AskHistorians

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How would a Chinese monumental landscape painter in training learn to paint on silk (say around 1200 CE)?	16
In 1632 the Byzantine emperor Heraclius ordered the forced conversion of all Jews. Why? Was it out of revenge for the revolt a few years earlier or was the empire at that time generally anti-semitic?	14
Why is the Greek philosopher Aristotle's book "On the Soul" commonly know as "De Anima," a Latin title, instead of "Peri Psyches," its Greek title?	11
In the Grateful Dead song "Alligator" (1968) the title character is "just out of prison on six dollar bail" for an undisclosed offense. Would that bail actually have been possible for any crime when the song was written?	10
In the novel "The Killer Angels" there is a scene at the Confederate camp where a Black man wearing a dress dances around a fire for officers. Was this a common form of entertainment for the southern officers?	10
What did (pre-Christian) Roman daily prayers look like?	9
In the movie Andrei Rublev which takes place in the 1400's, there is a scene with Russian pagans. What do we know about the beliefs or behaviors of pre-Christian Russians?	9
We hear a lot about Russian espionage trying to destabilize the West these days, but during the Cold War, what did the West do (with regards to espionage) to try and destabilize Russia?	8
Between 1492 and the present day, how many North American species have been driven extinct due to man?	7
During the construction of Rome's sewer, the Cloaca Maxima, the job was so difficult and lengthy that a contagion of suicide spread among the Roman citizens working on it, which was only ended after the king began crucifying the corpses, leaving them to be eaten by birds.	7

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