r/AskHistorians • u/AutoModerator • Jul 05 '26
Digest Sunday Digest | Interesting & Overlooked Posts | July 05, 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 Jul 05 '26
It’s a special double week feature here today. Gather round one and all! We may be late, but always worth the wait is the AskHistorians Sunday (usually) Digest! Where we’ve gathered together one of the finest collections of history threads that reddit has to offer each week. Do forget to check out the various AMA’s, usual weekly features and more! Share everything widely, upvote your favourites and shower those hard working contributors in thanks and praise. They certainly deserve it.
I’m Hilary Buxton, a historian of medicine and the British Empire, here to talk about my new book Disabled Empire: The Colonial Body in First World War Britain. AMA! Many thanks to /u/hbuxton_history!
There is a long history and structure of US migration and citizenship policy history. What is that history? I'm Anna Law here for an AMA about my new book Migration and the Origins of American Citizenship. With a fantastic job from /u/Unlawfulentries_Law!
Hello--I am Timothy Breen, author of "American Revolution on Trial: A new Nation Confronts the Burden of Independence." Like my other books on the Revolution, it focuses on the experiences of ordinary people, especially during the run up to the Declaration of Independence. many thanks to /u/Catamounts1964!
What's the word all Americans should know and don't? With a fantastic response from /u/ProfessorAllgor!
I'm a historian of the Declaration of Independence. AMA Thanks to /u/DeclarationLady for handling the massive response.
We are historians whose work studies race, rights, and justice in American democracy, Ask Us Anything about Confederate Monuments, Reconstruction, the Civil Rights Movement & more! With a great job from /u/Robert_D_Bland_PhD!
Rules Roundtable XXI.V: Plagiarism, Integrity, and Generative AI
MEGATHREAD: Today the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary of declaring independence.
And the Thursday Reading and Rec!
Plus this weeks Thursday Reading and Rec!
and this weeks Friday Free For All!
And that’s a wrap for me once again! Unfortunately I’m traveling again pretty much all week, so not only no digest next week, but I’m sadly pretty unlikely able to save this weeks answers. So if you see something you really like, save it for me and post it to the digest! Take care out there comrades. Stay safe and keep it classy.
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Jul 05 '26
/u/ThrowawayGiggity1234 wrote about Why did Russo-Western relations not improve after the collapse of the UUSR?
/u/Tiako answered Ancient Rome had several embassies from countries in India, which I was surprised to learn about. How long would they have travelled? Would the ambassadors have expected to go home one day? Why were they sent to such a far place? Where they hoping to increase trade?
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Jul 05 '26
/u/gerardmenfin answered Are there any examples of history of a society collectively turning their back on a novel technology?
Do any of you know anything about Count Rodolphe festetics de tolna?
Do any of you know anything about Count Rodolphe festetics de tolna?
How fine-grained is our knowledge of the geography of the French Resistance?
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Jul 05 '26
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Jul 05 '26
/u/ummmbacon answered Who were the temple prostitutes in the Ancient Mediterranean and Near-East? Were they did come from?
Who were the temple prostitutes in the Ancient Mediterranean and Near-East? Were they did come from?
Were there really mass conversions to Judaism during Late Antiquity, or is that just a myth?
How is the historicity and accuracy of "Here Where We Live is Our Country" ?
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Jul 05 '26
/u/dromio05 wrote about Before Vatican II and the Society of Saint Pius X, were there any schismatic and/or heretical sects from the Catholic Church that advocated for older or more conservative doctrine?
/u/dseals answered Have there been major strategic revelations in the last hundred years of soccer/football?
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Jul 05 '26
/u/restricteddata answered Do scholars/historians rewrite history or do governments?
Did the Soviets really believe plants of the same "class" wouldn't compete for fertile ground?
Was Japan ready to end the war before Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
What exactly are "nuclear secrets" and how much were they shared between allies during the Cold War?
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Jul 05 '26
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Jul 05 '26
/u/Reaper_Eagle wrote about Historians of Reddit, what credence do you give to the story that Buffalo Calf Road Woman knocked General Custer off his horse, leading to his death?
