AskHistorians

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How did creatures of Greek mythology such as nymphs, centaurs, and satyrs end up in popular depictions of fairy tails from British Isles folklore?	13
What is the reason behind scholarly and/or amateur fascination with Akhenaten? Was Atenism significant as more than just a short-term heresy?	13
"The Faerie Queene" and "A Midsummer Night's Dream" seem to freely blend classical myth and English folklore. How much "fantasy" writing from the time drew on antiquity, and would lay audiences understand these characters rubbing elbows with their faeries?	11
Robespierre seems like he would have been a natural ally to Roux and the Enrages. Why did he oppose them in 1793?	11
Where does the folklore belief come from that one can defeat/control malefactors by knowing their true names?	10
Have fantasy literature and children's stories (especially in the 1800s)given us an accurate picture of British Isles faerie folklore or are there lots of lingering tropes that would be unfamiliar to a medieval person?	9
German has long been considered a "rough" language, but was it associated with being sharp and "shouty" at all before Hitler?	8
Around 1934, there was a spike in automotive deaths that doesn't appear to be explained away by an increase in drivers. What happened? (Chart and details inside)	7
It's the 1850s in a gold rush town where few, if any, have struck it rich in the mines. Who are the people becoming wealthy catering to these miners, creating local monopolies on goods and services, or making use of this destitute, discouraged labor force?	6
Where did the Levelers and Diggers of England's new model army come across such radical egalitarian ideas a century before the Enlightenment?	6

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