Recently I visited the (supposed?) historical site of Troy.

One thing that surprised me was off to one site of the site, there was a set of remains that the tour guide claimed were roman.

I didn't question it at the time, but since then have been wondering . . . if this was a roman settlement, did they know they were living on the site of Troy? If so, at what point did this knowledge become lost?

Specifically for people who have no background in military strategy, what are some good foundations for understanding the fundamentals and examples of military tactics?

I've heard of them being very clever and innovative, but can't seem to find many examples. Of course I know about the Hanging Gardens, but not much else (and that is a bit more of an architectural feat rather than cleverness).

We know about the Tupolev Tu-4 being obviously reverse engineered by the Soviets from the B-29, and other cases early on of captured technology becoming front-line materiel, such as the AA-2 Atoll. What other aircraft did the Soviets manage to at least seek to match in role and configuration in response to their Western counterparts?

What role did Espionage play in the development of Soviet aircraft during the cold war?

Also, I heard that the Soviets were reluctant to develop "glass" cockpits so that the equipment would survive an EMP nuclear event. Is this legend or truth?

I'm sure they only look similar, but I can't help thinking they're TOO similar:

The Shuttle/ Buran -MiG-25/ F-15 -Sukhoi T-4/ XB-70 -Tu-160/ B-1 -Tu-144/ Concorde

The conventional wisdom seems to be that the Caribbean's tropical climate (and the accompanying disease and hazards) made the islands unsuitable for European settlement but I recently came across a genetic study that I found very interesting. The average Jamaican person is apparently around 90% African whereas the average puerto rican is 65% European. What explains this difference? Puerto Rico and Jamaica are neighbors, are approximately the same size, and have essentially the same climate yet they have completely different genetic structures.

I had always heard that there was so little European settlement in the Caribbean because of disease, yet the (formerly) Spanish islands all have populations that descend in large part from Europeans. Did the Spaniards adapt more readily to the climate, were the British simply uninterested in settling the islands?

I'm curious as to what some of the German perspectives were from D-Day. Honestly I don't even know if many survived considering how the allied soldiers must have felt storming the beaches against such resistance. A video interview would be awesome, but really any knowledge at all would be great. Thank you!

Also, when did the generic concept of a dragon first emerge? (Flys, breaths fire and has scaled armor)

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How did the Aztecs and Mayans control the groups they dominated? I imagine sort of soldiers sent around to collect tribute from small villages, is this at all accurate?

With Jimmy Carter speaking recently about recognizing Hamas' legitimacy and his stance against Israel's military policy in Gaza - what was his official policy during his presidency? Was there any situations that called for decisions on his part? Based purely on his actions during his presidency would one consider him for or against Israel at that time?

I'm curious for what historical and cultural reasons all (as far as I'm aware, correct me if I'm wrong) of the martial arts are oriental in origin. Why did no such discipline arise in the west?

I'm leading discussion groups on the history of Israel/Palestine for an upcoming project, and I've found that when people want to shut down the conversation, they throw vague statements from the bible at me. How do I prevent that from totally sidelining the discussion?

Going into the conflict what were they hoping to achieve, and near the end if the Michael offensive was succesful and the allies sued for peace, what could have/would have the Germans gone for?

Was it rare for defenders to repel boarders effectively? Did tactics exist other than a melee for attack/defence during boarding?

Is there any evidence of a ship on the losing side of a gunnery battle managing to achieve victory through boarding?

Looking to see if I can find more about my grandfather.

Thanks a ton!