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

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Where did the Western trope of a woman tied to a train track come from? Did it ever happen in real life?

73 upvotes

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How did lobster turn from a poor person's food into a delicacy?

73 upvotes

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Before the union in 1707, did Germanic-speaking people in Scotland call their language "English"?

63 upvotes

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When Constantinople fell to the Turks, why didn't traders just go north of the Black Sea and through Russia instead of sailing west?

19 upvotes

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When Islam first became a thing, how did Christians of the time view it?

14 upvotes

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A lot of names for places on the Swahili Coast (including the word 'Swahili' itself) come from Arabic or Persian. Do we know the previous names?

13 upvotes

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During the Middle Ages and renaissance, why were countries like Spain, France, and the UK mostly united while Germany was a mess?

12 upvotes

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How much do we know about the Diquis, the culture in modern-day Costa Rica famous for their large stone balls?

11 upvotes

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During the Atlantic Slave Trade, how many slaves were taken to Europe? What kind of an impact did they leave on the culture?

9 upvotes

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How did Manchu go from the language of the conquerors of China and the Qing elite, to being critically endangered?

8 upvotes

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Title	Upvotes	Mark as read	Favorited	Rating	Add to a list
Where did the Western trope of a woman tied to a train track come from? Did it ever happen in real life?	73
How did lobster turn from a poor person's food into a delicacy?	73
Before the union in 1707, did Germanic-speaking people in Scotland call their language "English"?	63
When Constantinople fell to the Turks, why didn't traders just go north of the Black Sea and through Russia instead of sailing west?	19
When Islam first became a thing, how did Christians of the time view it?	14
A lot of names for places on the Swahili Coast (including the word 'Swahili' itself) come from Arabic or Persian. Do we know the previous names?	13
During the Middle Ages and renaissance, why were countries like Spain, France, and the UK mostly united while Germany was a mess?	12
How much do we know about the Diquis, the culture in modern-day Costa Rica famous for their large stone balls?	11
During the Atlantic Slave Trade, how many slaves were taken to Europe? What kind of an impact did they leave on the culture?	9
How did Manchu go from the language of the conquerors of China and the Qing elite, to being critically endangered?	8