AskHistorians

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How were wisdom teeth dealt with before modern dental surgery?	11
What documentation existed for each soldier in the Roman Army? Did a legionary have the equivalent of enlistment papers, a DD-214, or a Service Record Book?	11
How much cultural & demographic continuity is there between the Roman Empire and modern Italy? Can Italians rightfully claim actual connection to Rome, or is that akin to an Iraqi claiming continuity with Babylon simply because they live on the same real estate?	11
Why did Mongolia go from isolated backwater, to massive global empire, and then returned permanently to isolated backwater?	11
Of the ships torpedoed by U-boats during WW2, a strangely high proportion were Norwegian. Why were such a large proportion of merchant vessels Norwegian?	11
Japanese servicemen in WW2 were notorious for rarely surrendering, but some were still captured by the Allies. Were the Allies surprised by any of the information obtained from these POWs? Were any Allied preconceptions about Japan challenged?	10
Japanese servicemen captured in WW2 were written off in Japan as cowards and dishonor personified, facing stigma even after the war ended. What was the German attitude toward Wehrmacht personnel captured by the Western Allies?	10
How were wasp & hornet nests dealt with prior to modern insecticide sprays?	10
Why did Japan so abruptly shift from under-developed isolation to modernization & empire? The US Navy got their attention in 1853, but what was the specific Japanese logic behind this dramatic change of trajectory? Was it one decision, a series of decisions, or not a “decision” at all?	10
Would a WW2 U-boat have been able to contact a US destroyer via the Talk-Between-Ships (“TBS”) system?	10

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