askhistorians

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Kids these days like to pretend sticks are guns by repeatedly going "pew, pew, pew" like modern day automatic firearms. But did kids in the 1700's do the same thing except they would pretend to do the loading procedure for a musket every time they "shoot?"	10645
In the Netflix original film "Outlaw King" there is a brief scene that is clearly depicting a small group of black people in a village market in Scotland, dancing, playing instruments and wearing bright clothing. Do we have records of sub-Saharan Africans interacting with 14th century Scotland?	4151
Jack Sparrow from 'Pirates of the Caribbean' once quoted "People aren't cargo, mate" and Porthos from BBC's 'The Musketeers' once quoted "A man is not a commodity." Did anyone between the 1600s - 1800s ever had a perspective like this on the transatlantic slave trade?	3014
In a lot of Napoleonic era historical fiction, British sailors often say they spot a French or Spanish ship by the "cut of her jib" or "cut of her sails." Just how different were the French and Spanish sails cuts from British sail cuts and when did this difference become apparent on their warships?	1293
When the Steller's sea cow was discovered in 1741, it was hunted to extinction by sailors just 30 years after its discovery. Why didn't this happen to Manatees or Dugongs?	1104
How could a tall ship repair its broken masts (after a storm, or a battle) in the middle of the ocean?	764
My university's textbook on collective bargaining claims that the term "strike" comes from the 1700s "when sailors enforced their demands for pay raises by striking the topsails, which made ships immovable." Was this actually effective in immobilizing a ship?	258
From Facebook: "Pineapples were a status symbol in 18th century England. They were so expensive that you could rent them by the night and take them to parties with you". Can I get more insight on this?	243
Pirates liked the Bahamas because they could traverse the dangerously shallow waters with their smaller vessels to escape larger enemy ships. How big was too big for a ship to sail through the Bahamian archipelago in the Golden Age of Piracy?	243
Did pirates in the Golden Age of Piracy ever actually use the "stereotypical", short, very curved 'scimitar' we see fashioned in a lot of plastic sword toys and Halloween stuff?	167

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