/u/Elm11's posts in /r/askhistorians
Today is November 11, Remembrance Day. Join /r/AskHistorians for an Amateur Ask You Anything. We're opening the door to non-experts to ask and answer questions about WWI. This thread is for newer contributors to share their knowledge and receive feedback, and has relaxed standards.
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When Aaron Burr learned that Alexander Hamilton may have intended not to fire his shot or aimed to miss Burr during their fatal 1804 duel, he described it as "Contemptible, if true." Why would choosing not to fire or to deliberately miss be considered shameful in a pistol duel?
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I've had a cold for a couple of weeks, and it sucks. If I were afflicted by a lingering illness with cold- or flu-like symptoms in a town in 1500s Germany, who would I talk to for medical advice, and what would they recommend me?
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The 1990 series 'The Civil War' is one of the most widely acclaimed and popular documentaries in history, and is credited with greatly increasing American public interest in the US Civil War. What was the academic reception to the series?
321 upvotes
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During late 19th - early 20th century Western Europe, was behaviour we would now call homosexual generally dismissed as simply 'boys being boys'?
283 upvotes
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Cloaks seem to feature heavily as "travelling clothes" in western medieval fantasy, but not so much greatcoats. What clothes would you expect a trader or pilgrim wear on the roads of medieval Europe in Winter?
262 upvotes
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My Grandfather was a flight instructor for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) during the Second World War. He reportedly claimed that the average life expectancy for an RAAF pilot on combat duty was just six weeks. Is there any truth to this claim?
189 upvotes
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