AskHistorians

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I've heard that when Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne "emperor of the Romans" in 800, that Charles didn't really want it to happen, because it implied that royal power was derived from Church sanction; was this true? Wouldn't it be dangerous to do it without the King's explicit consent?	8
How have the reputations of WEB duBois and Booker T Washington evolved since the start of the Civil Rights movement?	8
Was the FBI's surveillance of MLK Jr widely known at the time? Do we know if he himself was aware of it?	8
The British History podcast makes a compelling case that William the Conqueror's knights-on-horseback naval invasion of England in the context of 1066 AD was just bonkers; how did he convince any of his people to go along with it, and how did he pull it off?	8
In Lawrence of Arabia, Lawrence is captured by the Turks, but able to escape because they don't realize who he is (though he is traumatized, possibly for the rest of his life, by the experience). Do we know if this is based on a real event?	8
The empire State building was built in a year; was this typical for the time and place?	8
Baseball historian Bill James has noted that in the '30s, with the Depression, nicknames got really nasty (star players nicknamed Ducky Wucky, Dizzy, Schnozz, Old Aches and Pains and Twinkletoes among many others). Is there any indication that this was reflecting something larger in the culture?	8
Is there any scholarly consensus as to what triggered the Great Divergence?	8
Was Kinsey writing for an academic audience, or did he intend his work to have an impact on the popular culture? Did this change at any point?	8
Were the Bill of Rights 'baked in' to the Constitution, or adopted as separate considerations? Why were they written as amendments, as opposed to as part of the main body? Had anything like them ever been adopted before, and, if not, where did the idea come from?	8

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