/u/AdmiralAkbar1's posts in /r/AskHistorians

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Many ancient polytheist religions are presented today as having a single widely accepted pantheon, mythology, etc. in their heyday like modern religions. Is this accurate, or were they more like disjointed and inconsistent local cults whose stories were merged and codified after the fact?

2035 upvotes

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In Norse mythology, there's no real indication of the heights of dwarfs and Jotnar/giants as a whole. If that's the case, where did the idea that dwarfs are short and giants are gigantic come from?

194 upvotes

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An oft-repeated factoid about the Yugoslav Wars is that a popular insult at the time was "I hope your home appears on CNN." Is there any truth to whether people in the former Yugoslavia said this? Is it likely someone in the middle of the war would be familiar with foreign media coverage?

125 upvotes

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Did any prominent ex-Nazis become involved in outright Holocaust denialism post-war?

107 upvotes

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There's an oft-repeated factoid that the Nazis declared the Sioux tribe to be "honorary Aryans." Are there any primary or contemporary sources to back this up?

85 upvotes

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Why are medieval records often vague on dates of birth but precise with dates of death?

78 upvotes

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Did the ancient Egyptians have unique names for their royal dynasties?

66 upvotes

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Were slaves in antebellum America ever legally owned in the name of a business or institution, rather than in the name of an individual?

61 upvotes

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There's an oft-repeated factoid that Nazi Germany declared the Sioux tribe to be "honorary Aryans." Is there any truth to this claim?

53 upvotes

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In "The Death of Stalin" (2017), Molotov refers to going to the bathroom as going to "spend a kopek." Did Tsarist Russia or the Soviet Union ever have pay toilets?

44 upvotes

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Title	Upvotes	Mark as read	Favorited	Rating	Add to a list
Many ancient polytheist religions are presented today as having a single widely accepted pantheon, mythology, etc. in their heyday like modern religions. Is this accurate, or were they more like disjointed and inconsistent local cults whose stories were merged and codified after the fact?	2035
In Norse mythology, there's no real indication of the heights of dwarfs and Jotnar/giants as a whole. If that's the case, where did the idea that dwarfs are short and giants are gigantic come from?	194
An oft-repeated factoid about the Yugoslav Wars is that a popular insult at the time was "I hope your home appears on CNN." Is there any truth to whether people in the former Yugoslavia said this? Is it likely someone in the middle of the war would be familiar with foreign media coverage?	125
Did any prominent ex-Nazis become involved in outright Holocaust denialism post-war?	107
There's an oft-repeated factoid that the Nazis declared the Sioux tribe to be "honorary Aryans." Are there any primary or contemporary sources to back this up?	85
Why are medieval records often vague on dates of birth but precise with dates of death?	78
Did the ancient Egyptians have unique names for their royal dynasties?	66
Were slaves in antebellum America ever legally owned in the name of a business or institution, rather than in the name of an individual?	61
There's an oft-repeated factoid that Nazi Germany declared the Sioux tribe to be "honorary Aryans." Is there any truth to this claim?	53
In "The Death of Stalin" (2017), Molotov refers to going to the bathroom as going to "spend a kopek." Did Tsarist Russia or the Soviet Union ever have pay toilets?	44