askhistorians

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In 2001, Crown Prince Dipendra of Nepal famously massacred his family. Why did he do this? Was there any indication beforehand that something like this would happen? What was the reaction, both in Nepal and from the royal families of other monarchies?	29
Was there illegal immigration in the middle ages? Border security? Did you need a passport to get from place to place?	25
Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme. What's the origin of the traditional folk ballad "Scarborough Fair" (most famously recorded by Simon and Garfunkel in the 1960s), and what's the importance of those four herbs that keep appearing throughout?	24
What was the state of women's rights in Anglo-Saxon England? How does it compare to its contemporaries, and to women's rights in Norman and Angevin England? NSFW	22
How knowledgable of the world and history would the average Englishman be during the Middle Ages?	21
What were viking-age Norse views on homosexuality? Were there gay vikings?	20
Did Jus Prima Noctae, the right of a lord to rape a peasant girl on her wedding night, actually exist in medieval Europe? If so, how did that tradition arise and how was it reconciled with the church? If not, how and why did that rumour arise?	19
How did American cheese become as popular as it is? How did the general American public react to it first being put in stores?	18
How common and popular was jousting in the middle ages in Europe? What (and when) were its origins, and why is it no longer the number 1 sport in Europe?	17
How did superheroes come to be the dominant genre of comic-book? Why didn't superheroes dominate written magazines, books, radio serials, television or, until recently, movies in the same way?	16

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