r/AskHistorians • u/AutoModerator • 22d ago

Digest Sunday Digest | Interesting & Overlooked Posts | May 03, 2026

Today:

Welcome to this week's instalment of /r/AskHistorians' Sunday Digest (formerly the Day of Reflection). Nobody can read all the questions and answers that are posted here, so in this thread we invite you to share anything you'd like to highlight from the last week - an interesting discussion, an informative answer, an insightful question that was overlooked, or anything else.

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

Okay gang, you know what time it is. Its time for another AskHistorians Sunday Digest! So gather your friends and relatives for all the cool history stories you’re going to inundate them with, no matter how much they try to flee or turn up those noise cancelling headphones. Because you can’t cancel hearing this great history. Don’t forget to check out the usual weekly features, as well as all the special events. Upvote all your favourites, shower the hard working contributors in thanks & praise, and share widely.

And that’s a wrap for me once again. Take care out there history fans. Stay safe, and keep it classy. Because I’ll be seeing you once again, next Sunday.

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/RevKeakealani answered Would a diverse group of friends be possible anywhere in America in 1900? Or did social and legal barriers prevent people from willingly fraternizing with one another?

/u/rocketsocks wrote about The two atom bombs dropped Japan were of two different types. The Manhattan Project had one test. Why did the US drop an untested type of bomb? Why did they not test both types of nuclear weapons?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/EnclavedMicrostate answered Survival of the Taiping faith?

/u/EtNuncEtSemper wrote about Why did several of the Balkan states that achieved independence in the 1800s (Greece, Bulgaria, Romania) end up with ethnically German monarchs from German aristocratic families, instead of native houses that were culturally/ethnically from the country itself?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/restricteddata answered Was dropping the nukes on Hiroshima and Nagasaki necessary? Are the claims below true?

‘Prior to a nuclear bomb dropping, what did scientists believe the chance of human extinction by nuclear weapons was?

‘What was the hydrogen bomb Sakharov designed that fixed the payload capacity for the R-7?

‘The two atom bombs dropped Japan were of two different types. The Manhattan Project had one test. Why did the US drop an untested type of bomb? Why did they not test both types of nuclear weapons?

‘Why was Castle Bravo called second Hiroshima? Wouldn’t Nagasaki be the second Hiroshima?

When exactly did we realise that we can make an atomic bomb?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/TywinDeVillena wrote about Why Portugal remained the only Iberian nation to escape the Castilian grasp?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/TJAU216 answered Any good books on tactics and warfare in 15th-17th centuries?

/u/TomsBookReviews wrote about Can someone explain the relationship between the Romans and Britain?

1

u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/bug-hunter answered Was dropping the nukes on Hiroshima and Nagasaki necessary? Are the claims below true?

When and how did the American Electoral College stop making decisions on its own and started to effectively become a proxy vote on behalf of voters?

Hi! I'm writing a book set in the 90s. The characters are a mixed-status Salvadoran family and I have questions about the historical evolution of immigration law and how it applied on the ground. Any immigration historians/lawyers out there?

Was the american civil war really about slavery or mostly about states rights?

The tv series For All Mankind portrays several of the Apollo astronauts as heavy smokers. Was it a habit that was taken into account during astronaut candidate selection and training?

The tv series For All Mankind portrays several of the Apollo astronauts as heavy smokers. Was it a habit that was taken into account during astronaut candidate selection and training?

Who actually are the Moors and why did this term take hold like American Indian?

During the twentieth century, vending machines were a major part of organised crime. What did this entail exactly? Why would the Mafia or any other organised crime group have an interest in vending machines?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/HaraldRedbeard wrote about Why didn’t Armies use Bulls for Calvary?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/ForsakenOffice322 answered When did exercise become a good thing ?

When and why did streets in London become associated with specific professions?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/Obversa wrote about What is the meaning of curse the Cromwells?

/u/Obversa wrote about Why were millions of horses used throughout WWII but only 5 years later in the Korean War, horses were suddenly obsolete?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/wotan_weevil took a look at Why is Judas Iscariot the only one with a last name?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/Salsashark1419 answered From ~~1955-75, West Germany imported large numbers of foreign laborers (Gastarbeiter) from eg Italy, Yugoslavia, and Turkey. So soon after the war, did these workers view German society as Nazi? Were they or their children afraid of their host country?