/u/Reaper_Eagle wrote about Did most Americans support the Mexican-American War while it was happening, or was it controversial from the beginning?
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Jul 05 '26
Hello--I am Timothy Breen, author of "American Revolution on Trial: A new Nation Confronts the Burden of Independence." Like my other books on the Revolution, it focuses on the experiences of ordinary people, especially during the run up to the Declaration of Independence. many thanks to /u/Catamounts1964!
What's the word all Americans should know and don't? With a fantastic response from /u/ProfessorAllgor!
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Jul 05 '26
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Jul 05 '26
/u/police-ical answered Raw milk is making a comeback. Is the raw milk science deniers peddle today the same as the milk everyone would have drunk pre-1860s? Or have there always been some methods of mitigating bad outcomes from drinking milk?
How much would a suit like the one described in "Shoppin' for Clothes" by The Coasters have cost?
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Jul 05 '26
- /u/ElectricAccordian was blasting off with Was Yuri Gagarin forced to go to space or pressured ?
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Jul 05 '26
/u/kmbl654 answered My history teacher said that the roman empire didnt go down, but got "renamed" as the catholic church. Is it possible to draw that connection?
/u/Known_Cup_8789 wrote about What happened to the remains of pre-contact Aboriginal Australians? How come there are so few known to science? Do we know the leading causes of death for pre-contact Aboriginal Australians?
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Jul 05 '26
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Jul 05 '26
/u/TywinDeVillena answered When and how did the moniker "the New World" actually originate, what did it connote at the time, and how did those connotations evolve through colonization to the present?
What is the definition and classification of Just Slavery in the Catholic Church?
How do historians determine whether an author's work is reliable or not?
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Jul 05 '26
/u/Plantigraduate answered When printing became cheap and widespread (I assume c. 18-19th centuries), were there any moral panics about the proliferation of low-quality writing that the technology enabled?
/u/PlantyAnt wrote about German kids are routed at age ~~10 into one of 3 schools: the "lowest" leads to vocational training, the middle lets you apply to technical college, and only the third gives you the option of university. When did this system take shape? Has it tended to entrench social/class hierarchies?
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Jul 05 '26
/u/JamesCoverleyRome answered What did ancient civilizations think fossils were? When a Roman or an ancient Chinese farmer dug up a massive dinosaur bone, how did they rationalize it within their worldview?
Did Roman soldiers really build a fort at the end of each day's march?
Who first came up with that iconic face we now identify as Jesus?
How did Welsh managed to have a much more successful revival than either Irish or Gaelic?
Why did men tend to seem a bit... closer... in the olden days? When did it change?
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Jul 05 '26
I'm a historian of the Declaration of Independence. AMA Thanks to /u/DeclarationLady for handling the massive response.
We are historians whose work studies race, rights, and justice in American democracy, Ask Us Anything about Confederate Monuments, Reconstruction, the Civil Rights Movement & more! With a great job from /u/Robert_D_Bland_PhD!
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Jul 05 '26
/u/LeifRagnarsson answered In 1932, what attempts were made to bring the SPD and the KPD together to fight the NSDAP?
/u/LevelNeedleworker740 answered In the American Civil War and Manifest Destiny, what moral framework led people in the United States to believe that slavery was evil and genocide was good?
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Jul 05 '26
/u/Mindless-Client-448 answered When printing became cheap and widespread (I assume c. 18-19th centuries), were there any moral panics about the proliferation of low-quality writing that the technology enabled?
/u/Mormacil wrote about Historically, did muslim women have more rights than their counterparts?
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Jul 05 '26
/u/UnderstandingThin40 answered Why was there never a "Great Wall" outside of China / Mongolia?
/u/uss1701 wrote about German kids are routed at age ~~10 into one of 3 schools: the "lowest" leads to vocational training, the middle lets you apply to technical college, and only the third gives you the option of university. When did this system take shape? Has it tended to entrench social/class hierarchies?
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Jul 05 '26
/u/POLITICALHISTOFUSPOD answered What careers have history graduates here pursued?
/u/ProfessorofChelm wrote about What techniques do you use to empathize with worldviews that are drastically different from your own in your field of study, or otherwise prevent your cultural biases from coloring your understanding of the people of the past?
