askhistorians

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"Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy. I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy." Were Lloyd Bentsen and JFK actually friends?	131
"Jingle Bell Rock" and "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" came out in 1957 and 1958, respectively. Were these novelty rock 'n' roll Christmas songs unique, or are they just the most long-lived and best remembered examples of a larger late 1950's trend?	129
In Disney's 1950's Davy Crockett miniseries, Crockett is portrayed as wearing his buckskin suit everywhere, even in Congress. Is there any reason to believe he actually did so? That seems inconsistent with my image of 19th-century standards of appropriate attire.	128
The average inaugural age of US presidents has kept remarkably stable over 232 years (e.g., 55 years, 7 months in 1789-1889 vs 57 years, 6 months in 1921-2021). Did the Founding Fathers expect such a gap between the minimum age of 35 (the closest to which has been 42) and actual presidential ages?	126
In the early to mid 1990s, plaid flannel shirts were "in" in both the grunge/alternative rock subculture and the rap/hip-hip subculture. Is this a case of the two subculture influencing each other, or some broader influence that touched both subcultures, or something else?	117
The US banned importing slaves only 57 years before the end of the Civil War, and some illegal importation occurred thereafter, so at least some newly emancipated persons had to be African-born. How did their post-Civil War experience differ from those of African-Americans born and raised in the US?	114
Why do so many Mexican towns and other localities follow the naming formula of "San(ta) [European saint's name or something considered holy] [Indigenous name]"?	109
In the Godfather Pt. II, is Sen. Pat Geary's anti-Italian sentiment anachronistic? I thought Italian-Americans had largely been accepted into the white American mainstream by the 1950s (when the film takes place).	103
What's the history as to why braces for aesthetically imperfect but fully functional teeth are deemed normal (or even a rite of passage), while other cosmetic procedures (e.g., hair transplants/rhinoplasties) aren't? Was it ever seen as "weird" to have had one's teeth straightened by braces?	102
Did any Western Romans flee to the Eastern Roman Empire during the final stages of the Western Empire's decline in the 5th century? (Repost)	101

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