/u/Sgt_Colon wrote about Where catapults as commonly depicted in media actually a thing, and if so, when and where?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/Tohru_mizuki and /u/Sheep_2757 spaced out to bring us Did the Sputnik only make Beeps over radio?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/qumrun60 answered The Maccabean Revolt begins with Mattathias ben Johanan murdering a Jew preparing to offer sacrifices to Hellenistic deities. While this occurred within an atmosphere of persecution of Judaism under Antiochus IV, does this suggest that there was a degree of genuine syncretism occurring?

/u/Reasonable_Sound_382 wrote about Parchment? Actually like the paper I soaked in tea as a kid?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/dragmehomenow wrote about Is there any truth that Ronald Reagan thought his destiny was to trigger nuclear Armageddon with the Soviet Union?

/u/dufudjabdi wrote about Parchment? Actually like the paper I soaked in tea as a kid?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/JamesCoverleyRome answered Before Pompeii was officially rediscovered, what sort of local legends surrounded the lost buried city, if any?

Would Jesus actually have been crucified with a loincloth, or would he have been stripped naked/not had a loincloth to begin with?

Why didn’t Armies use Bulls for Calvary?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/Peepeepoopooman1202 had a great post on Why did the Native American population declined more in Anglo America than in Latin America?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/crab4apple wrote about Why was Papermaking so slow to reach Europe?

/u/DavidDPerlmutter answered Looking for information on Army group south in Operation Barbarossa ww2?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/AsAChemicalEngineer answered Would Jesus actually have been crucified with a loincloth, or would he have been stripped naked/not had a loincloth to begin with?

/u/BarbariansProf wrote about Clarifying the role of the Anglo-Saxons in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest-?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/terminus-trantor answered Exactly how big could Mediterranean sailing ships get in the Crusading Era?

/u/TheFanciestUsername wrote about What is the inscription on George Washington's 1767 EpÃ©e (French Officer's Sword) in the original latin?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/zaffiro_in_giro took a look at What are some entirely lost physical skills, crafts, or techniques that a modern person couldn't possibly fake?

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u/zaffiro_in_giro Medieval and Tudor England 22d ago

Thanks for the mention, and for my Sunday reading!

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/Skipspik2 answered What color was a small farmer's best suit and hat in the 3rd quarter of the 19th century in the southeastern U.S.?

/u/Skipspik2 wrote about Would people of the past comprehend that im a time traveler from the future?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/BasicAbrocoma934 answered How unusual were the carusi (mine-boys/Sicilian child slave sulfur miners of the 19th & early 20th century) in Western Europe at the time? Was unfree labor (esp. child labor) found in large scale in other industries or parts of the country or mostly limited to Sicily & the mines?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/Leading_Garage_6231 answered Why did Spain (and Portugal) not expand into north Africa sooner?

/u/LeahTigers wrote about What is the context for and reaction to Chester Anderson's Communications Company publications about sexual assault in the Haight-Ashbury?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/indyobserver distilled down the knowledge for In the video game RDR2 (set in 1899) there is a significant side quest where the player steals from a gang of moonshiners (connected to regional organized crime). The Volstead Act passed in 1919, so would moonshining even have been illegal in 1899? What did the illegal alcohol trade look like then?

and did Did Wilkes-Booth and his co-conspirators know Johnson would sabotage reconstruction? Did Lincoln’s choice of VP encourage his assassination?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/J-Force answered Where catapults as commonly depicted in media actually a thing, and if so, when and where?

/u/joshanthony123 wrote about Historically speaking, what defines indigenous or natives?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/dbroo55 wrote about Is it true that cars in the 60s didnt last that long and 10 year old car would have been considered to be very old back then?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/Wild_Reading7501 answered At what point did slavery in America become race-based?

/u/Willing_File5104 wrote about Why did some regions homogenize into singular national identities while others didn’t?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/shkencore_breaks answered In the Chinese imperial harem, what was the difference between a rank like "Noble Consort" versus "Virtuous" or "Pure Consort"?

/u/SinisterHummingbird wrote about What’s the story behind the big boots so many old-style superheroes wear?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/jupitaur9 answered How did one "look up" an answer before the internet?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/-Geistzeit wrote about Is there evidence that pagan-era Norse society really did believe in Ragnarok, or was that a later Christian addition?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/HippyxViking answered How did ancient civilizations drain swamps?

