askhistorians

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In The Shining by Stanley Kubrick the dialogue, and perhaps in most movies of that era, was very succinct and almost unnaturally abrupt from one character to the other. Is there a reason why this and other movies of the time portrayed regular speech in such an unnatural rhythm?	501
I was brought up in Texas in the mid-late 90's and during middle school Civil War history we were taught that Robert E. Lee was a well organized masterful tactician, while Grant was a drunk who won more so due to resources and fortunate circumstances. How true is this?	50
Why did Nixon refuse secret service protection offered to him in his post presidential life?	39
What exactly did Shirley Temple's early career do to change the film industry? Did it actually contribute to any changes/progress or was she simply very popular?	38
I've been reading up on The Beatles a lot lately and Sgt Peppers seems like such a major shift. I've read that Pet Sounds influenced them to switch from albums with 1-2 singles then filler, to spending 6 months making the entire album with the intent of every song being a hit. How true is this?	32
Why is it that no state in the US has a segment of the population that has retained the British accent?	24
Is it true that we don't have any substantiated proof as to what actually happened to Hitler?	22
Serial killer John Wayne Gacy tortured and murdered roughly 30 young men. Two of the young men he raped and tortured (on separate occasions) escaped and informed police but charges weren't filed, essentially allowing Macy to strike again. Why wasn't anything done at the time to stop him?	15
Why is Benedict Arnold commonly considered the biggest traitor of early American history instead of James Wilkinson?	15
The concept of "blood money" was, and still is, found in many societies around the world. Why did it die out in western civilizations? Did it ever exist in America?	12

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