With Russia being as large as it is, and with the bulk of the population/political clout seemingly centered in the west, I was curious to see if there had been any discussion of break up the federation, especially in the wake of the Soviet Union.

Being mindful of the fact that different groups faced different circumstances, roughly how long did it take for Allied soldiers to get from the boats to the tops of the bluffs?

As in, was common land typically over-utilised and relatively unproductive? Were the Enclosures beneficial to the average Englishman by increasing efficiency?

I recently read a book called Uncommon Grounds about the history of coffee, and while I enjoyed it, I felt that the book History of the World In Six Glasses, was much more detailed in the earlier parts of coffee history, such as the 1200s-1800s, whereas Uncommon Grounds went over this, but went over the 1800s-now a lot more.

Then I realized, aside from a handful of books (most which I read) there aren't many sources for the history of coffee. Where does anyone get this kind of information?

I'd imagine combing through all books on any period in history, scouring them for any trace of coffee related things would take far too long. I'd also imagine that there isn't a depository of all texts and images related to coffee from any time period. So where would one go to get any of this, or any kind of really specific information?

Is it possible that there are forgotten or accidentally killed slaves in there?

As far as I know, the ancient Romans, Greeks, Egyptians, etc., had no racial issues in the sense that they didn't connect skin colour with inferiority. I understand that in the 15th century (?) the Europeans thought the Africans were cursed with the sin of Ham, and thus "deformed". What happened between these two times ?

After Alexander started his conquests and before Rome absorbed Egypt, what happened in Japan?

I see a few modern blacksmiths only work on weapons and fantasy chain mail, and as cool as I feel it is, I can't help but think if blacksmiths were as common as they are in a lot of fantasy games, they would probably not be forging a lot of swords for everyone in the village, so what would they have forged more of?

Did they have anything like a guild? Were they described at the time as a specific group? Did people look out for their common interests on a grander scale or were they simply tolerated and ignored, or even actively driven out? More specifically prostitutes in urban areas such as Rome or Florence

I've always been told it was the Fire of London but why would this stop the plague across all of England?

I haven't learnt a lot on German Unification but it would make sense to me, particularly considering their shared Catholicism, that Bavaria would be much more likely to join Austria than largely Protestant Germany. Was it just a hang-over from the Holy Roman Empire which Bavaria had been a part of or were there more political reasons for it?

I recently read Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian, and I'm interested in opinions regarding the historical accuracy of the novel's depiction of the Glanton gang and general circumstances of mid-19th century life.

I understand McCarthy based the novel largely on Samuel Chamberlain's My Confession: The Recollections of a Rogue. I'd love to read it, but available copies are currently out of my price range.

I'd appreciate any recommendations for books or resources describing mid- to late 19th century life in the American Southwest. I'd also be interested in books other than Chamberlain's detailing the exploits of the Glanton gang.

I'm taking an art history course this semester and we have started with right before the Renaissance. The Prof was talking about how the artwork in the early Renaissance (or a little before) used a Hieratic Scale, and predominately featured was the Virgin Mary. The Prof went on to say that Mary would be prayed to because she was seen as merciful and loving, and obviously a mother figure and Jesus was more like the Judge at the end of life at the gates of Heaven.

I am not a Christian now, but I used to be and the main focus was praying to Jesus, So when did that focus of worship shift over to Jesus instead of the Virgin Mary? Thanks for your time!

When the bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were dropped, did japan even realize what had happened? What did Japan do to those cities? How did it inform the rest of the nation? How did it handle foreign affairs with the other countries involved in the war? Did any relevant thing happen in the days between the attacks?

Thank you very much for your attention and possible reply. Have a nice day.

Obviously, demographically Asia was the most likely continent for a religion to appear because it had the largest population. However, it still seems to me that something else must have skewed things to make a religion more likely to grow if it came from Asia.

this question could also be posted to r/explaintomethesocioligyofreligion, but I wonder if any historians can offer an explanation?