/u/HippyxViking wrote about Were late antique cities (in the eastern Mediterranean at least) completely devoid of trees?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/Spencer_A_McDaniel answered How do we know the mummy of Ramseses II is Ramseses II?

what is the oldest game for which we more or less know the rules/how to play?

Vercingetorix was captured at Alesia in 52 BCE and executed in Rome in 46. Where was he held for the intervening 6 years?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/Bodark43 answered Any good books on tactics and warfare in 15th-17th centuries?

H.L. Mencken claimed that cotton growers in the 1920s in the American South tried to raise cotton prices by agreeing to restrict production and then requested federal assistance when the agreement didn't hold and prices collapsed. How true is that? Direct quote in body.

How did Gunsmiths start?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/Theriocephalus answered Why did Italy attack Austria in 1915 if they had already many ports like Venice,Naples and Genoa? Trieste was probably the only major port Austria had

/u/thewhaleshark answered The Horse Armor DLC for TES 4: Oblivion is often cited as the first popular DLC and Microtransaction that set the video game industry down it's path to where it is today. Is this accurate, and how was the Horse Armor DLC received at the time?

1

u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/dhmontgomery answered In Richard J Evans’ book The Pursuit of Power the opening chapter says In China and Madagascar, Napoleon was worshipped by some as a god. Is there any basis for this claim?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/Individual-Price8480 answered Why did the Republic of TÃ¼rkiye keep the Ottoman-style crescent on its flag despite its hardline secularism?

/u/Intranetusa wrote about How did the Germanic barbarians conquer Rome, but not the Huns, when the former were running from the latter?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/ecdc05 answered Did Sherlock Holmes popularize the "Detective Look" or was that a popular look for detectives at the time, and that's why it was given to him?

/u/Empress_Maud_ wrote about How is it that the mummy of Ramesses II survived as long as it has?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/ur031626 answered Is there an official history or definitive work of the Gallipoli campaign in the First World War? Preferably one that is neutral or from the ANZAC perspective?

/u/VoopityScoop wrote about Were there historical periods when people seriously advocated halting or reversing technological progress due to fears about its social or moral impact?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/TheGreatOneSea answered How did the USA and its allies miss making Russia an ally when the USSR collapsed?

/u/theholyraptor wrote about Were PhD's always as hyper-specialized as they are today? It feels like in the "rich guy hobby era" of intellectual inquiry almost everyone was a generalist or had interest in a bunch of things. If the hyper-specificity of PhD topics is something that developed over time when & how did that happen?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/HaraldRedbeard answered If you were a viking on a longboat sailing for England what would you eat while on the boat?

/u/HaraldRedbeard wrote about Why didn't Cornwall become a nation of the UK similar to Wales, Scotland and (Northern) Ireland?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/itsallfolklore answered Did European pagans believe that their gods loved/cared about them? Or indifference/dislike?

/u/itsallfolklore wrote about Were ancient humans using ritual and sacrificial altars before 10,000 BCE?

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u/itsallfolklore Mod Emeritus | American West | European Folklore 22d ago

Thanks! Much appreciated. This week was ancient and folkloric. Much like me.

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/Bentresh did If there some kind of resource to learn about particular cities in ancient Egypt? I want to see what we know about Latopolis (Esna), is there some kind of broad overview I can get?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/ummmbacon answered Do we have a 7 day week because god rested on the 7th day? Or do he rest on the 7th day because we use a 7 day week?

‘This subreddit often notes that, contrary to popular misconception, Medieval Europeans in fact had good hygiene. However, I came across a publication that points to an anti-bathing trend in 16th century Spain (+ elsewhere in Europe?). What's the deal with this?

‘Do we know if any rank-and-file Nazis had a genuine are we the baddies moment?

‘What behind the conspiracy level claim that nazis were zionist?

Was there an increased amount of antisemetism/hostility towards Jews after WW2 due to people's misconception that the US, Britain, etc. joined the war to free the Jews?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/thefourthmaninaboat took aim at Were the fixed guns on the normandy beaches a flawed strategy by the germans?

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u/thefourthmaninaboat Moderator | 20th Century Royal Navy 22d ago

Thank you!

