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Posted by /u/WartimeHotTot

How did US homelessness during the Great Depression compare to homelessness today?

The way I was taught about the Great Depression in school made it seem like there was extreme political pressure coming from homeless people themselves, and this ended up affecting politics at the highest level. To me, it seemed that the term Hoovervilles (along with Hoover blan…

Posted by /u/Asleep_Wealth5602

We are historians of childhood and food, authors of 'First Helpings: A History of Children and Food'. Feel free to AMA.

Our names are Dr Deborah Albon and Dr Amy Palmer and we are the authors of ‘First Helpings: A History of Children and Food’ published by Reaktion Books. This book explores the relationship between children and food in history, drawing on a rich variety of social records, cookery…

Posted by /u/Crazy-Blacksmith-336

Why didn't Argentina, despite having one of the largest European settler populations outside Europe, end up becoming part of the Global North like the US, Canada, Australia, or New Zealand? What caused it to diverge so much economically an…

Posted by /u/Bongolio-the-seal

At what point did the Confederacy's leadership in the US Civil War realise the war could not be won? What was the attitude among the CSA's government as this became apparent?

I assume that it was not solely a few days before Appomatox that the CSA's government realised that the war was a lost cause. So at what point did everyone realise the jig was up? Were there any people who thought the war could be won even at the very end? Like, I assume we have…

Posted by /u/Intelligent_Shop2864

Why is it so hard to be catholic in the US

Whenever I tell people I am catholic they just hate for no reason and throw comments that they don’t even understand. I am sure others have felt this before and I just don’t know what to do.

Posted by /u/engineeringmylove

Anyone know of an all-white French church?

EDIT: I am SO SO SORRY for the title!! 😭😭 I totally didn't mean it like that. It was very poorly phrased on my part, I apologise for any confusion or negativity caused. When I was writing it, I genuinely didn't have the slightest clue it could be interpreted like that, at all.…

Posted by /u/ManicMarine

Why didn't Stalin incorporate Poland into the USSR after 1945?

Poland had been a part of Imperial Russia, at least a large chunk of historic Poland had been. Stalin incorporated other nations such as the Baltic states. The USSR had had a significant population of Poles prior to 1939. It would have avoided the need to ethnically cleanse the…

Posted by /u/wastevens

What's the origin of American Resturants serving "Take home leftovers" amounts of food?

I saw a post elsewhere about how, contrary to much of the world, the expectation at most non-fine dining restaurants is you will be served between a meal-and-a-half to two meals worth of food per order. When/how did this develop as an American cultural norm, distinct from the wo…

Posted by /u/SystemOfTheUpp

Why do historians use the terms 'Soviets' and 'Russians' interchangeably when discussing the USSR?

I understand that the USSR was very heavily Russian-dominated from the get-go but especially following Stalin's Russification policies, but the use of "Russians" and "soviets" as synonyms never made sense to me. I've seen it in primary sources, history books, academic papers wri…

Posted by /u/dr-doc-phd

It's 1978, Christopher Reeves has just made me believe a man can fly, and I now want to read as much Superman as I can. How do I get caught up on nearly 40 years worth of comics?

Today if I wanted to start reading older Superman comics, I could pirate them online, or purchase one of the many omnibuses. But in 1978 those omnibuses didn't exist, and the internet was still a twinkle in young Al Gore's eye. While I could certainly start buying the books as t…

Posted by /u/poedancing

My family uses the thief on the cross to dismiss anything Catholic

I have been sharing sources on the real presence in the Eucharist with my family to try to convince them of it. Recently it was an hour and a half long video of Brant Pitre discussing how the OT points to the Eucharist. Anytime a good point is raised they immediately object by b…

Posted by /u/Byerly2k21

Atheist going to mass

Hello, I am an atheist and, I am planning on going to mass this weekend. Is there anything I should know before going? I have been questioning atheism lately, and I have been looking into the Catholic Church.

Posted by /u/Leading-Nectarine634

Help. My OB Gyne is suggesting I should undergo Tubal Ligation

I am currently pregnant with my third child, and my OB is telling me that I should get a tubal ligation to prevent another pregnancy since all my kids are born via Cesarean Delivery. My CS cut is too near in my bladder already and she said I can only deliver 3 kids based on my m…

Posted by /u/The_Wolf_Song

I’m a bipolar schizo, but I became Catholic now I honestly think I feel more sane than the other 84% of the world.

I honestly feel less delusional than people who follow man-made religions and conquered the despair and nihilism that come with atheism. Now that I found my chill, I went from 15 years on disability collecting an emo check, now I’m at the busiest store in my market because I don…

Posted by /u/Charming_Usual6227

Is “Irish Catholic” a branch of Catholicism? What does it mean when someone is described that way?

Posted by /u/MaimedJester

What was the Soviet internet like if it existed in any form before the collapse? Just university students/professors exchanging e-mail officially or did any kind of internet equivalent culture exist like the BBS or Usenet internet cultures…

Posted by /u/PuzzledIntroduction

Any advice for a Jew teaching at a Catholic school?

I'm teaching a secular subject to children at a Catholic school starting next month. Any advice anyone has as to how to navigate this school year? A couple of notes: As far as I know, I don't have to attend weekly school masses because I don't have a homeroom to escort. However,…

Posted by /u/Sea-Situation-6758

Where do lawns come from?

Trying this again since Reddit filters removed my last post: Do historians have theories for why lawns are so common in the United States? Why do we waste so much time and money taking care of grass around our houses when they dont produce anything useful or seem to serve any pu…

Posted by /u/Storkiest

What is the history of the "Love Spell/Wish/Potion gone terribly wrong" trope in fiction? What are the earliest examples?

Obsessed with Obsession. Certainly not the first film to take on the concept of "wished for love and it backfired horribly", what was the first? Have approaches to the concept changed over time?

Posted by /u/justhereforhides

How did hard candy get its reputation as being "old people candy" was it particularly popular with older generations when they were young?

I also noticed that "old people candy" almost never has chocolate as an ingredient, is there something that's more timeless about chocolate-based candy?