Given how much more effective the gun was in defending American bombers during their daytime raids, why did the RAF continue to equip their aircraft almost exclusively with .303 calibre guns right up until the end of the war? Was it a supply issue? Politics? Cost? Weight? Reliability?

I know the prohibition was legally applied to Puerto Rico since the US constitution applies to Puerto Ricans but, was it heavily enforced by the local government or was the local goverment more lenient about it by turning a blind eye?

Hi everyone,

I asked about the origins of the fear of clowns on /r/AskSocialScience, and one comment (now deleted) said clowns have been around for 200 years. Is this the case? What are the origins of clowns, and how come this is a type of entertainer that seemingly exists in most of the world?

I mean, if clowns really are 200 years old, I'd have a lot of hunches as to why it became popular (modern circuses are a bourgeois and urban form of entertainment; maybe this form of entertainment began in Europe and was forced down to their colonies; etc etc.), but of course, these are just hunches and guesses.

And why do they have these

What I mean is, could you see that it was colder this winter than the previous (10) winter(s), in, say, Southern France? Or would there be 'legends' (I don't know if they had that) of warmer periods? (Hope I explained this well enough)

I hope this is the correct place to ask this:

Does history only refer to the past of humans? I'm trying to answer a college essay prompt "What historical moment or event do you wish you could have witnessed?" However i'm unclear on the definition of history. The dictionary definitions are vague and sometimes refer to specifically human history, but other definitions do not specify .

Any help would be much appreciated.

How did the Byzantines celebrate Christmas? Was it a major holiday, or did others such as Easter have far greater significance? Were there any communal of familial celebrations? If so, do we have any idea what they might have looked like? Do any of our modern Christmas traditions have Byzantine origins?

To narrow the scope of this question, I am interested in Christmas celebrations during the Macedonian period, though of course welcome answers that address any other period.

My grandfather was in WWII and died shortly after coming home. I am trying to find a picture of him to create a shadow box for my mother. I have been looking for an enlist photo but have no idea where to look or who to contact. Any advice would be amazing. Things that may help: Name: Jerome Kessler From: Minnesota Branch: Army Grade: private first class Theater: Italy Captured in Italy and was a P.O.W.

I understand that the Mongols viewed the Yuan as being "too Chinese" and may not have intervened on their behalf, but did the Ming understand that there had been a rift between the Mongol Empire and the Yuan?

How concerned were the Ming that the Mongols would try to repeat their successful invasion of China? What steps did the Ming take to prevent this from happening?

Why did the Mongols never attempt to retake China (or did they?)?

This came to my mind when I was listening to the song "O Little Town of Bethlehem" over the weekend. How big or influential would the city of Bethlehem have been at the start of the Common Era?

I was reading about the book, and I think it’s interesting that when it came out it was seen heralded as a great abolitionist book, and later civil rights groups decried it for racist stereotypes and the subservient Tom. How did Douglass or other black intellectual contemporaries feel about the book?

Reaction as in his emotions, not his military strategy following the invasion