EDIT: Reading this question after i posted it made me realize that it sounds completely idiotic. But i still want to see what y'all have to say.

I read somewhere recently that by the time the USSR collapsed, it only had 1/8th the GDP as the United States. This struck me as somewhat humorous and revealing, as it really dispels the notion that the Cold War was between "two equal powers," at least towards the end of it.

So in that regard, when WAS the economy of the USSR as close to the US's? Was this considered a legitimate problem by the US government, or was it mainly their military and nuclear capabilities that scared them?

I just passed a wreath on an apartment door today that was hung with blue and white star ornaments and was struck at its ecumenical nature.

The stars weren't Stars of David, and yet they signaled Hanukkah to me anyway. Which got me wondering--how did blue and white come to symbolize Judaism? Did the Israeli flag come first? Or was that color choice based on prior symbolism?

I read a brief blurb that the last eunuch died only in 1996, and he was unfortunate enough to have been castrated by his family only months before the Manchus fell from power, so he never would have actually served in the palace.

Anyways though, got me wondering what happened to them when their place of employment went away? Did the Republic continue to employ them in a similar capacity? How did the Communists view these now old men, who were symbols of the imperial system?

It seems whenever stone age people are depicted in modern culture they have wild and unmaintained hair, typically in some form of unkempt dreads. However, I know the amount of fuss that people of all different cultures put into their hair and it seems unlikely to me that people of any time would be different.

Is this simply a holdover from that pervasive idea that people of the past were savages, or does it have basis in fact?

Do we have any information about how stone age people, paleolithic or neolithic, might have styled their doos?

I realize that history tends to paint historical figures in a simple black or white fashion - Columbus is somehow still regarded as a good guy, I can't really think of others...

Regardless it was brought up in a discussion that Rev. Al Sharpton has been arrested for many many things, quite often cheats on his wives, and is evading taxes around $4.5 Million, yet is generally regarded as a important force for good in the Civil Rights Movement. The girl briefly mentioned that Dr. MLK Jr. also was an adulterer and did some other bad stuff too but didn't get into detail. I'm not attempting to discredit the huge advances he brought to the Civil Rights Movement, but he is only human and his life is likely to have been embelleshed. You just don't learn those things in school but my intellectual interest has been piqued.

At one point did businesses start to appear whose sole purpose was to advertise other businesses?

Even though the Labour Party in Britain cannot deemed to be socialist in nature unlike other successful Labour Parties in Europe, why did no successful Labour Party emerge in America?

The Ballad of Jesse James states that, "Jesse James was a lad that killed many a man," but can anyone quantify "many"?

I would love some sources that I can read online... if they're out there (I've done a decent amount of research and can't find anything).

Any other myths about Jesse James and/or other "outlaws" in the American West that have been proven wrong? Again, if you have anything, I would love to read online sources.

Thanks.

I'm more curious about the treatments used between 1945 - 1965 (including the Korean War).As far as terminology goes, did the "shell shock" diagnostic, became "Posttraumatic stress disorder"? Were there any major changes. concerning the behavioral deficiencies, of soldiers who fought in WWII and the soldiers who fought in the Vietnam war?

First time posting here, please let me know if I do anything wrong.

I'm a Brit, writing an essay relating to the American Dream and all that jazz. It would be helpful to have a rough idea of when the area that is now the USA was fully explored, ie. when pioneers stopped going out into the wilderness and borderlands to find stuff.

Thanks in advance. I realise this will be hard to give an empirical answer on, just a rough timescale would be great. And if you have any sources on the matter, even better.

I mean back then washing of hands, changing of sheets, clothes, washing dishes etc was not yet done or dine very seldom. Even if infections did happen the medicine ar their disposal was mostly willow bark, which hazel and the suction cup match thingies.

Also, which albums or compositions had the greatest impact in these areas? Or as the prof might begin class: Which did more, Strange Fruit or Original Faubus Fables?

To clarify, if a roman (for example) was in say in the British Isles, and heard of a local high deity, would he likely think: "Oh, the leader God, we call him Jupiter." or would he think - "Oh, your deity is not a leader, our deity Jupiter is."

Were they competing, or was there a coincidental overlap to any degree of a subset of deities that went by culturally specific names.