askhistorians

Title	Upvotes	Mark as read	Favorited	Rating	Add to a list
The 7th Amendment to the US constitution guarantees the right to a jury trial in civil cases where the value exceeds $20. Did the authors not know about inflation?	2516
A common complaint of present day adults is that certain life goals (home ownership, education, gainful employment) were more attainable by the baby boomer generation. Is this actually true? Do the data actually support claims like "a janitor in the 50s could support a family in a 3 bedroom house"?	2270
The 1950s are famous for recipes that rely on canned, gelatinized, and otherwise industrially packed ingredients. These recipes are often disgusting to a modern eye. How did culinary tastes turn against this trend in favor of "fresh" and "whole" ingredients?	1170
I recently saw a viral video that claimed "only 1 US president [Obama] went to an non-segregated school." Is this true?	300
Where are all the Indonesian restaurants? Every other large Asian nation has a significant history of immigration and entrepreneurship in the US. There are relatively few Indonesian people or businesses in the US, especially when you consider the massive population of Indonesia. Why?	188
I'm an American-born defector to the Soviet Union living in Moscow in December 1991. What happens to me once the Soviet Union dissolves? Do I go home to America?	85
What happened to the Ireland portrayed in Angela's Ashes? Frank McCourt portrays a world of crushing poverty, addiction, disease, abuse, and struggle. Present day Ireland looks nothing like that world. Why did conditions improve so much in that country?	60
Before the invention of lightbulbs, how (if at all) did visual artists depict "person having an idea"?	44
In the lead up to the American Civil War, where there "centrists" who argued that the problem was "both sides" rejecting rational debate and compromise?	21
How did the trope of nuclear material glowing bright green get started, when that's not actually how nuclear material behaves in real life?	17

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