The Triumphant Return of the History Thread!

After a long, work-mandated hiatus, the History Thread returns, as if on a sealed train from Switzerland. I’ll try to make this a weekly thread again, at least for the foreseeable future, but I can’t guarantee I’ll have time to put together detailed headers, as much as I’d like to. Feel free to discuss and share whatever historical reading, research, discoveries or random thoughts you’ve had.