askhistorians

Title	Upvotes	Mark as read	Favorited	Rating	Add to a list
What's myth and what's truth about the legend of Rasputin?	1887
Is it fair to describe brutalist architecture as unapologetically ugly? How did such an aesthetically unappealing style come to dominate state and institutional building for decades, particularly in some of the richest nations on earth?	1882
Catherine the Great was a Prussian-born outsider who defied gender stereotypes of her time and achieved power by ousting her husband in a coup; how was she able to gain and maintain enough support to succeed? Would it be fair to call this period a 'golden age' of Russia?	1868
The storytelling motif of an ordinary, schlubby guy run around in circles by an extraordinary woman (see sitcoms) dates to the '30s screwball comedies at least; was it new then? Was it a reaction to modernism, to the Great Depression, or something else? Was it distinctly American?	1832
Adult adoption seems to have been very common by the late Roman Republic; was this a political development, driven by social forces, or interpersonal ones (or something else)? Was it particular to the aristocratic class or common in general? Do we know how it developed?	1777
What prompted Argentina to provide safe haven for Nazis after WWII?	1748
In the 1980s, it was common for hard rock (and maybe metal, too) bands to have long, permed, and even feathered hair. How did this style become popularized? Who popularized it? Were they consciously going for an androgynous look, and how did they market it to a primarily male, adolescent demo?	1683
The English victory over the Spanish Armada in 1588 is mythologized as a huge upset against a global superpower; was it, in fact, a shocking outcome? How strong was the English navy at this point?	1596
J Edgar Hoover denied the existence of organized crime until he couldn't, after the 1957 Apalachin meeting; surely he knew better- what motivated him to take this public stance? Was the FBI's credibility affected when he was proven wrong?	1484
Dan Carlin argues that the German army in the first world war was superior to that in the second, because they weren't hamstrung by having crazy people (ideological Nazis) in crucial positions who'd been appointed for political reasons. Did this have a major impact? Was it decisive?	1418

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