AskHistorians

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In the 2007 movie "Persepolis," one character says that because it was forbidden to kill a virgin, virgins convicted of capital crimes were raped before execution. Is this true? (1980s Iran)	1806
"On February 14, 1650, the parliament at Nürnberg decreed that, because so many men were killed during the Thirty Years' War...the decree stated that every man was allowed to marry up to ten women." How many such marriages happened? How long did this legalized polygamy last, and why did it stop?	1482
"Beef-eating Latins"--so an eyewitness to the 1204 sack of Constantinople calls Western Christians. Did the Byzantines not eat beef?	1147
In 1972 the Kingdom of Tonga sent troops to squash the nascent micronation of Minerva, which consisted of a small tower and a flag atop a soggy artificial reef, along with some novelty currency. Why did Tonga bother to dignify Minerva with an official response?	766
What's so bad about working in the salt mines? How did that become such a dire punishment?	604
Diodorus said the oracle at Delphi "dressed in the costume of a virgin." How would a virgin have dressed differently from a married woman in classical times?	373
US general Smedley Butler said: "In China in 1927 I helped see to it that Standard Oil went on its way unmolested." Was he referring to a specific favor?	278
A question about profanity, McCarthy, and the Lavender scare--possibly NSFW NSFW	208
Most Westerners were blindsided by Japan's victory against China in 1895, and ten years later were blindsided again by Japan's victory against Russia. How did this happen, especially since Western advisors and observers were "embedded" among both militaries?	189
Chinese diplomat: "U.S. ships took Chinese troops to reclaim the Spratlys after they were occupied by Japan during World War Two. Other countries only started occupying what he said was Chinese territory from the 1960s after oil was discovered." Is this true?	188

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