127 words Some episodes of "I Love Lucy" ended with Ricky spanking Lucy. Was this really such an accepted practice within marriage in the 1950s that it could be made light of in mainstream media or was this considered humorous because it was seen as ridiculous behavior pattern between a man and wife?
134 words In the 1980s, it was common for hard rock (and maybe metal, too) bands to have long, permed, and even feathered hair. How did this style become popularized? Who popularized it? Were they consciously going for an androgynous look, and how did they market it to a primarily male, adolescent demo?
195 words In The Shining by Stanley Kubrick the dialogue, and perhaps in most movies of that era, was very succinct and almost unnaturally abrupt from one character to the other. Is there a reason why this and other movies of the time portrayed regular speech in such an unnatural rhythm?
547 words What happened to Buddhism in Indonesia?
139 words Why did Britain go to war with Germany in WWI, and why did Britain want to protect Belgium so much?
125 words In the United States we have to register to exercise our right to vote, but we dont have to register to exercise our right to buy guns or to exercise any other right. How and why did registering to vote begin? Did Americans in the 1700's have to register to vote?
264 words How did politics in Malaysia become so racially charged? Was this always the case?
171 words I am Juan Cole, author of 'Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires' out today. AMA
334 words Was there considerable anxiety about the potential for vehicular homicide in the early years of automobiles?
500 words In Roman elections how did the Romans validate the citizenships of voters?
203 words Why, despite the apparent rise of science-based medicine, have quack treatments like Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), homeopathy, chiropractic, reiki, crystal healing and so on managed to remain reasonably popular?
180 words Did people always use cursive in the past?
215 words Some general questions about World War 1 specific to a relative who I recently found out died there.
113 words Where and how was the Arab conquest stopped?
163 words Short Answers to Simple Questions | May 30, 2018
316 words How did German names get associated with Jewish people in the US?
147 words Why was it previously common practice for adolescents to serve as military officers?
255 words Ramesses II had a very distinct physical appearance, (red hair, exceptionally tall for his time, aquiline nose) is this something other Egyptians exhibited? Where did it come from?
292 words What contingency plans did the United States have in the event that Hitler defeated the Soviet Union and or Britain?
268 words In the TV series 'Sharpe', British officers of the Napoleonic wars are portrayed as uniformly posh and utterly inept at their jobs, with only a scant minority being actually upstanding and competent officers. How true is this?