/u/racedogg2's posts in /r/askhistorians

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There was a time when everyone smoked cigarettes because the dangers of smoking hadn't been discovered yet. But did the public have any idea that cigarettes produced negative health effects? How did they explain away coughing fits and other respiratory problems associated with smoking regularly?

3311 upvotes

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Did the very first civilizations know that they were the first civilizations? Did they have some sort of sense of their ancestors being nomads, or did they have no clue about the history of humanity?

664 upvotes

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Did people in 999 AD celebrate the new millennium? Were there any doomsday predictions similar to Y2K?

225 upvotes

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Are there any generally unpopular historical theories that you personally subscribe to?

97 upvotes

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Where in history do we get the whole "throw tomatoes at a bad performer" thing? Was this ever actually a thing?

12 upvotes

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Did people actually used to think that there were Martians on Mars? Or was that never actually a popular theory among scientists and/or the public?

11 upvotes

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What was the first civilization that smoked? How did they know which plants to smoke, and that smoking produced the intended effects?

10 upvotes

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What did historical/ancient civilizations think about themselves and civilizations that were ancient to them?

7 upvotes

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Were there celebrities in ancient cultures?

6 upvotes

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What did other countries around the world think of the American Revolution? Did they enjoy watching the powerful British Empire get humiliated by the colonists?

6 upvotes

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Title	Upvotes	Mark as read	Favorited	Rating	Add to a list
There was a time when everyone smoked cigarettes because the dangers of smoking hadn't been discovered yet. But did the public have any idea that cigarettes produced negative health effects? How did they explain away coughing fits and other respiratory problems associated with smoking regularly?	3311
Did the very first civilizations know that they were the first civilizations? Did they have some sort of sense of their ancestors being nomads, or did they have no clue about the history of humanity?	664
Did people in 999 AD celebrate the new millennium? Were there any doomsday predictions similar to Y2K?	225
Are there any generally unpopular historical theories that you personally subscribe to?	97
Where in history do we get the whole "throw tomatoes at a bad performer" thing? Was this ever actually a thing?	12
Did people actually used to think that there were Martians on Mars? Or was that never actually a popular theory among scientists and/or the public?	11
What was the first civilization that smoked? How did they know which plants to smoke, and that smoking produced the intended effects?	10
What did historical/ancient civilizations think about themselves and civilizations that were ancient to them?	7
Were there celebrities in ancient cultures?	6
What did other countries around the world think of the American Revolution? Did they enjoy watching the powerful British Empire get humiliated by the colonists?	6