asserting Serbia's dominance.

Why did Milosevic seem to have such an easy time ousting Stambolic and becoming Serbia's president?

Was previously-suppressed nationalism so potent, and Yugoslavia in those years so unprepared to deal with it, that it was a weapon available to anyone who seized it?

Why does it seem like it took so little to unravel Yugoslavia at the 14th Party Congress?

To what degree was the rise in nationalism already a powerful force, vs. how likely was it that it could have been managed according to the usual Yugoslavian anti-nationalist policy if a figure like Milosevic hadn't attained power?

Bonus question: Was Milosevic aware that he was likely to cause Yugoslavia's breakup, or does it seem like he really thought he could turn the whole thing into greater Serbia?

I can't seem to find any cases of high profile officers from the Nazi era being allowed to continue serving in the post war military. How did they find qualified generals, etc.?

I heard that the Articles of Confederation's utter failure to arise anything but hostility towards the mere proposal of a strong federal government led to the Constitutional Convention, which of course was the cradle of our current Constitution.

My question is, did anyone attempt to push a draft of any constitution to replace the Articles through Congress? Or was the Constitution we have today commissioned specifically?

I mean, think about the Crusades or the Hundres Years War, where large armies had to travel with navies in travel long even weeks. How they got food, water, weapons and stuffs?

Would those crossing the Bering Strait already have had these weapons? And wouldn't they have changed in all that time, on a separate trajectory (pun intended!) from the European weaponry?

In the past couple weeks I've rekindled an interest in the history of the American Revolutionary War thanks to listening to the Hamilton soundtrack.

I haven't read Chernow's Hamilton biography yet, and I know that the musical obviously has some inaccuracies and has a more lionized view of Hamilton's life, but one of the parts of the musical that really struck me was how focused Hamilton was on military glory during the war.

I've done some light researching and Hamilton was Lieutenant Colonel as aide de camp to Washington, and was promoted to Colonel after Yorktown for 'acts of bravery'. He was promoted to Major General during the Quasi-War between France and America in the late 1790s. However, that's pretty much all that's mentioned in stuff I've read. His military leadership is never really discussed like what you might hear about Nathaniel Greene, Henry Knox, or Benedict Arnold.

Plus, in one song of the musical (Guns and Ships), a lyric involving Marquis de LaFayette goes:

We can end this war at Yorktown, cut them off at sea, but

For this to succeed, there is someone else we need: HAMILTON!

And that kind of lyric seems pretty incongruous with what I've found about his military career in general.

So in general, is Hamilton's military ability just hugely hyped up in the musical compared to real life?

Specifically, during British rule before the American Revolution. Were houses numbered or just referred to by the surname of the resident? And was this true for all houses, even the houses of the poorer inhabitants? How was this determined?

Most armies have contingency plans, and the Germans are famous for the years of planning that went into the Schlieffen Plan. But what if Germany went to war against just Russia with no France involved? We're any plans drawn up for such a war? What tactics would the Germans have employed for such a war? If they didn't have plans why not? This question is for between 1840 and 1930

This question is specifically about the French communists, I know that they were vehemently anti-colonialism (going so far as to make a counter exhibition during the French Colonial Exhibition) but what was their plan if they came to power? Did the wish to make a sort of USSR, keep the existing colonies, or give them independence/dominion? If you can't answer for the French what about the British or Germans?

In some of Plato's dialogues they reference coaches that trained athletes and gave them meal plans and the like.

Do have any specific accounts of what type of training they did and what they ate?

What would an training routine during the Greek/ Roman period have looked like?

I was getting equipment for a fantasy RPG and wanted something I could use to leave marks through dungeons but would be pretty cheap and easy to replace for my rather broke character. This got me wondering about chalk. I tried to research the subject and found lots of sources saying that it has existed and been used for writing/drawing for a long time, but nothing said if it was an expensive luxury item or a basic tool that anyone from farmers to seamstresses might use. Thanks!

Presidential Historians: Apart from Robert Caro's Lyndon Johnson tomes, what are the really top shelf presidential biographies? I loved Caro's books but am so daunted by the vast amount of literature on other presidents out there, and I only want to read the best of the best a la Caro.

There seem to be elements of success but long-term it didn't survive more than ~20(?) years. Was this because the system was broken or because of other factors?

Why were the various countries involved in the coalitions weak enough that they lost multiple wars, yet strong enough that they could come back to fight again?

More measurably, how many white Southern families had the wealth to own a slave, but didn't? I've seen estimates that 1/4 to 1/3 of white Southern families owned slaves; how much of the rest is "choosing not to" vs. "want to but can't afford it"? I'm guessing we have little to no data on choices, but thought we might have some about the intersection of wealth and non-slaveholding.