AskHistorians

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Odysseus has sex with several women (Hecuba, Circe, Calypso) but Penelope remains loyal to his husband. Odysseus' infidelity is not chastised in the story, so how commonplace was this ideology of sex in ancient Greece? Were men expected to be monogamous?	5016
When and why did Japan create a deep fascination with French culture--particularly Paris?	495
It's a running joke that in ice skating competitions, the Eastern European judge will always give an obnoxiously low score compared to other judges. Was this joke based off of something historical?	331
For decades in America, hitchhiking was common and deemed reasonably safe. However, it is virtually non-existent today. What caused the shift in opinion?	319
In 1963, when Martin Luther King and other activists were trapped by a white mob in the First Baptist Church in Montgomery, MLK called Bobby Kennedy for assistance and to have the gov't give backup. Did MLK have a personal number to call? How was he so easily patched through to the gov't?	229
Was there any blacklash from the Christian community when the X-men (God Loves, Man Kills) had a televangelist villain (William Stryker) in 1982?	141
Is there any medical practice from medieval or ancient times that has remained mostly unchanged after all these years?	137
The Book "How the Irish Saved Civilization" claims the majority of ancient texts were saved thanks for the Irish. While it's true, to what extent. Weren't the Arabic nations also copying ancients texts of the romans and greeks?	119
In movies like The Outsiders, West Side Story, and Gangs of New York, there are predetermined "rules" that both sides unconditionally accept. Were these gang rules romanticized by Hollywood, or is there evidence that these rules existed?	52
How racist was J Edgar Hoover? Did he really have a vendetta against Dr Martin Luther King, putting such intensive watch on him or was it because he was afraid of a potential domestic terrorism of some sort?	42

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