AskHistorians

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Feuding Renaissance Italians often used "cantarella" to poison each other. Slipped into wine, it was said to have no antidote and could be customized to kill in an hour or a week. Do we have any idea what cantarella was, and if it could really be so powerful and so customizable?	26
Most of Asia, Africa, South America, and Central America require school uniforms. The United States, Canada, and Europe mostly don't. How did this divide come about?	26
Did the ever-present threat of being challenged to a duel force people to be more polite and less slanderous? Did this have a notable effect in places where duels were legal/common?	26
We say prohibition failed because Americans defied the laws and took their drinking underground. But did prohibition actually achieve its underlying objective?	26
Can you tell us about the movement that produced Esperanto and the idea that the world would be better if everyone was fluent in single, easy-to-learn international language? What started the movement and why did it falter?	25
The English captured the entire Danish fleet (approx 60 ships) during the Battle of Copenhagen. What did it do with those ships?	25
FDR was a big fan of his nightly cocktail hour with friends and family, mixing the drinks himself. This went on in the midst of prohibition. What did Americans think of their president breaking the law?	25
How did the Galatians, a Gallic people, get to Asia minor?	25
Abdul Karim, a Muslim from India, went to England to serve Queen Victoria, but somehow ended up as her spiritual teacher and confidant. What drew Victoria into this unlikely friendship, and what did her family think of it?	25
Did the upper crust ever speak like Jane Austin wrote?	25

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