I just read Plato's Apology for an online course (recorded) I am taking, and do not have the opportunity to interact with the professor, besides, this question would be outside the scope of the class.

While reading and listening to the lecture I realized what a big deal his trial and sentence were. Was this trial as big a deal as say Zimmerman or OJ? Or was it pretty much ignored by citizens that were not directly involved i.e. friends or politicians?

In the Apology it is implied that it was close, within 30 votes. Was there any fallout for Meletus or Anytus or other accusers? Or did they go on (or were propelled by it) to greater success?

A wonderful little SNL spoof trailer advertises Downton Abbey as the tale of "a bunch of old honkeys who live in a church." Was this a common practice for country homes? Would the family somehow inherit the building, or would they buy it and renovate to suit single family life?

I've read that some historians consider Stalin's death to be either an assassination or deliberately induced. For example, I've heard that his guards were secretly instructed not to go into his room when he was calling for help during his last moments, and that Beria was gloating about being the assassin later on.

Is there any truth to these statements, and others pertaining to Stalin's death? Is it probably that there was foul play involved?

Important: I'm looking for a consensus based on facts/history and don't want to see this thread become speculative. Thanks!

Russia went from an illiteracy rate of 80% in 1900 at the turn of the 19th century to 10% illiteracy rate in 1940, so that they were prepared just in time for WWII to have enough educated people to mass produce tanks and rifles and all the other things needed for modern war.

Particularly, how did Russia get hard science, university degrees from bachelor to PhD, coming from such a vast, vast backwardness in 1900. Where where were the PhDs to judge the PhD candidates in all the different majors? Why weren't those PhDs working in industry - how did they have enough PhDs and Masters to teach everyone. It doesn't make sense to me.

The article on wiki on Likbez does not really explain the exact numbers of people came from. It just said it was a policy.

Adding into everything, there was The Great Purge, from 1934 to 1939 decimated the intelligensia.

"After sunspot development research was judged un-Marxist, twenty-seven astronomers disappeared between 1936 and 1938. The Meteorological Office was violently purged as early as 1933 for failing to predict weather harmful to the crops"

Considering it takes 8-10 years to create a PhD, how did they get educated? Even if it is free education, where did they get the teachers to teach the students who got the education for free?

EDIT: I'm not talking about the simplest literacy, but the entire educational system which allowed Russia to go from the most backwards European nation in 1900, to being able to create their own nuclear bomb by 1950, as well as jet airplane manufacturing. This is not simple. The amount of brainpower and knowledge to create a jet industry is staggering. Let alone all the other industries. And again, this is from nothing in 1900. And this is against a backdrop of revolutions, purges, and all that horrible stuff going on at the same time.

I've read that there were two kings in Sparta and that they were ruled by an oligarchy. How exactly did their system of government work and who were the council of elders?

eg. Would I find flour? Refined sugar? Were jams and marmalades common then, and if so were they stored in jars as they are now?

What some of the differences between the diamyo of feudal Japan, and the dukes and counts of feudal Europe, both with regards to the importance of the family, how independent they where and how likely the shogun would retaliate against their miss doings? If it makes an unwieldy difference for what realm or shogun then maybe just Norman England vs Tokugawa period japan.

I know that, for example, the Fertile Crescent, now desert, as once lush and fertile land. Is the same true of Egypt?

Did the old Roman religion decline without a "fight"?

Did they find a bounty poster in the town square that read 'Wanted: Mad dog Tannen. Dead or alive. Bounty $300' then ride off and hunt down Mad Dog Tannen? After apprehending him, how would he get the bounty? How did they often apprehend the bounty? Was it usually for major crimes like murder and robbery or was it for minor things that the sheriff/Marshall wouldn't bother with such as petty thievery or assault?

I recently watched an episode of Ken Burns' documentary series on the American West that focused on the Mormons. The documentary made it seem like members of the Church of Latter Day Saints were persecuted much more severely than other groups that formed during the Second Great Awakening. Was there something specific to the Mormons or Mormonism that people hated? Were other groups like the Adventists or the Churches of Christ treated the same way?

When was the official world map recognized, showing the Americas on the left, etc. Were there ever efforts to institute a different version, with China or Saudi Arabia (or another country) as the center?