Dowries seemingly are completely one sided. The husband's family gets both the bride as well as the dowry, so what's in it for the bride's family? It seems like such an unfair custom that I don't understand why anyone would raise girls in societies that practice this (and thus, would expect this custom to die out naturally). A bride price makes more sense to me, since then, when you raise a daughter, you might lose her to another family, but at least you get livestock or goods out of it, so there's incentive not to just kill any newborn girls. What was the societal benefit that led to this becoming so widespread in so many cultures?

I think that there wasn't any. Could having a navy count as a geographic determinism?

I heard that stalin used his skull as an ashtray, is there any truth in that?

Tradition holds that Pope Linus was the first Pope after St. Peter. However, historical sources for this time period are shaky. Who is the first well-documented Pope whom historians are certain existed and had the role ascribed to him by Catholic tradition?

T-28, the KVs, etc.

You always hear about how America favored the allies but what is it that was trade by the Americans?

(1) what were the basic day-to-day experiences of a soldier in the trenches, (2) what was fighting outside of the trenches like (and how often did it happen), (3) how did soldiers with PTSD fare after returning to their home country and, finally, (4) how were AWOL soldiers treated if they were captured by their former comrades?

How are the principles of the Art of War compared to the ideas of western military tacticians (Alexander the Great, Machiavelli, the idea of Chivalry, etc.)

It's a class that goes from Napoleon to WWII. The teacher is really great, and tough, which is fine because I'm learning SO much.

I'm bad at coming up with research topics. I picked the Zimmermann Telegraph because it's such an interesting strategic move for Germany AND the U.S. However, in reading Tuchman's book about it, I'm not getting a very European vibe for a paper. Is there anything I should be asking myself about the Zimmermann Telegraph that would lead me down a research path that's not so American-focused?

I see the Wikipedia article mentions Overton's book. Is there anything else available that's worth a look? Are there any prerequisite or ancillary books that might be helpful/useful for context?

When we learn about Jim Crow laws and the 1960s Civil Rights Movement in school, we always treat the U.S. as if it was separated into a racial binary of black and white. We read about how there were "colored bathrooms" and "white bathrooms and etc. for black people and white people respectively. As an Asian American, I have never been able to figure out where my people pooped. How did other people of color fit into this racial binary? Were different people of color treated differently?

I understand why cities like Rome, Istanbul, Paris are central to their empires, yet London's position seems like an anomaly to me.

I was looking it up and of all the accounts, apparently Stalin didn't seem to be that interested as he never asked any questions or seemed intrigued. He just said it was good and he hoped it would be used on Japan. Why did he act this way and how did he react when he realized the actual power of it?

I recall reading something like that in a book about the Crusades by Karen Armstrong. Something about how dying and dead Byzantine soldiers were denied Christian funerals/sacraments because being a soldier was seen as very unChristian but eventually they decided they didn't want to be run over by Persians/Arabs/Alans/Slavs or whoever was attacking them at the time.

Was this correct at all or am I imagining things? Edit: What were early Christian Roman/Greek/Byzantine views on violence and warfare even in self defense? I recall St. Augustine said a war of defense could be called a just war.

Was there any substantial evidence that they had contact? Was there trade between them?

[edit] Cortes*