I was reading the Wikipedia page on the topic, and it essentially says in the 19th century their emerged texts claiming it, but there is no primary source to confirm it.

So the question is: What, if any, proof is there of it happening. AND why in the 19th century did this begin getting written about?

BONUS: If this is true...WHY THE HELL CAN'T I SALT THOSE DAMN CARTHAGIANS IN ROME: TOTAL WAR II????

I often hear about how historical cultures would mainly drink tea or alcoholic beverages as opposed to water because water wasn't sanitary and they had not figured out that the boiling process of the creation of their drinks is what sanitized it. So did any cultures figure this out?

I originally posted this to /r/askhistory, but if this isn't the right place for this, just lemme know and I'll remove it. But I'm considering getting an MA in Medieval Studies, specifically English history (particularly around the 1400s-1500s) and/or Medieval warfare.

Therefore, I believe my best luck is at a university in England but I don't have much to work off of. Is there one program that sticks out above the rest? I've found three from the Universities of Birkbeck, Leeds, and Bristol, but as an American who has no idea which universities are better in which field nor knowledge of resources, I'm at a loss. Is there anyone who has done an MA in England for this degree who could give me some advice?

Thank you so much in advanced.

That's right, it's time for some new mods! Please welcome the following swell folks, our latest additions to the mod team:

/u/jasfss - "Early-Middle Dynastic China"
/u/vertexoflife - "Pornography/Obscenity - Early Modern Europe to Victorian Era"
/u/bonsequitur - "Cinema: Classic Hollywood, Latin America, Pre-war Western Europe"

These fine fellows have all been thoroughly vetted by the rest of the mod team, and have a proven track record of quality answers and involvement in the community. Please show them the respect you've shown the rest of the mod team as we work to keep AskHistorians the wonderful community that it is.

[cue sarcastic quips]

1. At the conclusion of WWII, I am wondering what the average US citizen's opinion of the Soviet Union was and what the overall opinion of the government on how to deal with the USSR was?

2. As an addendum, why wasn't a nuclear sneak attack launched against the USSR in order to free the newly occupied Soviet territories? From what I understand, it seems to me that a first strike with no Soviet nuclear defense would have totally decimated the Soviets.

Thanks in advance for any and all contributions!

By "the Heptarchy" I mean the petty kingdoms in the British isles around the time period of 500-800. At the time Britain was divided into about a dozen little kingdoms that often waged war on eachother. However, none of them were strong enough to unite the whole island or, or often even to conquer their neighbours. It's often stated that the wargoals of these conflicts weren't to outright destroy or annex enemy kingdoms, but to "dominate" them. I have trouble wrapping my head around what that concept means. Perhaps it's because I'm used to modern wars being about annexing territory or "uniting" an area under one's own state. However, the British and Anglo-Saxon kingdoms often won wars without any changes to the borders. What exactly were they fighting about then? What was the goal of the wars?

Bonus question: I've read somewhere that there was a custom among some of the kingdoms called the "king's raid" or some such, supposedly it was expected of new kings to attack a neighbouring kingdom upon their accession to the throne, as a tradition. Is there any truth to that?

Thanks in advance for answering my questions!

I know there is a lot of accents/dialects in America. I'm thinking of more of Northern or Mid-Western. The more common ones you hear on the media.

Apologies if it has been asked and answered before, I didn't see anything in a search. Either way, I'm wondering how the Japanese government reacted. Considering they had defeated Russia a bit over a decade earlier did they at all think of it as an opportunity for conquest, or were they content to watch events unfold?

I know that when Hitler invaded Russia, the Russians used a tactic that they also used on Napoleon where the Russians stayed close to the front lines and when they were being overrun, they would just burn/destroy the city they were fighting in and move further back into Russia. Is there a name for this tactic? Your responses would be greatly appreciated!

To dovetail on the similar recent thread (How much art was lost during WW2?) -- I'm naturally wondering if there are any specific works of art (especially by renown artists) that were lost (or are at least 'considered lost', or whose whereabouts are unknown), that we have photographic evidence of?

In other words: What's interesting, art-wise (that's lost), that we also have some very good (photographic) evidence of (exactly) what it looked like??

And, of course, I'm looking for links to such imagery (if possible) -- thanks!!

Back when Jesus and his apostles were hanging out with thieves and whores and such to spread the word about salvation and peace and acceptance, were homosexuals included in this? Excluded?

What of the general cultural opinion in that time frame in that area of the world (Romans)? Sorry if this question is better suited elsewhere. It's more of a biblical history question.

Thinking about how we use a standard of Guitar, Drums, Bass, and sometimes Piano and if they will ever be replaced got me wondering about past musical trends.

After spending a little time in Switzerland, I started contemplating how complicated train scheduling must be even with modern computers to help. How this was done, say 75-100 years ago in a country with a reasonably high density of train traffic? Relatedly, how did a railroad decide to add/remove a station from a line or add/decrease number of train runs per day on a line?

How far did Zoroastrianism (a dualist religion that originated in Persia) reach at its height, both in influence and members.

1: What was it fought about? 2: What countries and groups were involved? 3: How many died? 4: Why did it last so long? 5: What brought it to an end? 6: Who gained the most?