So I've done some googling, and the CDC only started tracking smoking in 1965, coming in around 42%. Do we have any idea of its prevalence before then? Or a more nuanced view of it moving forward (socioeconomics, geographic location, industry, etc)? I'd love more data if it exists-I've always been fascinated with the amount smoking and particularly smoking acceptance has fallen off precipitously in the past half century and would be curious if there have been similar waxes and wanes in history or among specific demographics.

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In his book "Sailing Around the World," Joshua Slocum mentions that he couldn't swim despite having spent most of his life as a sailor. This is the only sourced instance I can think of, but it seems like the sailor-who-can't-swim thing pops up frequently in movies and such. Was this actually common? If so, why didn't they just learn to swim?

For example, if your area of study is the Renaissance period, what would a border crossing along say, a major road, look like during that time. What kind of security would there be, what kind of documentation would you be expected to show, and how would goods be treated? Thanks in advance.

This question originates from the historical fiction work of James Clavell; "Shogun". The Europeans in this book are depicted as unsanitary, taking baths maybe a few times a year. The protagonist, an Englishman, viewed baths as unsanitary and described lice being commonplace for Europeans.

It was only when he was introduced to a more sanitary Japanese culture that he began to appreciate bathing regularly. The novel definitely suggested that Japanese culture at this time was more advanced in a few ways to the European cultures.

I'm especially interested in how they felt having their "overlords" engaging in something their faith deemed inappropriate. I wouldn't be surprised if we don't know the answer to this question, though.

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Besides Gore and Clinton have there been other situations in which a candidate won the popular vote but not the election?

Was there a method to mass production, or did they have large amounts of blacksmiths just working hard all the time?

I'm doing some research and from what I understand, the ancient Minoan culture included a period where women wore corsets made of fabric with maybe some sort of structural items.

HOWEVER, I have also read some unsourced articles saying that the corset thing is a theory due to statues and depictions of women with waspish waists.

So, does anyone know what the likelihood of this being a True Story is? And also, anyone have an approximate year range when this fashion might have been in place? I've found statues dated to the 1600sBCE that definitely look corseted, and some from the 1700s and earlier that seem more normal waisted.

Thanks to all!

Just finished watching Kelly's Heroes and noticed all the netting being used. I've also seen it used elsewhere. What purpose did it serve exactly?

I'm curious about how British society could justify importing massive amounts of cotton from America after Britain has itself outlawed it. Was there any regulation in the Southern states as to how slaves should be treated? any punishment for not following said regulation? Is there any relevance to international codes in business ethic today, like corporate social responsibility?

A claim I hear a lot is that archeological digs have shown many early Islamic mosques pointed towards Petra (rather than Mecca), which in turn is used as basis for the theory that Petra was the original home of Islam but was moved to Mecca at a latter point.

How accurate is this portrayal of the early mosques? How accepted is the Petra theory among historians of the period?

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I'm currently trying to write a script on Irish leaders throughout history, and while I've heard of "High Kings" of Ireland, I've heard that there are a lot of legends about them, and I'm not quite sure what is probably real and what is probably fiction. Was there ever any Irish leader that you could say represented Ireland as a whole (eg. someone you would expect to lead Ireland in, say, a Civilization game) before widespread British intrusion?