askhistorians

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How old is the custom of saying "Bless you" or "To your health" after someone sneezes? Is it Roman? Older?	4
Were the Pilgrims actually making a pilgrimage to anywhere?	4
The last time I was in Spain (BCN specifically), a woman complained about all the petty crimes (pickpockets, etc) and said, "These things wouldn't have happened under Franco." Is that true?	4
What's the history of the British making fun of Spaniards in comedy? In Fawlty Towers and Monty Python they seem to be referencing some sort of stereotype (presumably offensive) and I'm curious about the origins.	4
Black slaves in America identified with the Jewish slaves of Egypt of the Passover/Exodus story. Why then did they end up becoming Christian and not Jewish?	3
I just saw this awesome exhibit of Holy Roman Emperor Maximillian I's battle and jousting armor. How much of it would he have actually used? Did he fight in battles or was his armor strictly used for jousting and games?	3
Did any Germans use the Hindenburg disaster of 1937 as a means of criticizing the Nazi regime? Or was all dissent pretty much stamped out by then?	3
The Treaty of Paris (1815) saw the Allies imposing harsh terms on France that could have led to a recession but didn't, because (as Brillat-Savarin claims) enough occupiers remained in France and spent so much money on food and drink that they were able to avoid recession. Is this true?	3
Why were Jews not allowed to own mail or hauberks in King Henry II's England?	3
The Jungle (1906) exposes some pretty awful practices and conditions in the Chicago meat packing industry, especially with regards to hygiene, and food safety. Were there corresponding outbreaks of food-borne illnesses in the US as a result of these poor practices? If so, how bad were they?	2

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