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.
We’ve got a hot line up of amazing posts for you fine folks this June! Forget about going outside into the sun, and instead spend time with some fantastic history threads! (Or put it on a phone and take it outside with you. Win-win I guess!)
SUPER EXCITING [MEGA META ANNOUNCEMENT! This September, AskHistorians will be hosting its first-ever conference – right here on Reddit!] (https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/hflrb2/mega_meta_announcement_this_september/)
It’s a new super fantastic AskHistorians Podcast Episode 151: "Medieval Atheism" with Keagan Brewer.
/u/MSomervi_UK joined us for an incredible AMA in I am Dr Michael Somerville, author of 'Bull Run to Boer War', and here to discuss how the American Civil War changed the British Army in the 19th century. AMA!"
The latest roundtable is an important one, and directly tackles one of our most common questions. Find out “where have all the comments gone” in Rules Roundtable XVIII: [Removed], Curation, and Why There are 'Comment Graveyards'
Always tons of fun in the Friday Free For All!
A bunch of fantastic posts in the Saturday Showcase
That wraps us up for the week. You fantastic folk have yourselves a great time, enjoy the threads, and I’ll see you next Sunday!
#The Real Questions
Welcome back to my new, ill-conceived recurring series on "the real questions" of /r/AskHistorians! Here, we honor the more atypical questions that get asked here: the bizarre, abnormal, strangely niche or oddly specific, interestingly worded, or otherwise amusing questions that make me say, "Finally, someone is asking the real questions." We look at little-known customs, unexpected historical anecdotes, unusual cultural traits, and other more unique questions that go beyond the regular brand of sociopolitical history that this subreddit so fabulously covers. This week, I'm highlighting:
What unique questions did you find this week? What do you think was the realest question?
Some of my own allegedly interesting inquiries:
From the things I've posted a million times file, How did Lee Kwan Yew become so powerful? Are his memoirs known to be accurate? On the one hand, I'm surprised this didn't get much interest, even in the form of upvotes, given that Lee Kwan Yew (totally not typing out his full name, because it's less work than looking up which name order that was...) is one of the most important leaders in living memory. On the other hand, Southeast Asia doesn't get discussed very much, for whatever reason.
From this week's theme, How did public transport fit into the rebuilding of Europe and Japan, following WWII?
Inspired by recent events, To what extent was the killing of Latasha Harlins and sentencing of her killer a motivator/catalyst for the 1992 L.A. Riots?
Spare a thought for the overlooked yet fascinating questions that remain unanswered this week.
/u/penguinheadnoah asked Are there recorded accounts of people using rhinoceroses in warfare?
/u/francesquitor asked about Amazon Civilisations.
Everyone should seriously go check out the [MEGA META ANNOUNCEMENT! This September, AskHistorians will be hosting its first-ever conference – right here on Reddit!] (https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/hflrb2/mega_meta_announcement_this_september/)