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

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Is there any truth to the old story that pre-modern armies shot diseased bodies into besieged cities via catapult?

32 upvotes

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In Tolstoy's War and Peace the entire officer corps seems based on nepotism, not military skill. Was this the case in Napoleonic era armies?

29 upvotes

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Mary Shelly's Frankenstein (1818) includes a character trying to sail to the North Pole. What was the state of Arctic exploration during the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries?

28 upvotes

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The Medieval Death Bot claims to tweet unusual or amusing deaths from “medieval coroners’ rolls”. Who was the medieval coroner, and what exactly was his job?

27 upvotes

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Charles Dickens describes a ceremony where jailers formally memorise the face of a new prisoner, similar in purpose to our modern “mugshots”. Did this really happen? How did jailers know prisoners before the advent of photography?

26 upvotes

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With the Indy 500 and Monaco Grand Prix coning up: Why did auto racing on ovals practically die out in Europe but not in America?

26 upvotes

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How did the Reds and Whites reconcile after the Finnish Civil War?

23 upvotes

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How did Egyptian agriculture change when the Nile was dammed?

23 upvotes

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When and how did the pole dance become associated with striptease?

19 upvotes

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Were the superstitions depicted in Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn real, or did Mark Twain make them up?

19 upvotes

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Title	Upvotes	Mark as read	Favorited	Rating	Add to a list
Is there any truth to the old story that pre-modern armies shot diseased bodies into besieged cities via catapult?	32
In Tolstoy's War and Peace the entire officer corps seems based on nepotism, not military skill. Was this the case in Napoleonic era armies?	29
Mary Shelly's Frankenstein (1818) includes a character trying to sail to the North Pole. What was the state of Arctic exploration during the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries?	28
The Medieval Death Bot claims to tweet unusual or amusing deaths from “medieval coroners’ rolls”. Who was the medieval coroner, and what exactly was his job?	27
Charles Dickens describes a ceremony where jailers formally memorise the face of a new prisoner, similar in purpose to our modern “mugshots”. Did this really happen? How did jailers know prisoners before the advent of photography?	26
With the Indy 500 and Monaco Grand Prix coning up: Why did auto racing on ovals practically die out in Europe but not in America?	26
How did the Reds and Whites reconcile after the Finnish Civil War?	23
How did Egyptian agriculture change when the Nile was dammed?	23
When and how did the pole dance become associated with striptease?	19
Were the superstitions depicted in Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn real, or did Mark Twain make them up?	19