It seems like during the 16th Century the Spanish and Portuguese were the only powers colonizing the Americas. I know there were tentative efforts by the French and English during the late 1500s, like the Roanoke Colony. But it seems that once you hit 1600 there's an explosion of French and English colonies in North America and the Caribbean.

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He is certainly a popular figure, but most sources are religious sources. Is there any historical sources that prove he as a person exists, and what he did? Surely his religion had large impact at the time, there should be some serious historical record about him.

If so, was there an equivalent of spray-on tan (i.e. a substance for artificial pigmentation of skin)?

This boggles my mind. Why were all the prominent invaders in Indian history always from the West, which is a lot more harder to cross?

We should've been having epic ten-fifty million people scale battles all throughout history. Why was that end always relatively stable?

Bengalis aren't really renowned for their fighting so I'm guessing there is some deeper reason...Enlighten me!

Did the crash increase their business as the economy tanked, or did they suffer as well? It might make sense that a bad economy drove more people to speakeasy's and alcohol, but at the same time people had less money to spend. Overall, was the stock market crash good or bad for the mafia et al, or did it have little effect?

My friend and I have gotten into an argument over whether doughnuts are supposed to have toppings or not. Basically, was there a point in time where doughnuts were just fried dough with nothing else on them, not even powdered sugar?

Thanks!

(such as anacondas, jaguars, piranhas etc)

I was reading about the historical evidence of the person (not here to discuss religion) and based on my very minimal research it seems that excluding the bible, there wasnt very much, and nothing that was written during the apparent lifetime of Jesus. I wasnt really able to find any non-biased writings, the writings that say theres not enough website seemed to come from super staunch atheists, while inversely the ones saying it is universally accepted that Jesus the person indeed existed are overtly christian in nature. Things like Josephus' Antiquities of the Jews was written in 93-94 AD. I know the further back we go the more information becomes scare but is it common for events around this time period to have almost sixty year gaps between them? also i know its in the FAQ but i still have the question of how much does the evidence of jesus compare to others of that time period, the answer in the FAQ makes brief mention of this but only comparative to one roman leader.

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While I can somewhat picture life in Europe, the Middle East and China during the middle ages, I feel like I know next to nothing about medieval India. So how was life and the culture like in India at that time? I know it is a broad question, so I am mainly looking for a brief introduction and some possibly some suggestion for more literature on the field.

Hello. first off, i'm Swedish.

when i first got in to the Swedish military several years ago, when they went through the basics, they said something like "we salute every flag, except Malta's, cause we're technically still at war"
they claimed that at some undisclosed time, there was a war between Sweden and Malta, and then it was forgotten and no one bothered to actually make an official peace treaty.
it was never mentioned again, so there was no "Malta discrimination" or anything like that  
i also have a slight memory of a European/ World cup football match between Sweden and Malta, and something about that peace treaty finally being signed during the event.  
however. i have been completely unable to find any information on this at all. at this point i am getting unsure if that football match thing even happened or if it was all in my head.
does anyone here have any information on this at all, either confirming it or finally debunking it as bullshit?

How did policy and public debate change? I'm thinking of Fielding (about whom I know little), transportation, Bridewell, the Old Bailey... in the long and short term, what significant changes were made and why?

I know before the US had income taxes the Federal government depended greatly on excises and tariffs, but I'm curious what the individual states did to generate revenue before modern income and sales tax systems were implemented.

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I've recently become interested in the city-states of medieval Italy (Venice, Mantua, the Papal States, Naples, Savoy, Genoa, etc) and their politics, development, and wars. Mostly I'm interested in the wars and how the states came to be.

I know a lot of Roman history, but very little of Italy after Rome was conquered by the barbarians. Can anyone recommend a relatively easy book on the Italian Wars that makes sense of the various city-states, political players, and their conflicts?

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The Arch Duke was assassinated by what the west would call a terrorist. Of course Austria would want revenge. Were they all scared of Russia? I feel like in todays would France and England would be on the Germans side.

While small troops of chimps can have their more dominant males, and the same with gorillas and their silverbacks, being a proper King requires more than simply being better at combat compared to your peers. It requires keeping thousands, if not millions, of people in check and obedient to your edicts.

Are there many historical accounts of how hereditary rule emerged?

In modern times, it seems to be standard practice to demolish/remove existing structures before building on top of a choice plot of land. But how did some of the older structures throughout time end up being buried under layers and layers of civilization?

I understand that some of it is environmental - a city that was partially abandoned may have had accumulations of dirt piled on top. But how about a city like London or Jerusalem? Were new structures just built on existing ones, combined with roads being raised to meet the frontages of the new buildings?

Part of what prompted this question was the discovery of the Greek citadel recently in Jerusalem. Just how did that manage to get buried under modern progress?

Let us say I am the King of France, and I rule over various duchies that it would not be utterly ridiculous to declare kingdoms - Burgundy and Aquitaine, perhaps even Normandy. What stopped me from having these duchies elevated to kingdoms and my kingdom to an empire? Who was in a position to deny me the right to make this decision? If it was the Pope, then surely during one of the schisms a sufficiently compliant rival Pope might have been located. So was it the Holy Roman Emperor who would not have countenanced a rival? Or was there a different constraint that I am simply not taking into account?

Hi, I am looking into making a video game involved with using and building ships like those of 16th - 18th century. What I need to clarify is how it was decided what would a new ship be called? if classifications like galeona, caravella, frigate etc. were decided only by the intended purpose of the ship or was it by the specific features, designs or something tangible? Thank you.

I'm reading The Alexiad again and I read several times that Alexios Komnenos asks for troops from the Sultan of the Rûm. Why did they send troops?

Does anyone have any insight into the Church's defense on why God would chose sides in a political battle and champion the French? Not asking in a religious sense at all, but am wondering if anyone knows the argument.