Just a sleepless thought as I'm tossing and turning my pillow. At what time did someone think "Hey. This is actually something we could use in society."

Specifically, who/what sets the rules of engagement? For example, I recently read that during the beginning of WWII submarines would surface before they engaged other ships. Why is this? Are there actual laws that set this precedent or is it just an unspoken agreement between nations at that time?

I've been doing research on how witchcraft and the supernatural were perceived and treated in the late Middle Ages and very early Renaissance, but almost everything I find is from Germany and England. I was wondering how big of an issue this was at the time and if it was an issue anywhere else, specifically in Europe but also globally.

After watching Pirates of the Caribbean and Black Sails, my imagination was crushed :( after I found out that in real history, the most common Pirate vessels acquired were ones like sloops and brigs. especially sloops.

I'm aware of his initial impact. How much of it is still relevant to historical study today?

Are there any times/cultures where humanity didn't appear interested in a potentially different future?

I think the changes in our society are increasing in frequency. Let's say more has changed in society in the past hundred years than the previous five hundred. Was there a time when change happened so slowly that humanity never really considered what the future would be like? Was there a time when we thought that the way it is was identical to the way it was and the way it would be?

For those who weren't suckled on the twin teats of soy and corn, the steel plow was necessary to break through the tough sod/turf/peat of the prairie in the Midwest and turn it into croppable land, as traditional wooden plows were too weak. However prairies aren't a geographical feature unique to America, so did the steel plow bring crop farming to any other place on earth?

As far as I understand, Grant was seen as an ineffective president, but now historians are looking back in a better light. Is this true? How has the historical consensus of the Grant administration changed over the years?

I've taken an interest lately in Horatio Nelson. As someone who has a business background, I'm especially interested in his leadership capabilities. I can only learn so much from Wikipedia, but I'm really curious to hear what someone with a history background would have to say about his leadership capabilities, and whether they would be applicable in today's day and age.

I know that Robespierre was heavily influenced in his political thought by Rousseau, and one of the influences was Rousseau's notion of national virtue. Robespierre stated that the Republic was founded on two principles, "virtue and its emanation, terror." Are there any works of Rousseau which illustrate a belief in such a relation that may have persuaded Robespierre to think along such lines? Thanks for any and all help.

I'm curious to know if Britain is a wealthier nation now than it was with its empire? Thanks : )

I'm assuming there are some uncontacted tribes out there, but were there any semi-developed areas that the war somehow completely missed?

Could I be an adult in 1914-1918 and not know about the war?

Well the title is descriptive enough I guess but books about feudal Europe and fall of the western Roman empire are appropriated.

I am writing an essay regarding the historical basis in Herodotus and as part of it I am contrasting his accounts against other accounts we have available. Ctesias is someone who offers a different account on the rise of Cyrus and such so I would like to reference Ctesias in my essay but I am not entirely sure how to do it since it is referencing through the works of Nicolas of Damascus.

I am using Llewellyn-Jones and Robsons History of Persia with the fragment being between page 159-170. The heading at the top of the page is this:

F8d*. Nicolas of Damascus (Exc. de Insidiis p. 23.23 de Boor = FGrH 90 F66) [L]

Could someone please explain how I would reference this in-text such as (Hdt.1.50) and in my bibliography? Harvard style.Thank you for any help.

My gut is saying that I would just say "Ctesias says (FGrH 90 F66)

A brief google search convinces me that there is such a thing. I had the thought while playing Civ 5 that complex simulations could be used to test the resiliency of events such as the industrial revolution in Europe, Britain's colonial dominance in the 18th century, WWI and its outcome, etc. I don't know if that's actually feasible, given that you'd have to model millions of artificial agents behaving somewhat realistically, and run it thousands of times to effectively model the randomness of human interaction and decision making. The idea is pretty cool so I hope someone affirms that this is indeed happening.

Was it just because they were out of space and their neighbors were too strong?