/u/oedimoose's posts in /r/AskHistorians
Artists of today are able to produce photo-real drawings with only a pencil and lots of time. Why is it we don’t have similar photo-real drawings from hundreds of years in the past?
1200 upvotes
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Movie characters from the 1930s-1950s seem to talk in a form of English obsolete now. Fast-talking, beautifully constructed, wise-cracking lines of dialogue we very much associate from that time. Was this vernacular confined to the fantasy of movies or did people really speak in this way back then?
490 upvotes
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Watching Dead Man Walking (1995) a lawyer mentions “no rich man has ever been on death row”. Has a wealthy person (at least a millionaire) in the US ever been on death row? How common is it?
46 upvotes
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A documentary I’m watching stated “Successful gladiators were the movie stars of the first century.” Were they celebrated, sexualised, and worshiped similarly to modern day celebrities?
29 upvotes
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The Roman legislation 'The Laws of the Twelve Tables' stated that disabled children should be put to death. What were the general attitudes towards those born with genetic disorders during Ancient Rome, and if survived, what did life look like for those born with intellectual disabilities?
5 upvotes
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How did modern day farmyard animals, such as sheep, pigs and chickens, survive in the wild before humans bred them and kept them fenced off from predators?
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Have the Oscars always been considered the pinnacle of western movie awards, and if so then why are they held in higher regard than other movie based awards?
4 upvotes
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I’ve gone for a casual horse ride in 1700s USA. How worried am I for my safety? Would I always be on high alert for thieves, wolves, Native Americans or could I relax?
4 upvotes
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After the fall of the ancient Roman Empire what has the Colosseum been used for the past 1600 years?
4 upvotes
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