/r/askhistorians

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If I am an 18 year old in early 1942 who signs up for the U.S. Army, what factors determine what unit I end up in?

1097 upvotes • rbusiness

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Law is usually not retroactive (and, it is often thought, ought not be). Yet in the Nüremberg trials, Nazi war criminals were convicted for 'crimes against humanity', a legal concept that didn't exist before the trials (AFAIK!). How was the retroactive application of this concept justified?

1097 upvotes • thegrapesofraph

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How did Jains (the Indian religion with a radical commitment to nonviolence against any and all beings) react to germ theory and the discovery of microorganisms?

1097 upvotes • SaintShrink

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Did Native Americans who lived on the East Coast have any information about tribes who lived on the West Coast and vice versa? Did they have any idea how big North America was back then?

1096 upvotes • [deleted]

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One of the main reasons Europeans were so utterly victorious against Native Americans was the introduction of diseases, that decimated the population. Why did the Norsemen of Vinland not bring diseases that carried the same effect?

1096 upvotes • Cogito96

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Germany was famously not unified until the late 1800s. How much of a role does regional history play in modern Germany?

1096 upvotes • joephusweberr

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If you were to walk down a London street in the 1890s and ask people at varying economic strata "Why is the Empire important?" what answers would I receive?

1095 upvotes • stmorgante

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Did Einstein really say "I do not know with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones." If so, when and it what context did he say it?

1095 upvotes • eniksleestack

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Where any Soviet States against the dismantling of the Soviet Union, and what advantage did they see in remaining Soviet?

1095 upvotes • discountwilderbeast

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Has there every been a former U.S. president that overspent their pensions, went into debt, and ended up being being close to relative poverty or middle class?

1095 upvotes • neuropathica

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Title	Upvotes	Author	Mark as read	Favorited	Rating	Add to a list
If I am an 18 year old in early 1942 who signs up for the U.S. Army, what factors determine what unit I end up in?	1097	rbusiness
Law is usually not retroactive (and, it is often thought, ought not be). Yet in the Nüremberg trials, Nazi war criminals were convicted for 'crimes against humanity', a legal concept that didn't exist before the trials (AFAIK!). How was the retroactive application of this concept justified?	1097	thegrapesofraph
How did Jains (the Indian religion with a radical commitment to nonviolence against any and all beings) react to germ theory and the discovery of microorganisms?	1097	SaintShrink
Did Native Americans who lived on the East Coast have any information about tribes who lived on the West Coast and vice versa? Did they have any idea how big North America was back then?	1096	[deleted]
One of the main reasons Europeans were so utterly victorious against Native Americans was the introduction of diseases, that decimated the population. Why did the Norsemen of Vinland not bring diseases that carried the same effect?	1096	Cogito96
Germany was famously not unified until the late 1800s. How much of a role does regional history play in modern Germany?	1096	joephusweberr
If you were to walk down a London street in the 1890s and ask people at varying economic strata "Why is the Empire important?" what answers would I receive?	1095	stmorgante
Did Einstein really say "I do not know with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones." If so, when and it what context did he say it?	1095	eniksleestack
Where any Soviet States against the dismantling of the Soviet Union, and what advantage did they see in remaining Soviet?	1095	discountwilderbeast
Has there every been a former U.S. president that overspent their pensions, went into debt, and ended up being being close to relative poverty or middle class?	1095	neuropathica