AskHistorians

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George Washington was noted as being an excellent dancer. How important would dancing ability be for a wealthy Virginian in colonial-era America?	76
92.26% of Ukrainians voted for independence in 1991. Why was support for independence so widespread? This seems particularly striking in light of the pro-Russian sympathies held by a not-insignificant proportion of Ukrainians today.	65
Solzhenitsyn describes widespread fear & fatalism during Stalin’s era because seemingly anyone, of any status, could become a victim at any time. Were rank-and-file NKVD enforcers equally at risk for arbitrary arrest & execution/imprisonment? Or were they, as enforcers, more secure?	64
Could Soviet citizens own pets? If so, were there local shelters to adopt from like in the modern USA? What was veterinary care in the USSR like?	61
The Japanese, prior to 1945, considered the emperor a god, but what exactly did this mean? Was he like Jesus? Was he considered infallible? Did they ascribe him North Korea-esque absurdities such as lacking normal bodily functions?	54
How much genetic continuity is there between ancient Romans and modern Italians? Or are modern Italians a completely different group of people?	52
The HBO series “Valley of Tears,” about Israeli soldiers in the Yom Kippur War, shows all ranks being on a first-name basis with little formality in their interactions. How accurately does this reflect the IDF circa 1973?	51
Was the Kriegsmarine really the least “Nazified” of the Wehrmacht branches? If so, why? And why did the levels of ideological commitment differ amongst the Heer, Luftwaffe, and Kriegsmarine?	49
How was the “amen”, being a Latin word and therefore “Catholic”, retained by virtually all denominations of Protestants?	49
Why has the Catholic Church historically been far more vocally opposed to abortion than the evangelicals or other Protestants? What makes abortion such a “Catholic” issue?	45

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