A Recap of AskHistorians 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-08

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Popular This Week: You might have clicked too early, so here are the responses to some of the most upvoted questions from the past week:

• "Pasta seems like a perfect food. Vastly superior to regular bread for long-term storage. Versatile and easy to prepare. Why didn’t northern or Eastern Europeans adopt it as a staple the same way the Italians did?", received a couple of responses: this one from /u/UncagedBeast and a link with follow up from /u/wotan_weevil

• "The letter "J" didn't exist in English until 1633. Shakespeare died in 1616. What was Juliet's real name?" also received more than one great response! Like this one by /u/ignoranceandapathy42, this one from /u/Algernon_Etrigan, and this one from /u/itsallfolklore

• "Where did the 'Random Stuff on the Walls' restaurant decor aesthetic (i.e 'Applebee's-core') come from, and why was it seemingly so widespread in the late 90s-2000s?" by /u/Cedric_Hampton

• "Recent increase in holocaust denial, apparently only 280,000 Jews died in Nazi Concentration camps according to a supposed Red Cross document stating so. What facts prove this to be untrue?", generated a lot of important discussion, including responses from /u/Kochevnik81, /u/_EbenezerSplooge_, and L2hodescholar.

• "We often hear that the in the battle of attrition in WW2 , the Luftwaffe was unable to replace the highly trained pilots at the rate that it lost them. How is it that the RAF, a small island nation was able to replace their pilots at a better rate than the Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain?", response by /u/Bigglesworth_

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Things You Probably Missed: Great stuff flies under the radar every week! Here is a selection of responses the Mod Team enjoyed, but didn't get the attention they deserved:

• "What was the significance of Nurhaci forming the Eight Banners?", response by /u/EnclavedMicrostate

• "How was the province of Ulster in Ireland governed before the plantation?", response by /u/Rimbaud82

• "How many women worked on the Manhattan Project?", response by /u/restricteddata

• "Was the Roman Empire as religiously tolerant as often portrayed?", response by /u/​​MagratMakeTheTea

• "The Central Park Conservancy was founded in 1980 to combat Central Park's decline in the 1960s and 1970s. Why did the park decline in the first place?", response by /u/fearofair

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Still Looking for an Answer: Sometimes great questions don't get answered. Yet. Maybe you have the chops to give these the answer they deserve though?

• “Jakob Fugger was one of the most wealthy men in the world with a net worth of over $400 billion or 2% of the European GDP. What happened to his wealth and is there a direct line to people or companies today continuing his work?”

• "Why is that "Bharat", the native endonym for India, is not used much in languages outside of the Indian Subcontinent, even in countries which had long links with India?"

• "The Slave Compensation Act 1837 cost Britain £20 million, or roughly 40% of the Treasury’s whole annual budget. What effect, if any, did this have on the Government’s funding of other things? What about any public provisions of government, like poor relief or education?"

• And if you have only a few minutes to kill, be sure to check this week's "Short Answers to Simple Questions" thread, as you might see something you can help with!

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Flair Profile of the Week: Looking for some old classics to read? This week the randomly selected flair profile is that of /u/bloodswan, flaired for 'Norse Literature.'

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Fun Things You Might Have Missed:

• "What are some common mistakes that an amateur history enthusiast might make in understanding history?"

• It’s not too late to say "Hi" in Yesterday's Friday Free-for-All!

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Pet Patrol

There are two on the bed and the little one said . . . “stay away from me”

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Plenty more you might have missed though, so as always, don't forget to check out the most recent Sunday Digest or else to follow us on Twitter! For a complete archive of past newsletters, check out /r/BestOfAskHistorians.

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