AskHistorians

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Early imperial cities, such as Rome and Athens, developed organically. Their streets and alleys are winding and confusing. But their colonies were developed in a planned grid pattern. Did they just prefer straight lines, or were grids good for other reasons?	37
Regular concrete lasts centuries. Reinforced concrete lasts 50-100 years. Why did the mania for reinforced concrete begin, and why didn't we switch away from it once it became apparent that it only lasted a few decades?	36
Did Leonardo da Vinci leave a string of disappointed clients in his wake because he rarely finished anything? He was talented and skilled, but did he really produce much compared to other great Renaissance artists?	36
I'm off to Delphi to seek guidance from the oracle. I want to find out if I should risk leaving Megara to join colonists heading to the Black Sea. What is my visit like? How do I ask my question? Who gives me my answer? Is my answer going to be ambiguous?	36
William Jennings Bryan's 1896 "Cross of Gold" speech is considered one of the greatest political speeches ever delivered in the United States. Was the central premise of the gold standard hurting the US economy accurate? Was his solution of silver coinage a good one?	36
Greek plays and poems feature characters fated to horrible ends — Oedipus will kill his father and marry his mother, etc. Did the ancient Greeks believe in free will? Were they determinists? How did they look at fate?	36
The Greeks and Phoenicians set up colonies in North Africa, but there were already numerous Berber tribes and fierce Numidian horse people settled there. How did they manage to resist the more numerous natives and carve out independent cities with significant land holdings?	36
Bread sold in England and the United States was often adulterated with hazardous additives like chalk, sawdust, alum, plaster, clay, and ammonium carbonate. This was known by the early 19th century, but it took 90 years for the US government to do anything about it. Were people worried?	36
In the 20th century, E. A. Wallis Budge believed Egyptian commoners were polytheistic, but that educated scribes and nobles believed the many gods were all aspects of the same one. So Egyptian religion was ultimately monotheistic. Does this view have any support today?	35
How different is modern corn/cornmeal from what native Americans were eating prior to western contact? What happened to change our corn?	35

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