General

Personally find palaeontology interesting as well as world war 2 and South African history

Social studies was my strongest subject in school besides science. When I was a kid I wanted to be a paleontologist.

Unlike a surprisingly high number of people in this thread I'm no history scholar (maybe there's a correlation between history students and feeders and thus I've been looking for them in all the wrong places 🤯), but even as a plebeian I do love rugging up on the couch and watching a good documentary about Nazis, vintage motor racing, or vintage motor racing under the Nazis.

I have collected a stash of WWII memorabilia some Vietnam battle field relics as well.
Have a few cold war era East German caps and uniform pins.
I find this stuff in antique stores and junk shops. I have some WWII and Vietnam era ammo cans.
I have started collecting Army field jackets recently and have 2 Vietnam era OD green and one tiger stripe field jackets.
Have 2 more more recent one is woodland camo and the other is desert camo.
Have a complete chemical jacket and pants from Desert storm time frame.
I find this stuff interesting so I collect it.

That's a unique collection. I have some of my fathers wwii items... uniform, silver and bronze stars, and let's just say, other souvenirs, from the campaign in italy. I managed to scarf an east german flag when I was over there when the wall fell, or just after it actually.

Very nice that you have your Dad's things.
The flag is a cool piece.
I used to have a small Japanese flag and part of the pole it was attached to but sold it to a collector.

I've been to the Pompeii ruins and was at german reunification ceremonies the night it happened in Berlin. Nice to experience some things first hand.

Wow that must have been an amazing experience.

Well, here goes. American history with a Constitutional overlay, the ethical contradictions, the beauty of change and correction. On s more personal not: American antiques, mechanical weight driven clocks,early construction and art.

I enjoy reading various bits of history in a non-academic context. Also well researched novels set in historical periods can help bring a time and place alive. I'm kind of scattershot, but roughly speaking I like those transition times and starting of things points. When the fur trade was spreading through Canada, dark ages Europe or just after the black death, as Protestantism was spreading through Europe, archeology of very early humans, things like that.

But my wife has an MA in history, so I leave the heavy historical lifting to her.