What do we know about the emergence of public libraries that provided a book rental system for the general public? Did this type of library evolve from a different library system? What/where were some first historical accounts of public libraries as we know them now? Was the notion of providing the general public with access to books received well in the beginning?

Just was wondering, since in South Korea catching possible spies is a huge deal, and how possible North Koreans speak is often mentioned. How exactly is 'North Korean' different from 'South Korean'? Are they really full-fledged dialects of each other now?

Whenever we learn about the Cold War, we always hear about the all the times when Americans destabilized a country by becoming involved with it's politic, like Guatemala, Iran (though that came later), Vietnam, Cuba. I was wondering if there was maybe an example of the opposite, where American involvement ended up benefiting it (excluding the Peace Corps). Not trying to justify the coups, I am legitimately curious.

I bought a picture while in Mexico, it has the "HAAB" calendar surrounding a god that is said to be the god of time. What is this gods name?

I've heard that, if Germany had had less punishment, WW2 would've never happened. Is this true?

Edit: Thanks to everyone who answered, and thanks to anyone who will answer in the future!

Both vehicles seem similar in terms of top speed, weight, armour and armament and were used to the end of the war. Was the Panzer IV chassis better than the Panzer III? Was the Panzer III chassis used for other vehicles like the StuG III earlier than the Panzer IV chassis was used for other vehicles?

Often times I read about Japanese soldiers charging through American lines only to get completely annihilated. Is it possible that the willingness to sacrifice their lives at the drop of a hat actually just ended up increasing their casualty rate?

I'm a librarian and I have a request from a patron for books about the "quality of the Greek in the New Testament." He seems to think it's "actually quite poor" but I wonder if he's misconstruing the difference between Attic and Koine Greek?

Anyway, I think any book that was about how all the New Testament books were written and codified would satisfy him. The only book in the FAQ that I thought related to his question, A Brief Introduction to the New Testament, isn't in our system. If that's truly the best option, I'll ILL it for him.

What books/articles should I read in order to understand the classic 19th imperialist rivalry?

I'm wondering what happened to US / European citizens that were in Japan when war was declared - were there even any non-diplomatic personnel in Japan at that time?

I'm also curious about how the US/European population in the occupied territories were treated, and if they were singled out for different treatment as opposed to the indigenous population since Japan was promoting the idea of "Asia for Asians"?

I live in the Tallinn old town and just realized that many streets are named after famous buildings. For example, the street right next to me is named Sauna, because there used to be a sauna there in medieval times. Not sure what it was called before that or whether it had a name at all. So... How did street names become a thing?