I’m curious if the opposite of most heroic movies was feasible. Would it have been possible for a soldier to have been deployed to Europe or the pacific, but basically nothing notable happened to them? They missed out on every battle, never had to fire their weapon, never saw atrocities. Just kind of existing and then went back home and basically said 🤷

I've been going down a rabbit hole on people who just could not be controlled, the ones who said or did the most unhinged things with zero regard for consequences. One I can think of is Werner Herzog. I want to know your niche picks though.

I’m not really looking for world leaders because that just feels like cheating (something crazy is bound to slip out if every word you say is broadcast), but if you really feel a world leader is worth a mention, please educate me.

Do we know anything at all about the guy who shot Henry V in the face? Do we even have any legends about it?

There's history and myth about the guy who shot Richard I, stories about the death of William Rufus, and plenty of tales for the early deaths of other English kings. We also know about the guy who saved Henry's life.

So, what about the guy that nearly took out Prince Hal?

So, while reading Andrew Roberts' Napoleon: A Life, I see he had a meticulous filing system. Is anyone aware of the method he used? I am only asking as to improve my own organization in life.

It seems on the surface that the Austrian-Hungarian Empire has a lot of high level similarities with the USA. Very diverse culture, questionable governance, changing alliances, and unsuccessful military campaigns seem to be present in both.

I’d love to hear perspectives about the similarities and differences to the USA’s development, especially the late 1880-90s.

Currently reading Martyn Randy’s “The Habsburgs, The Rise and Fall of a World Power”. I’d love more book suggestions.

I generally want to include the use of swords in a game I am making. However, I searched it up and swords were used as just a weapon you take out when you are in deep trouble, or mainly used by cavalry and not foot soldiers. To try to include swords or their equivalent, I wanted to find a soldier that uses it. Thus, is there any foot soldier in any point in any point of history who used a melee bladed weapon that was not a long-rangee one and used it as part of a military strategy for offense.

I've been reading about various coups and power grabs throughout history and I'm genuinely confused about why a ruler who successfully seized the throne through force seemed to care whether people thought they had a "right" to it. Like, you already won. What made legitimacy matter so much that they'd go through all this effort to justify their claim retroactively, marry into royal lines, or get the church involved? Was it just about making their rule easier to enforce, or was there something deeper going on culturally?