/u/moby323's posts in /r/AskHistorians

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Humans were around for ~ 300,000 years before advent of modern civilization which then brought about the relatively drastic changes of the past 5,000 years. Was it a slow but steady march to this point, or did something trigger or catalyze this change?

3382 upvotes

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What did slaves in the U.S. South do in mid-summer and in winter when there were no crops to plant or harvest?

248 upvotes

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Were brothels and prostitution as ubiquitous in the American West as is portrayed in film and fiction?

186 upvotes

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So many of the adults I know have poor vision. How did people survive in ancient times if their vision was so bad? How did they hunt? How did they craft etc?

179 upvotes

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Since ancient and medieval people didn't really know about microscopic bacteria and yeast, what was their understanding of what was happening when they made beer or cheese or bread?

139 upvotes

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How has humor (i.e. jokes) evolved? What aspects of humor have remained universal? How much do we know about ancient humor?

85 upvotes

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Why is Leo Tolstoy dressed this way in 1897? (this photo was colorized later). Why is he essentially wearing peasant garb, when at this time in his life he was wealthy and ran in to very top aristocratic circles?

80 upvotes

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In the time when maps were still rare enough that most people had ever seen one, how much did the average peasant know about the geography of the surrounding world?(their province, island, nation or continent).

76 upvotes

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Why didn't the current royal house of England simply give Richard III a horse, and inherit the kingdom that way, rather than fight costly wars?

36 upvotes

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How long ago did humans invent cuisine, i.e. combining different foods/flavors into one dish?

34 upvotes

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Title	Upvotes	Mark as read	Favorited	Rating	Add to a list
Humans were around for ~ 300,000 years before advent of modern civilization which then brought about the relatively drastic changes of the past 5,000 years. Was it a slow but steady march to this point, or did something trigger or catalyze this change?	3382
What did slaves in the U.S. South do in mid-summer and in winter when there were no crops to plant or harvest?	248
Were brothels and prostitution as ubiquitous in the American West as is portrayed in film and fiction?	186
So many of the adults I know have poor vision. How did people survive in ancient times if their vision was so bad? How did they hunt? How did they craft etc?	179
Since ancient and medieval people didn't really know about microscopic bacteria and yeast, what was their understanding of what was happening when they made beer or cheese or bread?	139
How has humor (i.e. jokes) evolved? What aspects of humor have remained universal? How much do we know about ancient humor?	85
Why is Leo Tolstoy dressed this way in 1897? (this photo was colorized later). Why is he essentially wearing peasant garb, when at this time in his life he was wealthy and ran in to very top aristocratic circles?	80
In the time when maps were still rare enough that most people had ever seen one, how much did the average peasant know about the geography of the surrounding world?(their province, island, nation or continent).	76
Why didn't the current royal house of England simply give Richard III a horse, and inherit the kingdom that way, rather than fight costly wars?	36
How long ago did humans invent cuisine, i.e. combining different foods/flavors into one dish?	34