AskHistorians

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Apparently Blackbeards favourite drink was rum and gunpowder. Was gunpowder regularly consumed in the past, was it dangerous, did it add flavour? Is it still used today in food / drink?	5760
Back in Ancient Greece homosexuality was allowed. During the 17th century people had sex quite freely. Why is it that during the Victorian times, that suddenly changed and sex was deemed a very private affair? And why was homosexuality made illegal?	4126
Why did the view on sex change so much during the Victorian period when before that it was normal to have intercourse in the same room as others?	216
Back when comedy films were first shown at the Pictures, (Laurel and Hardy, Charlie Chaplin, etc.) was there a certain etiquette as to what could be laughed at? Would they have laughed at certain things back then that we wouldn't now, or vice versa?	212
Back when comedy films were first shown at the Pictures, (Laurel and Hardy, Charlie Chaplin, etc.) was there a certain etiquette as to what could be laughed at? Would they have laughed at certain things back then that we wouldn't now, or vice versa?	38
I remember hearing once that during WW1, soldiers in the trenches who had ran out of coffee, used (I think I've remembered correctly) tar and coal dust as a substitute. Am I completely mistaken, or is there some truth to this?	12
Back when films were in the fairly early days, in the 1920's and 30's, what did they use as a substitute for real bricks, such as when bricks fall on Laurel and Hardys heads? He same for dinnerware being smashed over actors heads too?	10
When did newspapers first start printing April Fools Day articles? In the early days of these articles, did it cause many problems with people believing they were true?	9
Were there Puritans really as strict as depicted in the Blackadder episode "Beer"?	6
According to Horrible Histories, Tudor Dentists used human excrement mixed with honey during the removal of teeth. Surely they didn’t actually do this?	4

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