AskHistorians

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The international border between Nepal and China/Tibet runs exactly over the summit of Mt. Everest. Is there any particular reason for this?	95
Although both countries speak Korean, the political division of North and South Korea has led to not-insubstantial linguistic differences. Are there any other historical examples where the division of a population through political boundaries or barriers resulted in linguistic divergence?	45
Why did Ronald Reagan support South Africa's white apartheid regime in the 1980s?	16
In primary sources that predate the late modern period, how frequently do historians find errors in spelling, grammar, and the like? How easy or how difficult is it for historians to recognize such errors, especially in older variants of languages? And how do translators deal with these errors?	16
How and why did U.S. university campuses become important focal points for the South African divestment movement?	16
When did monotheistic religions begin precluding the existence of other divine entities? How did this process occur?	5
In the United States, championship-winning sports teams (both collegiate and professional) are often invited to visit the President at the White House to honor their accomplishments. When and how did this tradition come about?	5
England, Scotland, and Wales all have distinct official flags, but Northern Ireland does not. Why?	5
According to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum's website, the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg did not posthumously try Hitler, Himmler, or Goebbels "so as not to create the impression that they might still be alive." Why was this a concern?	4
Why did Rep. Howard W. Smith—a segregationist Democrat—insert "sex" as a protected class under the Civil Rights Act of 1964?	3

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