/r/AskHistorians
The Spanish Flu of 1918 didn't have a vaccine and spread throughout the population, and ultimately about 28% of Americans were infected, but epidemiologists say we need about 70% infected for herd immunity. So why did the flu stop spreading?
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I am Louis XIV and am about to have sex with my wife or mistress, do I leave my wig on or take it off? NSFW
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When Boris Yeltsin visited Texas in 1990, he went to a grocery store and was shocked by the abundance of food. This shattered his view of Communism and led to him reforming Russia. With all the Russian spies, how did the government officials not know about the condition of America before this?
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Just overheard a guy at a bar say that the term a "shot" (of alcohol) originated in the "Wild West" where someone could trade a bullet (a shot) from their revolver for a shot of alcohol, is this true? If not, why is it called a "shot"?
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Why do American high schools and universities use the nomenclature "freshman, sophomore, junior, senior" instead of, e.g., 1st-year, 2nd-year, etc.? How did that develop?
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Christopher Columbus was arrested and ostracised for a long list of well documented tyrannical and brutal acts in the New World, and for incompetence as governor of Spain's earliest colonies. How did he go from a disgraced figure to one who is celebrated by statues, and even his own holiday?
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In 'Pirates of Carribbean' Jack Sparrow says: 'You've clearly never been to Singapore.', implying that he has. How likely is it that a Carribbean career pirate from the golden age of piracy would travel to South East Asia?
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TIL that Tsar Nicholas II asked his first cousin, King George V of England, for political asylum in Britain during the Russian Revolution. George rejected it, and Nicholas was executed soon after. Did King George ever express remorse after Nicholas was killed?
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