askhistorians

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How much of the near extermination of the American bison was ecological warfare against indigenous people & how much was simple economic exploitation or recreational hunting by colonizers?	35
In the United States in the period between 1911 & 1915, approximately 70% of mothers breastfed their infants. In 1946-50 this had dropped to ~25%. What led to the decline, and how did public conversations about breastfeeding change in that period?	34
What was Christmas & Hanukkah like in the Ottoman Empire, especially in Constantinople & Anatolia?	34
How did the idea of "being a proper man" (virtus) change between the Republic to the early/mid Principate? Would Scipio Africanus (or Cato) have had the same idea of what masculinity meant as Trajan generations later (or Marcus Aurelius even later)?	34
How did shipbuilders improve ship designs before scale modeling? Was it all just trial & error with (presumably expensive) full-sized vessels?	34
When examining burials, how can we determine whether any clothing found on the body was the interred's daily wear or special clothing reserved for formal events/funerals?	32
What did "being a good husband" mean to the Romans? Was "being a good husband" synonymous with "being a good man" (virtus) or were they separate things? And do records of Roman women's opinions on the topic survive, or just the those of the husbands themselves?	31
What do we know about Indo-Greek & Greco-Bactrian religious beliefs? Does the mixed Greek & indigenous symbols in coinage & art from these regions point to religious syncretism or simply Greek religion existing in parallel with Hinduism/Buddhism/etc.?	31
How did large pre-modern and early modern states prepare for or deal with social problems caused by demobilization after conflicts?	31
Why did the 20th century U.S. largely back (politically diverse) liberal democratic movements and governments in Europe while backing (largely right-wing) dictatorships and illiberal democracies elsewhere?	31

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