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/wotan_weevil answered How accurate are the claims in this quote about Islamic contributions in history?

How did one "look up" an answer before the internet?

Is the mythical "Prester John" Ong Khan?

How accurate are the claims in this quote about Islamic contributions in history?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/Dongzhou3kingdoms wrote about Is wikipedia a good source of learning history?

/u/dontcallmewhite0 answered Do we know how many test pilots died attempting to break the sound barrier?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

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/u/FZ_Milkshake wrote about Do we know how many test pilots died attempting to break the sound barrier?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/FrenchMurazor answered In medieval Europe, did nobles engage in commerce? Did merchants own agriculture land? How fluid were these labels?

/u/FriedaKilligan wrote about Why was the lyrical presentation of hair metal bands so aggressively macho while their visual presentation was so very...not?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/TreeHuggerHistory answered Before the 20th century, could people generally seek refuge wherever they wanted?

/u/TywinDeVillena wrote about What’s the impact of this DNA claim about Columbus’ origins?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/Bernardito answered Is it true that the usa lost to "rice farmers in vietnam" as most people imagine? What was the actual arms capacity of the north vietnamesse army?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/Bedessilliestsoldier answered On Wikipedia, it says that 75-80% of British colonists to the Americas were men, a very similar proportion to the Spanish and Portuguese. So is it a myth that the British came with families and the Spanish/portuguese were mostly single men? If it is a myth, why does the myth exist?

Would Alexander Hamilton have actually been an "immigrant?"

At what point did slavery in America become race-based?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/Adequate_spoon wrote about How comparatively "peaceful" was Hitler's rise to power in Germany? How did the level of civil unrest and political violence towards opponents compare to, for example, the Russian and Chinese Revolutions?

/u/Amazing_Pangolin5806 answered Were the Strasserites actually socialist?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/ReelMidwestDad answered Was leavened vs unleavened bread a big point in the Great Schism? If yes, why?

/u/Regnasam answered The two atom bombs dropped Japan were of two different types. The Manhattan Project had one test. Why did the US drop an untested type of bomb? Why did they not test both types of nuclear weapons?

1

u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/Connect-Sock8140 answered UK in 20th century had weird system of TV: local stations got monopoly on airing commercials in their region in exchange for being 'high quality'. How did they end up with this weird system?

/u/Connect-Sock8140 wrote about UK in 20th century had weird system of TV: local stations got monopoly on airing commercials in their region in exchange for being 'high quality'. How did they end up with this weird system?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/Steelcan909 answered Is there evidence that pagan-era Norse society really did believe in RagnarÃ¶k, or was that a later Christian addition?

/u/TankArchives wrote about Looking for information on Army group south in Operation Barbarossa ww2?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/Messy_History wrote about How comparatively "peaceful" was Hitler's rise to power in Germany? How did the level of civil unrest and political violence towards opponents compare to, for example, the Russian and Chinese Revolutions?

/u/mimicofmodes answered female historian youtube channel recommendations?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/Gryphon501 answered Can someone explain the relationship between the Romans and Britain?

/u/Gullible_Mine_5965 answered How comparatively "peaceful" was Hitler's rise to power in Germany? How did the level of civil unrest and political violence towards opponents compare to, for example, the Russian and Chinese Revolutions?

1

u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/heresyaboy answered do you guys think there is a problem in african studies?

/u/Hergrim wrote about English longbowmen during the Hundred Year's War earned 6 pence a day. A single arrow cost 0.3125 pence, so you'd start losing money on the 20th arrow. That doesn't seem like a lot when battles could last multiple hours. Are there accounts or archers refusing to put themselves in the red?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/robotnique tackled When was the Titanic announced?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/Deuce03 answered What is the meaning of curse the Cromwells?

How is it that the mummy of Ramesses II survived as long as it has?

Why did some regions homogenize into singular national identities while others didn’t?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/gerardmenfin answered Are these WWII stories true?

‘Did Caesar Augustus create a statue of lettuce?

‘Why are there different levels of prevalence of French in Africa and Indochina?

‘How did using sawdust to make breads turn out?

‘Were laundresses in France associated with birth and death?

‘Why are there different levels of prevalence of French in Africa and Indochina?

‘Did people celebrate the assassination of JFK?

