AskHistorians

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The most famous version of the Riddle of the Sphinx has the answer depend on man walking with a stick in old age. How were mobility aids actually used and viewed in Ancient Greece? Were they really a universal sign of old age?	20
Across the UK there's a war memorial in near every village. How was the construction of these organised and paid for?	16
There's a Wikipedia article on "The Kingdom of Fanes", supposedly the national epic of the Ladin people, but the source appears to just be the writings of one person. What do we know about the sources of this epic and if it had a basis in oral traditions?	13
In the 1948 South African election the United Party won 49% of the votes against 38% of the National Party and yet lost. What led to this and why the seeming acquiescence?	12
How were the early online communities for LGBT people organised before the web? Was there an early internet LGBT culture?	11
Wikipedia and other places claim Colonel Harland Sanders of KFC fame was on George Wallace's VP shortlist for his 1968 campaign, but without sources. Is this actually true? If so, how do we know and what was the thinking?	11
Walter Scott's Waverley novels seem to have been massively popular across continents and even had places named after them. What about them was so exciting?	10
Did the new mobility and independence offered by trains in Victorian Britain lead to a change in social expectations and rules for women?	10
The Philippines House of Representatives has an (as far as I know) unique parallel voting system where parties are limited to winning a max of 3 seats in the party list section, giving wide sectoral representation. How was this system decided on?	9
(The Good Soldier) Švejk appears to be an iconic character in Czech culture. How did the reception of the book develop from release? How was the book treated and understood under the Communist party?	9

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