askhistorians

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In the US, did slavery improve or worsen overtime? Would the life of a slave in 1650 be worse that the life of a slave in 1850?	126
I for some reason never realized that the Muslims making the pilgrimage to Mecca are called Pilgrims. Pilgrims are defined as people on a journey to a holy place. Why were the original people that colonized the US called "Pilgrims"?	121
Did Jews or Christians think the Apocalypse was happening during the Black Plague?	101
The Wikipedia page regarding Aristotle's views on women claims that his views had a huge negative influence on women's history. He viewed women as subservient to men and many Western and Islamic philosophers quoted him with authority for centuries. What are the most significant influences he had?	99
After segregation ended, Tennessee had multiple public pools filled with concrete and dismantled public playgrounds since they could no longer be for white people only. Was this a common practice in other states? Were other public amenities destroyed?	95
I was reading about the history of the stapler and found that the first stapler was made for King Louis XV. "The ornate staples it used were forged from gold, encrusted with precious stones, and bore his Royal Court's insignia." Is this true? Does the stapler still exist?	93
'Quarantine' comes from the Italian word for 'Forty Days' because during the plague the government started requiring people arriving on ships to stay on the ship for 40 days to make sure no one on board was sick. Why 40 days? Why not 30? Or 70?	88
Watching reruns of old TV shows today is common, but when did shows first start being "rerun"? I've read that the pilot episode of Dr. Who was the first show to be rerun because it aired on Nov. 23, 1963 - the day after JFK's assassination. Is this true?	87
Before germ theory, many believed miasma (bad smells) were the source of sickness and disease. If this is true, then why didnt people begin bathing and sanitizing and removing human waste from city streets thousands of years ago?	84
How did ancient libraries keep track of who was checking out books? Did late fees exist? How would libraries react if you lost or damaged a book?	64

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