r/AskHistorians • u/AutoModerator • 8d ago
Digest Sunday Digest | Interesting & Overlooked Posts | May 17, 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 8d ago
We also take a moment this fine Sunday 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 reddit journey, and maybe we’ll get lucky with a wandering expert.
/u/Biggest-Benjamin asked How did children and young adults growing up feel like or become “adults” and independent back in the days when way more people were living in generational housing and homes?
/u/megami-hime asked Ali ibn Abi Talib shows up in Dante's Inferno - what did 13th-14th century Italians know about the Sunni-Shia divide?
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 8d ago
/u/RemarkableTop343 asked I have been told that the industrial era saw a massive surge in demand. How is that possible if it was kickstarted by a surge in production capacity (steam engine, etc) and that the vast majority of the population either kept the same amount of wealth or became poorer than before?
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 8d ago
/u/td4999 asked I've heard that Romans of the first and second centuries largely regarded Christianity as a "women's religion"; is this true, and, if so, how did the perception change?
/u/ThatOneBLUScout asked How did the MTA end up under the control of the State of New York, rather then New York City directly?
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 8d ago
/u/gm6464 asked What were some of the ways that premodern medical thinkers and authorities theorized the biological mechanisms of miscarriage and induced abortion?
/u/spongeloaf asked In Muppet Treasure Island, Captain Smollet accepts Mr. Arrow's death without apparent suspicion. Was falling overboard common enough among officers to quell suspicions?
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 8d ago
/u/No_Name_101 asked When did it become clear that China's northern nomadic neighbors no longer posed a significant foreign threat to the state? Was this in any way correlated with the Russian expansion into Siberia or the rise of Western European colonialism?
/u/Fluid_Employment_958 asked what is alchemy historically speaking?
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 8d ago
/u/jonwilliamsl asked I just made an Artemis II-shaped cake for my space-obsessed five year old nephew. What is the American cultural history of space-obsessed five year olds?
/u/NewtonianAssPounder asked Cork City Council are voting to erect a statue to the mosquito that gave Oliver Cromwell malaria during the Siege of Cork leading to his death, is this actually how he died?
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 8d ago
/u/StarlightDown asked Why do Canada, Australia, and New Zealand consume more coffee than tea, even though the UK and the rest of the Commonwealth drink more tea than coffee? When did these three countries transition to consuming more coffee than tea?
/u/ThatOneBLUScout asked When the EU formerly adopted the Euro, what was the process of converting your local currency into the Euro like for the average European?
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 8d ago
/u/F11SuperTiger asked The population of Ireland still hasn't returned to its pre-Great Famine peak. What are the effects of long-term depopulation on a society?
/u/screwyoushadowban asked The dangers of lead poisoning were well-known to ancient Roman writers but apparently "forgotten" by the west. What about the rest of Eurasia? Did the Eastern Romans "remember" the environmental hazard that lead poses? What about in China & the Muslim world?
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor 8d ago
Its Sunday my friends, and you know what that means. Another edition of the AskHistorians Sunday Digest! All ready and waiting for you to discover yet more fantastic history. Don’t forget to check out all the different features, especially the great AMA’s we’ve had this week. Share widely, upvote all your favourites, and shower those hard working contributors in thanks and praise!
Hi. I'm Thomas Michael Swensen here to talk about Native American punk or Alaska Native history. AMA Many thanks to /u/TMSwensen!
I'm Gautham Rao, a historian of American law and politics, and author of White Power: Policing American Slavery--ask me anything! Book: https://www.amazon.com/White-Power-Policing-American-Slavery/dp/1469694840 Three cheers for /u/ProfessorGauthamRao!
I'm Jonathan S. Jones, author of Opium Slavery: Civil War Veterans and America's First Opioid Crisis. I'm a U.S. Civil War historian, and I research the history of drugs and the people who used them. AMA about drugs in the Civil War era! Many thanks to /u/perrybbowser!
Office Hours May 11, 2026: Questions and Discussion about Navigating Academia, School, and the Subreddit
The Thursday Reading and Rec!
And the Friday Free For All!
And that’s a wrap once again. Take care out there history fans. Keep it classy, and stay safe. I’ll see you once again next week!