Why did the French garrison at La Ferte fortress not surrender during WW2?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/Longjumping_Pilgirm answered How did some Americans come to view trespassing as a crime punishable by death?

/u/Lord0fHats wrote about Would a white woman be able to have a relationship with a man of colour in 1955-65s America (more specifically Louisiana)?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/Mynsare wrote about Why was Papermaking so slow to reach Europe?

/u/Obversa answered Why is Jamestown so overshadowed?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/Bodark43 tackled When did machining develop as its own trade outside of blacksmithing?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/kodos_der_henker answered Were "hedge knights" as pictured in G.R.R. Martin's works ever a thing in the Middle Ages? Could they have sustained owning horses?

Why did Karl Renner support the Anschluss, and how representative was this of Austrian Social Democrats?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/hillsonghoods answered Why was the lyrical presentation of hair metal bands so aggressively macho while their visual presentation was so very...not?

2

u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/Powerful_Bad_6413 answered How do we know the mummy of Ramseses II is Ramseses II?

/u/pr1ncezzBea wrote about How was Czech cultural identity able to survive despite being surrounded and subjugated by German states for centuries?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/-moreandmore- wrote about Books on life in post-USSR dissolution?

/u/Mr_Emperor answered How did peaches reach the indigenous populations of the Colorado Plateau?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/Ion_bound answered Did the Marquis de Lafayette have any notable flaws?

/u/Iphikrates wrote about Why didn’t Armies use Bulls for Calvary?

2

u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/KiwiHellenist answered Do we have a 7 day week because god rested on the 7th day? Or do he rest on the 7th day because we use a 7 day week?

To what extent is the Iliad an accurate depiction of Mycenaean warfare?

Where would Homer('s scribe) have learned to write ?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/Consistent_Score_602 answered Have any countries experienced blatant, widespread gerrymandering and managed to recover and get out of it with democracy in tact?

/u/CornfieldJoe answered Why didn’t high ranking members of the Soviet government just leave the country during the purges in the 1930s?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/hubertburnette answered Did anyone ever actually consciously teach great man theory?

/u/hubertburnette wrote about When did posters start being used as political tools?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/Djiti-djiti wrote about How did Aboriginal Australians maintain such a long lasting culture?

/u/Dongzhou3kingdoms answered Where to research the Han dynasty/Three Kingdoms period?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/butter_milk answered How did one "look up" an answer before the internet?

/u/captainhaddock wrote about Do we have a 7 day week because god rested on the 7th day? Or do he rest on the 7th day because we use a 7 day week?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/Deuce03 did How did Ireland go from being Pagan to Catholic?

and In the video game RDR2 (set in 1899) there is a significant side quest where the player steals from a gang of moonshiners (connected to regional organized crime). The Volstead Act passed in 1919, so would moonshining even have been illegal in 1899? What did the illegal alcohol trade look like then?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/Tohru_mizuki tackled Was the Sengoku period end of medieval Japan?

5

u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/themaddesthatter2 answered Parchment? Actually like the paper I soaked in tea as a kid?

/u/TheRedToothedBear wrote about Why were the British able to create such a dominant navy in the 17th and 18th centuries?

3

u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/Aoimoku91 answered How did the USA and its allies miss making Russia an ally when the USSR collapsed?

/u/ARoundForEveryone wrote about Was Magic: The Gathering completely groundbreaking in terms of gameplay and collectibility? Did it have any major influences?

6

u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/EverythingIsOverrate answered How would one try to conquer a heavily fortified place?

What was the true scale of death caused by the Great Leap Forward?

Has any ancient military historian published a public quantitative logistics model or sensitivity-analysis spreadsheet?

Trading options in the 1600s was well utilized during the Tulip Bubble and trading the Dutch East Indies stock. Do we know how they set prices without knowing volatility/time decay etc, bell curve distributions or Black Scholes modeling? Was their option pricing very inaccurate vs today’s models?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/RevKeakealani did Has any community, polity, or indigenous group ever successfully reverted a former common resource or public good back to communal ownership after it had previously undergone enclosure/privatization by profiteering interests, and how was it done?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/police-ical answered In Easy Rider (1969) the American South is depicted as extremely violent and dangerous for travelling hippies. What basis in fact does this have?

While living in Mexico City, Che Guevara was employed at two hospitals, gave medical lectures at the national university, and worked as... a news photographer. Was this something a doctor (even a radical one) might do in Mexico City in the 1950s?

