Japan has some of the most natural disasters, it has volcanoes, earthquakes, typhoons, and even tsunamis. How did Japan see these before the discovery of how these were made?

Who can even count the number of indigenous beliefs systems that have come and gone? But from its origins in pre-Buddhist Japan, Shinto still exists today and exerts enough influence in the modern day that it's normal for Japanese people to bless newborns and hold wedding ceremonies, for teens and adults to pray for academic success and fortune in love and business (respectively) and for the government to support the maintenance of shrines across the country.

Is there a stronger system of folk belief in existence today? If not, are there any discernible factors for why that is?

Muslim civilizations were once considered the leaders of science, mathematics and medicine during the medieval times while European/Christian countries were lacking in these fields. In contemporary times most Muslim/middle East countries are considered developing countries, how did this complete reversal happen?

After Odovacer became King, I’m curious how quickly daily life changed for your average Roman citizen. What was life in Odovacer’s Italy like? How long did cultural staples like the Roman baths continue to be used? I know that Odovacer somewhat acted as a client of the emperor in the East and had the Senate’s support, so I’d imagine the Senate lasted at least some time after this, but at some point the high class Roman senatorial families had to move on. The transition from the empire to feudal medieval Europe didn’t happen overnight, but nonetheless I’d imagine there was still a huge difference between life in 450 AD and 500 AD.

I apologize for this being somewhat of a multi-pronged question, but they’re all so closely related I figured lumping them together would be better than asking separately. This period of Roman history has always fascinated me and the primary sources seem to be frustratingly thin as merely a fan of history and armchair historian. Thanks!

I understand that there were people that predated Marx on ideas of worker-owned economies, but how would someone identify themselves before the likes of Marx, and, more specifically, what would their ideas and values be?

Whats so different about the first half?

"Among the 5.3 million Wehrmacht casualties during the Second World War, more than 80 percent died during the last two years of the war." Princeton University Press, cant link it for some reason. Was it the same for the Red Army? i struggle to find anything regarding that.

From a bit of internet research, Hakon the Good doesn't appear in any sources until centuries after he was supposed to have lived. Also, despite being a foster son to King Athelstan, he's not mentioned in old English sources. How do we know he really existed and wasn't just a later effort by historians to shoehorn in a Christian figure? Broadly, how do historians determine the historicity of sparsely attested figures.

How did the commercial airline industry come to be dominated by two main players? Did the other competitors fail? Were they acquired? Why? What role did government play? Thanks!

I find it odd that many of the times people reference, or talk about the war they usually call it " the first arab- Israeli war". While it is technically not wrong, it is also not the most accurate way to describe it. In addition, a while ago I was talking to someone from the states who claimed that it wasn't really a war of independence. Can someone shed light on this?

As we know, in times of crisis the Roman republic sometimes gave one person absolute power for a certain amount of time, because they realized that one person could make faster decisions than a democratic assembly. But the dictators that I know of were all appointed during wars or invasions, in order to save the republic from external threats. Do we know of any cases where the republic appointed a dictator to resolve an internal crisis? For example, an outbreak of disease.

As I said, character called Newsreader (played by Ian McNeice) used those strange gestures, that looked like some form of sign language. Was this a thing in Republic/Empire? If yes, why they were doing that? If not, was there any set of gestures to communicate with deaf citizens of Ancient Rome?

This might come off a bit strangely, but I was reading a history of music and came across the subject of castratos in the eighteenth and nineteenth century. Beyond the cruelty of human castration I found the description of some of these men being sought out as sexual partners or even actively seducing women rather shocking. As someone from a rural background I would not expect a male who. has undergone such a procedure to be capable of intercourse, much less to be so renowned for their skill at it to allegedly have women declaring "blessed be the knife" in the audience, as the book claimed. Is this actually the case?

Having a bit of a hard time finding a straightforward answer to this question, only convoluted roundabouts. Any information would be much appreciated!

Edit: have found some acts including bombings of Italy’s own civilians in order to blame the left wing. Also seen a little bit about “a strategy of tension”.

Another question: if the red brigades were considered to be left wind, then who were the right wing of Italy’s government during this time?

I know that India has always been at the forefront of science and technology, but I don't know much about this particular empire.

I was looking deeper into the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World and came across Bede's account that added the Pharos of Alexandria to the lists that had been compiled by ancient writers. In his list, there are familiar wonders, like the Colossus of Rhodes and the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus. However, he also discusses a statue of Bellerophon on a horse that is suspended above a city purely through the use of magnetic stones, a bath heated by one continuously burning candle, and a theater carved from one piece of marble. I've never heard of any of these places before, and they seem pretty wondrous to me. He had to pull inspiration from somewhere, but I am having trouble finding any information on it. What are these wondrous places, and do they have real life equivalents or are they figments of medieval imaginations?

I've heard arguments that it was a myth propagated by enemies of the Phoenicians/Canaanites and that there wasn't solid evidence; however, I recall reading that archaeological finds in Carthage seem to confirm the practice.

My professor (an art history professor so I do take a lot of his larger historical facts with a grain of salt) was talking about Spain’s conquest over the Mexica Aztecs, and remarked that European warfare was historically exceptional in its violence, that is, European war making relied on actually & often personally killing a great number of enemies, while other cultures engaged in warfare with a goal of intimidation, with minimal actual killing. This was mentioned because the Mexica placed a large importance on dress/traditions that made their warriors more intimidating, and also focused on taking prisoners rather than killing them on the field (to be fair, some of these prisoners were obviously destined to be sacrificed, but then you’re getting into state/religion and not battlefield tactics). This didn’t sound wrong to me, like I see what he meant, but I was wondering how true this can be considering the size of the world and the variation of cultures. Is the European war tradition really more focused on death than others?

Apologies if I posted this incorrectly or broke any rules :)

Thank you!