/r/askhistorians
If Alexander the Great slept with a copy of the Iliad under his pillow, as according to legend, what would be the physical form of his copy - one compact scroll, a pile of scrolls, something else entirely?
Mark as read: Add to a list
There are some semi-popular memes about going back in time to give medieval peasants things like Mt. Dew, Doritos, Warheads candy etc. The joke being that peasants would never have had that 'blast of flavor.' What would have been the biggest 'blast of flavor' they would have had back then?
Mark as read: Add to a list
After watching many old westerns: Why didn't they just breed the cattle in Montana, and skip the whole business of driving them up from Texas?
Mark as read: Add to a list
In The Gulag Archipelago, Solzhenitsyn describes how, during an 11 minute standing ovation for one of Stalin's speeches in the Soviet Union, the first person to stop clapping was arrested and imprisoned for 10 years. Is there any truth to this story?
Mark as read: Add to a list
How did Lacrosse, originally a Native American sport, become so strongly associated with private schools and colleges in the US?
Mark as read: Add to a list
Why did the Nazi's document every individual that they capture and kill during the Holocaust, along with other extensive information regarding them?
Mark as read: Add to a list
I am a non Roman citizen in the year 50 a.d in the Roman empire. What's to prevent me from claiming that I'm a Roman citizen? What kind of proof would people ask for? If I was to go to a different city will they just take my word for it?
Mark as read: Add to a list
In the Village People song, "YMCA", the group describes that you can "stay there" to "get yourself clean" and "have a good meal" at the Y. How has the mission of the YMCA changed since 1978 and was the song an accurate reflection of the practices in 1978?
Mark as read: Add to a list
In 1630, the colonizer population of the US didn't surpass 5,000. By 1700, it numbered over 250,000. To what is owed this population boom, and, as a side question, why didn't colonies like Brazil, Mexico and Argentina, older and more established, grow this quickly in the 17th century?
Mark as read: Add to a list
Tuesday Trivia: In 1440, the queen of Hungary and one of her ladies-in-waiting stole the Hungarian crown—the actual, physical crown—to save the throne for her son. Helene Kottanner broke into the vault, snatched the crown, and escaped across the frozen Danube with a sled. Let’s talk about ROYALTY!
Mark as read: Add to a list