/r/askhistorians

Title	Upvotes	Author
In Catch-22, whenever the pilots of Yossarian's group approach the number of bombing missions required to be sent home, the number required is adjusted upwards. Did Joseph Heller base this scenario off of actual practices during the second World War?	2359	td4999
I have read here before that Medieval families would generally share a bed and it was not uncommon for sex to occur with children present. Which makes me wonder...would someone of the period have ANY expectation of privacy at all?	2357	demuratrix
The famous diarist Samuel Pepys is routinely abusive towards women, taking advantage of his maids (sometimes young girls), groping even when resisted, cheating on his wife, etc. Were 17th century men that abusive towards women and young girls, or was Pepys an especially bad example even for his age?	2357	fan_of_the_pikachu
Nowadays we look back at Victorian capitalists like Vanderbilt or Morgan in a pretty negative light. "Robber Barons", etc. But at the time, did they have "fans" like Elon Musk does today? Were they as visible in the media as people like Musk or Bezos are today?	2356	GSV_No_Fixed_Abode
How extensive was the purposeful destruction of foodstuffs during the Great Depression? Steinbeck paints a very severe picture.	2355	10z20Luka
Did ancient cities like Babylon, Athens, and Rome have NIMBYs?	2355	George4Mayor86
What would your quality of life be like if you tore your ACL or MCL in the 18th Century?	2353	hadronwulf
How much would Egyptians in the Middle Ages have known about their ancestors in ancient Egypt under the pharaohs?	2353	Crk416
In pc games like Civilization, technology is portrayed as linear and progressive, i.e., once something is invented, it stays invented. In light of history, is that a generally correct representation? Or should technology rather need to be "maintained" by ongoing effort?	2352	GimmeThatIOTA
In Godfather (1972) Don Corleone says that if their family starts getting involved with drugs they will lose all their connections to legitimate people like police and senators. Did this prophecy come true? Also, were there people that really believed this in the late 1940's?	2351	awoelt

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