AskHistorians

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Was the development of palatial country mansions, the "English country house", in fact a distinctly English phenomenon? Why did they develop there and not in the other major powers of the time (assuming they didn't)? What prompted the influx of wealth that would make such homes possible?	42
We know flappers inspired future women's liberation and counterculture movements. Who were their heroes/from where did they draw their inspiration?	42
'I, Claudius' portrays Livia as a ruthless schemer who murders everyone standing between Tiberius and the throne, eventually even murdering her husband, Augustus. Is there any evidence to suggest this is what really happened?	42
Were the tales collected by the brothers Grimm widely known before they compiled them? Did the more popular ones (Snow White, Cinderella, Red Riding Hood) match the ones more popular before they collected them? Were they immediately of academic interest?	41
Is it accurate to say that American common law is based on English common law, which is based on Roman common law? At what point in the empire/ Byzantine era did England draw its traditions from? When was this adopted? How common was this among the fledgling nation states of Europe?	41
Who were the Philistines, and how did they become a go-to reference for a group lacking in culture and sophistication? Who originally was making the reference?	41
How did the idea that the heart is the source of emotion develop?	41
Where does the image of St Peter at the pearly gates sorting between who gets in to heaven come from?	40
"Hollywood" is so synonymous with the motion picture industry that the word itself has become shorthand for it; how did this come to be the case? How were they able to establish and maintain (for nearly 100 years) such a dominant hold over the industry?	40
Was the public aware that the Inquisition was most likely burning a bunch of innocent people? Was there any public criticism of it? Martin Luther's primary objection to the church was that it was corrupt and not living up to the spirit of the Bible; did he have criticisms of the Inquisition also?	40

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