askhistorians

Title	Upvotes	Mark as read	Favorited	Rating	Add to a list
"TIL Joseph Stalin had a webbed left foot, a sign of the devil in Russian folklore." Did Joseph Stalin have a webbed left foot? Was this a sign of the devil in Russian folklore?	1890
I read a non-academic book a couple decades ago that claimed that Soviets consumed more of every class of food (grains, dairy, vegetables, fruit, etc), except meat, than Americans. I don't know when it was referring to. Can anyone comment on this?	121
Today is the anniversary of the Battle of Gravia Inn, where - according to Greek sources - 120 Greek men held off 8000 Ottomans with minimal casualties. But the sources on Wikipedia are both Greek. What do the Ottomans have to say about it?	107
I just read that medieval folks might carry bread on their heads, and the image of an Asian or African labourer carrying something on their head is common. But I've never carried anything on my head nor have I seen it in person in Canada. When did Westerners stop carrying things on their head?	96
Why did ancient civilizations smelt cinnabar? What use did they have for metallic mercury?	92
Egyptians drank beer, Greeks drank wine, but what did sub-Saharan Africans drink in the early days of history?	75
In the Western world, how did the role of actor go from a position on par with prostitutes to the highly-regarded celebrity it offers today?	53
In the TV show Vikings, no sort of tactical maneuver is present until late in the show, when the Saxons discover ancient writings describing a flanking maneuver. Would the English and Vikings not know basic battle techniques around 800 AD?	51
"TIL Reagan and Gorbachev Agreed to Pause the Cold War in Case of an Alien Invasion". We hear lots about extraterrestrials in the US, but how did people in the USSR view aliens?	51
In the 16th century, the Genoese navy equipped its sailors with jeans "as they needed a fabric which could be worn wet or dry." As you all shudder at that, how did people deal with the rain in medieval times?	49

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