/r/askhistorians

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In the 19th century, it was normal for American men to display affection by holding hands or sitting on each others' laps. Lincoln even reportedly broke off his marriage due to fear of losing a male friend. All these acts are now considered highly taboo for straight men. Why did this change happen?

1818 upvotes • VegemiteSucks

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2020 is a Wrap! Please Take a Moment to Vote for Your Absolute Favorite Answers of the Past Year for the 'Best of AskHistorians 2020'!

1817 upvotes • Georgy_K_Zhukov

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We're experts on the Apollo Program from the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Ask us anything!

1816 upvotes • AirandSpaceExperts

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Floating Feature: Do You Have a Story to Tell? Kenya Share the History of Africa?

1816 upvotes • Georgy_K_Zhukov

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At the end of WWII the US famously dropped two atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. However, both cities are still major population cities in Japan today. What was the reason the nuclear fallout didn't turn them into ghost areas like we see with present day Pripyat after Chernobyl?

1816 upvotes • ColorsYourFame

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The film Bridge of Spies makes it appear that the Berlin Wall went up out of the blue. How much warning did Western students like Frederic Pryor actually have before the wall went up?

1815 upvotes • chikindiner

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Why and when did we associate green with "go" and red with "stop"?

1815 upvotes • Govika

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The opening scene of the HBO show "The Last of Us" has a scientist in 1968 talk about the possible warming of Earth. Was climate change known and wildly discussed back then? When did scientists and academics, followed by the wider public, start to notice and talk about climate change?

1815 upvotes • Darabo

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Did Karl Marx and Victor Hugo ever wrote to each other or about each other?

1811 upvotes • arrogantwerpen

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How would the racial, ethnic, cultural, and linguistic diversity of Rome at the height of the Empire compare to a city like New York or London today?

1810 upvotes • DGBD

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Title	Upvotes	Author	Mark as read	Favorited	Rating	Add to a list
In the 19th century, it was normal for American men to display affection by holding hands or sitting on each others' laps. Lincoln even reportedly broke off his marriage due to fear of losing a male friend. All these acts are now considered highly taboo for straight men. Why did this change happen?	1818	VegemiteSucks
2020 is a Wrap! Please Take a Moment to Vote for Your Absolute Favorite Answers of the Past Year for the 'Best of AskHistorians 2020'!	1817	Georgy_K_Zhukov
We're experts on the Apollo Program from the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Ask us anything!	1816	AirandSpaceExperts
Floating Feature: Do You Have a Story to Tell? Kenya Share the History of Africa?	1816	Georgy_K_Zhukov
At the end of WWII the US famously dropped two atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. However, both cities are still major population cities in Japan today. What was the reason the nuclear fallout didn't turn them into ghost areas like we see with present day Pripyat after Chernobyl?	1816	ColorsYourFame
The film Bridge of Spies makes it appear that the Berlin Wall went up out of the blue. How much warning did Western students like Frederic Pryor actually have before the wall went up?	1815	chikindiner
Why and when did we associate green with "go" and red with "stop"?	1815	Govika
The opening scene of the HBO show "The Last of Us" has a scientist in 1968 talk about the possible warming of Earth. Was climate change known and wildly discussed back then? When did scientists and academics, followed by the wider public, start to notice and talk about climate change?	1815	Darabo
Did Karl Marx and Victor Hugo ever wrote to each other or about each other?	1811	arrogantwerpen
How would the racial, ethnic, cultural, and linguistic diversity of Rome at the height of the Empire compare to a city like New York or London today?	1810	DGBD