AskHistorians

Title	Upvotes	Mark as read	Favorited	Rating	Add to a list
Did foreign powers intentionally flood China with opium to undermine and destabilize them? Were the affects of addiction that well understood by the 19th century?	56
Did Homer exist?	56
George Washington's farewell address was concerned with, among other things, the formation of political parties, a process which was already well under way by this time. Who was he making this appeal to? Did it have any measurable effect?	56
In his farewell address, Washington urged the nation to avoid European entanglements, yet they were nearly drawn into war with France and Britain within 10 years, and fought Great Britain within 20; were his successors cognizant of his advice? Did they choose to ignore it? Did this draw criticism?	55
Hawaii was an independent nation with diplomatic relations through Europe before a late 19th century American-backed coup overthrew the government; did this action cause any diplomatic friction between Europe and the US?	55
How "Roman" was Roman Catholicism through late antiquity? Did the church retain institutional memory of Roman traditions and practices after the fall of the western empire that the surrounding city states had forgotten? At what point do they become the most reliable chroniclers of history?	54
3 years after his death,Parliament ordered Cromwell's body to be disinterred, tortured, and hung; did other members of the Commonwealth government face recriminations? Had the public turned dramatically against them, or was this done to appease Charles II? What's Cromwell's reputation today?	54
Was the Magna Carta a big deal? Was it more than just a rebuke of a lousy king, and did it really contribute to England's journey towards becoming a Constitutional monarchy?	53
According to 'Outliers', many of the richest people in history were born in a ten year stretch in America in the 19th century (approximately the 1830s); what factors made the America of this time so ripe for the accumulation of vast fortunes?	53
The smallpox vaccine predates germ theory by 150 years; how did it come to be adopted and how did they think it worked?	53

« < > »