/r/askhistorians

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How come in Renaissance style paintings (and even further back with Greco-Roman art) all the women who are nude are hairless? Was it an attempt to just show purity, or did higher class women shave their bodies?

1209 upvotes • Spam4119

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Did the price of slaves fluctuate wildly during the American Civil War?

1209 upvotes • jetmax25

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Writing a historical fantasy novel set in Ancient Mesopotamia. What kinds of technology and tactics did the civilizations in that area have access to during sieges?

1209 upvotes • KevintheJace

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Were there other “messiahs” around the time of Jesus? Did any of them gain traction a la Christianity?

1209 upvotes • TrumpDumper

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In one my my professor's lectures, he mentioned that Japan tried to surrender before Hiroshima, and the US rejected the proposal. After Nagasaki, they accepted a nearly identical proposal to the one they rejected. Is this true?

1208 upvotes • scrndude

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Was erotic shunga celebrating military victory unique to the Russo-Japanese War, or did it have older origins? In addition, did this practice continue into the World Wars? NSFW

1207 upvotes • EnclavedMicrostate

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How dominant was the Silk Road in its peak of usage?

1207 upvotes • Brawhalla_

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Why didn't the US just roll over North Vietnam and occupy the entire country?

1206 upvotes • Artyomic

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Both LBJ and Nixon seemed to have descended into paranoia in the later years of their Presidency. Was this just a coincidence, or did it have something to do with the 60s and 70s?

1206 upvotes • TheLordHighExecu

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In the opening lines of the Epic of Gilgamesh, it is mentioned that the tale takes place "before there was bread". Is this a genuine societal memory of the days before agriculture, or is it simply a case of mythology coincidentally being similar to the truth?

1206 upvotes • Bountifalauto82

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Title	Upvotes	Author	Mark as read	Favorited	Rating	Add to a list
How come in Renaissance style paintings (and even further back with Greco-Roman art) all the women who are nude are hairless? Was it an attempt to just show purity, or did higher class women shave their bodies?	1209	Spam4119
Did the price of slaves fluctuate wildly during the American Civil War?	1209	jetmax25
Writing a historical fantasy novel set in Ancient Mesopotamia. What kinds of technology and tactics did the civilizations in that area have access to during sieges?	1209	KevintheJace
Were there other “messiahs” around the time of Jesus? Did any of them gain traction a la Christianity?	1209	TrumpDumper
In one my my professor's lectures, he mentioned that Japan tried to surrender before Hiroshima, and the US rejected the proposal. After Nagasaki, they accepted a nearly identical proposal to the one they rejected. Is this true?	1208	scrndude
Was erotic shunga celebrating military victory unique to the Russo-Japanese War, or did it have older origins? In addition, did this practice continue into the World Wars? NSFW	1207	EnclavedMicrostate
How dominant was the Silk Road in its peak of usage?	1207	Brawhalla_
Why didn't the US just roll over North Vietnam and occupy the entire country?	1206	Artyomic
Both LBJ and Nixon seemed to have descended into paranoia in the later years of their Presidency. Was this just a coincidence, or did it have something to do with the 60s and 70s?	1206	TheLordHighExecu
In the opening lines of the Epic of Gilgamesh, it is mentioned that the tale takes place "before there was bread". Is this a genuine societal memory of the days before agriculture, or is it simply a case of mythology coincidentally being similar to the truth?	1206	Bountifalauto82