askhistorians

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In the 1985 movie Back to the Future, one of the characters arranges to get plutonium from a group of Libyan terrorists who want a nuclear weapon. Were there any groups in Libya in the 1980s actively seeking nuclear weapons, or is this plot point entirely artistic license?	2812
I've been told that the word "assassin" comes from "hashishin", an insult used for one of the groups involved in the Crusades. What did the Hashishin call themselves and did they do anything modern people would consider assassinations?	89
I'm a 19th century young adult who just moved to a city to get a job and I want to send money back to my family. What infrastructure is in place for me to do this? How do I know the money will get safely to my family?	70
I read recently that JRR Tolkien wrote a story in the 1940s where a character traveled to other planets by astral projection because Tolkien thought physical interplanetry travel was impossible. Was that a common notion in 1940s Britain and if not why would he hold it?	45
Did a Persian ruler capture the city of Antioch and deport its population to a specially-built city named "Better Antioch"?	20
How could Americans get imported media in the 1980s and 90s?	20
When and why did it become standard for maps to be oriented with north at the top?	19
The characters of the TV show "Leave It To Beaver" are sometimes held up as a model of 1950s American gender roles. Where did this idea come from? Was the show thought of that way when it was first on the air?	12
In the Inferno, Dante characterizes the speech of Bologna by the local word for "yes". What might have influenced him to consider a language's word for "yes" a defining feature?	11
Before digital production methods became common, how did television shows put their title and credits sequences (or other stock footage) in each episode?	11

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