askhistorians

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On the Open Domestay site, it lists a places resources including fisheries, and the website adds a note "tax on fisheries was often paid in fish". Fish is way down my list of things that would store value long enough to be considered worth collecting as tax. How did paying tax in fish work exactly?	15
In the early days of colonialism in North America by Europeans, the driving factor for founding colonies was profit. As an investor of one these expeditions, where would I expect my profit to come from? How was money made by founding a colony in North America?	14
When and why did javelin-men stop being a mainstay of European land armies?	14
Why did the cotton industry boom in Manchester in the first half of the 19th century? Why did it not boom in for example Liverpool where the cotton was shipped to?	13
After the defeat of Mark Antony , did Octavian/Augustus bribe and intrigue his way to emperor, or was he just that liked by the senate/people that he was freely given the power bit-by-bit?	11
Why didn't the USSR land a man on the moon?	10
A common occurrence in 4th-5th century Europe is tribes fleeing to safety within Roman borders from groups like the Huns. Considering these tribes had to make huge sacrifices to do so, what actually happened to people/tribes that just stayed put and accepted Hunnic rule? Or was that not possible?	9
Why was Alexander planning to invade Arabia before his death in 323BC?	6
How would one become a praetorian guard? Was it a reward for good soldiers? Or perhaps a cushy job for young aristocratic men?	5
How did Pyrrhus of Epirus, a kingdom in Adriatic Greece, come to possess war elephants and the ability to use them?	4

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