In 1707 Kabuki actors successfully challenged their untouchable status in court. How exactly did they get out from untouchable-ness, and why weren't other groups able to do the same?
Was there an Islamic equivalent to nunnery, that a woman could pursue if she didn't want to get married and become a wife and mother?
Compared to Western Europe, what did reading culture and publishing industry look like in China from the early 16th century to the late 19th century?
Why, throughout China's long history, is there relatively little record of systematic persecution against homosexuals and Jews?
Was gastronomic cannibalism widespread in Africa before colonialism? Sources from missionaries, colonial officials, traders and explorers says it was common and human meat had no stigma
How true is the "rice theory of culture" - that East Asian societies such as Japan are more collective-oriented due to the nature of rice farming?
Why don't we see a lot of Spartan philosophers, poets, artists, etc. even though they were all rich enough to pursue leisurely activity? Why do the idle rich seemed to have focused so much on exercise?
Many of the first Islamic scholars were women related to Muhammad, which makes sense since Islamic scholarship is all about transmitting and interpreting what Muhammad would have thought about something. But to what extent did women in later periods participate in Islamic scholarship?
Indira Ghandi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards 5 months after she ordered Operation Blue Star, a military attack on one of Sikhism's holiest temples that resulted in the death of hundreds of Sikh civilians. Why would she still surround herself with Sikh bodyguards after that?
As Russia conquered the steppes, was there a belief that they were getting vengeance for the Mongol conquests and tatar yoke centuries earlier?
Why do people in Japan use tea cups (お茶碗) to eat rice, and not to drink tea?
In medieval/feudal England, how would you mill grain without using the lord's mill?
Why didn’t the US get involved in the French Revolution?
A small subreddit rules update
After 250+ hours of playtime, I have finally completed the Legacy of the Dragonborn museum (3000+ displays)
Why did Western European armies start using lances again during the Napoleonic wars, even though they had been abandoned 200 years earlier?
Why weren’t East Asian Royal Families (such as the Japanese, Chinese, Korean) ethnically mixed like other Royal families?
How did people in Austria-Hungary react to a peasant woman from Japan becoming Countess of Coudenhove-Kalergi?
What is the relationship between the British suffragette movement and Fascism?
Was the Spartan Colony of Tarentum Founded by the Expelled Children of Spartan Women and their Helots?
What prevented the Qing dynasty from falling apart in the 1860s?
During the 16th Century, did Sweden think Finns were the original inhabitants and rulers of Sweden? And also Jewish?
Why did Guam reject the Northern Mariana Islands' request to be annexed into Guam?
[Hobby Scuffles] Week of 03 March 2025
Why were there so many women in Hernan Cortez's military expedition? What role did they play?