/r/askhistorians

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When did a triangle become the symbol for "play" and a square the symbol for "stop"?

340 upvotes • Yazman

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Did Commodus, the infamous Roman Emperor depicted in Gladiator by Joaquin Phoenix, really murder his father Marcus Aurelius? And was he as "crazy" as depicted in the movie?

340 upvotes • The_Red_Kraken

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In the Crown, Winston Churchill tells Queen Elizabeth that the monarch never offers the prime minister refreshment, and the prime minister never sits. In Darkest Hour, King George VI and Winston Churchill sit down to lunch together weekly. Who is right?

340 upvotes • hilarymeggin

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The anachronistic "Renaissance" image of Jesus has become ubiquitous now, but how did the 7th Century Christian church picture Jesus? How did the writers who spoke about him in the Quran picture him, and were there significant differences from the Christian depiction at the time?

339 upvotes • Ellikichi

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When do scholars believe seppuku first began, what were the circumstances, and why was disembowelment the chosen method? Or did the ritual suicide as we know it slowly morph from another form of suicide into disembowelment?

339 upvotes • cleantoe

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I read a biography on Stalin when I was younger which claimed that where he grew up, many people still walked around in chain mail. Is this accurate for late 19th century Georgia? Also, during the middle ages would it have been common for people to wear mail or other armor outside of warfare?

339 upvotes • hborrgg

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What did Arab/Muslim sailors do for water in olden times?

339 upvotes • visiny

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When did mankind start deliberately breeding mules, and what inspired the creation of these wonderful hybrids?

339 upvotes • Erich1993

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What is the history of the modern watermelon?

339 upvotes • atmdk7

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What was it like to be single in the USSR after the war?

339 upvotes • QWERT123321Z

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Title	Upvotes	Author	Mark as read	Favorited	Rating	Add to a list
When did a triangle become the symbol for "play" and a square the symbol for "stop"?	340	Yazman
Did Commodus, the infamous Roman Emperor depicted in Gladiator by Joaquin Phoenix, really murder his father Marcus Aurelius? And was he as "crazy" as depicted in the movie?	340	The_Red_Kraken
In the Crown, Winston Churchill tells Queen Elizabeth that the monarch never offers the prime minister refreshment, and the prime minister never sits. In Darkest Hour, King George VI and Winston Churchill sit down to lunch together weekly. Who is right?	340	hilarymeggin
The anachronistic "Renaissance" image of Jesus has become ubiquitous now, but how did the 7th Century Christian church picture Jesus? How did the writers who spoke about him in the Quran picture him, and were there significant differences from the Christian depiction at the time?	339	Ellikichi
When do scholars believe seppuku first began, what were the circumstances, and why was disembowelment the chosen method? Or did the ritual suicide as we know it slowly morph from another form of suicide into disembowelment?	339	cleantoe
I read a biography on Stalin when I was younger which claimed that where he grew up, many people still walked around in chain mail. Is this accurate for late 19th century Georgia? Also, during the middle ages would it have been common for people to wear mail or other armor outside of warfare?	339	hborrgg
What did Arab/Muslim sailors do for water in olden times?	339	visiny
When did mankind start deliberately breeding mules, and what inspired the creation of these wonderful hybrids?	339	Erich1993
What is the history of the modern watermelon?	339	atmdk7
What was it like to be single in the USSR after the war?	339	QWERT123321Z