/r/askhistorians

Year:

Only show posts with narrations

When the world changed from the Gros Michel to the Cavendish Banana in the 1960s, how did the public react to the smaller and less tasty new fruits?

2452 upvotes • yambalayan

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What was social life like within the Iroquois Confederacy?

2449 upvotes • TheHondoGod

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Is there a particular reason why Norse mythology depicts Thor wielding a hammer when warhammers were not a common Viking weapon?

2449 upvotes • ATiredSaltMiner

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The KKK is known primarily as a white supremacist and anti-Catholic terror organization, but it was a huge political force as well. Did the KKK take positions on things like the construction of railroads, unions, education spending, and other more "normal" parts of politics?

2448 upvotes • TreebeardButIntoBDSM

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Why was switching rations from wheat to barely an effective punishment for a Roman soldier?

2448 upvotes • Excellent_Signal_945

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Wikipedia's article on US Civil War prison camps has a pretty disturbing picture of an almost literally skeletal but apparently still living survivor of one. Is the identity of this particular soldier known? What happened to him? NSFW

2448 upvotes • LorenzoApophis

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Early episodes of "Seinfeld" often include scenes of relatively well-off characters going to communal laundromats. Was it uncommon for New Yorkers in the 1990s to own their own washers/dryers? If so, is that something specific to New York or a wider trend?

2447 upvotes • homeland

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Some American Revolutionary War Veterans were still alive during the 1860's. What did they think about the Civil War?

2446 upvotes • Jencaasi

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'Amadeus' portrays Mozart as recognized among his peers as a true genius, but always broke, a controversial figure, and not particularly embraced by the public at large in his time. Was this an accurate representation, and if so, what led to his universal recognition?

2445 upvotes • td4999

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Why are Catholic saints patrons of such specific and seemingly random things? For instance, Philip is patron saint of pastry chefs. Maximilian Kolbe is patron of Esperanto speakers. Stephen is patron of headaches and Rwanda, a country which didn't exist at the time of his canonization.

2443 upvotes • LorenzoApophis

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Title	Upvotes	Author	Mark as read	Favorited	Rating	Add to a list
When the world changed from the Gros Michel to the Cavendish Banana in the 1960s, how did the public react to the smaller and less tasty new fruits?	2452	yambalayan
What was social life like within the Iroquois Confederacy?	2449	TheHondoGod
Is there a particular reason why Norse mythology depicts Thor wielding a hammer when warhammers were not a common Viking weapon?	2449	ATiredSaltMiner
The KKK is known primarily as a white supremacist and anti-Catholic terror organization, but it was a huge political force as well. Did the KKK take positions on things like the construction of railroads, unions, education spending, and other more "normal" parts of politics?	2448	TreebeardButIntoBDSM
Why was switching rations from wheat to barely an effective punishment for a Roman soldier?	2448	Excellent_Signal_945
Wikipedia's article on US Civil War prison camps has a pretty disturbing picture of an almost literally skeletal but apparently still living survivor of one. Is the identity of this particular soldier known? What happened to him? NSFW	2448	LorenzoApophis
Early episodes of "Seinfeld" often include scenes of relatively well-off characters going to communal laundromats. Was it uncommon for New Yorkers in the 1990s to own their own washers/dryers? If so, is that something specific to New York or a wider trend?	2447	homeland
Some American Revolutionary War Veterans were still alive during the 1860's. What did they think about the Civil War?	2446	Jencaasi
'Amadeus' portrays Mozart as recognized among his peers as a true genius, but always broke, a controversial figure, and not particularly embraced by the public at large in his time. Was this an accurate representation, and if so, what led to his universal recognition?	2445	td4999
Why are Catholic saints patrons of such specific and seemingly random things? For instance, Philip is patron saint of pastry chefs. Maximilian Kolbe is patron of Esperanto speakers. Stephen is patron of headaches and Rwanda, a country which didn't exist at the time of his canonization.	2443	LorenzoApophis