I've tried googling this question, but I haven't been able to find any consistent/reliable information on the formation of the American police force. Was it military, federal, or local in origin?

What role did the Greek military have on Greek society during the archaic age.

I'm a bit iffy on if this question belongs here, but I choose to put it here because there is probably some very strong historical ties here ( And I don't know where else to put it. Not AskScience, and DEFINITELY not AskReddit ). So feel free to redirect me if there is a better place this deserves to be.

But onto the question: Why did languages develop differently in different areas of the world? Why did vulgar latin speakers in France develop French, and why did the ones in Spain develop Spanish, a completely different language? Or more specifically, what are the factors which determine what a language is "like"? I know isolation and time both play significant roles, but that doesn't really explain why German is so a guttural, or why Italian is so 'romantic'?

I'm helping with a War of 1812 thing and a curator came to me with a very specific question. The British raided the port of Alexandria (then part of DC) after they burned the American capital of Washington. Their ships docked either at the wharf or just offshore during this event, depending on their draft. Just outside of town, at an elevated piece of land called Shuter's Hill, a band of militia gathered. The uniforms were likely blue fringed with red, so the colors would probably have popped on a fairly deforested hill in late summer. There were no buildings nor trees tall enough to have blocked the view. Here's the question:

Could a British officer at approximately 1.5 miles distant and using a period spyglass have seen this militia?

Or when does recorded memory become history?

I see a lot of similarities in the texts I've read (Sagas, Eddas, etc.) but am wondering just how far you could call these peoples Shamanistic. Also, if, for example, there is one shaman in an area, how shamanistic would the rest of the inhabitants be? Would he be an oddball living in some remote cave with knowledge passed down to him and his kind (sort of like the druids in the Asterix books) or would he be something more like the master of ceremonies for a fully integrating belief system, like you see in remote tribal communities today?

In my WWI class today we talked at great length of how the generals of WWI (and in particular the British) were, all in all, horrifically awful generals. I can't really see how they would have been put into put into such positions and how they could have stayed as generals for a long duration if they really were that terrible. One of the examples my teacher provided was Douglas Haig, so I'm wondering if he had any redeeming qualities other than, as my teacher puts it, "a conviction that he could end the war".

I am reading Robert Harvey's "War of Wars" and he states this on page 223. He goes on to say the English advantage was purely In their daring and aggressiveness.

In the years leading up to 1914 & 1938 (or so), how many people believed there was going to be a large-scale war? Was it pervasive as it is in modern society with headlines and fear of potential conflicts, or did the wars come as a surprise?

I am trying to recall a quote by a British general regarding the beginning of the Revolutionary war. The quote went something to the effect of "Let them try to oppose us with their unorganized militia and poor weaponry"-referring to the colonial militia. The phrasing and wordage were probably different as it has been many years since I last heard the line. Any clues would be greatly appreciated.

I've seen movies where ships face each other broadside, hold their water and peppered each other with cannonballs for what seems to be a really long time. Is this accurate?

How is possible that a battle ship can withstand such punishment? I think there are only a certain number a holes that a ship can take before it sinks.

Also, how do they repair the ships? Did they just basically patch the holes up with whatever wooden planks they can get?

As the title says, Medieval monasteries had saintly patrons but did they have lay patrons as well? I'm especially interested in the time before 1000 CE as it's by understanding that lay patrons weren't unusual by the late Medieval period c. 1300 onwards in Anglo-Saxon England.

I didn't find any answers about this on the sub, and am curious whether molotov cocktails were an actual effective and common weapon used by the Soviets in WWII, or rather just dramatized history? Thanks in advance.