AskHistorians

Title	Upvotes	Mark as read	Favorited	Rating	Add to a list
What is the cultural/historical background of sentient pink blobs in Japanese media (think Chansey, Clefairy, Jigglypuff, Kirby, Majin Buu)?	3373
Legacy of Ashes by Tim Weiner portrays the CIA as so cartoonishly incompetent that it stretches credulity. He seems to have a bias towards casting it in the least charitable possible light at all times. Are his assertions an accurate interpretation of the primary sources he uses?	2300
Why do librarians choose to include pseudohistorians like Gavin Menzies and Erich von Daniken in library history sections? I know that there’s a general opposition to the specter of book-banning, but can’t they critically choose to spend their limited budgets on actual history instead?	936
How did Americans react when they learned that Hirohito would not only escape prosecution but also keep the throne following WWII?	642
Why was there no massive public backlash to Napoleon essentially abandoning a whole army in Egypt? How did the friends and families of those soldiers react to Napoleon’s taking power?	281
How did the public react to the idea of a sequel to the original Star Wars film?	185
Huh, Switzerland joined the UN in 2002, why did that happen?	130
A common trope in media set in schools is bullies shoving people into lockers. The lockers I had in school could maybe fit a toddler. Was there ever really such a trend underlying the media depictions?	128
When did it become common knowledge that China and India had massive populations that dwarfed those of every other nation? Would European commoners dismiss the fact as absurd or fantastical?	81
How did Polynesian navigators solve the longitude problem?	73

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