AskHistorians

Title	Upvotes	Mark as read	Favorited	Rating	Add to a list
In early history of North American settlement, Authorities often worried about settlers leaving to join local Native groups because they preferred that life style. Do we have any Native sources that talk about these people? And how they felt about them?	3711
The Lord of the Rings was written in the 50's, but exploded in popularity much later in the 60's. What caused it to suddenly get so much popular? How did that affect other fantasy produced at the time?	2866
What was social life like within the Iroquois Confederacy?	2449
How long would it take to build a castle in Medieval England?	2200
Alchemy famously sought to turn lead into gold. But why lead? Out of all the different metals, why was there such a focus on lead?	1518
The “overkill” hypothesis suggests that humans were the primary cause behind the death of megafauna. Is there evidence of this predatory nature in more recent history about Native American hunting practices?	1101
Marcus Aemilius Lepidus was a key member of the second Triumvirate, and yet seems to be almost entirely unknown in pop culture. How did he get enough power to (briefly) rival Octavian and Mark Antony? And why hasn't he left more of an impact?	260
Sea shanties have been popular recently, but did other careers or guilds have work songs they sang? Are there any that moved into popular culture?	217
In his memoirs Eisenhower wrote that after 1955, "no region of the world received as much of my close attention and that of my colleagues as did the Middle East." What did he mean by that? Other than the Suez crisis, what else happened that demanded his attention?	202
How did trains become a major component to the Christmas aesthetic?	159

« < > »