While reading "Epic of New York City" I came across a throwaway line that Gomez, one of the first explorers to view New York, was a "Negro". For a commander of an important exploration vessel in the 1600s, that's a pretty big deal. I've found no other references to his race one way or the other, and the one google image I found was pretty inconclusive thanks to the beard...

Sorry if the title is worded poorly, but I've recently seen that works like Preacher, American Horror Story, and many others depict the Creole culture to be creepy and supernatural. I just want to know what happened through history that made the media depict it that way.

That's pretty much it. I realize this might not be the best subreddit, but I've tried in a number of more bible-related places and haven't had much luck.

The Bible itself doesn't say. I'm hoping for some outside source (even if that source is well-reasoned speculation).

Basically, is there any clear historic evidence of Frederick II's influence on Napoleon's tactics and strategy?

I recently read a comic book about Dracula that was more inspired by the life of Vlad the Impaler than the actual Stoker book. I wanted to learn more about the historical figure and the war between Wallachia and the Turks. Can anyone recommend a good book about the actual man?

I'm having a hard time finding a definitive number of vessels sunk. Also, how many still rest at the bottom? Have any been risen?

As the title asks, did other civilizations write/tell post apocalyptic stories, or is it more of a modern creation?

In most depictions of the legendary Golem of Prague, there is a large crack on his chest, covered with a metal band. I've spent hours searching, and I've found nothing, aside from the scroll of life being inserted into it's head. What is the reason/origin of this part of the legend?

There's significant religious tension between Muslims and Christians during this period. But considering the rise of universities in Europe at a time when Islam was home to most advanced centers of learning, (i.e. Baghdad, Antioch, etc.) to what extent did they collaborate academically or scientifically, putting religious differences aside?

Whether its an amazing general overview or one captivating perspective that is part of a whole, what are some good books if I want to learn about the Khan?

As someone who grew up in America, the idea of learning about a war in which people who may have been your parents or grandparents were horribly defeated, your homeland destroyed, government forcibly abolished, and leaders publicly tried and put to death seems utterly foreign to me. Not saying America is the best, but really the only thing I have that's close to that feeling is the Korean and Vietnam (and of course now Iraq and Afghanistan) Wars but none of those were on American soil and didn't come anywhere close to affecting the US the way WWII affected post-war Germany and Japan.

How did Germans and Japanese renounce the ideals that many of their family members (and themselves) held so fervently? To me it seems like a similar question to the classic "What happened to the ethnic Romans?" - as in, when did the people who were conquered stop being Nazis (or the aggressively Imperialist Japanese?) and start being Germans and members of the State of Japan. It seems plausible now to say, "That was 70 years ago and thus a totally different population," but the gradual process of getting there seems hard to follow.

Sorry for the long question, just always so curious to hear about how my upbringing has affected/not affected my view on the world so I can better understand others.

And I couldn't sleep last night so... :)

Edit: I guess my question wasn't meant to focus specifically on schools as much as just discussions and everyday conversation (maybe between grandparents or parents and young kids being told about the world).

I know much of my historical knowledge does not come from school or books (though a lot does) but from people using historical context as arguments or examples in broader conversations. The question more is, how are these events, particularly the horrific ones, described and discussed in everyday life.

Edit2: I would also love to hear a lot about Japan. Maybe it's just because I know much less about their history, but the lines seem much more blurred there for a few reasons:

1: a much larger percentage of the population (I am assuming based on basic knowledge of Japanese so-called "Honor Culture" and the incredible stories of whole families committing suicide rather than be captured - from another AskHistorians thread) agreed wholeheartedly with the cause.

2: The horrific events were far less obscene (wrong word but you get the idea) than those of Nazi Germany. Yes, there were horrific warcrimes like the Rape of Nanking but mass killing and rape in the wake of conquest has been a wartime tradition of thousands of years. Incredible, systematic mass-extermination of civilians in non-battle zones like the Holocaust has no parallel in history and is probably thus easier to throw away as completely unjustifiable (as in "it was just those insane people who did that," I hope I'm explaining this well).

3: The country itself did not entirely cease to exist the way Germany did. German's (and probably as importantly, the rest of the world) have a natural demarcation line in the 40 years of disunion and crushing communist rule between the horrible, antagonistic Nazi Germany, and the world super-power and important western ally of Modern Germany. Thus, I can almost forget that they are the same country. This is not the case with Japan, it had to happen gradually.

Probably huge oversimplifications but hopefully I qualified my stupidity enough to make it okay :)