AskHistorians

Title	Upvotes	Mark as read	Favorited	Rating	Add to a list
Hebrew ceased to a utilitarian language around the 2nd century A.D., and was used only for religious rituals. Today, millions speak it as their first language in Isreal. How did this happen? Why didn't Jews moving to Isreal communicate in Arabic or Yiddish?	20
What sort of diet were US slaves given in the southern US? How much food did they eat to support their heavy agricultural labor?	20
How did an English "poor house" or "work house" differ from a for-profit factory? What was made, and who was buying it?	20
Why did Japan throw almost all their remaining manpower and supplies into a offensive against China while America was breathing down their necks, hopping islands toward their homeland?	19
Conquistadors handed the vast, rich lands of Mexico and Peru to the Spanish throne. How well did Spain reward and honor its conquistadors? Were festivals given in their honor? Were average soldiers given titles and lands? Did they retire in style or return to working "for the man"?	19
"Nearly all the successors of Alexander...professed themselves Stoics," according to Gilbert Murray. But by the 4th century AD, Stoicism had mostly died out. Did people study or practice Stoic philosophy between then and the rise of Neo Stoicism in the 16th century?	19
The British Navy learned lime juice prevented scurvy, a major problem on long voyages. Did this give the British an operational advantage over other navies?	19
To what degree did the US founding fathers like each other and get along? Were they fairly respectful to each other? Did they turn on each other after the Declaration of Independence or the adoption of the Constitution?	19
When and why were urban baths in the major cities of the Roman Empire abandoned, and were there any bathing holdouts?	19
Who was the intended audience of the writings that eventually became the new testament? Do we know why its compilers never went back and attempted to clean up some of its glaring inconsistencies? Was this a principled editorial choice? An accident?	19

« < > »