/u/MorseFraiche's posts in /r/AskHistorians

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What did people think of the "black sludge [that] seeped out of the ground... around Baghdad, or gas fires flared off swamps in Mosul" prior to the development of petrol?

144 upvotes

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How did Roman armies navigate Gaul in the early years of the Gallic Wars, when Romans considered Gaul to be unexplored and largely unknown?

128 upvotes

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In some older (19th/20th century) British lit I've read, there's a caricature of Americans as crass, money-obsessed, no-nonsense types. When does that stereotype emerge, and can it by attributed to any specific sources?

32 upvotes

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I just read about Mata Hari's travels between Paris and Amsterdam during WWI. How were civilians able to travel between countries on opposite sides of the front line?

26 upvotes

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It's said that capybaras and beavers were deemed fish by the Catholic church so they could be eaten during Lent. Who gave the decree? When? Is it documented anywhere?

19 upvotes

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Between the guns firing and the sound of machinery, WWII-era battleships must have been hella loud. Did those who served on them survive with their hearing intact?

19 upvotes

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When testing ICBMs during the Cold War, how would the US tell the USSR (or vice versa) that it was just a test and not an attack?

14 upvotes

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Fats Waller was one of 11 siblings, 5 of whom "survived childhood." Was this a noteworthy mortality rate for NYC in the first decade of the 20th Century?

13 upvotes

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Were the Italian cities of the early 14th Century uniquely wealthy and sophisticated for their time, or is that a myth?

12 upvotes

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Why did the "Grecian" fall out of use to be replaced by "Greek?"

11 upvotes

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Title	Upvotes	Mark as read	Favorited	Rating	Add to a list
What did people think of the "black sludge [that] seeped out of the ground... around Baghdad, or gas fires flared off swamps in Mosul" prior to the development of petrol?	144
How did Roman armies navigate Gaul in the early years of the Gallic Wars, when Romans considered Gaul to be unexplored and largely unknown?	128
In some older (19th/20th century) British lit I've read, there's a caricature of Americans as crass, money-obsessed, no-nonsense types. When does that stereotype emerge, and can it by attributed to any specific sources?	32
I just read about Mata Hari's travels between Paris and Amsterdam during WWI. How were civilians able to travel between countries on opposite sides of the front line?	26
It's said that capybaras and beavers were deemed fish by the Catholic church so they could be eaten during Lent. Who gave the decree? When? Is it documented anywhere?	19
Between the guns firing and the sound of machinery, WWII-era battleships must have been hella loud. Did those who served on them survive with their hearing intact?	19
When testing ICBMs during the Cold War, how would the US tell the USSR (or vice versa) that it was just a test and not an attack?	14
Fats Waller was one of 11 siblings, 5 of whom "survived childhood." Was this a noteworthy mortality rate for NYC in the first decade of the 20th Century?	13
Were the Italian cities of the early 14th Century uniquely wealthy and sophisticated for their time, or is that a myth?	12
Why did the "Grecian" fall out of use to be replaced by "Greek?"	11