Do you have evidence for this claim? Typically, the early adopters are the nerds who don't mind getting their literal (and now metaphorical) hands dirty tinkering with the internals of an unreliable contraption, while wealthy non-enthusiasts wait until the technology has stabilized enough to be confident they won't be sleeping in a barn.

Network effects: Is there anything they can't do?

Is an "identity parade" what Americans would call a lineup?

Excellent counterexample to the chronocentric worldview. Our predecessors may not have had the technology to actually execute such warfare, but we're fools if we think they were stupid and couldn't imagine it.

@pipe I don't see what spinach has to do with this!

As a note, a 3lb loaf of bread is a really big loaf. Most home-baked loaves are 1.5–2lb.

@LarsBosteen Not to mention that the United States' war against the Barbary pirates (starting 1801) was largely in response to the Islamic raiders capturing slaves from Europe.

@LarsBosteen By that point, Uncle Sam was a stock personification of the United States.

Let's not forget Kerberos (Spot)!

The concept of a "private company" in the modern sense doesn't make very much sense in the context of Rome.

Typo: "finding its literary referent"

@Sean This is known now but was deliberately obscured for several decades, as figuring out how to deal with neutron reflections off the backing plate (attached to the plug) was one of the tricks that could make the difference between success and fizzle.

@immibis There's also the possibility of anticipation of redaction. There's a clear hierarchy of sensitivity from the section heading to paragraph A to paragraph B.

I'm curious whether "gun powder" is a euphemism.

Can you specify the nature or origin of the descriptor "obese" as you use it? (For example, it's not a general synonym for "plump".)