AskHistorians

Title	Upvotes	Mark as read	Favorited	Rating	Add to a list
The Black Death an estimated 75-200 million between 1347-51. After such a high death toll in such a short space of time, what caused the plague to suddenly end?	9
Recently watched some YouTube videos on Shakespeare pronounced in the dialect of his time. How is it that historians/linguists are able to determine how language is pronounced five hundred years ago?	9
At what point in history did we decide than January the 1st would be the start of the calendar year?	8
Tutankamun's tomb was regarded as the most magnificent because it was the only one untouched by grave robbers. Who were the tomb raiders and what kind of market would there have been in Ancient Egypt for stolen artifacts from a tomb?	6
Please settle a debate. How would Vincent Van Gogh have pronounced his last name? I had always heard it spoke as Van Go but was recently told it was Van Gock. Which is correct?	6
The majority of the tombs of the pharaohs were robbed of their treasures. Do we know much about who the tomb robbers were ie. was this done back in Ancient Egypt (and if so was there a flourishing black market in stolen goods) or a phenomenon that occurred in modernity?	5
During World War II, India had the largest army in the world. What happened to this following the Partition of India? Was there any attempt to purge officers who had fought for the British?	4
Tutankhamun's tomb was one of the few extant undisturbed tombs of pharaohs uncovered. Which leads to the question - who were the people pillaging all the other tombs? And what kind of market was their for stolen royal antiquities in Ancient Egypt?	4
Robert Peel is called the inventor of the modern police force. How was law and order maintained before he came along? While there were courts, how was the guilt of a crime investigated, arrests made etc?	3
If a 19th Century gentleman (or lady) wanted to shock others and colour their conversation up with some swear words, what are some terms no longer in use today they might employ? And which ones would be be surprised to find familiar from today's use?	2

« < > »