/r/askhistorians

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Was John Cleese correct, in 1972, when his character famously exclaimed that cheddar cheese was the most popular cheese in the world?

2263 upvotes • ZeMoose

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In The Count of Monte Cristo, Dumas off-handedly refers to Italian cookery as 'the worst in the world'. How prevalent was this view at the time, and when did it change?

2263 upvotes • JackRadikov

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How did the Soviet Union get so good at math?

2262 upvotes • YaDunGoofed

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Why are vampires associated with New Orleans?

2262 upvotes • ehudsdagger

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How did rebellious German young people avoid participating in the Hitler Youth?

2260 upvotes • kittlebean

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Ukraine has excellent soil. Today it's a major food producer, and that was the same under the USSR. Yet in the middle ages, when agriculture was the largest part of the economy, Kievan Rus was not famed as the richest land in Europe or anything like that. Why not?

2258 upvotes • The_Manchurian

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Vladimir Putin served in the KGB until 1991. Do we know of any operations or activities he was involved in, and their effects?

2257 upvotes • tayaravaknin

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Himmler recorded in his diary that the men of the SS Einsatzgruppen assigned to mass murder were "finished for the rest of their lives... either neurotics or brutes". What do we know about the actual psychology of rank-and-file SS after the war?

2257 upvotes • nikuk_nukakiwaa

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Is there definitive evidence that Roman gladiatorial combat wasn't actually a scripted sport like today's prowrestling? (I'm aware this sounds like a troll question, hear me out)

2257 upvotes • PM_ME_M0NEY_

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Where did the stereotypical French attire of a t-shirt with horizontal stripes come from?

2257 upvotes • No-Recording2937

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Title	Upvotes	Author	Mark as read	Favorited	Rating	Add to a list
Was John Cleese correct, in 1972, when his character famously exclaimed that cheddar cheese was the most popular cheese in the world?	2263	ZeMoose
In The Count of Monte Cristo, Dumas off-handedly refers to Italian cookery as 'the worst in the world'. How prevalent was this view at the time, and when did it change?	2263	JackRadikov
How did the Soviet Union get so good at math?	2262	YaDunGoofed
Why are vampires associated with New Orleans?	2262	ehudsdagger
How did rebellious German young people avoid participating in the Hitler Youth?	2260	kittlebean
Ukraine has excellent soil. Today it's a major food producer, and that was the same under the USSR. Yet in the middle ages, when agriculture was the largest part of the economy, Kievan Rus was not famed as the richest land in Europe or anything like that. Why not?	2258	The_Manchurian
Vladimir Putin served in the KGB until 1991. Do we know of any operations or activities he was involved in, and their effects?	2257	tayaravaknin
Himmler recorded in his diary that the men of the SS Einsatzgruppen assigned to mass murder were "finished for the rest of their lives... either neurotics or brutes". What do we know about the actual psychology of rank-and-file SS after the war?	2257	nikuk_nukakiwaa
Is there definitive evidence that Roman gladiatorial combat wasn't actually a scripted sport like today's prowrestling? (I'm aware this sounds like a troll question, hear me out)	2257	PM_ME_M0NEY_
Where did the stereotypical French attire of a t-shirt with horizontal stripes come from?	2257	No-Recording2937