I've come across Daniel DeFoe's 1724 description of ordering Stilton cheese: "We pass'd Stilton, a town famous for cheese, which is call'd our English Parmesan, and is brought to table with the mites, or maggots round it, so thick, that they bring a spoon with them for you to eat the mites with, as you do the cheese."

What's going on here? Was Stilton traditionally riddled with Maggots? Did the English eat live maggots in the 18th century?

We hear a lot about the Americans and Japanese doing the fighting, but what about the people whose home were made to serve as battlefield or naval/air force staging bases? How were their lives different in (say) 1900 versus 1944 versus 1950?

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I've read that in regards to the Battle of Hill 937 (Hamburger Hill) that the commanding general thought a frontal attack best because the it brought more glory to battlefield, driving the enemy from the field through sheer firepower. A concentrated air strike could have destroyed the hill. I think it was in A Rumor of War that the author's Colonel balked at the sustaining seventy causalities in a battle because is unit took that many casualties in ten seconds on Guadalcanal.

Is there any truth to the idea that some of the battles in Vietnam were fought the way they were because the commanding officer's plans were colored by their experiences in WWII?

Why did The Spanish not send lots of settlers to their colonies like the way the British did in their north american colonies?

Was it simply that there was more manufacturing in the North to start with, or was there a cultural view in the South against banks and industrialization?

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I've been reading a couple of biographies of Founding Fathers recently, and I struck by how frequently major leaders of the Revolution voiced support for the King in the years leading up to the revolutionary war. It makes a lot of sense that many of the opponents of unfair taxation backed the King hoping that he would be a check on parliamentary power. What I don't understand is how leaders like Hamilton are praising him in 1774 and condemning parliament, yet by 1776 the Declaration is almost exclusively targeting the King as the reason for all of the issues between the Colonies and England. What causes this major shift in opinion in the span of only a couple of years?

It's easy enough to find lists of inventions created by ancient cultures, but I can't find any listings of old inventions for which we know exactly who created the prototype.

I remember reading somewhere on this sub (I can't find the post unfortunately) that mesoamericans like the Aztecs were capable of ironworking but did not use iron weapons because they quickly rusted in the humid climate of Central Mexico. If that is the case, why did metal weaponry persist in old-world jungle climates like Southeast Asia?

A follow up question about why ironworking persisted in SE Asia: what is the functional value of a keris over other weapons? Its relatively straight shape appears to make it about as good for thrusting as a straight-edged blade but does the wavy blade design significantly add to the cutting power of the weapon? Is this primarily an adaptation to the hot climate? If making the blade wavy improved cutting power substantially, why did this blade design remain primarily in SE Asia? Is the design mostly there for aesthetic and intimidation factors?

Why is it the total number of casualties divided by the TOE strength and not total casualties divided by the total number of men who served in the unit?

Who (or which country) first brought up the idea of collective schooling? Was there propaganda to stigmatize homeschooling? When did elementary (or primary) schooling become mandatory?

Speculative: It seems a trend of returning to homeschooling began in the early 90s. Do you think this could be attributed to the ease of access to information via the internet?

Slightly off-topic: I remember reading that the Romans had universities, although it was more of a group of students lounging in the grass listening to an orator or a philosopher. Is that true?

I hope I haven't violated any rules. Thank you.

Those two are the only wars I can think of with warships firing on other warships after WW2, and I wondered if I was correct.

If so, how do naval commanders, arcitects, planners, etc account for the fact that they have no or very little experience with modern naval combat when making plans, design decisions, etc?

Was the florin accepted across Europe as if it was some kind of proto-Euro?

Thank you for your insight.

It would be great to have a point of reference. Thank you for your help!

Sometimes when watching period shows (set in USA, Canada, or England), I see a lot of reference to spiritualism (especially seances). I know about Doyle and Houdini and how they viewed it. But is it over-represented in fiction today?

Oddly, despite the time-frame indicated by Wikipedia, I usually associated with the very early 20th century instead of the 19th. Probably because of the shows I watch.

But how popular was it, and how seriously was it taken? Did most of the people attending seances really believe in them? Did it generally co-exist with or seek to replace conventional religion?