AskHistorians

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During Strategic Bombing campaigns, how common were casualties and damage in target cities from defensive antiaircraft ordanance, or crashes of enemy or friendly airplane debris? Did that change much over the 20th Century?	31
Are there any interesting cosmic phenomenon in worldwide records from 775 CE?	19
Why is the Empire of Trebizond virtually ignored in the chronology of the later Roman Empire? Isn't their claim to the Imperial succession at least as good as the Nicene Empire's? Is it simply about possession of Constantinople?	14
Using a time machine, I drop off a brand new smartphone on January 1st of every year beginning in 1950. What is the earliest year in which that phone can be successfully reverse engineered before December 31st? (cross posted /r/askengineers)	11
In Medieval Europe, how were ransoms for captured soldiers negotiated? Who was generally ransomed (nobility vs. commoners)? Was there a generally accepted value for prisoners of different ranks/titles in different time periods and regions?	10
Can anyone recommend some good nonfiction/historically based fiction dealing with everyday life in late fifteenth to early sixteenth century Hungary?	9
Several times on Reddit, I've seen claims that Johan de Witt was eaten by a mob of angry Dutch. Is there any support in the primary sources for this claim?	8
[History of Science]Has there ever been a widespread conspiracy of scientists to promulgate falsified ideas in order to gain undue profit or influence?	8
Grim question, but: Blinding was a popular punishment in the Byzantine Empire. Was there a particular method used to blind prisoners? What are our sources of information for this?	7
In the crusading era, how did the inhabitants of Palestine prepare for invasion?	5

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