/r/AskHistorians

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Did the bizarre practice of turning men into eunuchs (and then giving these men substantial responsibilities) emerge independently in many places, or do we have some evidence of it starting in one place and then spreading through cultural diffusion?

636 upvotes • heracliusIII

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After slavery was banned, how did plantation owners keep up with their crops? What happened in the adjustment period?

636 upvotes • Error87C

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Were Medieval Wild Men the equivalent of todays' Uncontacted Tribes?

636 upvotes • Confucius3000

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Why was the d'Athée family specifically banned from holding royal office by Article 50 of the Magna Carta? What did they do that elicited such hatred that they were formally named in the agreement?

636 upvotes • [deleted]

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How did the ‘Indigenous Utopia’ myth come to be?

636 upvotes • Autistic-POV

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In his essay "Notes on Nationalism," George Orwell claims that a particularly hard fact for Irish nationalists to swallow is that Ireland only remained free due to British protection. What is he referring to? Who would they have been protecting the Irish from?

635 upvotes • Theodore-Hunter

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Why is the term "colonialism" often limited to European empires since the Age of Discoveries? Weren't ancient empires such as Rome, China or Persia also colonialist?

635 upvotes • weightoflostdreams

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In 1941, Deputy Fuhrer Rudolf Hess flew alone into hostile England in an unauthorized attempt to broker peace, where he was immediately arrested and imprisoned. Was this the result of some manic/bipolar episode, or just terrible judgement?

635 upvotes • lildebbiecreampie

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Was Ebenezer Scrooge coded as a puritan (or dissenter/calvinist/non-conformist/etc.)? His dislike of Christmas, odd first-name, and commitment to profit are all stereotypes of English evangelical minorities in this period.

635 upvotes • ChubbyHistorian

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Has there ever been an account of the winner prosecuting their own generals of war crimes?

634 upvotes • bobschnowski

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Title	Upvotes	Author	Mark as read	Favorited	Rating	Add to a list
Did the bizarre practice of turning men into eunuchs (and then giving these men substantial responsibilities) emerge independently in many places, or do we have some evidence of it starting in one place and then spreading through cultural diffusion?	636	heracliusIII
After slavery was banned, how did plantation owners keep up with their crops? What happened in the adjustment period?	636	Error87C
Were Medieval Wild Men the equivalent of todays' Uncontacted Tribes?	636	Confucius3000
Why was the d'Athée family specifically banned from holding royal office by Article 50 of the Magna Carta? What did they do that elicited such hatred that they were formally named in the agreement?	636	[deleted]
How did the ‘Indigenous Utopia’ myth come to be?	636	Autistic-POV
In his essay "Notes on Nationalism," George Orwell claims that a particularly hard fact for Irish nationalists to swallow is that Ireland only remained free due to British protection. What is he referring to? Who would they have been protecting the Irish from?	635	Theodore-Hunter
Why is the term "colonialism" often limited to European empires since the Age of Discoveries? Weren't ancient empires such as Rome, China or Persia also colonialist?	635	weightoflostdreams
In 1941, Deputy Fuhrer Rudolf Hess flew alone into hostile England in an unauthorized attempt to broker peace, where he was immediately arrested and imprisoned. Was this the result of some manic/bipolar episode, or just terrible judgement?	635	lildebbiecreampie
Was Ebenezer Scrooge coded as a puritan (or dissenter/calvinist/non-conformist/etc.)? His dislike of Christmas, odd first-name, and commitment to profit are all stereotypes of English evangelical minorities in this period.	635	ChubbyHistorian
Has there ever been an account of the winner prosecuting their own generals of war crimes?	634	bobschnowski