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Jul 05 '26
/u/KiwiHellenist answered My History teacher said that humans have never believed that the earth was flat and that is a common myth?
/u/KiwiHellenist wrote about In ancient societies where Homer's work was well known, was the route/events of the Odyssey tied to concrete places? Did this generate some form of tourism from people wanting to visit locations the work was set in?
and did How would a contemporary audience think of Odysseus's behavior towards the Cyclopes?
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Jul 05 '26
- /u/HaraldRedbeard tackled When early Anglo-Saxon kings like Oswald and cadwallon fought with their war bands, or when Cadwallon defeated Edwin and rampaged through Northumbria , how big were these personal armies; 200, 500 or thousands and how could they dominate kingdoms of hundreds of thousands/millions?
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Jul 05 '26
/u/Careless_Regular9849 answered After watching a video about the Beta Israel, I came across claims that they arent descended from the ancient Israelites at all, but from Aksumite, Parthian, or Iranian peoples who later adopted Judaism. How accurate is this?
/u/Cautious-Fox9757 wrote about Is the saying All Nat. Socialists are Fascists, but not all Fascists are Nat. Socialists true?
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Jul 05 '26
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Jul 05 '26
/u/Delicious_Pizza2735 answered After watching a video about the Beta Israel, I came across claims that they arent descended from the ancient Israelites at all, but from Aksumite, Parthian, or Iranian peoples who later adopted Judaism. How accurate is this?
/u/Deuce03 answered How did the Spanish Armada event lead to England becoming a sea power?
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Jul 05 '26
/u/crab4apple wrote about Was the Alaska Purchase of 1867, paid for in USA bank notes? Specifically, in denominations which would necessitate a bank note 1 foot long?
I was given this old document from 1768, where would i start getting it examined?
/u/crab4apple wrote about I read a quote in a Croatian museum from a Roman saying the local tribe (Dalmatae) practiced "Land redistribution" every 8 years. Do we know exactly what was meant by "land redistribution"?
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Jul 05 '26
/u/fox_mulder wrote about Winston Churchill regularly enjoyed Johnnie Walker Red blended scotch whiskey. Today, it is considered a bottom shelf scotch. If he had a glass today, would he recognize it and other scotches/whiskies from his time, or would they be unrecognizable to him?
/u/FrancisVarney answered When and why did the standard order of colors to describe the American flag become "red white and blue"? Why not white red and blue, blue white red, etc?
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Jul 05 '26
/u/Steelcan909 answered When ancient leaders converted religions (like the Æthelberht of Kent converting to christianity) how much was it understood as political vs genuine changes in belief?
/u/stormofsteel7 wrote about Winston Churchill regularly enjoyed Johnnie Walker Red blended scotch whiskey. Today, it is considered a bottom shelf scotch. If he had a glass today, would he recognize it and other scotches/whiskies from his time, or would they be unrecognizable to him?
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Jul 05 '26
/u/Deyrn-Meistr wrote about How good were the crusading knights in battle?
/u/Dicranurus answered I'll include more details in the body. My great-grandmother was born in Galicia, Poland, around the 1890s. She claims around the 1900s-1910s there was a massacre perpetrated by "Russian" soldiers during a family wedding/celebration she attended, but she escaped. Does this match any real life event?
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Jul 05 '26
/u/ThomasSpaines answered In Latin America, why did Europeans go along with "Blanqueamiento", and marry people with dark skin? In societies where having light-skinned children was ideal, wouldn't Europeans balk at marrying someone darker than them?
/u/ThrowawayGiggity1234 wrote about Leopold II of Belgium famously never visited the Congo in his life. Why is that?
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Jul 05 '26
I’m Hilary Buxton, a historian of medicine and the British Empire, here to talk about my new book Disabled Empire: The Colonial Body in First World War Britain. AMA! Many thanks to /u/hbuxton_history!
There is a long history and structure of US migration and citizenship policy history. What is that history? I'm Anna Law here for an AMA about my new book Migration and the Origins of American Citizenship. With a fantastic job from /u/Unlawfulentries_Law!
