/r/AskHistorians

Title	Upvotes	Author
Pop history often presents Yugoslavia as a "nationalist time bomb" destined to blow, held together only by the force of strongman President Tito. But he died in 1980 and the first Yugoslav war began in 1991. What was really going on?	3372	screwyoushadowban
In fairy tales, there is a popular trope of beautiful damsels being locked away in a tower, only to be rescued by a clever beau. Was it really that common in the medieval period to trap women in obscure towers? If so, for what reasons were they put there?	3371	isaamond
Rome famously conquered Egypt and used its vast and consistent grain harvest to feed Rome and other major cities at a level far beyond what their hinterlands could support. What did Egypt do with its excess grain before then? Where was it exported to, and were the Egyptians making a lot of money?	3370	RusticBohemian
Did Socrates Even Lift?	3369	The_DogeWhisperer
In Netflix's new show, Bridgerton, Lady Daphne Bridgerton marries at the age of 21 not knowing what sex is or where babies come from. Is this accurate or likely? NSFW	3369	madtm14
Did the ancient world have any Chernobyls? That is, places where something so terrible happened that everyone agreed to never go there again.	3366	[deleted]
Who/what was the serpent who tempted Adam & Eve in the Garden of Eden first intended to be, in the Torah? Christian layfolk often refer to it as Satan, but someone pointed out that the story predates the Christian conception of Satan by nearly 2000 years. Was it just a sneaky snek? A literary trope?	3363	TendingTheirGarden
The Aztec emperor Montezuma welcomed Cortes into his awe-inspiring palace and gave a speech in which he supposedly surrendered to the Spanish. But this speech went through two translators before reaching the ears of the Spaniards. How likely is it that Montezuma was misunderstood?	3361	RusticBohemian
Why are there so many ruins in cities that are still well-populated, such as Athens and Rome? At what point did they actually become ruined, and why did newer generations stop maintaining them?	3358	byronius_j
Beautiful Egyptian women, according to Herodotus, were not embalmed for 3 days for fear of the embalmers offering them "indignities". What does this mean, and is it true? NSFW	3357	[deleted]

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