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Specifically, was it used for military functions during England's wars in the middle ages or the Civil War? What did the Lords along the border think of the wall?

Disclaimer: Made a slight mistake in my title - Deng never held the position of President or General Secretary, but he DID hold the position of the CMC chairman between 1983 and 1989. Nevertheless he was considered to be the Paramount leader between 1978 and 1992.

Did Chamberlain think that Danzig should eventually be given to Poland in order to stop World War II? If he did, when did he finally give up hope of a peaceful settlement to European issues?

What started the Race for Riches (when Spain and Portugal raced to the Americas)?

I read somewhere that toward the end of his administration, as Watergate was increasing pressure on him, Nixon put out feelers to see whether military leaders would support him in a "self-coup." The article cited an individual who was present at a meeting where Nixon, in a roundabout way, seemed to be probing for potential allies who would support him. Obviously the "coup" never happened, but is there any evidence that Nixon (or other individuals in the administration) were considering extreme measures such as this to prevent his removal from power?

I am curious about just how much influence the Polish specialists had on Japanese cryptography. In "The Codebreakers", Khan mentions a Captain Kowalefsky (wikipedia has him as Kowalewsky) being employed, in Japan, to help the Japanese improve their codes. Khan says it was 1919-1920. A Japanese book, 暗号を盜んだ男たち (The Men Who Stole[?] the Codes) by 桧山 良昭 (sorry, I don't know how to read this name) goes into much more detail, but I am not sure how much of that is accurate. The Japanese book is labeled 'non fiction' but there are no sources given.

Another Japanese book, 「暗号解読」入門 (An Introduction to Deciphering Codes[?]) by 高川 (Takagawa - not sure of given name), has the Japanese asking the Polish for help on some translations from Siberia in 1919-ish, but not working with Kowalefsky until 1924. I'm not sure of the translation, but it could be that he also trained some students in Poland, either before or after his time in Japan. Unfortunately, this book also has no sources.

Wikipedia says that Kowalewsky went to Japan in 1923 but does not give a source for this.

Considering how strong the Japanese machine codes were later, and how weak many of their earlier paper codes were (thinking of the Washington Naval Conference here), is anyone aware of any more information on the development of Japanese cryptography between the world wars, especially the influence of the Polish experts?

This question springs from the askscience thread about why so many doctors gave support to smoking. And I remember reading about a man ridiculed for suggesting doctors should wash their hands. Likewise, it seems clear that for at least my lifetime a lot of the nutrition advice has been snake oil.

I realise this will depend on whatever's wrong with me (say an infection, a broken bone or a kidney stone) - but in general, is there a cut off point where I'm probably more likely to live if I don't see a doctor?

Or has medicine always been useful?

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Reading about the great carrier battles of World War 2, I see that most of the Japanese carriers were destroyed by direct bomb or torpedo hits, while American carriers (if sunk at all) were usually damaged beyond the point of no return and scuttled. Why is this?

I know that lots of cultures throughout time built penis statues and whatnot but they were being "serious". Do we know how long people have immaturely scribbled penises on things? Is this a natural human tendency or is this something that our culture evolved.

I guess a broader question could be "Have humans always found sexuality to be amusing".

Several black women, Claudette Colvin, Aurelia Browder, Irene Morgan, and Mary Louise Smith, refused to give up their seats to a white person before Rosa Parks did, but their names aren't in the history books. What made Rosa Parks' case special?

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Would they ever "busk" on the streets, or would they mostly take paid gigs with the upper classes? How far and often would they travel? Were they often considered vagrants, subversives, or undesirables? Did such a troubadour archetype really exist at all, or was it merely a fiction from a later time? Are there any notable historical examples of troubadour's lives?