I've been reading a series on the Napoleonic wars. I've noticed that the British officers had to buy their commissions and where almost exclusive from the wealthy classes and promotions where bought.

Where promotions given on merit alone and not money? was this common?

With the French army at the time having just finished the revolution and most of the richer people dead, where their officers also wealthier people who had to purchase their commissions? And advancement?

When did the tradition of buying commission began, and why?

Why did America drop the atomic bomb specifically on Hiroshima and Nagasaki? If the point was purely to demonstrate the power of this new weapon, couldn't they have just dropped the first bomb on a more remote part of Japan?

I was playing an RPG game today, and as I always do, I found myself checking behind a waterfall for a secret area. Then I started thinking about why I do that: I've been playing video games for 20-30 years now and this has been in multiple games. This motif has been around so long I can't even think of what other games have had this, they've all just sort of jelled together. It got me wondering if anyone out there knows some solid info about the history of this motif.

Follow-up question: I'm assuming this has been an element of games because sometimes there really are some pretty large spaces behind waterfalls. Is there anything in the historical record about any spaces like this that were actually used for storage, hiding, or living? I mean some kind of use beyond simply standing there and admiring the waterfall from behind.

I have seen several questions related to race and the history of black people in ancient Rome which makes it pretty clear that Romans did not care much about skin color but more about social origins. Therefore it could makes sense to have black senators. Do we have evidence of it?

Additional question: I guess we don't have a surviving list of all the senators of ancient Rome but how many can we name? What percentage does that represent?

Was it because the CCP just wasn't a major concern for the Japanese, or was the CCP too tough to be taken on?

As in, paintings that resemble her true likeness rather than distorting features?

Edit: just noticed their instead of there, sry

I teach English to Chinese kids, and my boss has tasked me with creating a 30 minute history lesson about America from the Colonies to Independence. I haven't been in a history class in 4 years - you could say my history is very, very rusty. What are the major points I should touch on in class? Bullet points to research would be more than helpful.

Thanks!

That Romanian is a romance language has always been this random piece of trivia I knew, but I have recently been learning about the Roman empire in more detail and I started to wonder why Romania still has a romance language even though the Romans controlled Dacia for a comparatively shorter amount of time than other provinces in the balkans. Romania seems to be in its own linguistic island, bordering slavic speaking countries and the other outlier Hungary, and I was curious if Ask Historians could shed light on this phenomenon. I would think Bulgaria being south of the Danube would be more likely to have their language from the same root as the romans. I don't really know how the slavic languages ended up there either so any information on that would be great as well!

Answers to this on any culture would be welcome. Thanks :)

I've often heard Europe described as a 'powder keg' spoiling for a reason to go to war in the period leading up to the assassination of Franz Ferdinand. But there's usually not much elaboration other then that. What was the reason for the powder keg? Was it excessive nationalism, a false sense that each side would be the winning side, a belief that the home team had superior technology, excessive idealism, or something else?

What did each side feel they had to gain by going to war, or loose by not participating? I realize the answers are complicated, and still debated but I'm interested in a general overview of the zeitgeist of the time, if possible. Thanks

One of the things that drives me mad is unbound/uncovered hair in historical Movies and TV shows. Historically women wore some kind of head covering at least in Europe and America. When did the practice die out.

I'm asking because I wonder if the American Revolution extended the life of slavery as an institution in the Americas, and for how long, but stick to factual examples if that is too hypothetical a question.