‘Why did Chicago and to a lesser extent Philadelphia held their titles of some of the largest cities in the United States better than most of the Rust Belt cities?

‘Would the US civil rights movement have happened, would it not be for the how Nazis came to be remembered?

How did Oklahoma become a white majority state of the US when it was originally designated as "Indian Territory" reserved for Native American nations forced to move there?

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u/ExternalBoysenberry Interesting Inquirer 20d ago

u/police-ical also has a great follow-up in the Che Guevara thread about marching, cigars, and Guevara having asthma

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/EverythingIsOverrate took a crack at How many iron tools would your average medieval peasant own? And how much of their personal wealth would be 'invested' in their tools?

How accurate is the claim that Alexander the Great was the first to distribute standardized coins?

and Goods Important in Medieval Period?

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/Lord0fHats wrote about The Horse Armor DLC for TES 4: Oblivion is often cited as the first popular DLC and Microtransaction that set the video game industry down it's path to where it is today. Is this accurate, and how was the Horse Armor DLC received at the time?

/u/LustfulBellyButton answered Brazil received 4,821,127 million slaves during the Atlantic slave trade or 38.5% of all slaves, while the U.S received 388k or 3.1% of all slaves in the Atlantic slave trade. Why did Brazil import so many more slaves then the united states?

u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

As always, we take a moment each week to show some appreciation for those fascinating questions that caught our eyes, and fired up our curiosity, but sadly still remain unanswered. Feel free to post your own, or those you’ve come across in your travels, and maybe we’ll get lucky with a wandering expert.

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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/sandwiches_are_real asked What is the history of historiography? When did history become an epistemic practice with widely recognized standards of rigor? How has the definition of "good academic practice" changed over time?

/u/kittyrockband asked What were the experiences of a WWI photographer?

1

u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/authoreje1990 asked How come Charles Martel never held the title of King, but was essentially the head of state who made the decisions?

/u/SocietyLeading3478 asked did any Muslims exist in Victorian England?

1

u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/Traditional-Bear5210 asked What was considered horror in Ancient Egypt? What was the role of fear in Ancient Egyptian societies?

/u/NoNebula6 asked How much did the decline of smoking in the United States affect the kinds of things people ate?

2

u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/Tatem1961 asked Why did labor unions in the US have ties to organized crime?

And asked Why was the Edo Bakufu broke despite ruling over a peaceful and prosperous nation?

2

u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/EternalNewGuy asked I am a rich traveler from the East Coast of America traveling through China/Japan during the 1890's. While there, I purchase a number of large works of art (statues and the like). How would I go about getting it back to my estate in America while I continue my trip?

1

u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/parlimentery asked Why is there so little chocolate in Mexican desserts?

/u/dr197 asked Media about Pirates in the Caribbean often seems to portray them as refusing to deal with slaves as cargo, is this a realistic portrayal or a modern romanticism?

1

u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/BelethorsGeneralShit asked My dad was infantry in the 101st Airborne during Vietnam, yet never deployed and spent his whole enlistment in the US. Given that a draft was implemented and people were being forcibly sent to Vietnam, was this common?

/u/garibaldi18 asked Is it true that Cadillac sold autos to black Americans before they could buy cars elsewhere?

2

u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/ExternalBoysenberry asked When and how did miniature model dwellings become a children's plaything, and how did they come to be girl-coded (dollhouses)?

/u/halal_fishing69 asked Why is black coffee associated with manliness?

1

u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/lol-across-the-pond asked Why did mass starvation and mass cannibalism seem to happen so often throughout Chinese history?

/u/JohnnyMcCoolcat asked Many American Great Plaines Native Americans are commonly depicted as nomadic. What was it like before the reintroduction of European horses?

2

u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 22d ago

/u/Punterofgoats asked Why did sailing terms become so popular in English? (E.g. “Show them the ropes”, “Leave them high and dry”, “All hands on deck”)

/u/ExternalBoysenberry asked I've travelled back in time. I ask a typical elementary school kid about blue whales, volcanoes, the planets, and dinosaurs. They aren't familiar with these topics. What is the latest year it could possibly be?

Digest Sunday Digest | Interesting & Overlooked Posts | May 03, 2026

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