askhistorians

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The Greek writer Plutarch mocked ancient Greek religion/mythology, and yet served as a priest at the temple of Apollo at Delphi. What should we make of this arrangement? Was this sort of worship combined with lampooning common?	51
How did pizza in the United States rise from an obscure poverty dish of immigrant Italians to one of the nation's favorite meals?	51
General Ulysses S. Grant argued the Confederacy had major advantages over the Union during the U.S. civil war - what do historians make of this claim?	50
Ben Franklin was a big fan of saving and compound interest and even left money to Boston and Philadelphia to be compounded for 200 years. What sort of interest-bearing investments did Franklin have had access to in Colonial America? Savings accounts? Stock investments?	50
Olives/olive oil were one of ancient Greece's most valuable exports. But each tree takes 60-80 years to reach stable yields, and incessant inter-polis conflict had armies invading each others' territory frequently. Were the olives destroyed and export wealth cut by these raids?	50
Were any Greek cities particularly devoted to the worship of Ares, similar to how Athens emphasized the worship of Athena? Was the Athena-Athens level of worship specialization seen elsewhere?	50
Japan tried to conquer Korea many times during its history. Why were the Japanese so intent on gaining control of Korea when there were plenty of other options around the Pacific, and what was their justification?	49
Where should we understand Alexander Hamilton's positions to be on the current political spectrum? Or does that modern spectrum even make sense for analyzing Revolutionary War figures?	49
The "Tragedy of the Commons" suggests communal ownership leads to overexploitation and destruction of land/property. But much of classical/medieval Europe and aboriginal America had a rich history of communal ownership of land/resources. Were these lands poorly managed?	48
To what extent did average union soldiers realize and appreciate that they were fighting to free people from slavery in the civil war? Was it a goal they were fervent about, or a conflict thrust upon them that they didn't care about?	48

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