askhistorians

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What effect did the completion of the Suez Canal have on the ecosystems of the Mediterranean and Red Sea?	30
What, if anything, was the involvement of the indigenous Ainu people of northern Japan in World War Two?	29
When did people first figure out that summer and winter are reversed in opposite hemispheres?	25
Today, many colleges offer popular “study abroad” programs that send students to foreign countries for a semester. How did this practice begin?	24
In the BBC historical drama “The Durrells in Corfu,” a British family emigrated to Greece in the 1930s without apparently going through any legal process. Was that really possible at the time?	23
The Canadian folk artist Stan Rogers famously wrote that, despite John MacDonell’s courage defending Ontario in the War of 1812, “Not one in ten thousand knows your name.” Was his contribution to the war really that significant, and if so how did his legend die?	20
I’m an American Jewish soldier on the western front of WWII. Unfortunately, I’ve been taken prisoner by the Germans. Am I going to be treated like a POW, or like a German Jew? How can I maximize my chances of survival?	16
Say I’m a Jewish traveller from Roman Judaea around the year 0, called to the Italian peninsula on business. How would I go about getting a kosher meal?	15
I have read that when Japanese dignitaries first visited Europe, the paper tissues they carried to wipe their noses and mouths were such a novelty that people would fight over the used ones as souvenirs. Is this true? If so, what did Europeans do with their boogers?	11
I live in New York, which is between New England and New Jersey. My girlfriend lives in New Hampshire, has family in New Brunswick, and works in New London. When and how did the practice of naming places in the New World “New + a place in the Old World” begin?	11

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