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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/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/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/Liinasepp

My brother is joining an Eastern Orthodox monastery at 20 years old and I am not taking this well.

My brother, 20 y/o, has decided to join an Eastern Orthodox monastery in Europe and will leave in few weeks before summer ends. The decision came out of nowhere (for me, at least), and a few weeks back he told me about his plans for the future. Since he is just 20 years old, I w…

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/True-Boysenberry225

When you get closer to Jesus, all you desire is his presence

God has been so good, and Jesus Christ has been amazing! I’ve been praying a lot more lately and as the Holy Spirit has been guiding me in my prayers, I’ve started to notice that I’ve began to pray more like him as well. Like it’s funny because I’m using words I wouldn’t normall…

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/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/Sea-Tiger8657

For the first time in my life, I gave 1 hour to God

I've been posting on here quite a bit these past few days, because I have so many questions and so many doubts, and no one to help me in real life. Today, I decided I would spend 1 hour praying/reading the Bible, even if I didn’t want to. For context, I'm a skeptic. I'm also som…

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/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/Christstillsaves

I don't know what to do in my marriage.

I don't know what to do in my marriage. I say this as someone who deeply loves his wife and would do anything for her. But I'm incredibly frustrated, and I honestly feel like she's making life much harder than it needs to be. We've been married for three years. When we got marri…

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?

Posted by /u/Hefty_Vehicle2928

Why didn't African colonies revolt while France was occupied by the Germans during ww2?

Posted by /u/BaronRetro

Were The Zulu As Strong As We've Been Told?

Hey. I've always loved history and have found myself in different "phases". For a time I was really into pike and shot warfare (i have no idea why). For a time I was into ww2 Germany (dont worry Im glad they lost). But now, im into the Zulu people, especially their regimental sy…