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Posted by /u/Arthur-reborn

How common was it in Vietnam to avoid being drafted by the Army by joining the Navy/Air force first?

My dad came from a poor family and turned 18 right at the height of the Vietnam era drafts. He knew he was most likely going to be drafted and there wasn't much he could do about it. So him and his brother both signed onto the Navy before he could get a draft notice. He ended up…

Posted by /u/Various_Implement_92

Why do Detroit, Chicago and Minneapolis have art institutes instead of museums?

I'm from New England and on a trip to Minneapolis I visited the Minneapolis Institute of Art, which is terrific. That got me thinking: Minneapolis, Chicago and Detroit are all institutes of art, unlike the major art museums in East Coast cities like New York, Boston and Philadel…

Posted by /u/ExternalBoysenberry

How Nazi were the Birkenstocks, relatively speaking? (Both the family and the shoes)

I get that we don't and can't have, like, a NYT "what percent Nazi are you?" needle. I'm also familiar with (and sympathetic to) that famous quote I'll paraphrase as: the term for the innumerable ordinary Germans who quietly loathed Hitler but out of fear or convenience went alo…

Posted by /u/Beautiful_Age7753

Could states leave Trump off of ballots in the 2028 election?

During the White House correspondents dinner, Trump directly stated he would be running for a “fourth” term. Due to this being unconstitutional via the 22nd amendment, and states running their own elections, could states simply not put his name on ballots come election day? We k…

Posted by /u/yellowbai

Is there any consensus on why Caesar acted so insultingly before his assassination?

Caesar was a political gambler no doubt but he always seemed to have a grasp on reality. He was charming he had social skills. He was at pains to seduce everyone he met with his charm. Cicero went through phases of admiring him and being terrified of him. Then the year before he…

Posted by /u/-Razen-

Why didn't Germany during WW2 capitalize far more on sloped armor for their tanks?

The most notorious and known tanks of Germany are almost all using flat armour. The Tiger I, which rolled down the production lines in 1942, had a famously box-like appearance. Against smaller calibers, it's undoubtedly effective. But as soon as far more potent calibers appeared…

Posted by /u/Known-Delay1371

How true is the claim “every culture had their own ‘great flood’ story”?

I’ve seen this claim in many places, from Internet forums to my very own family and I’ve never been able to figure out if it’s true or not. It’s the kind of thing that sounds just real enough to make you wonder but just vague enough to leave you with no idea where to start when…

Posted by /u/minisculebarber

Was slavery abolished multiple times in multiple places around Earth throughout human existence?

In "The Dawn of Everything" by David Graeber and David Wengrow write We’d never have guessed, for instance, that slavery was most likely abolished multiple times in history in multiple places However, they do not go into the claim nor do they provide sources. I do remember that…

Posted by /u/FantasticContact5301

I have read on several occasions that the image of the ninja wearing all-black comes from a kabuki play where a stagehand suddenly enters the narrative of the story to kill someone and is revealed to have been a ninja. Is there any actual…

I am aware, of course, that the modern idea of “ninja” is not historically accurate. There were spies and scouts and even assassins, but the idea of the ninja is just the result of folklore over many years. I am also aware that kabuki theater portrays ninja characters in all bla…

Posted by /u/Tough_Story_1024

How did the St Thomas Christian Community of India survive?

How did the St. Thomas Christian Community survive while communities in China and some other parts of Asia disappeared?

Posted by /u/Wichiteglega

Is it true that bears were seen as divine figures in northern Europe like this book claim?

I am quite interested about the cultural history of bears, and I was intrigued by the book L'ours. Histoire d'un roi déchu by Michel Pastoureau, a French medievalist. The blurb on the back cover of the book says this, among other things: "In the Carolingian period, the bear was…

Posted by /u/CatsDoingCrime

Why weren't the proposals of the "cybercommunists" adopted within the eastern bloc? To what extent was cybernetics utilized within said bloc? Finally, to what extent did cybersyn get implemented in Chile, and how was it viewed within the e…

Since you're on the internet, you are likely well aware that literally everything is kind of on fire right now. We're very much all living in a "old order dying, new one being born" moment. That brings with it obvious crisis, but also opportunity. And in this contemporary moment…

Posted by /u/Organic-Waltz-3726

Why were there fewer historic "empires" in North America?

Please excuse what I'm sure is a very dumb question, I don't know a lot about history. Mesopotamia had Sumer, Assyria, Babylon, Egypt, and eventually the Greeks and Romans. Sumer was settled around 5000-3000 BC. Humans crossed the land bridge to North America long before that. T…

Posted by /u/walter_bitty

Would Homer's audience have understood sneaking into Troy inside a wooden horse as a crime or transgression?

Posted by /u/YourWoodGod

How Accepted is the "Soviets were about to invade Germany" among Historians?

I'm watching a podcast with two historians discussing Operation Barbarossa. As far as I can remember, the "Soviet attack" scenario did not seem to be widely discussed when I was growing up (I'm 31 now). I feel like it's definitely something I would remember, and I consume as muc…

Posted by /u/thatwentverywrong

How did the Anglo Saxons in the danelaw view their reigonal identity with respect to Wessex?

With England being so divided into different kingdoms, with no idea of an "England" as of yet, how did the Anglo Saxons living in the danelaw regard themeselves as opposed to wessex? Did they view Wessex as a liberator when Wessex started encroaching into the Danelaw under Edwar…

Posted by /u/AutoModerator

Sunday Digest | Interesting & Overlooked Posts | July 26, 2026

Previous 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 wee…

Posted by /u/yaldeihachen777

The Two Men on the Mountain, Sinai and the Transfiguration.

When Jesus stood on the mountain of Transfiguration, glowing with radiant light, two men appeared beside Him: Moses and Elijah. Most of us were taught they just represent the Law and the Prophets, and this is part of it. But when you look closely at what these two men actually e…

Posted by /u/Pretty_Swordfish

What happened to sweatshop workers after the 1940s?

I'm reading fiction books from the 1880s and early 1900s and of course they mention the sweatshop women in Chicago, NYC, etc. I'm aware that those factories started dying and changing in the aftermath of WW2, but what happened to women who worked in them? What jobs took the plac…

Posted by /u/Fearless_Whole_3456

Radical Conspiracy Theories Of The 60's?

I'm currently reading Chaos by Tom O'Neill and it's a super interesting investigative novel about some of the more unknown facts about the Charles Manson case and trying to debunk the Helter Skelter motive set forth by the lead prosecutor and it has me thinking about MK Ultra an…

Posted by /u/spliff1506

Why did God harden Pharos heart in Exodus

I’m very new to reading the Bible. I read it as a teenager but didn’t retain much of it and I’ve just started again. Would the pharo have just let them go if God hadn’t hardened his heart? Thank you. Edit: Thank you so much for all the replies. They’ve all been so very helpful.

Posted by /u/GenZ_Nathaniel

Why does my Civil War ancestor have a military headstone despite being a deserter?

He appears twice on a “list of deserters arrested” for overstaying a furlough, once in October 1864 and again in January 1865. Yet he still has a military headstone.

Posted by /u/Frail-Ape-98

Why do we sin?

This is something I've been thinking about, in Revelation the new earth is going to be created and there will be **NO** sin in it which means that we are going to be changed by God if I'm not mistaken to not want to sin (this is according to what I've heard at church which is a…