/r/askhistorians

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When I hear Chaucer spoken in Middle English, it almost sounds more like Dutch than English. But though Shakespeare is closer in time to Chaucer than the present, his English is much easier to understand. What happened to English in between, and why?

1498 upvotes • hillsonghoods

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How did Japan, a country with no colonial ties to the United Kingdom, ended up driving on the left?

1498 upvotes • ThePeasantKingM

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What's a historical fiction novel that impressed you with its accuracy?

1497 upvotes • felinfine8

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The Mongols while invading Song Dynasty China, destroyed what some consider to be the first signs of industrialisation. What was the state of industrialisation in the late Song Dynasty China? How much did they utilise steam power and mining? How was the quality of life in their factories?

1497 upvotes • [deleted]

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US Supreme Court and Judicial History MEGATHREAD

1496 upvotes • Georgy_K_Zhukov

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Did paper airplanes exist before there were airplanes?

1496 upvotes • Dontbecruelbro

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Why did civilization originate only 10,000 years ago, when anatomically modern humans have existed for 200,000 years?

1494 upvotes • [deleted]

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I'm the curator of Space Shuttle Discovery from the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum. Ask me anything!

1494 upvotes • AirandSpaceExperts

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If Franz Ferdinand assassination was the inciting cause for WWI, how are they still able to go on tour?

1494 upvotes • MattDamonIsGod

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How did people in the Middle Ages and earlier deal with Down Syndrome and autism?

1494 upvotes • kilslef

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Title	Upvotes	Author	Mark as read	Favorited	Rating	Add to a list
When I hear Chaucer spoken in Middle English, it almost sounds more like Dutch than English. But though Shakespeare is closer in time to Chaucer than the present, his English is much easier to understand. What happened to English in between, and why?	1498	hillsonghoods
How did Japan, a country with no colonial ties to the United Kingdom, ended up driving on the left?	1498	ThePeasantKingM
What's a historical fiction novel that impressed you with its accuracy?	1497	felinfine8
The Mongols while invading Song Dynasty China, destroyed what some consider to be the first signs of industrialisation. What was the state of industrialisation in the late Song Dynasty China? How much did they utilise steam power and mining? How was the quality of life in their factories?	1497	[deleted]
US Supreme Court and Judicial History MEGATHREAD	1496	Georgy_K_Zhukov
Did paper airplanes exist before there were airplanes?	1496	Dontbecruelbro
Why did civilization originate only 10,000 years ago, when anatomically modern humans have existed for 200,000 years?	1494	[deleted]
I'm the curator of Space Shuttle Discovery from the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum. Ask me anything!	1494	AirandSpaceExperts
If Franz Ferdinand assassination was the inciting cause for WWI, how are they still able to go on tour?	1494	MattDamonIsGod
How did people in the Middle Ages and earlier deal with Down Syndrome and autism?	1494	kilslef