/r/askhistorians

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Only show posts with narrations

Is it possible for entire civilizations to have existed without us knowing currently due to lack of evidence?

3298 upvotes • FenderBenderDefender

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How badly did the "average" slaveowner treat their slaves?

3298 upvotes • Tikhar762

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Why is the Bible Belt in the South if the Northern colonies were largely founded by religious communities, while the southern ones founded by commercial opportunities?

3298 upvotes • Laika0405

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25 years after she'd been burned at the stake for heresy, Joan of Arc was re-tried by the church and found innocent. What motivated this? Was it as exceptional as it sounds for the medieval church to re-try cases that had already been adjudicated?

3295 upvotes • td4999

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Why did the US purchase of Iceland and Greenland not happen?

3295 upvotes • OlSmokeyZap

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The new Netflix series 'Frontier' portrays the 18th century fur trade as extremely violent and competitive. Was it really as brutal as the show depicts?

3294 upvotes • Oozing_Sex

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As hosts of the 1980 Summer Olympics, the USSR was invited to host that year's Paralympics. In response, they issued a statement denying the existence of any disabled people in the country (and hence the lack of disability sports). Why did the Soviet government state such a ridiculous claim?

3292 upvotes • benjaneson

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Why is Smith such a common English last name when it seems like it would have been a relatively uncommon profession, with most places only needing one blacksmith?

3291 upvotes • thegreygandalf

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Why do we sometimes translate the names of Native American historical figures (Sitting Bull) and sometimes not (Tecumseh)?

3290 upvotes • The_Manchurian

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Chesnut trees made up 25% of the forests in the Eastern US before chestnut blight killed almost all of them. They rained hundreds of thousands of pounds of food down every year. How big of an impact did this bounty have on the diets of Native Americans and colonials?

3290 upvotes • RusticBohemian

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Title	Upvotes	Author	Mark as read	Favorited	Rating	Add to a list
Is it possible for entire civilizations to have existed without us knowing currently due to lack of evidence?	3298	FenderBenderDefender
How badly did the "average" slaveowner treat their slaves?	3298	Tikhar762
Why is the Bible Belt in the South if the Northern colonies were largely founded by religious communities, while the southern ones founded by commercial opportunities?	3298	Laika0405
25 years after she'd been burned at the stake for heresy, Joan of Arc was re-tried by the church and found innocent. What motivated this? Was it as exceptional as it sounds for the medieval church to re-try cases that had already been adjudicated?	3295	td4999
Why did the US purchase of Iceland and Greenland not happen?	3295	OlSmokeyZap
The new Netflix series 'Frontier' portrays the 18th century fur trade as extremely violent and competitive. Was it really as brutal as the show depicts?	3294	Oozing_Sex
As hosts of the 1980 Summer Olympics, the USSR was invited to host that year's Paralympics. In response, they issued a statement denying the existence of any disabled people in the country (and hence the lack of disability sports). Why did the Soviet government state such a ridiculous claim?	3292	benjaneson
Why is Smith such a common English last name when it seems like it would have been a relatively uncommon profession, with most places only needing one blacksmith?	3291	thegreygandalf
Why do we sometimes translate the names of Native American historical figures (Sitting Bull) and sometimes not (Tecumseh)?	3290	The_Manchurian
Chesnut trees made up 25% of the forests in the Eastern US before chestnut blight killed almost all of them. They rained hundreds of thousands of pounds of food down every year. How big of an impact did this bounty have on the diets of Native Americans and colonials?	3290	RusticBohemian