AskHistorians

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Was the Marquis de Sade renown in his lifetime? What led to his detention at the Bastille until shortly before it was liberated? Was the presence of a figure of his rank there in itself extraordinary, and who did the jailing (I assume this predates any sort of modern policing)?	12
In literature of the late 19th century, the coming of department stores is depicted as trans-formative to urban life. How quickly did they spread, either nationally or internationally?	12
Has it always been a criminal offense to lie to agents of the Federal govt in the US? Conversely, has law enforcement always been allowed to lie to people they interview? Was this rooted in common law, a statute, or a judicial decision, and how was it justified?	12
What did Greek writers have to say about the mythical Helen after her return from Troy?	12
How was William the Bastard able to press his claims to Normandy and later England? Why wasn't his illegitimacy a deal-breaker?	12
If medieval cartographers understood that the world was round, did any of them try to take the curvature of the Earth into account when making maps? Were sections labelled "Here be dragons" apocryphal, and, if not, would such labeling have been taken as a joke or as a genuine warning?	12
How was Diocletian's reign affected by his anti-Christian purges? Did they provoke any civil unrest? His reorganization of the structure of governance is credited with reinvigorating the empire; what was his reputation like among citizens of his day?	12
How were the Crusades written about from the native perspective? Were the incursions regarded as an existential threat?	12
JFK* included Senator Ross, whose vote acquitted Andrew Johnson from impeachment, in 'Profiles in Courage'; was this recognized as a seismic moment in American history as it unfolded? How is the decision regarded by historians? Given there was no VP at the time, what would've happened next?	11
Within a couple of rulers after his reign, an attempt was made to scrub Akhenaten from the historical record. Was this as extraordinary a step as it sounds? What did Akhenaten do make his successors so hostile to his reign?	11

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