askhistorians

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If you compare the list of top US universities in 1920 to the list today, it’s completely the same except for the addition of California. What factors have stopped newer universities from rising to the top?	4451
US consumer protection had a golden age from 1960-1978. Ralph Nader and other advocates successfully pushed for clean water and air regulations, as well as safer cars and other consumer goods. But by 1980 this seems to have stalled. Why did Americans lose interest in the once-wildly popular topic?	4388
The great Roman general Scipio Africanus liked to dance, "not shuffling about in the present style...but in the old-fashioned manly style in which men danced at times of games and festivals, without loss of dignity even if their enemies were watching them." Do we have any idea what this looked like?	4337
Bambi is a strange movie by today's standards. It's more a series of vignettes than a coherent plot. Bambi's mother is killed, but this loss isn't explored and has no ramifications for Bambi. What did children and adults think of it when it was released?	4299
I've read that the Mongols destroyed Mesopotamia's canal system, and as a result the population of the region is lower today than it was before the Mongol invasion. What exactly did the Mongols do in Mesopotamia, and why did the population never recover?	4236
After his term as president, John Quincy Adams ran for a seat in the House of Representatives and held it for 17 years. How unique was it for American presidents to run for "lesser," public offices after being president?	4077
In 62 B.C. Cicero bought a huge house from Marcus Crassus for 3.5 million sestertii. How did the money change hands?	4027
The Supreme Court ruled that Native American tribes were sovereign nations that couldn't be forced from their land. Andrew Jackson saw the federal ruling and decided to remove them anyway. Was the problem that the supreme court couldn't enforce their ruling? Did everyone just look the other way?	3964
Jack Welch extracted record profits from GE for 20 years, but left it a hollowed-out "pile of shit," according to his successor. What exactly did Welch do that was so damaging, and how did he get away with it for so long?	3632
In 387 B.C., the Persians funded a Spartan fleet to destroy an Athenian fleet, which the Persians had previously funded to destroy another Spartan fleet, which the Persians had previously funded to destroy aother Athenian fleet. Was this brilliant geopolitics or indecision and a waste of money?	3401

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