I have to choose an essay topic by later this week. I have to argue a side for any controversial topic in history. (Wars, Political Parties, etc.) It is a 15 page paper, and I want a topic that would be easy top stretch into 15 pages. Something interesting would be great too. Right now I've been thinking "Why we shouldn't have fought in the Vietnam War", "Whiskeys Rebellion", and "The Know-Nothing party" Thanks!

With the recent news about the events unfolding on the Crimean peninsula, we've gotten an influx of questions about the history of Russia, Ukraine and the Crimea. We've decided that instead of having many smaller threads about this, we'll have one big mega thread.

We will have several flaired users with an expertise within these areas in this thread but since this isn't an AmA, you are welcome to reply to questions as well as long as you adhere to our rules:

• If you don't know, don't post. Unless you're completely certain about what you're writing, we ask you to refrain from writing.

• Please write a comprehensive answer. Two sentences isn't comprehensive. A link to Wikipedia or a blog isn't comprehensive.

• Don't speculate.

• No questions on events after 1994. If you're interested in post '94 Russia or Ukraine, please go to /r/AskSocialScience.

Remember to be courteous and be prepared to provide sources if asked to!

Considering Iceland was mostly settled by Norwegians and Norway was Iceland's number one trading partner it must have lasted for quite some time but I can't find any sources that tell me for how long.

The conspiracy goes that Churchill knew that Coventry was to be bombed, but did not act on this knowledge, to give the Nazi forces a false sense of security.

I know that the practise of false security was given to the Japanese by the Americans in the Philippines, who would always send a scout plane to justify any attack, but did the English do similarly with such a large city and centre of production?

My family arrived here in the 1630s and is said to have had a large swath of land that encompassed what is now Winthrop and most of Revere Massachusetts (I am told at the time the area was referred to as Winnisimiit). The ancestor I am speaking of was named Belcher. I learned from someone I met at a party a few years back that, his ancestors (guy at party) and mine were complicit in the round up of Natives and having them placed on Deer Island where most starved to death.

I am seeking more information on the actual roundup of the natives and their exile to the island as well as any other information I can find about the natives that inhabited the area.

I believe the tribe just to the north of us were called the Sachem if that helps at all?

For those who don't know:

• DHS - Department of Homeland Security

• DoJ - Department of Justice

I have heard that stamps are legal tender to pay debts, or at least were at some point in time. I''d be interested to know if there's any truth to this!

Thanks!

Growing up in school we studied Christopher Columbus many times, and it seemed like in each year we learned a contradictory version of the story. So I really have no idea why the Indians were called Indians.

One year we learned that Columbus called them Indians because he had thought he had gone to India. Another year we learned that Columbus had actually thought he was in the West Indies, and not India. Finally, one time we had a school assembly where some actual Indians (Cherokee, I think) came and gave a presentation about their culture and their history, and they said that Columbus didn't call them Indians because he was confused about where he was, but rather as an abbreviation for "Indiosis People" (I have no idea the actual spelling for this word, as I only heard it, and I didn't write it down), which meant "Beautiful People" in some language, but I don't remember which one.

As a child these conflicting stories really confused me, and even today I don't know which one is true. I've usually tended to believe the version the Indians who came to our school told us, seeing as they were actual Indians, I think they would know. But I've never heard of the word "Indiosis" after that, and have never been able to find it anywhere, but that may not mean anything because I don't know the spelling.

Always base 60? What did non-western societies use? I heard base 60 is a Babylonian thing, when did Europe start adopting it?

Stereotypical sundial? Is the sundial universal? Have there been other methods?

Or perhaps a deeper question...is the need to accurately tell time only a relatively recent construct, brought about by industrialization and the likes? (Did past societies not care all that much and instead just made basic judgements based on the sun's position?)

I know that there were hundreds of suspects when the murders have happened, but most of these have been dismissed or seen as unlikely by modern investigators. I'm also pretty sure, from what I've read, that the taunting letters like "From Hell" were hoaxes. So, out of all the suspects, past and present, for the murders, which is the one that has been less-dismissed by scholars?

Throughout this whole debacle they keep mentioning all these territories Russia owns but I'm sitting here wondering, when? Did genghis khan try taking any of it? For how long has Russia been so huge, and it's mind blowing to think they also had Alaska.

Was there mass violence committed on the native Britons, or were most of the natives assimilated in the Germanic cultures of the migrating tribes? Were the migrating tribes of the Jutes, Saxons, and Angles hostile to each other at all?

How much do we know about Native American history prior to European contact? How good of an idea do we actually have of Native American life from pre-Columbian times?

Trying to get a less biased view

With all the unrest in Crimea I have been doing some reading about the history of the region. Sources I have read say that if Russia were to lose the warm water port of Sevastopol their status as a world military power would be in jeopardy. Why is this? Why aren't their many cold water ports enough to maintain global influence?

I am not looking for a particular answer/how to for my assignment, but I am looking for sources and insights that some historians may have. I am doing plenty of work on my own through my school's library. Just wanted to see if I can get any extra goodies from reddit.

I am taking a history course that requires a 15 (roughly) page final paper. My focus, and my professor's request, is to look into the evolution of battle tactics in Europe (particularly France) during and after the first crusade.

My professor has lead me to look into the author John France, and the historical character, Louis the Fat. He mentions that Louis was one of the first European rulers to utilize siege machines such as trebuchets, towers, catapults, etc.

The question I have is this: What influence did the First Crusade have on the development of warfare in Europe? Another thing I want to look at is; is it possible that these siege tactics and technologies were borrowed/taken (and started) from Muslim or other Eastern armies during the First Crusade? Is there a tie, or crossover that can be found, where European armies took tactics from the Muslims? My thought behind that second question is that many cities Eastern Europe and the Middle East, such as Constantinople and Jerusalem were walled, and likely required siege warfare in order to be taken. Walled cities in Europe were not so common however, but siege warfare could be used not to take cities, but castles.

This isn't just limited to siege warfare either. Weapons, armor, battlefield tactics, etc, etc are all on the board.

I hope I have given valid question, and any sources anyone can provide would be greatly appreciated.