AskHistorians

Title	Upvotes	Mark as read	Favorited	Rating	Add to a list
Before gunpowder, what was the preferred way to raze cities and fortifications in a hurry? Other than fire for wooden structures of course.	30
There's an infographic I've seen shared often that says essentially, "Only 22 countries have never been invaded by Britain." Other than my curiosity about if that includes nations that no longer exist or were once part of invaded countries, how many were invaded for (arguably) non-imperialist cause?	26
What alternatives to the 'Bio Robots' of Chernobyl were considered after the real robots failed? Did they try getting the debris off with high pressure water jets or using a crane to 'sweep' it off for example?	22
How did monarchs of disparate kingdoms maintain control, communication, trade and protection of unconnected and landlocked areas of their kingdoms? Say if I was a monarch in Europe circa the 30 Years War, and I rule over an archipelago of lands in (today) France, German, Switzerland and Italy.	20
Were alternatives to the 'bio-robots' at Chernobyl considered?	19
When/Why did mimes become the butt of so many jokes in American pop culture?	17
When did cultural zeitgeists start being broken up by decade in the West? Did people in say 1880 look back on the 1850s as a distinct moment in fashion, music, food, slang?	16
Did critics and audiences of plays ever mock the 'special effects' before films?	14
How long would it take for a sender of a message in the Age of Sail to be informed that their message had never arrived? What was the process of people being told 'The ship never made it' for messages?	10
An oft cited fact about the effects of Allied bombing of Germany is that German production increased throughout the war (in large part due to slaves) and morale didn't falter in spite of civilian casualties. Are there any reports on what German production would have been without being bombed though?	10

« < > »