The US gained its independence in 1784 however, George Washington didn't take his presidency until 1788. Who was governing the US for these four years?

I know they had their trouble with Arabs and the sackings of Constantinople by the crusaders. But wasn't there anything more to it than the Ottomans conquering them?

I ask because I often hear of discrimination against Irish or Italian or Polish or Slavic immigrants (basically anyone who is not Anglo-Saxon) and yet I have never heard a word about how German immigrants were thought of during the First and Second Immigrations Waves.

Were they also subject to discrimination? Was it to the same degree as other white immigrants? Was there any worry about all the German language and whether all of these immigrants would be successfully Anglicized/Americanized?

It may seem like an obvious question but elections were held throughout the rest of the English speaking world; Canada, the U.S., New Zealand and Australia. Why didn't the British do the same?

Edit: Many are pointing out the 1945 election was technically during the war as the Japanese were yet to surrender. I'm aware, what I'm asking specifically is why the election was consistently delayed in contrast to many other Allied nations and if there was any resistance to not having an election earlier.

I was reading about Mimana (Imna in Korean) in a history book and found it fascinating. I did some research online and found out its existence is controversial because of its use to justify the Japanese rule of Korea. Its existence is still disputed, but Korean, Chinese, and Japanese historical artifacts confirm a Japanese presence on the Korean peninsula where Mimana would have been. Among historians, what is the general consensus concerning Mimana?

It seems like they have operations all across the world, at least in Africa and Asia.

I've always lumped them in with the crazies but I've seen it popping up a bit recently among people I thought had at least a few of their marbles in place. Are they crazy or what?

I recently learned that all anglophone countries outside of England have a unique sport they call football where the ball is held. Canada, America, Australia, Ireland all seem to have a local game called football that isn't soccer. I am not sure about New Zealand but I wouldn't be surprised.

Is there a common ancestor game that was called football? When did the game soccer start being called football in England? Really, what is the connection here? I am not trying to argue whether football or soccer is a more appropriate term, I am just surprised to learn this considering how some people feel passionately that soccer isn't a correct name for the sport.

I was reading on Wikipedia about Patagonia and one of the sections is about them possibly being descended from Aborigines. It sounds interesting, but the evidence seems scant.

Some bible passages get reinterpreted in a few different ways, were the Ten Commandments ever in flux as to what they actually meant?

Having just finished a book series that focuses on that time period (though with certain major fantasy elements thrown in), I got stuck on certain passages referring to books the captains of British Navy ships would have recognized, essentially, as smut.

How much of that literature has survived to modern day? Do we know if, as nowadays, there was a huge amount of terrible fiction, smut, etc that was produced and forgotten? Or was printing more expensive and therefore more limited to established authors?

There was an interesting thread recently that said Napoleon needed a decisive victory at Borodino to save his campaign but for various reasons he didn't achieve a great voctory and much of the Russian Army remained intact and withdrew, why?

Perspective from the generals as well as the soldiers is always welcome on such topics of military history.

I'm reading "Tasting Beer" by Randy Mosher, who finds it remarkable that there is no mention of beer in the Bible, while other documents from the Bronze Age speak to the importance of beer to civilization of the time.

What reason could there be that Jews mention wine numerous times throughout the centuries of authoring the Bible (also some mention of "strong drink") but not beer, which seems to have been much more common?