askhistorians

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In the aftermath of Lincoln's assassination, to what extent was Booth lauded as a hero by the VERY freshly-defeated ex-confederates?	35
Wikipedia’s article on Ty Cobb seems to suggest that much of Cobb’s reputation for nastiness and violence was “fanned by his first biographer” and later discredited. Is there a current historical view of Cobb and his life as a celebrity, and how does it differ from this reputation?	28
Considering how often English kings wrested political control from much stronger blood claimants, is it arguable that heredity played a much smaller role in political life than the public largely believes?	26
Is there any credibility to the theory that the Voynich Manuscript was written by a young Da Vinci?	25
There is a 1942 recording (linked here) which purports to be the only known recording of Hitler’s regular speaking voice. How is this possibly the case, and what might be the context of this conversation (and it’s contents?)	16
In one book Peter Ackroyd claims that by the late Bronze Age in England, "...there may have been embassies from Troy...or from the court of the pharaoh Akhenaten in Egypt." Is there any validity to this claim?	15
Washington's decision to resign as commander-in-chief following the Revolutionary War is often praised as a remarkable act of statesmanship. Was American democracy really so vulnerable that such an act would guarantee civilian control of the military, and thus a non-authoritarian government?	15
Do we know about how many Americans in the late 1960's were actually using the psychotropic drugs that mark pop culture remembrances of the decade? How much of a drug explosion was there in reality?	12
Why did the United States never develop government offices or departments specifically dedicated to culture or sport as many European and parliamentary nations have?	9
Russia's punishing winters are the stuff of military legend- so how did the Mongols seem to sweep through Siberia with relative ease?	9

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