/r/askhistorians

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I've heard it said that before the concept of teenagers arose, you were a child or you were an adult. What then might be the experience of a 14 or 15-year-old living in a city in late 19th century America?

570 upvotes • [deleted]

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Why were people so incredibly cruel to the Great Auk's before they went extinct?

570 upvotes • Reasonable_Thinker

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When John Carpenter's The Thing was released in 1982, it was received extremely negatively and even named the most-hated film of all time by some. Today, it's considered one of the greatest horror films of all time. What was the reason for the initial response and why did it change?

570 upvotes • LorenzoApophis

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Why did Christianity win out over Norse Paganism?

570 upvotes • OrganizationOk8493

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What's up with all the Guineas? There's classic Guinea, but also -Bissau, Equatorial and Papua New. Why so many Guineas?

570 upvotes • Hegar

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What is the origin of the "gay accent"?

569 upvotes • NeoDiamond

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Is there any record of Joseph Stalin ever expressing any remorse for his executions, repressions, or for the death of his son Yakov?

569 upvotes • Vladith

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Romans usually left the unwanted babies in trash places to die or at the doors of rich families to be slaves. How true is that early christians from Roma “collected” the abandoned kids from trash places and saves them ?

569 upvotes • Argovia

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As early as 1327, the English Parliament was already powerful enough to depose Edward II; was there something structurally or culturally different about England that allowed its legislative body to exert that kind of authority in what I assume would be an era of consolidating royal power in Europe?

569 upvotes • td4999

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In Buddhism incense sticks are lit and left as offerings, in Christian religions candles are lit for people in churches. Do we know if both practices of leaving long burning offerings have an ancient common ancestor, or if they developed independently?

569 upvotes • CharmingAssimilation

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Title	Upvotes	Author	Mark as read	Favorited	Rating	Add to a list
I've heard it said that before the concept of teenagers arose, you were a child or you were an adult. What then might be the experience of a 14 or 15-year-old living in a city in late 19th century America?	570	[deleted]
Why were people so incredibly cruel to the Great Auk's before they went extinct?	570	Reasonable_Thinker
When John Carpenter's The Thing was released in 1982, it was received extremely negatively and even named the most-hated film of all time by some. Today, it's considered one of the greatest horror films of all time. What was the reason for the initial response and why did it change?	570	LorenzoApophis
Why did Christianity win out over Norse Paganism?	570	OrganizationOk8493
What's up with all the Guineas? There's classic Guinea, but also -Bissau, Equatorial and Papua New. Why so many Guineas?	570	Hegar
What is the origin of the "gay accent"?	569	NeoDiamond
Is there any record of Joseph Stalin ever expressing any remorse for his executions, repressions, or for the death of his son Yakov?	569	Vladith
Romans usually left the unwanted babies in trash places to die or at the doors of rich families to be slaves. How true is that early christians from Roma “collected” the abandoned kids from trash places and saves them ?	569	Argovia
As early as 1327, the English Parliament was already powerful enough to depose Edward II; was there something structurally or culturally different about England that allowed its legislative body to exert that kind of authority in what I assume would be an era of consolidating royal power in Europe?	569	td4999
In Buddhism incense sticks are lit and left as offerings, in Christian religions candles are lit for people in churches. Do we know if both practices of leaving long burning offerings have an ancient common ancestor, or if they developed independently?	569	CharmingAssimilation