askhistorians

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In one of my classes, we received a list of the greatest mass killings in human history. The top was, of course, World War 2, but number two was the Mongol conquests under Genghis Khan, to whom they attribute forty MILLION deaths! Can this possibly be true? How do we calculate something like that?	5857
I'm a wealthy young Roman at the height of the empire with money to burn and a brain to fry. What sort of drugs- illicit or otherwise- are available to me?	387
It seems hopelessly stupid for a high-ranking government official to fly, solo, to a country with which they are currently at war, yet that is exactly what Deputy Führer Rudolph Hess did when he flew to Scotland in 1941. Why on earth did he do this?	338
Ancient rome had a long history of lavish public entertainment to placate the masses, from gladiator fights to the Circus Maximus to chariot races. Did Han-era China have similar spectacles? If I lived in Chang'an in 50 CE, what sort of public entertainment is available to me?	281
Well-rounded, balanced diets are a recent convention, stemming largely from the development of refrigeration. Before this, did people just bounce back and forth between diarrhea and constipation?	198
In the game Crusader Kings 2, it's not uncommon to designate somebody as your court dwarf. How were dwarfs actually treated during the medieval period in Europe? In the Middle East?	90
How did medieval Muslim armies deal with the need to pray five times a day?	85
In the game Crusader Kings 2, it's not uncommon do designate somebody as your court dwarf. How were dwarfs actually treated during the medieval period in Europe? In the Middle East?	63
Starting with the Qin Emperor in 222 BCE, China has a long history of building walls along the northern border to keep out the "barbarians". This, of course, culminated with Great Wall under the Ming. How effective were these walls? Did they ever successfully prevent an invasion from the north?	56
I'm a patriotic young Roman man in 100CE, and I decide to join the legions. What are my chances of surviving the next twenty-five years? Will I be injured?	54

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