There's a thread in AskReddit about how you could use modern knowledge to get ahead if you traveled back to England in the year 1500. A lot of the responses amount to "I'd try to teach them about hygiene, but then they'd burn me at the stake lol." It's become a pretty common trope that everyone from the past was fiercely anti-intellectual, and anyone that dared to be different was accused of being a witch, but how much truth is there to this? If I really did go back in time and try to share my modern knowledge, would they be receptive, or would they really burn me at the stake?

You can measure it however you'd like. Language, scenery, costume, events, etc.

Was this analysis popularized in any particular source at the time, or is it just sort of a general cliche at this point?

Specifically I'm writing a personal narrative about the experiences of the Spanish branch of my family, and I'd like to use that characterization in my introduction but I have no idea where to find a credible source for it.

Disclaimer : Mods, not sure if this type of question is acceptable, taking a chance on this, if it violates the sub's rules, I will take it down.

There was this theory (not sure if it is a discredited one or no) that suggested that the Soviet's headlong retreat during the opening phase of WW2 was not a clueless retreat in the face of superior forces, but one that was more of a planned one (doctrinally at least)

The theory was that, the Sov high command reversed Tukhachevsky's offensive operations theories and applied them for defense.

In essence this theory suggested that the Soviet's used a echeloned defense strategy (Operational, Tactical & Strategic layers). Some of the evidence offered was the fact that armour did not make a strong appearance till the Germans reached the Strategic echelon, or some hard defense points that sucked in German troops and delayed their offensive time tables.

It was a long time ago, and I do not recall the source NOR the exact nature of this theory.

Would somebody be able to point me towards the source (and no, it was not Icebreaker)

Thanks.

From what I've read, it was rhotic (r was hard, like in American english)... out of the very many different English language dialect variants (from Irish, to Australian, to American, etc), do we have any idea what they sounded like, and if so, what current accent they'd be closest to?

LA is near the coast but why isn't downtown built directly on a port or navigable river like most big coastal cities?

Most of the time when I see a history of philosophy book, they almost always go from Roman philosophers to Augustine (technically Roman, but usually lumped into the Medieval era with Aquinas) and Aquinas, and then on to maybe Machiavelli and onto the Enlightenment. Rarely are Islamic, Byzantine, or any non-western European philosophers mentioned. Anyway, my question is who were the great philosophers in the Medieval Byzantine Empire, and if there weren't any, then why?

Did they bake at all? All there food seems to be fried or steamed. Did they eat any kinds of grain besides rice?

On the surface it would seem that he was even more of a Maoist than Mao but I keep hearing that he was actually critical of Maoism. I would really appreciate someone shedding light on this for me.

I was just always confused about this concept. Is it impossible to just erase an amendment? Does it say anything in the Constitution about repealing an Amendment.

I've read a lot of accounts, heard songs, anecdotal accounts of men boxing for dozens, even hundreds of rounds back in earlier days. How accurate is this? Could people box for hours on end without serious concussions or damaging themselves. Or was it as debilitating as modern boxing matches, with serious consequences afterwards?

You always hear about a lot of alcohol because of a lack of clean drinking water, but if this was the case, wouldn't a substantial portion of the population have been alcoholics? I've only read about this as part of culinary history but wouldn't it shape pretty much everything that went on if everyone who could afford it was drunk all the time?

(I enjoy Sleepy Hollow but it's an incredibly stupid show; to its credit, it is littered with all sorts of interesting historical trivia, but I don't know about this one.)