The Feed

Posted by /u/NWCtim_

Did novels originally published chapter by chapter in periodicals (such as The Count of Monte Cristo) get affected by 'fan feedback' in the same way that modern TV shows often do?

Posted by /u/mlky30

Anyone know the actual truth behind Louis XIV's hot chocolate baby?

Hi, so i just heard about how King Louis XIV’s wife(Maria Theresa of Spain) gave birth to a dark skinned baby in 1664 and then the court literally blamed it on her drinking too much hot chocolate(did she tell the king that she ate too much chocolate?) I know the baby allegedly d…

Posted by /u/rroowwannn

Did victory gardens have any effect whatsoever on the food supply?

Every month in gardening subs someone posts wanting advice on growing their own food to reduce grocery bills, and everyone responds with pessimism, saying it's not practical for a beginner to grow a substantial amount of food on the average suburban lot, and that it's not a chea…

Posted by /u/NobleCypress

In “Death by Lightning” there are numerous scenes which show that any person could walk up to the White House and (under President Garfield) request an audience with the President and possibly actually get one. Was there some point where t…

Posted by /u/sheffieldasslingdoux

Skeletal remains of medieval warhorses suggest they were pony sized, around 14-15hh. Given that a knight in armour and his tack could easily weigh more than 200 lbs, would these horses have been overburdened by modern standards, or were th…

For modern equestrians, there is a strong and lively debate on just how much a horse can safely carry on their back. As a general rule of thumb, equestrians nowadays tend to follow something called the 20% rule. Old cavalry manuals, posited that a horse can safely carry around 1…

Posted by /u/nationalgeographic

I’m Tom Hiddleston. Join me and the crew from ‘Pompeii: Out of Time with Tom Hiddleston' live on the red carpet at the series premiere on July 16th and ask us anything!

https://preview.redd.it/baz1088ym7dh1.jpg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=57bbbba6e20c0aecf5b32ab740fa09e7876ce23e I’m Tom Hiddleston and I am taking a journey back in time in my new series ‘Pompeii: Out of Time with Tom Hiddleston’ on National Geographic. The ancient world h…

Posted by /u/ExternalBoysenberry

Why is it so common in Europe to need a key to get OUT of your apartment? (Or: When and how did keyless exits become the universal standard in the U.S.?)

I try not too ask this question too often because it tends to create a lot of work for the mods mass deleting anecdotal comments (sorry!) but I would really love to understand The Great Transatlantic Keyed Exit Divergence. Basically I straight up can't figure out why you would w…

Posted by /u/StarlightDown

Why did the Soviet Union never host or win the FIFA World Cup (or even reach the Final), despite hosting and dominating in the Olympics, despite its massive population and sports resources wealth, and despite football being by far the most…

The Soviet Union never hosted or won the FIFA World Cup (or even reached the Final) in the USSR’s 70-year history (which coincided entirely with the existence of FIFA), despite hosting and dominating in the Olympics (including in Olympic football), despite having a far larger po…

Posted by /u/Slobberinho

What was the non-European Old World reaction to the discovery of the Americas?

I mean, the Muslim world, the Malinese, the Indian kingdoms, the Siam, the Malay, the Chinese, the Japanese. They all eventually got word about vast swats of land, whole empires of people living across the ocean. What did their scholars and political elite think about that? Did…

Posted by /u/V_Codwheel

Did the Jonestown cult and mass murder-suicide have a significant impact on Guyana?

Something I read online described Jonestown as "one of the most significant events in modern Guyanese history" and while it's certainly the only event in modern Guyanese history that *I'm* aware of. how much did it really matter to Guyana? Were there major diplomatic issues with…

Posted by /u/optiplex9000

What was the food at 1920s baseball stadium like?

Posted by /u/Johnny__Lawrence

In modern times we've had events, movies, and games that generated massive amounts of hype leading up to the day, only to be complete disappointments. Were there major events or media in medieval/ancient times that people were incredibly h…

Posted by /u/TheBoozehammer

Why do we have so few Carthaginian texts? How did the cultural output of such a large and powerful society vanish?

To my understanding, basically everything we know about Carthage comes from other cultures, mostly the Greeks and Romans. Why do we have so little from the Carthaginians themselves? We know they produced texts, and right next door is Egypt, where we can find plenty of artifacts…