I had always heard that Lee had a crisis of conscience at the beginning of the war because he despised slavery but couldn't bring himself to fight against his homeland. Then recently a friend told me that Lee had said things about the necessity of slavery to condition the blacks, or some such thing. Can anyone shed some light on this for me?

As it stands to today, most scientists would agree with Darwin, but when he first published it, how long did it take before such an overwhelming consensus was reached?

After all it's not like they weren't aggressive. They took part in the invasion of France and tried invading Greece as well.

With Henry Ford, there is a ton of evidence that, atleast at some points in his life, he was very anti-semetic. Yet Walt Disney gets brought up in the same breath, and I can't find out why.

Is there just something I'm missing here? I keep looking for evidence that he was anti-semitic or pro-Hitler, or anything, and I can't find it. Maybe I'm just overlooking something or am not aware of something?

If there IS no evidence for it, then when did that myth start and why do people believe it?

I was reading recently that all the western intelligence agencies did not foresee the fall of the soviet union. What happened in the aftermath of this collapse all the giant intelligence apparatus suddenly lost their “primary target”. Was there any sort of demobilization like an army would experience after a war.

Other than Fanon, that is.

Just got a root canal so I was wondering what would have happened to me even 60 years before the present? When would be the worst time to have dental issues?

The old person who can't figure out how to use a computer is a commonly repeated stereotype in our culture as there are whole generations of very old people who have found themselves in a world dominated by computers but without the know-how to use them.

Just a few minutes ago I was thinking about how strange it is that the people who can't figure out how to use modern technology were in their own day using technology that would blow the minds of people a few generations before them, such as airplanes, radios, etc.

Has there has historically been any other stereotypes of old people in the popular culture of the time as being unable to operate "modern" technology? For instance a whole slew of jokes in books and cartoons during the 20's about how old people can't figure out how to operate cars? If so, what are some examples?

We always hear about how diseases like Influenza and Small Pox nearly wiped out native populations in the Americas. Why didn't the Old World get hit as hard by diseases brought back from the New World? Were their bodies "more immune" to new diseases since they were already exposed to so many other diseases?

Note: This question is not about whether or not an alien craft did crash at Roswell, but the fact that the on July 8 1947 an actual spokesman for the base told a newspaper that an alien ship had crashed, and showed debris.

It just seems like the absolute worst thing you could do, regardless of whether it was a secret project or an actual alien ship, as its a great way to attract attention to something you'd want kept secret (even if it actually didn't get much attention for 30 years).

So why did they do it? Misinformation? Is there precedence for leaking an unbelievable story? Just a bad idea? Or was the spokesman just a guy trying to get attention?

This is not an April Fool's joke. This really happened. In my Italian class we are studying holidays, and la Festa della Liberazione was on the agenda. My prof actually, in real life, said that day celebrates the day they threw out their German conquerors. WW2 is not my field but sometimes I have to teach World History and I have never before heard this put this way. Italy was a German ally, right? Does Italy have an alternate narrative? Is my prof nuts? What's going on?

I am curious to find out from any first hand sources if there really was a nationwide ignorance on the part of the Germans when they said after the war that they didn't know about the camps and purges. Did the Nazi government really hide it that well? Or did the Germans really know what was happening and wanted to cover up their guilt with the ignorance excuse.

I'm aware that the Greeks were huge on olive oil, and have read that they used oil to clean themselves, but were there other uses?

What impact did the rise of cannons & artillery have on warfare?

I always hear that history has had a distorted western influence.

I want to be able to get my hands on a good summary of history that modern historians agree is a good balance between what we know from all cultures.

I specifically want to know middle east history but am also looking for guidance on history as a whole. Can anybody recommend any books or readings that could help me on this journey?

Thanks in advance.

I find it remarkable that in such a short period of time japan was able to springboard into modernity. How did it finance it's railroads? How did they afford their western advisors? How the heck did they pay for those state of the art battleships? From what I understand they didn't have much natural recourses.

The measure stuff type of ruler, not the political kind. Oh, and also were particularly accurate rulers considered valuble/expensive?

I know that Cajuns are French exiles from the Acadia region who settled in Louisiana, and Creoles refer those born in the Louisiana colony rather than Europe (right?).

1. Does that mean the children of Cajuns would have been Creoles? (i.e. Jean is from Acadia and then settles in Louisiana. He then marries and has a son named Louis who was born in Louisiana. Would Jean be a Cajun and Louis a Creole?).

2. Is there a "cut-off" date for these two groups? As in, people of French/other European heritage who immigrate to, or are born in Louisiana, are no longer called Cajuns/Creoles after year ____?

I ask because a quarter of my family is French, having come to the U.S. in 1880s (from Marseille). So, I don't know if that would mean we are Cajun, Creole, or neither.