/u/mystical-me's posts in /r/askhistorians

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Historically, how likely was it you would be killed by wild animals in say Greek and Roman times and beyond?

57 upvotes

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Films portray the founding of the CIA to be made up of the sons of established wealthy east coast Protestant families from Ivy League schools, and often with no military training. Is this accurate? What kind of people/skills made up the original CIA?

57 upvotes

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Did the subjects of the British Empire every contemplate that Britain was a comparatively small place with a much smaller population than the empire, especially in British India? Was the population and actual military manpower of England well known?

53 upvotes

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Were American slave owners ever known to use their slaves for prostitution?

50 upvotes

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What were the reasons for the government shut downs in the 1970's and 80's?

50 upvotes

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When apartheid was enacted, how connected was South Africa to the global economy? Was global trade still dependent on ports in South Africa? Were there any serious economic disadvantages to countries boycotting South Africa?

49 upvotes

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How big of an industry was musicianship and musical composition in the 1700s? For every Mozart or Beethoven, how many other smaller composers would their be in a city like Vienna?

41 upvotes

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Before the creation of Germ Theory, how did people from the past explain diseases?

39 upvotes

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After the disaster at Gettysburg, why did the confederate soldiers still hold Robert E Lee in such high esteem?

38 upvotes

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Of all the people Stalin had purged and executed, who were the people that were closest to him personally?

37 upvotes

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Title	Upvotes	Mark as read	Favorited	Rating	Add to a list
Historically, how likely was it you would be killed by wild animals in say Greek and Roman times and beyond?	57
Films portray the founding of the CIA to be made up of the sons of established wealthy east coast Protestant families from Ivy League schools, and often with no military training. Is this accurate? What kind of people/skills made up the original CIA?	57
Did the subjects of the British Empire every contemplate that Britain was a comparatively small place with a much smaller population than the empire, especially in British India? Was the population and actual military manpower of England well known?	53
Were American slave owners ever known to use their slaves for prostitution?	50
What were the reasons for the government shut downs in the 1970's and 80's?	50
When apartheid was enacted, how connected was South Africa to the global economy? Was global trade still dependent on ports in South Africa? Were there any serious economic disadvantages to countries boycotting South Africa?	49
How big of an industry was musicianship and musical composition in the 1700s? For every Mozart or Beethoven, how many other smaller composers would their be in a city like Vienna?	41
Before the creation of Germ Theory, how did people from the past explain diseases?	39
After the disaster at Gettysburg, why did the confederate soldiers still hold Robert E Lee in such high esteem?	38
Of all the people Stalin had purged and executed, who were the people that were closest to him personally?	37