Since I almost always write the history
distribution for any packet my team submits, I can offer my
own particularly take on the history aspect of
Samer's question.
With 4/4 history, I always
generally try to write 1 American, 1 European, 1
Africa/Latin American, 1 East/Southeast/South Asian tossup.
Time period-wise, I generally try to hit 1 20th
century, 1 Ancient, 1 Classical-Enlightenment, 1
Industrial. I generally try to do the same on the bonuses,
but with different combinations, e.g. if I wrote a
20th Century American tossup, then I'll write a
Colonial American bonus.
Additionally, I'll make
sure that only one tossup answer is a person's name.
The other three ought to be concepts, events, dates,
objects, etc. I also limit myself to one military history
tossup OR bonus, but not one of each.
If it's 5/5
history, I'll probably add either European or American
since that's what most people know.
Given all
that, I think 25% 20th century is good for history. In
addition to the fact that many people's knowledge seems to
be more broad for the 20th century, it's also often
the only time period for which many people can answer
non-Western questions. As a result, I will occasionally go as
high as 3/8 20th century to add a gettable African or
Asian history question.