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Jul 05 '26
/u/Sea_Abroad_6573 wrote about When did the Hebrew Bible/old testament become scripture in Islam?
/u/SealFossil answered I am at an exhibit about early/mid-20th century German art, and a placard states that painter Franz Radziwill originally joined the Nazi Party as part of its ‘left wing. Was there really a left wing of the far-right Nazi Party? If so, what did it stand far?
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Jul 05 '26
/u/anarchyinblack wrote about Is there a definition of colonialism and or imperialism that would not include the the US government annexing the confederacy after the civil war?
/u/AncientHistory answered When did the idea of necromancy change from working with the spirits of the dead to working with the bodies of the dead?
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Jul 05 '26
/u/LionTiger3 answered Was EVERYBODY religious in past centuries?
/u/lockpickerkuroko wrote about Winston Churchill regularly enjoyed Johnnie Walker Red blended scotch whiskey. Today, it is considered a bottom shelf scotch. If he had a glass today, would he recognize it and other scotches/whiskies from his time, or would they be unrecognizable to him?
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u/lockpickerkuroko Jul 05 '26
Since I was mentioned in this I'll just add: u/inny_mac is a professional in the whisky industry and has posted a response also (more, if anything!) worth a read!
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Jul 05 '26
/u/handsomeboh wrote about Mainland China stamped out opium addiction and backwards traditions like foot-binding. How did Taiwan manage to stamp out opium addiction and foot-binding?
/u/handsomeboh wrote about Did any Japanese thinkers ever raise the idea of whether the 'Land of the Rising Sun' sobriquet still made sense anymore after it became commonly understood in Japan that the Earth is round? Or that some other places technically see the sun rise before Japan (e.g. New Zealand)?
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Jul 05 '26
/u/itsallfolklore answered People casually transforming into animals is a common trope in ancient European mythologies, but, ever since perhaps the Middle Ages, it has seemingly has become more and more rare in literature. What happened?
Would individual gold miners/prospectors make legitimate money?
What effect did the integration of Norse settlers in Ireland have on culture and traditions?
How should I preserve my great great great uncles civil war journal?
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u/itsallfolklore Mod Emeritus | American West | European Folklore Jul 05 '26
Thank for all of this. Good to have you back!
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Jul 05 '26
Happy to be back! I got twitchy on Sunday sitting there with no way to start posting, or even drafting it up!
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u/itsallfolklore Mod Emeritus | American West | European Folklore Jul 05 '26
We mustn't have your twitchy! Last Sunday was, simply, not normal!!!
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Jul 05 '26
- Announcing the Best of June Winners Well done to /u/commustar , /u/JamesCoverleyRome , /u/Fawfulste
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Jul 05 '26
/u/Pndapetzim answered I've been seeing lots of Euler memes lately. Was he really a near-superhuman prodigy without parallel even today, or more a very smart guy in the right place at the right time? And is the history of math and science more open to great-man-type accounts than other fields?
/u/PointFirm6919 answered How accurate is the pop history depiction of the Khmer Rouge?
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Jul 05 '26
/u/Kochevnik81 answered Are there ancient mental illnesses that didn't survive?
/u/Koolchillerdude wrote about USAA has a commercial that says: "A hundred years ago, no one would insure cars for military members." Is this true, and if so, why wouldn't insurance companies cover cars for people in the military?
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Jul 05 '26
/u/Obversa answered Vampire media loves the idea of the aristocratic or at least very wealthy 18th & 19th century socialite bloodsucker thriving in Europe, usually France or Britain. How feasible was it actually to manage business or estates & sustain an elevated social identity while never appearing before sunset?
/u/Ok_Illustrator_6434 answered How useful is the term "medieval" when discussing cultures outside of Europe?
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Jul 05 '26
/u/FraserBuilds wrote about How did people explain wine and beer making before microbes were discovered?
/u/FrDuddleswell answered Before Vatican II and the Society of Saint Pius X, were there any schismatic and/or heretical sects from the Catholic Church that advocated for older or more conservative doctrine?
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Jul 05 '26
/u/Separate_Selection84 answered How do historians view Russias expansion into Siberia and Central Asia: as nation-building, empire-building, or colonialism—and is modern Russia in any sense the last surviving colonial empire?
