Modmail Madness is back! If you don't know what I'm talking about, here's what's up: every time someone mentions the sub, we get a notification. This is a collection of all the best ones from the month of September. We have a few conspiracy theories, some interesting discussions, and even a version of The Chart.

First up, we have a great discussion of how much peasants should know in a historically based story to create verisimilitude (the appearance of truth to an audience). np.reddit.com/r/worldbuilding/comments/ilvt5f/on_inworld_historical_knowledge/g3wv98y/?context=3

Second, a handy guide to when the history of each country began, in easy map form! Except, history apparently = white colonialist independence dates. No one else had history ever. Yikes. np.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/iok7x9/when_did_this_countrys_history_begin/

Next, I know Americans exaggerate a lot of things, but they really did fight the Nazis, and they really did make material contributions to WWII. Really. np.reddit.com/r/Chodi/comments/iqx60x/the_last_time_india_went_to_war_tally_of_winners/g4w362q/?context=8&depth=9

This one isn't actually bad history, but I wish they'd posted it here, because it's a really interesting look at the myth that Damascus steel is a lost art. Very neat if you're into knives, chemistry, or history. np.reddit.com/r/SWORDS/comments/ir94b8/historical_myths_that_need_to_die_damascus_steel/

Less neat, but still enough to raise an eyebrow, one hot take suggests that we figured everything out in the Enlightenment. Only "ultra woke" people criticize it. np.reddit.com/r/SubredditDrama/comments/iswvd5/european_in_reurope_suggests_moving_to_germany_to/g5d0bmb/?context=3

All hail The Chart! But it's not the usual Chart--this one is how advanced we'd be if only we didn't start mercantilism (the real bane of science, apparently). There's just one problem: the Chart puts mercantilism about 500 years too early. np.reddit.com/r/neoliberal/comments/itzavl/imagine_a_world_without_bad_trade_policy_wed_have/g5hx639/?context=3

This one was new to me, but apparently it's one of the more widely circulated conspiracy theories. That's right, it's the Titanic being sunk for the insurance! Oh, the things people will do for money! np.reddit.com/r/technicallythetruth/comments/it7gcv/titanic_ii/g5iy1nw/?context=3

And finally, apparently American imperialism is the only thing preventing the world from destroying itself. They have bases everywhere, after all. Remember guys, don't get all of your history from HistoryMemes. np.reddit.com/r/ShitAmericansSay/comments/j03tlf/american_imperialism_is_the_only_thing_stopping/g6p7q7o/?context=3

Our most linked to post was the one about Mother Theresa; it received 34 mentions (if you treat all links that came out of the two AskReddit threads as one mention, that drops to 19 independent mentions--still significantly higher than any other post on the sub).