/u/WaitForItTheMongols's posts in /r/askhistorians

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A commonly reposted internet claim is that during Prohibition, dissolvable bricks of grape juice came with a warning "Do not store in darkness for 20 days, because then it would turn into wine". Is this accurate? I can't find a simple photo of one.

1615 upvotes

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Music History: Three of the top 10 best selling albums of all time were released in 1977. What factors contributed to this clumping up of successful music?

194 upvotes

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Let's pretend I'm an aspiring game developer in 1987. How do I make a game for the Nintendo Entertainment System?

65 upvotes

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At what point did we (as a society) become certain that Everest is the tallest mountain?

47 upvotes

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Was the United States the first country to have money called "dollar"? Where did the name come from? Why was it chosen? Why have so many countries adopted the name?

45 upvotes

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What is the difference between an arrow and a bolt, and why did bolts get their own name instead of "crossbow arrow"?

35 upvotes

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A common joke format takes any word ending in "er", and says "I hardly know 'er"! What is the history of this? What is the earliest known use?

19 upvotes

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Today, Operation Paperclip (hiring Nazi scientists to work for the USA) is well known. Was it known at the time? Was there any opposition, particularly within NASA?

18 upvotes

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In "Ignition", John Clark cites that James Dewar falsely stated liquid fluorine to have a density of 1.108, when the real value is 1.5. Is there more information on this error?

8 upvotes

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After the American Revolution, why did Canada continue to exist? Why didn't ALL of the British territory in the New World become the USA?

7 upvotes

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Title	Upvotes	Mark as read	Favorited	Rating	Add to a list
A commonly reposted internet claim is that during Prohibition, dissolvable bricks of grape juice came with a warning "Do not store in darkness for 20 days, because then it would turn into wine". Is this accurate? I can't find a simple photo of one.	1615
Music History: Three of the top 10 best selling albums of all time were released in 1977. What factors contributed to this clumping up of successful music?	194
Let's pretend I'm an aspiring game developer in 1987. How do I make a game for the Nintendo Entertainment System?	65
At what point did we (as a society) become certain that Everest is the tallest mountain?	47
Was the United States the first country to have money called "dollar"? Where did the name come from? Why was it chosen? Why have so many countries adopted the name?	45
What is the difference between an arrow and a bolt, and why did bolts get their own name instead of "crossbow arrow"?	35
A common joke format takes any word ending in "er", and says "I hardly know 'er"! What is the history of this? What is the earliest known use?	19
Today, Operation Paperclip (hiring Nazi scientists to work for the USA) is well known. Was it known at the time? Was there any opposition, particularly within NASA?	18
In "Ignition", John Clark cites that James Dewar falsely stated liquid fluorine to have a density of 1.108, when the real value is 1.5. Is there more information on this error?	8
After the American Revolution, why did Canada continue to exist? Why didn't ALL of the British territory in the New World become the USA?	7