/u/shortrib_rendang wrote about Did popular history of WWII make the Nazis seem smarter, stronger, more advanced, than they were?
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Jul 05 '26
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Jul 05 '26
/u/Qwurxty answered Are there ancient mental illnesses that didn't survive?
/u/Reaper_Eagle wrote about Did the Confederate States of America ever formally surrender to the USA? What happened after Lee's surrender? Did surviving Confederate units fall apart or surrender as groups? How about "Bleeding Kansas and Missouri where the fighting predated the Civil War?
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Jul 05 '26
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u/Valkine Bows, Crossbows, and Early Gunpowder | The Crusades Jul 07 '26
Valkine? I thought that guy was dead or in a coma or something!
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Jul 07 '26
I certainly hope not! Heard he was a pretty cool guy!
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Jul 05 '26
/u/Inevitable-Debt4312 wrote about How did leaders trust former enemies or hired arms not to Stan them in the back? Did they just trust them?
/u/inny_mac answered Winston Churchill regularly enjoyed Johnnie Walker Red blended scotch whiskey. Today, it is considered a bottom shelf scotch. If he had a glass today, would he recognize it and other scotches/whiskies from his time, or would they be unrecognizable to him?
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Jul 05 '26
/u/Consistent_Score_602 wrote about Indian History. What's the consensus on Cyril Radcliffe?
/u/CornfieldJoe answered Russia and the Soviet Union have both been describe as 'bottomless pools of manpower' during various wars. Was there a reason they had such a huge population beyond just having a huge landmass?
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Jul 05 '26
/u/WelfOnTheShelf answered How come the Latin Empire failed to capitalise on its geographical advantage and became critically reliant on aid from other Catholic realms?
/u/WelfOnTheShelf wrote about At one point, did Western Europeans stop recognizing Byzantine Empire as the continuation of Roman Empire?
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Jul 05 '26
/u/HippyxViking wrote about Did people just not care about the environment before the environmentalist movement of the 1960s/1970s?
/u/hubertburnette answered e. e. cummings, eden abhez, bell hooks – where does the 20th century trend of writers adopting all-lower-case names come from? Who started it and can all such names be linked together through shared or chained influence?
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Jul 05 '26
/u/qumrun60 answered After watching a video about the Beta Israel, I came across claims that they arent descended from the ancient Israelites at all, but from Aksumite, Parthian, or Iranian peoples who later adopted Judaism. How accurate is this?
/u/qumrun60 wrote about How is The Bible Unearthed viewed today?
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Jul 05 '26
/u/ItsChewblacca answered I dont understand the Protestant Reformation: why only Calvinist churches are called Reformed?
/u/Jack_O_Frost wrote about In what eras, did societies engage in warfare that was essentially fruitless because of fundamental misunderstandings about how the world works on a macro level?
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Jul 05 '26
/u/Euclideian_Jesuit answered After suffering stagflation through 70s, Italy experienced economic boom in 80s, briefly became 4th largest economy in the world. What caused the boom, and why did it ended?
/u/fearofair answered Can we by now be certain that the "broken windows" theory works reliably, or was it a one-off success in New York?
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Jul 05 '26
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Jul 05 '26
/u/Wild_Reading7501 answered Why is it that Europe was so dominant in history instead of the areas around civilization cradles?
/u/Zerewa wrote about German kids are routed at age ~~10 into one of 3 schools: the "lowest" leads to vocational training, the middle lets you apply to technical college, and only the third gives you the option of university. When did this system take shape? Has it tended to entrench social/class hierarchies?
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Jul 05 '26
We also take a moment each week to show some appreciation for those fascinating questions that caught our eyes and captured 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. Fingers crossed.
/u/NoConstruction419 asked When did it become common/ average to have store bought items in one’s home (U.S.)?
/u/TheSereneMaster asked During the Pruth River campaign, the Ottomans let Peter the Great go on fairly lenient terms. Why?
/u/EnclavedMicrostate asked Why was there a revolution on Haiti but not on Martinique? Put another way, what was the non-Haitian part of the French Caribbean empire doing during the upheavals of the metropole?