AskHistorians

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When the Portuguese encountered the Chinese for the first time in Malacca, in 1509, they described them as using forks to eat. What's the history of the fork in the east?	534
After conquering Goa in 1510, the Portuguese estabilished a policy of encouraging the marriage of their men to local women, did any other colonial power ever bother attempting the same?	112
Has there ever been a proposal to restore the Pyramids?	50
In the 17th century, after the Dutch VOC clashed with Ming China, they were banished from the mainland, but allowed to settle in Taiwan. Why was this? How did the Ming see Taiwan back then?	50
I've read once that the term "Dark Ages" refers not to the social, economical and political condition of Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire, but to the lack of written records, meaning we are "in the dark" about events that ocurred in that timeframe. Do historians acknowledge this?	36
Former Portuguese Customs Officials recall that after WW2, a large amount of gold bars with swastikas passed through customs of Macau and were possibly smuggled to Hong Kong and China. Why did Nazi gold end up in China?	29
Did the USA, Mexico or any other territory in the Americas pay a compensation to their former colonizer after declaring independence the way Brazil did to Portugal?	15
King John VI of Portugal was forced to leave to Brazil when Napoleons troops invaded Portugal. What could be expected to have happened to him if he had stayed?	14
How long did a ship's useful service life last in the late middle ages, in Europe before being dismantled?	14
What was the relation between Ming China and Taiwan in the 16th century?	7

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