askhistorians

Title	Upvotes	Mark as read	Favorited	Rating	Add to a list
In 1871, only about 12% of Paraguayans were male. What were the short-term and long-term effects of this?	4809
Why do we sometimes translate the names of Native American historical figures (Sitting Bull) and sometimes not (Tecumseh)?	3290
If a modern Catholic priest went back in time to the 1100s or 1200s, what arguments would they have with a Catholic priest from that time about doctrine and praxis? What about the 600s or 700s?	3251
Why are Unions such a political bogeyman in the USA? And why does popular culture associate them with organised crime?	3035
Why are angels depicted as humans with large white feathery wings, and when did this begin?	2592
I'm a male peasant in 13th century western Europe. My older brother has just inherited our late father's farm. I don't want to just be a poor farmhand my whole life. What opportunities for getting a better job are there, and how viable are they?	2381
Ukraine has excellent soil. Today it's a major food producer, and that was the same under the USSR. Yet in the middle ages, when agriculture was the largest part of the economy, Kievan Rus was not famed as the richest land in Europe or anything like that. Why not?	2258
Is there a particular reason the US Supreme Court is full of Catholics, a religious minority in America who've in the past faced prejudice?	2225
Why did the Romani leave India and travel to Europe? Was it a slow or quick process? If it was a slow process, why didn't they leave Romani groups behind in Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkey, etc?	2074
How seriously was the Catholic ban on eating meat on Fridays taken in the Middle Ages, and how quickly did Protestants discard it after the Reformation?	1746

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