AskHistorians

Title	Upvotes	Mark as read	Favorited	Rating	Add to a list
Has the United States, through the CIA or otherwise, sanctioned assassination attempts in the 20th century? Against whom and why? How did the world find out, and were there any sort of consequences?	84
Catholics believe in transubstantiation -- the bread and wine literally become the body and blood of Christ in the Mass. This is based on the story of the Last Supper. Would this have been a strange idea at the time? Are there any other religions or philosophies that would glorify human consumption?	84
Growing up in the late 80s/early 90s, I remember hearing a lot of American anxiety over being economically overtaken by Japan. Were these fears realistic? How, if at all, did they affect the power of American labor groups and the American work ethic?	75
The "Golden Age of Piracy" was the late 17th and very early 18th centuries in the Caribbean, and everyone is familiar with those pirates. But were there similar eras in other seas? For instance, when was the Mediterranean's "golden age of piracy," and what could we expect to see during it?	15
Speaking as an American, it seems like the fetishization of weapons has been part of our culture for a long time. Is this a uniquely or particularly American thing? Is there a certain time or place this fascination with all things pointy-stabby or shooty-bangy is rooted?	14
Have write-in candidates always been allowed in U. S. presidential elections? Who received the most-ever write-in votes (by percentage or total) and why? Was any write-in candidate ever a significant electoral threat or a decisive factor in the election's outcome?	12
Given both the ubiquitousness and impermanence of electronic data, is there concern among historians about a potential lack of primary sources within the next few centuries?	11
I've been playing a lot of Crusader Kings 3 lately, and someone recently posted to its subreddit that the in-game events were "too much of a soap opera." How soap opera-ish could courts in medieval Western Europe (England, France, HRE, etc) get?	10
To what extent have Nikola Tesla’s accomplishments (and potential work) been overhyped?	7
Are there any 20th-century rulers in exile who had a noticeable effect on the country they claimed to control? What, if any, relationship existed between the leader-in-exile and the de facto government of the nation...or the nation's people?	6

« < > »