It seems as ww2 couldn't have happened without ww1. Can they be considered as one huge, seemingly never ending conflict that went on for over 30 years? (1914-1945)

In various books that I have read, mostly about English society, I come across the word/phrase "cuckhold" as in 'he was cuckholded". Anyone know the origin of this word/phrase?

I'm reading Stephen Whitfield's "A Death in the Delta, The story of Emmett Till" right now and Whitfield states over and over again that the white southerners felt that the NAACP was funded by the Russians to help break down American society, he however does not state whether this was the case or not. I find it hard to believe that its true, but if it is, it sounds like it could be an interesting story. Whether it be small donations here and there or whatever.

It's more understandable why the later Crusades took place as they felt they had to protect a holy land that had been created in the 1st Crusade, but what made the 1st Crusaders feel it was their duty to start it off?

Do we have an oldest known example of spying in an official capacity?

All we have is family folk lore, no records only listings for zargos in the us. Was there an original this has bad been?

Even up to the 19th century where banks did exist, wasn't this risky depositing a lot of money and to have only a written account? What if it was lost or the bank just claimed they 'lost it'? Before these times weren't these types of issues more prevalent? I mean where is the local noble supposed to keep it? In a box?

I understand that he demobilised it and paid out lots of money and settled veterans, but how did he deal with all those scattered armies left from the civil war? It seems like such a massive undertaking. How did he make sure there were no revolts? I understand he himself wasn't an especially great commander so did the loyalty come just from promises of money and land?

Pretty straightforward question as I always wondered how these cities recovered. If I recall correctly, there was literally nothing left after the atom bomb, but both cities are still thriving today. How did this come about and how did people get over the stigma of atomic radiation?

I am fairly confused as to why the wars between Britain and the Qing Dynasty broke out. Was it simply a matter of China not wanting to trade with Britain? And a bit of a side question, but was all this Opium being used in Britain?

We have all seen movies where a handful of soldiers disguise themselves, and I read that during ww2 a group of german panzer tanks were disguised as usa wolverines (or hellcats?) but were captured. What was the largest group to disguise themselves as the enemy successfully?

What's the consensus on this among historians? I read Carthage Must Be Destroyed by Richard Miles and he puts it down as Roman propaganda, but I've also read that he can be a bit biased. Is it the sort of thing we'll never know for sure or is it a well accepted idea that some dispute?

I've been doing a lot of research for a term paper I'm writing on the Cold War, and one thing that's been coming up at lot is how Russia emerged from the Second World War as a leading power that was contending with the US. How is this the case? From what I know of WW2 Russia it was a shitshow: Russian infrastructure was awful (barely had functional roads and stuff), the Russian army was poor and ill equipped (soldiers were made to share rifles), and generally Russian people seemed to be poor. How is it that Russia came out of the war as a dominant power when nations like Great Britain, which had been globally dominant and had a vast prestigious empire, became middling powers?

Sorry if this is badly worded and informal by the way, I'm really tired right now and have been working all day :(

A history teacher of mine in high school gave us an interesting lecture about the development of nuclear weaponry and power once. There were to claims that I found really interesting, but have not been able to verify through my internet searches.

The first, was that there was the day after the trinity nuclear test there was a cryptic message sent to president truman that said something to the effect of: "Works better than we imagined;The hand of god has touched the earth". Did he just make that up?

Also, the idea that in the 40s scientists thought that nuclear power would make energy so cheap that the cost would essentially be negligible.