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.
Spring is in full bloom up here in Canada and we have awesome history posts sprouting up like weeds! The digest is all set to present a fantastic harvest, and offer some great writings on a huge variety of topics!
Don’t forget to check out some of our weekly features, and a bunch of special ones this week! Upvote and thank those hard working writers as well.
We have new snoo mascots! Say Hello to Our Little Friends! Introducing William Snoollace and the Empress Dowager Snooxi!
Snag yourself a look at The Perks of Donating to the AHDC Fundrazr!
Looking for book recs or just want to talk about what you’ve been reading? Check out our regular Thursday Discussion thread!
There was some very fun discussion in the Friday Free for All thread! With my particular favorite being a question asking what drew folks to particular periods or locations.
/u/MaharajadhirajaSawai features in this weeks Saturday Showcase.
Finally we have a short and sweet META. Why is the sub's portrait based on (I assume) Justinian?
That wraps us up for another day AH’ers! Keep it classy and I’ll see you next week with another bounty of good history!
Time for another installment of "The Real Questions", where we take a look at the wilder side of r/AskHistorians! Here, I give a shout-out to people asking the more atypical questions on this sub: questions that investigate amusing, unique, bizarre, or less common aspects of history, as well as ones that take us through intriguing adventures of historiography/methodology or niche/overlooked topics and moments in history. It's always a wide (and perhaps confusing) assortment of topics, but at the end of the day, when I see them I think, "Finally, someone is asking the real questions!"
Below are my entries for the week - questions with a link to an older response are marked with ‡. Let me know what you think were the realest questions you saw this week, and be sure to check out my full list of Real Questions.
The Digest is also a chance to draw some attention to those interesting posts that caught our eye, but still await the attention of an expert. Feel free to share your own or call out any others, and perhaps we’ll get lucky and snag the interest of a wandering expert.
/u/WeaknessTechnical654 asked Did the ancient Hawaiians know/trade with other Polynesians
/u/Rob-With-One-B asked When did alcoholic drinks start being thought of as “alcohol”?