/u/ObsidianOrangutan's posts in /r/askhistorians

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How do historians decide what modern english terms to use for historical rulers? E.g. Emperor, King, Chief,

2488 upvotes

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Why are "eastern" swords generally depicted as curved, and "western" as straight? And does this have any basis in historical reality?

813 upvotes

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Ancient Egypt is often described as the longest continuous human civilization, and seems to have maintained a surprising amount of cultural continuity. How accurate is this description? If so why were they able to maintain continuity so much more than other civilizations

198 upvotes

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Why were Mao and Lenin embalmed and put on display when practically noone else in the modern era was?

170 upvotes

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Is the "leaking" of documents a purely modern phenomenon, or were there politically significant leaks in earlier periods of history?

78 upvotes

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How often did people wash at different times in history? When did daily bathing become the norm in Europe? And is it true that in Medieval times people wouldn't was for months?

40 upvotes

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How much did people in 1 AD know about the world in 2000 BE? How does it compare to our knowledge?

22 upvotes

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Why do we traditionally use locks with keys for doors but combinations for safes etc?

10 upvotes

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[medieval] [China] Why was religous conflict a much lower factor in medieval China than it was in Europe and the middle east at the same time? Or, One could just as easily reverse the question to why was there so much religious conflict in Europe and the middle east?

9 upvotes

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Why are Scandinavian countries significantly more socially and economically liberal then the rest of europe? (Or more succinctly, where did the 'Scandinavian model' come from?)

8 upvotes

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Title	Upvotes	Mark as read	Favorited	Rating	Add to a list
How do historians decide what modern english terms to use for historical rulers? E.g. Emperor, King, Chief,	2488
Why are "eastern" swords generally depicted as curved, and "western" as straight? And does this have any basis in historical reality?	813
Ancient Egypt is often described as the longest continuous human civilization, and seems to have maintained a surprising amount of cultural continuity. How accurate is this description? If so why were they able to maintain continuity so much more than other civilizations	198
Why were Mao and Lenin embalmed and put on display when practically noone else in the modern era was?	170
Is the "leaking" of documents a purely modern phenomenon, or were there politically significant leaks in earlier periods of history?	78
How often did people wash at different times in history? When did daily bathing become the norm in Europe? And is it true that in Medieval times people wouldn't was for months?	40
How much did people in 1 AD know about the world in 2000 BE? How does it compare to our knowledge?	22
Why do we traditionally use locks with keys for doors but combinations for safes etc?	10
[medieval] [China] Why was religous conflict a much lower factor in medieval China than it was in Europe and the middle east at the same time? Or, One could just as easily reverse the question to why was there so much religious conflict in Europe and the middle east?	9
Why are Scandinavian countries significantly more socially and economically liberal then the rest of europe? (Or more succinctly, where did the 'Scandinavian model' come from?)	8