Sunday Digest | Interesting & Overlooked Posts | July 06, 2020–July 12, 2020

by AutoModerator

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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.

Gankom

It’s been a busy week folks! And hot and humid up here! My AC is still broken and I’m passed the melting stage and just generally evaporating. The giant META thread on Saturday also made it just a touch more difficult to do my usual trawl for answers, so if I missed anyone make sure to post it up! Share an upvote, thank the authors, and enjoy the threads!

Once again that wraps our list up for the week. Its been a pretty big summer for history so far, so I hope you found lots to keep you entertained during the week! See you all next Sunday!

TeddyRoosevelt26

I won't claim my question was interesting or overlooked but I didn't receive an answer. What political issues kept the Etruscan's from forming a military alliance against Rome prior to 396bc, when Veii was finally conquered?

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/u/FluidChameleon asked, Before the advent of cars, what range of G-forces would the average person have experienced across a lifetime?

/u/MakinBaconPancakezz asked, In Like Water for Chocolates, Mama Elena claims that it is a tradition for the youngest daughter to take care of her parents and therefor never get married. How true is this?

Those were from two weeks ago but, with only 15 upvotes, I think the G-force question is one of the all time most underrated on the sub.

/u/mikedash wrote a good answer to my question of "What are the most likely reasons Old Sarum got two Members of Parliament?" Surely I'm not the only one who saw the Tom Scott video in which it's stated that no one knows why.

I asked a lot of questions for this week's theme:

Why did the organizers of the 1967 Boston Marathon attempt to stop Katherine Switzer from participating? And if they didn't want women to participate, why didn't they make a rule against it?

To what extent was the killing of Latasha Harlins and sentencing of her killer a motivator/catalyst for the 1992 L.A. Riots?

How did the current form of slavery in the Persian Gulf come to be?

My understanding is that there's only one known use of "smallpox blankets," an occupant of Fort Pitt giving two blankets and a handkerchief to emissaries from the tribe laying siege to the fort. How did smallpox blankets become a widespread form of aggression in the public consciousness?

And, of course, the perennially unanswered 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 is one of the most important people in living memory. On the other hand, Southeast Asia doesn't get discussed very much, for whatever reason. Perhaps that should be an upcoming theme.

jelvinjs7

Welcome back to my 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 built on uncommon premises, 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. Some of the notable entries this week include:

/u/MancombQSeepgood asked Where did the joke/cartoon notion of the moon being made of cheese come from?.

/u/molotov_bomb asked Why do we presume that Humpty Dumpty was an egg when it doesn't mention that he is at all in the nursery rhyme?, and /u/itsallfolklore cracked that case.

/u/ExternalBoysenberry asked What is the history behind "What is your favorite color?", and got an enlightening response from /u/edhistory101.

/u/wombfresh asked It's generally taken for granted in sci-fi that a space military would basically be naval, with cruisers and frigates in fleets led by captains and admirals. Given that there has never been a space military, how did this assumption develop?, featuring a response by /u/AncientHistory.

/u/rawkout1337 asked In adventure movies there is a common trope of cutting a rope to drop a chandelier/crates hanging from a crane/etc. How expensive was rope? Would the rope have been a significant cost to replace in different eras?, with an answer by /u/LudicrousIdea.

/u/beerbrewer1995 asked What's the history behind the "slipping on a banana peel" thing?

I find it interesting how a lot of these deal with understanding tropes in fiction—totally unintentional on my part! Anyway, that's my list this week. What unique questions did you find this week? What do you think was the realest question?

Gankom

Spare a thought for the overlooked questions that still cry out for an answer! Perhaps they’ll serve as inspiration, or a wandering expert will come wandering by and see them.