askhistorians

Title	Upvotes	Mark as read	Favorited	Rating	Add to a list
The Arthurian Cycle heavily features King Arthur and his knights searching for the Holy Grail. How exactly did Medieval authors believe that a cup from the 1st century Levant found its way to Great Britain 500 years later?	169
How did "esquire", a rank of nobility that were apprentices to knights, come to be the title for lawyers?	156
During the Jersey Shore Shark Attacks of 1916, many scientists refused to blame sharks for the deaths. They suggested sea turtles, mackerel, or even German U-Boats were the cause of death. Shark attacks are rare, but hardly unheard of. What led to this belief that sharks just did not attack humans?	150
Was Byzantium a strategic or important city in the Roman Empire before the founding of Constantinople?	143
The Palaiologos Dynasty was the longest-reigning dynasty in Roman history, lasting nearly 200 years. How did a dynasty that ruled over the most disastrous period in Roman history (ultimately ending in the state's destruction) last so long compared to say, the Julio-Claudians or the Constantinians?	140
The 1931 film "Frankenstein" begins with a warning to the audience about how scary the film is. Was this just a marketing gimmick, or was the film actually considered frightening enough to warrant a warning compared to other contemporary horror films?	133
What was life like on the borders of the Roman Empire? Were there border checkpoints? Was life noticeably different compared to in the interior of the Empire? Were there differences between a border with another state and a border with "barbarians" (Germany, etc.)?	120
It's been estimated that around 30% of slaves brought to America were Muslim. Was there any noticable amount of Islamic culture that impacted the post-slavery African diaspora in the United States?	115
In Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator (1972), the President of the United States is depicted as a weak, airheaded man who relies on his childhood nanny (who is also the VP) for everything. Is this an accurate depiction of how the British public viewed Richard Nixon? If so why?	114
At what point did the Byzantines consider territories lost to the Arabs (Syria, Egypt, etc.) to be "permanently lost"?	96

« < > »