/r/askhistorians

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What kind of fads existed in the early 1800's in the USA?

1078 upvotes • Almyteacivil

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Did the term "Indian" really come from a mis-label from early European settlers in America?

1078 upvotes • SlammerEye

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Is sailing prehistoric? Who were the first people to master wind power-- that is, to be able to use it to go not only downwind but upwind?

1077 upvotes • witehare

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When did "it's Year A" or "it's not Year B anymore" start gaining ground as a rhetorical device? Did people in, say, 1700 ever roll their eyes and say "please, it's not 1650 anymore"?

1077 upvotes • midnightrambulador

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Almost every source I use to look up on the Mongol invasion of Japan claim that convenient occurrences of typhoons were the reasons why the invasions were not successful. Is this just an oversimplification or was the weather really the the reason the Mongols failed?

1077 upvotes • ShelteredTortoise

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Japanese NES games like The Legend of Zelda are known for being terribly translated, but I've always wondered, why? How did localization work for these old games? How did it always turn out so bad? Was it a budget thing? Or was "professional" localization really that primitive in the 1980s?

1077 upvotes • TirousDidAThing

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Over the 20th century, did costumes in historically-set Hollywood movies undergo their own fashion trends? Would the differences between a 1920s "Tudor" dress and a 1990s "Tudor" dress reflect those eras' fashion preferences?

1076 upvotes • sunagainstgold

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During their decade together did The Beatles sleep with groupies left and right? Are they known to have engaged in rockstar-level debauchery? Did they take hard drugs?

1076 upvotes • mirthquake

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How much of the widespread poverty throughout the USSR was real, and how much was western propaganda?

1075 upvotes • Ciccibicci

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Did people living 300+ years ago intentionally lift heavy objects for the sole purpose of aesthetics?

1074 upvotes • _Fookin_Legend_

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Title	Upvotes	Author	Mark as read	Favorited	Rating	Add to a list
What kind of fads existed in the early 1800's in the USA?	1078	Almyteacivil
Did the term "Indian" really come from a mis-label from early European settlers in America?	1078	SlammerEye
Is sailing prehistoric? Who were the first people to master wind power-- that is, to be able to use it to go not only downwind but upwind?	1077	witehare
When did "it's Year A" or "it's not Year B anymore" start gaining ground as a rhetorical device? Did people in, say, 1700 ever roll their eyes and say "please, it's not 1650 anymore"?	1077	midnightrambulador
Almost every source I use to look up on the Mongol invasion of Japan claim that convenient occurrences of typhoons were the reasons why the invasions were not successful. Is this just an oversimplification or was the weather really the the reason the Mongols failed?	1077	ShelteredTortoise
Japanese NES games like The Legend of Zelda are known for being terribly translated, but I've always wondered, why? How did localization work for these old games? How did it always turn out so bad? Was it a budget thing? Or was "professional" localization really that primitive in the 1980s?	1077	TirousDidAThing
Over the 20th century, did costumes in historically-set Hollywood movies undergo their own fashion trends? Would the differences between a 1920s "Tudor" dress and a 1990s "Tudor" dress reflect those eras' fashion preferences?	1076	sunagainstgold
During their decade together did The Beatles sleep with groupies left and right? Are they known to have engaged in rockstar-level debauchery? Did they take hard drugs?	1076	mirthquake
How much of the widespread poverty throughout the USSR was real, and how much was western propaganda?	1075	Ciccibicci
Did people living 300+ years ago intentionally lift heavy objects for the sole purpose of aesthetics?	1074	_Fookin_Legend_