AskHistorians

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The circumference of the Earth had been calculated as far back as ancient Greece. What, then, did the Europeans expect before discovering the New World? Just an ocean where the Americas were, plus the Pacific?	12
The year is 1117 and I'm an Austrian aristocrat fleeing persecution. I board a ship in Venice and set sail into the Mediterranean, looking for refuge. What would be the best place to call my new home?	7
I'm a king of Ancient Greece and own lots of fine jewelery. Where did this gold and all these gems come from? How exactly where they taken from the Earth and how did they end up in my hands?	6
When does the idea of time travel originate from? What are some of the earliest examples of time travel used in storytelling?	6
I am a Russian colonist settling in Alaska. What happens to me and my way of life after the territory is sold to the United States?	4
Before other planets in the solar system were directly observed, what were the preconceptions of these objects in the night sky? When they were directly observed by telescope for the first time, did we have an understanding of what they even were? How did that understanding arise?	4
After the fall of the western Roman empire, what was the consensus of the newly independent states? Was there a general relief to no longer be under imperial rule, or were there efforts to try and reunite in some capacity?	4
Did Roman soldiers on the march do their laundry?	3
Aside from popular civilizations, what ancient tribes or cultures were aware of the planets that can be directly observed in the night sky, and what we're their understandings of these objects?	2
Has there been any instances of an air-to-air kill with the use of a guided or unguided bomb, rather than a missile or gun?	1

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