askhistorians

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A recently read that in the 19th century in the US doctors and scientists believed that black people could not feel pain or anxiety. How and why did they come to this conclusion?	23
Did people ask famous people for their autograph back in ancient times?	21
Is the idea that "voting is sacred" a modern idea, or would people have believed this when the US was founded?	21
For centuries, Miasma was believed to be the source of sickness. Bad air that caused disease was identified by bad smells. If this is true, why did people live throwing their sewage in the streets and not bathing?	19
Why did the Nazis use the swastika, a Hindu symbol, as their own symbol? We're they trying to associate themselves with peace? Why is the Nazi swastika a reversed version of the Hindu swastika?	19
Wikipedia claims that a number of Bible translations into German were printed prior to Martin Luther's birth, some nearly 60 years before the Protestant reformation. If this is true, then why was Luther's bible so influential?	19
When the Spanish first arrived in the Americas they transmitted several diseases to the natives which quickly killed entire communities. Why didn't the same occur when the diseases that the natives were carrying were transmitted to the Spanish?	17
Crosses used for executions, were made in both the "lowercase t" shape, as well as the "uppercase T" shape. Is there any connection between the cross and the symbols created to represent the letter T?	17
70% - 90% of Native American deaths after 1492 were caused by disease brought over from Europe. At the time, was there anything that Europeans could have done as far as prevention and treatment? Or was this an inevitable effects of the New and old World becoming aware of each other?	15
In US history, during a Presidential election, has one candidate ever advocated for their political opponent to be imprisoned?	13

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