AskHistorians

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I have heard that Roman statues were originally brightly-painted and lost their pigment with time. But when exactly did that happen? Would a visitor to Rome in, say, 1200 have seen colorful statues or white ones?	741
I have heard that Adolf Hitler was a vegetarian. But when I think about German food, I can’t think of a single vegetarian entrée. What would a vegetarian diet in 1940s Germany actually look like?	697
Many former French colonies use money called “Francs”. Many former Spanish colonies use money called “Pesos”. Why do former British colonies mostly refer to their currency as “dollars” rather than “pounds”?	468
Jesus is often depicted with a lamb, which is usually white and fluffy. But what did sheep in first century Israel actually look like?	74
The United States of America and the Holy Roman Empire existed at the same time for about twenty years. What were American-Holy Roman relations like? Did the two have anything to do with each other?	32
Did Napoleon show any particular favoritism toward fellow Corsicans as emperor of France?	19
Is it true that, before the introduction modern shipping, the Inuit diet was almost purely carnivorous? If so, why didn’t they all die of cholesterol?	18
Why did the Mao family not come to dominate politics in Communist China the way the Kim family did in North Korea?	8
I can’t read Chinese, but I can look at a sign or a page of text and say “oh, that’s Chinese.” When did that become common knowledge in the West? Would, say, Shakespeare have recognized Chinese characters if he saw them?	1
Family lore claims that, when my great aunt and great uncle were liberated from Auschwitz, they were given the choice to go west to America/Israel or east to Soviet Ukraine. Is this plausible?	1

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