askhistorians

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In an episode of The Borgias, as a means of execution, two men are stripped naked, suspended upside down spread eagled and then sawed in half with a pit saw by two executioners. Was this an actual form of execution in medieval Europe?	75
Between 347 and 504 unarmed civilians in South Vietnam were butchered by the U.S. army in the My Lai Massacre. Only one soldier was convicted and served only 3 years in house arrest. Was there outrage that the rest escaped justice?	75
How were lesbians in America affected by HIV and AIDS in the 1980s?	63
Why did the Visigoths flee from the Ostrogoths? Why did the Ostrogoths flee from the Huns?	60
After the Ottoman victory over the Safavids in the Battle of Chaldiran, why didn't the Ottomans continue expanding their empire into Iran? What became of Shah Ismail's two wives that were captured by Sultan Selim?	56
After the Zhou Dynasty, what was the relation of Chinese nobility to the state (or emperor)?	49
From 1000BCE to 1900CE, are there any instances where a significant portion of an urban population could swim, or urban cultures where swimming was important? What about records of swimming as a sport?	43
Which sack of Constantinople was more brutal: the sack by Crusaders in 1204 or the sack by the Ottomans in 1453?	42
To what extent did the Bundeswehr benefit from the tank tradition, wartime experience, and training of the Heer? Did the Nationale Volksarmee similarly benefit?	37
How did tax collection work in the Holy Roman Empire? Who collected taxes? Who paid taxes to whom? How much made it to the emperor? How did the political structure of the HRE affect taxes and tax collection versus contemporary European major powers (eg. France, Spain, Russia, efc.)?	31

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