askhistorians

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In "It's a Wonderful Life", George Bailey observes that, in the midst of financial panic, the town banker, Mr Potter, is buying, rather than selling. Was profiteering of this sort common through the Depression? Was the film expressing a widely held resentment?	37
Ronald Reagan and Tip O'Neill were famously 'drinking buddies'. How common was this sort of across-the-aisle socializing for its time, was this common historically, and had this changed by 1997?	37
Which came first, jails or police, and how did this unfold? Did the answer vary from culture to culture?	36
The Ptolemaic Dynasty was remarkable in producing a string of formidable female rulers, culminating in one of the most famous women of the ancient world, Cleopatra VII Philopater; what sort of training and education did these women experience? Did their extraordinary status extend beyond royalty?	36
What is known about the historic Vlad the Impaler? Was he a mythic figure in, or shortly after, his own time?	36
2nd try: How did Joan of Arc wind up being venerated by the Anglican church? Did they just rubber stamp it because the Catholics had already venerated her, or was she considered separately there?	36
How big a role did disease play in the crisis of the 3rd century? Do we know what it was that was afflicting Rome, how hard it hit, or where it came from?	36
In HBO's Rome, one of the legionaries has received special dispensation to marry. Were Roman legionaries forbidden from marrying in the late Republic? Were exceptions made? Did this change later during the empire?	35
Were the scientists working on the Manhattan Project (or their German counterparts) expecting their project would be successful, or did they envision it as an abstract theoretical project, such as attempts at fusion? Were there any dissenters/conscientious objectors over ethical considerations?	35
Is the depiction of a static, unchanging world-view of the Catholic Church of the early middle ages inaccurate? If not, how did the Church respond to the crisis and obvious social upheaval of the Black Death? Was it something they addressed?	35

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