/r/AskHistorians

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Would an Arabic speaker from today be able to at least somewhat communicate with an Arabic speaker from around 1200 AD?

4078 upvotes • _Mehdi_haned

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After his term as president, John Quincy Adams ran for a seat in the House of Representatives and held it for 17 years. How unique was it for American presidents to run for "lesser," public offices after being president?

4077 upvotes • RusticBohemian

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Sub question - Why can't we have 'Answered' flairs!?

4073 upvotes • timeforknowledge

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After JFK was shot, the 25th Amendment was passed to clarify presidential succession and disability. Why wasn't such a document needed after previous presidential deaths in office? What made JFK different?

4073 upvotes • mediumenby

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Was Cleopatra Black? And what it means to talk about historical race

4070 upvotes • cleopatra_philopater

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I'm a career Roman legionnaire who has just finished his 25 year term and been granted a plot of land on the frontier. What happens now if I have no idea how to farm, or how to work that particular soil?

4062 upvotes • Rholles

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When two people touched and experienced a jolt of static electricity between each other, what did ancient peoples think was going on? Has there been any mention of this phenomenon prior to the discovery and understanding of static electricity?

4061 upvotes • TheBotanist73

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Modern meat is full of preservatives and still spoils fairly quickly when left unrefrigerated. How did people in the old days have fresh meat in open air markets? Wouldn't flies alone ruin the meat within a few hours by laying eggs? Did people just eat spoiled meat regularly?

4061 upvotes • PlaguePandemic2000

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Why are trophies often cups or chalices? It seems quite arbitrary without historical context. How did this tradition start?

4057 upvotes • MrSeismic

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The Roman pantheon was presented to me in school as the same as the Greek, just with different names; was it that simple, or were there cultural distinctions being glossed over in the interest of brevity/simplicity? If there were differences, what were they?

4051 upvotes • td4999

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Title	Upvotes	Author	Mark as read	Favorited	Rating	Add to a list
Would an Arabic speaker from today be able to at least somewhat communicate with an Arabic speaker from around 1200 AD?	4078	_Mehdi_haned
After his term as president, John Quincy Adams ran for a seat in the House of Representatives and held it for 17 years. How unique was it for American presidents to run for "lesser," public offices after being president?	4077	RusticBohemian
Sub question - Why can't we have 'Answered' flairs!?	4073	timeforknowledge
After JFK was shot, the 25th Amendment was passed to clarify presidential succession and disability. Why wasn't such a document needed after previous presidential deaths in office? What made JFK different?	4073	mediumenby
Was Cleopatra Black? And what it means to talk about historical race	4070	cleopatra_philopater
I'm a career Roman legionnaire who has just finished his 25 year term and been granted a plot of land on the frontier. What happens now if I have no idea how to farm, or how to work that particular soil?	4062	Rholles
When two people touched and experienced a jolt of static electricity between each other, what did ancient peoples think was going on? Has there been any mention of this phenomenon prior to the discovery and understanding of static electricity?	4061	TheBotanist73
Modern meat is full of preservatives and still spoils fairly quickly when left unrefrigerated. How did people in the old days have fresh meat in open air markets? Wouldn't flies alone ruin the meat within a few hours by laying eggs? Did people just eat spoiled meat regularly?	4061	PlaguePandemic2000
Why are trophies often cups or chalices? It seems quite arbitrary without historical context. How did this tradition start?	4057	MrSeismic
The Roman pantheon was presented to me in school as the same as the Greek, just with different names; was it that simple, or were there cultural distinctions being glossed over in the interest of brevity/simplicity? If there were differences, what were they?	4051	td4999