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.
A favourite among my recent contributions to AH: I responded to a question about “Waterloo teeth” – young, strong, unstained and undecayed, drawn from the dead on the field of battle and, supposedly, the main source of human teeth for use in dentures for decades after 1815. The answer punctured a few myths, but also revealed the existence of a small but highly active group of specialists, who were often former “resurrection men”, who scoured the battlefields of the Napeoleonic Wars for teeth, and made substantial profits from their trade.
Welcome one and all to another edition of the Digest! It feels like it’s been a great week, and there’s some fantastic answers. Have a read and see if you find something to interest you. I’m a bit late today, but better then never eh?
As per usual, check out the regular features. As well as some of the sweet specials and AMA’s this week!
Like the new podcast! Featuring /u/Partymoses, here’s AskHistorians Podcast 133 -- We Have Met The Enemy and They Are U.S. -- The Militia and the War of 1812
The stunning Tuesday Trivia thread all about Monsters!
The Saturday Showcase And the ongoing narrative written by /u/Klesk_vs_Xaero.
There was a particularly strong showing from nonflairs this week, so all of you wonderful people give yourselves a great big pat on the back.
Might not be overlooked but the two answers by u/citoyenne and u/Grand_Admiral98 and few others whose answers were deleted, were really interesting and insightful for the question I asked “How is Maximilien Robespierre viewed in France?”
OK, a bit late, for possibly obvious reasons.
/u/irishpatobie on "After the American Revolution, were wealthy Loyalists stripped of their land and their property redistributed?"
/u/mikedash answered "Every once in a while a website will claim that teeth extracted from dead soldiers at Waterloo supplied dentures across Europe for years. Is this a myth, and moreover why does it seem only Waterloo gets this treatment, as opposed to bigger Napoleonic battles like Wagram or Leipzig?" and also answered "How did the idea of ley lines become widely known as a supposedly ancient concept, despite being made up by Alfred Watkins in 1921?"
/u/kieslowskifan answered "Why did the Russian Empire limit Jewish settlement to the western parts of the empire?"