AskHistorians

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Vampires aren't real, but "vampires burials", where the dead are interred in some strange manner in order to prevent their rising again, occurred infrequently in Medieval Europe. Do historians have a theory as to what was really wrong with the people who were buried in this manner?	3562
In 'Django Unchained', the title character says that every slave has heard of Candyland, the plantation owned by the villain of the story. Would slaves know individual plantations through reputation? How efficient were their means of inter-plantation communication?	2681
In the James Bond novel "Goldfinger", Ian Fleming describes Korean people in extremely racist terms, with Bond viewing them as lower than apes. Was there widespread anti-Korean sentiment in the UK following the Korean War or does this stem from personal prejudice on Fleming's part?	797
1915 blockbuster "The Birth of a Nation" infamously uses white actors in blackface to portray black characters. However, minor black characters/extras are portrayed by actual black actors. How did these performers feel about working on the film at the time? Did their views change in later years?	470
Infamously, in December 1909 the writer James Joyce and his partner Nora Barnacle exchanged love letters which, even by modern standards, are highly sexually descriptive and obscene. Was this common for lovers at the time, or was Joyce and Barnacle's correspondence unusual? NSFW	435
What was white Rhodesia's 'endgame' during the Bush War?	303
Why did Oliver North get Iran involved in the Iran-Contra affair at all? Was selling arms to Iran really the only way he could raise money off-the-books?	249
The Holocaust was a state secret (albeit loosely kept) during WWII - did the Nazis ever give any thought to how they would explain the disappearance of millions of European Jews if they won the war?	247
Did American Indians who went to war with the United States expect to win, or were they choosing to die on their feet rather than live on their knees?	238
How far from home would a typical Europeanin the 1600s travel in their life?	222

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