In the show “Vikings” it often shows the saxons as being completely outmatched by the Vikings and the Saxon’s would only win if they had a MASSIVE numbers advantage, Was this really the case or were they far more even?

Is there a difference between history and urban legend? Can an urban legend be a history?

How come when I see footage or war films from WW2 where flak cannons fill the air above them with shrapnel rounds that explode everywhere, said shrapnel doesn't rain down on the AA positions and harm the soldiers using the guns?

I'm by no means a history buff, so apologies if the premise of my question is incorrect. From what I understand, the policies of both Stalin and Mao were undone by their successors. However, it seems like Mao's reputation within China remained largely intact whereas Stalin and Stalinism became dirty words within the USSR.

There have been countless movies, books, games, articles and references of the crimes of Nazis but the Japanese committed even worse crimes against humanity yet we barely see any form of criticism of the Japanese army in the form of art. Why is that? Also, is the Japanese people today aware of their country’s horrific history ?

I have heard many Indians say that India before colonialism was insanely rich and comprised of anywhere between a third and a quarter of the globe's GDP. But I have also heard others say that all of this wealth was heavily concentrated in the hands of a few rulers while the average Indian lived in extreme poverty even by the standards of the time. Where does the truth lie?

I was watching Barbarians when I wondered what language the Germanic people should’ve been speaking rather than modern German, which seemed uncomfortably inaccurate considering that they went through the effort to ensure the Romans spoke Classical Latin in the show.

I did a quick Google search and learned that the Germanic languages were already split from Proto-Germanic by late antiquity.

Would someone knowledgable please give out a quick rundown of the history of Germanic languages, or at least what we know of it currently? And as a bonus question how/when did it start to become/influence German, Dutch, English, Scandinavian languages etc?

Furthermore, was say Alexios Komnenos as an example as Roman as Julius Caesar, Octavius Caesar, or Sulla?

Are there any accounts of common sailors/seamen, press-ganged or otherwise, buying a commission, perhaps with prize money? Is Master the best one could hope for?

After World War I the British took over Palestine under a League of Nations Mandate, with the ostensible goal of governing it until it could basically become a nation on its own, although it's my understanding that it basically became an imperial colony in all but name. Was this meant to be permanent, or did they plan to create some kind of Palestine nation that was essentially a British client state like Iraq? If it was the latter, were there organized and concerted efforts to actually do so in Palestine before WW2? As another side question, were League of Nations/UN Mandates really meant to be temporary until they were meant to be governed or was it just a more PR friendly way of gaining colonies?

The original Lorem Ipsum was written by Cicero during the last days of the Roman Republic, so how this writing of a renowned roman became the synonym of generic random text? why it was chosen? How became so popular?

I am searching for somewhere to confirm or get more information on a source I found in the Bedford Anthology of World Lit. There is a chapter about the crusading era and has a text selection from "History of the First Crusade" Which the book dates to the early 12th century. No author, native language, or origin is given, but it was translated (from something) by James B. Ross. The chapter in the book is called "The first Contact of Crusaders and Turks" and the subtitle is "Impressions of the People and the Country in Anatolia"

Beyond this i cannot find this text ANYWHERE to do more research or even back up the fact that this is a real document. If anyone has heard of this text or can point me in the direction of other copies or translations of it i would be very appreciative. Many thanks!!

Edited to mention: the book i found this in has no reference section.

What would happy if a King or Queen of England (Or any similar monarchy), gives birth to twins? I assume with the current system being based on ancient rules, the male of a boy/girl twin birth would become the heir apprent. But what about a boy/boy or girl/girl twin birth?

edit: 15 hours, 2000 upvotes, 0 responses. Thanks guys. Maybe we’ll have better luck next time.

edit2: okay looks like we’re up to 3000 upvotes and absolutely no replies that haven’t been removed! Might be setting a record!

What would have happens to the British Colonies if Nazi Germany conquered Uk?

Two examples I can think right now are William 'the Conqueror' and Richard III, which in almost every paintings are described having dark hair and eyes, but then later, it was scientifically proven that they had light hair and eyes. Is it some kind of epoch-specific symbology?