askhistorians

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Confederate general and later founder of the Ku Klux Klan, Nathan Bedford Forrest, later apparently had a change of heart and near the end of his life advocated for racial harmony. Do historians see this as a genuine turn of face, or him trying to ingratiate himself to the new power structure?	5934
Why do many people take sniper kill counts for granted? Can we really trust any of the offical numbers, some as high as 4-500? How reliable are the figures?	1542
In the TV series 'Sharpe', British officers of the Napoleonic wars are portrayed as uniformly posh and utterly inept at their jobs, with only a scant minority being actually upstanding and competent officers. How true is this?	1174
How common were onna-bugeisha, female warriors belonging to the Japanese upper class? How were they looked upon? How were they trained?	434
Were shields in the Medieval era really painted with the heraldric symbol of a lord the soldier belonged to?	313
Was Joffrey Baratheon REALLY an illegitimate child born out of incest? Or was this just Stark propaganda? Will we ever know for sure?	283
How effective and safe were condoms at preventing pregnancy and STI's before the advent of modern, latex condoms? NSFW	209
At the Battle of Kursk, the Soviets suffered a staggering 860 000 casualties, compared to the Germans losing about 250 000 men. How did the defending Soviet forces suffer such disproportionate casualties, and how did they win in spite of them?	170
In Medieval times, soldiers wore padded jackets (gambesons) under their armor for added protection and comfort. Did Roman legionaries and Hoplites wear something similar?	169
In artistic representations of Picts, none of them are portrayed wearing trousers. Are we to believe that Picts, in the cold climate of Scotland did not wear trousers? What does the archeology tell us?	134

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