askhistorians

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Was "running away to join the circus" ever actually a viable option for youngsters, or did circuses not want to hire people with no experience?	149
Were Roman gladiatorial fights ever "worked" like professional wrestling matches?	113
In Chuck Palahniuk's novel "Choke", it is mentioned that people were often sexually assaulted by bystanders while in the pillory. Is it true that this was a common occurrence?	89
A common trope in popular culture is a "primitive" society upon contact with a "modern" society believing that taking one's photograph would steal their soul. Is there any truth to this? Has this been a belief that any indigenous cultures have had?	88
I've heard some say that the Arab slave trade was far larger and more damaging than the Atlantic slave trade ever was. Is this true, or a false/misleading statement to advance political ideology?	60
Why have comedic depictions of doctors and intellectuals in American culture stereotypically had German accents?	58
The 1960s Adam West Batman show is very pro-police, albeit in a possibly tongue-in-cheek manner. Did the show ever receive criticism from the counter-cultural or civil rights movements happening at the same time?	57
A common stereotype of "primitive" civilizations is human sacrifice via throwing someone into a volcano? Have any civilizations ever actually done this? If not, how did that image get popularized?	57
At the beginning of the 2009 adaptation of “A Christmas Carol,” Jocob Marley is being buried with Tuppence over his eyes. Was a pagan religious practice like Charon’s Obol still practiced in 19th century Christian England?	53
Did the Manhattan Project see radiation and fallout as a benefit of the Atomic Bomb, or was it an unintended side effect?	52

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