Nearly all sporting events at the highest levels are competing for a literal "cup" of some sort. Where did this come from?

Are there less ''classic'' audio dramas , how many influential audio dramas are there, and yes I know I am simplyfing this a lot. I didn't know A better way of saying it without losing the point of the question.

To preface my question, I am currently serving in the U.S. Army. Most of the time when we get a new lieutenant, he/she is generally looked at as inexperienced and incapable of leading combat operations, mainly because they enlist after college, go to OCS, and immediately outrank myself and other 5+ year veterans while only having a few months time in service. Also, most of them come to a new unit with an attitude that they already know everything, which breeds further animosity. Was this common in Ancient Rome as well?

Also was the money sent to their families at home or was it directly given to them?

According to Jared Diamond, the rate of technological advancement in different areas of the world is determined primarily by geography and the native plants and animals of said areas. But why were there such large differences in the suitability of native species for civilization building? Why did Mesopotamia, for example, have an abundance of plants useful for farming, and animals useful for domestication? On the other end of the spectrum, why were the native species in areas such as Australia so useless for civilization building? Is it just due to random chance, or did these species form this way for some reason?

After all the hindsight and what we know about the Russian Civil War, the famines, repression and purges committed by the Soviet government, is there a consensus on whether or not the Russian Revolution had a net positive impact? Or would it have been better if the Tsarist regime never fell and reforms were made peacefully albeit more gradually?

I’ve been reading Mein Kampf and so far it’s a pretty interesting read. I started reading with a couple goals in mind. The first being to find out if it all the hate was because of the content, or simply because of its author. The other was, I like trying to get an alternate view of history in general and I find that context from an opposing party often provides interesting insight into the political/social situations in a given time frame.

One thing I’m coming across pretty regularly is (no surprises) Hitler’s accusations against the Jews in terms of their control of finance and the media. I found it very interesting, in that much of it read similarly to some current conspiracy theories. I have a vague understanding that the Jewish population was heavily involved in finance at the time for a number of reasons, but I wasn’t aware of any unusually strong media control.

I was wondering if anyone could give me some historical context for Hitler’s claims. I’m curious if there were ever any hard numbers on the demographic makeups of Jews vs non-Jews in German/Austrian/European media and finance.

I’m also interested in what would have made Hitler take this view on things. Admittedly I haven't finished the book, so perhaps there’s more reasoning later, but I can only follow his train of thought if I accept the fact that “the Jews” had a goal of bringing down the empire. Perhaps I’m getting ahead of myself, but I’m curious what benefit Hitler assumed the Jews would reap by triggering the downfall of the German race/society as it seems to me any society tightly integrated with an overthrown culture would themselves be caught up in the downfall.

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I apologize if this is too broad of a question, but I am interested in any and all comparisons, even if they are from unrelated parts of the globe and historical periods.

An example to clarify my question a bit: I have heard that the English Army favored massed longbow fire, while Mongol armies tended to shoot from horseback. Would training for an English archer be more focused on having the strength to keep up a sustained rate of fire, and less on accuracy? And would archers like those of the Mongols do the opposite? Also, where and how would most training be done, in a day-to-day way like hunting, or in a more "professional" environment strictly for the purpose of training?

Again, any and all examples would be appreciated, this is more of a general question I was wondering about.

Fukuyama famously declared that history ended in 1989. Not in the sense of events ceasing to happen of course. Basically what he meant is that the American way (capitalism + republican democracy) had been vindicated as the only legitimate and just way to run a society, now that the Soviets were no longer deeply committed to socialism and failed to intervene in eastern Europe and East Germany.

A few years later a tangential theory, the "McDonald's Theory of Peace" came around. Ironically it was proven wrong even before it was formulated since America invaded Panama which had a McDonald's, but the basic idea that capitalist democracies don't go to war against each other is still popularly believed.

Do historians still take Fukuyama's triumphalism seriously? It seems like it would be hard to nowadays with a more belligerent Russia, the fact China is still just as autocratic (if not more) than it was in the 80s despite becoming more market-oriented, and seeing that fascism is making a comeback in India and Greece.

Follow-up question: What about the rest of the Allies and Axis countries?

Another follow-up question: Any good books on the U.S. Army in the WW2 period?

My understanding is that Jewish communities enjoyed some degree of freedom in the low countries, the US, the UK, and British settler colonies during this time (compared to what they had experienced in the past). There was certainly contact between Jews and Christians in these areas, but I haven't seen any sources mentioning Christians converting to Judaism, only the other way around.

And if so, who were they? I ask this because I know that the Axis did some terrible things so naturally, the majority of history looks down upon them. But even the Nazis had their share of idolized soldiers and commanders whom you'd hear of now and again. But thinking in that train of thought, I realized that one would rarely hear of Japanese war heroes, and the only Japanese war heroes I knew of were actually Japanese Americans. Generally, when you're recognized as a hero of war by your country, you're awarded a medal, but a cursory search on Wikipedia led to nothing in that front, so I've turned to here.

Thanks for any and all replies!

Was there ever a PETA of ancient rome or victorian england? Or is the concept of animal rights only a recent trend?