Political deaths in the USSR are often attributed to Stalin as an individual, rather than the Stalinist system of governance. This is common among both communist and anti-communist critiques. Is such a vision of the USSR accurate? What involvement did Stalin have in the many, many executions during his rule?

Gadgets and explosions aside, has there ever been a highly trained 'superspy' that could show up places and basically announce, "I'm James Bond, I'm spying on you, deal with it"?

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I've always wondered whether or not other pagan religions adopted Jesus as a deity.

I was watching the documentary "The Irish Pub" on Netflix and several people mentioned a connection between the pub and undertaking as professions, which in some cases continues into the modern day from what seems to be the Victorian era. Why the connection? I assume its more than the bereaved simply needing a pint and it being convenient.

Why and how did Spain manage to restore its monarchy after the Franco era? And why did Portugal stay as a republic after the Carnation Revolution?

Is my understanding correct that the Chinese emperor is believed to be the ruler of the world, or was my understanding too literal?

I've also read here that the Han Dynasty was aware of the Roman Empire and vice versa, but I was also wondering about other neighboring realms (i.e. Japan, Korea, Indochina region, Malayan peninsula). Did they believe them to be pretenders?

Also, if possible, how would a Chinese peasant react upon hearing that there are other empires beside their own?

I'm wondering what 'people' first settled in Scotland permanently. Most history books and articles seem to stop at the Pictish tribe - who settled before them?

I'm curious what memoirs (other than Storm of Steel) have a different perspective than the meaningless tragedy.

I'm learning about consumerism and was curious if it was truly the be all end all to communism fears in the United States. Thanks!

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I sent the mods a message before posting this question because I know how serious moderation is around here.

As of late, I've been very interested in current events. I spend hours researching what is going around all over the world in terms of politics, government, etc.

However, once I start, questions come by the dozens. I end up having to learn current and old history in order to feel like I have a realistic grasp of things.

I'll look at it from all relative perspectives. Religion, economic, ethics, politics, geography. Basically, I have to know everything about a country/'s before I can move on to actually thinking about the initial thing.

My question is, how much can one person actually learn about all the things I mentioned? How many of these things can one person call themselves a "master" in?

I know it's a bit of an odd question but I'm wondering whether or not it's even reasonable for me to try.

Again, thanks for reading and I hope no one finds issues with my post.

After reading much on the Peloponnesian wars and learning of the significant blow to the Athenian cause with the 'exile' of Alcibiades, I find my self holding Socrates, and to a lesser extent Pericles, at least partially to blame for the loss of the Peloponnesian wars.

Alcibiades seems to me the perfect opportunity for a philosopher king, and his close relationship to Socrates in his early manhood would almost seem the ideal pairing. However, the character flaws in Alcibiades undid him in the Athenian democracy and robbed Athens of his immense talents. His resulting 'exile' or flight seems to me a critical straw that helped break the back of the Athenian empire.

I know Socrates was charged with corruption the Athenian youth and this charge eventually lead to his suicide, but was there any contemporary or more modern criticism leveled at Socrates or even Pericles for their role in the upbringing of Alcibiades and his character flaws?

Also, what do we know about the relationships between these famous Athenians? Thanks!

I tried researching the answer on my own but the only information I could find is that there's evidence of our ancestors using cloth during their periods which suggests that they knew about it, but I couldn't discover when society discovered "Oh, periods are caused by the lining of a woman's womb being shed". Does anyone know or at least have a general idea on when this information became known?

London alone has 10 clubs in the Premier League and Championship combined. Many of these came about as company teams or extensions of already existing clubs.

Yet at roughly the same time in the US, having just two teams per league in a city is rare.

Why?