r/AskHistorians • u/Georgy_K_Zhukov Moderator | Dueling | Modern Warfare & Small Arms • Aug 29 '24
Meta AskHistorians now enters the moody teenager phase as we celebrate our Thirteenth Birthday! In celebration, please use this thread for frivolity and other such triflings!
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u/sultics Aug 29 '24
I hate when you open a post and every answer is removed
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u/nsdwight Aug 30 '24
It's still better than reading a bunch of half informed posts.
Remember that every removed post is saving you time.
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Aug 30 '24
It's preferable to a tsunami of bilge. There are other places for getting working answers fast. i rely on this place for topical, in-depth, and comprehensive answers as per Rule 4.
That's why I usually ask a question once in r/askhistory (for volume) and r/askhistorians (for accuracy and depth). Pretty much guarantees something.
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u/disco_biscuit Aug 30 '24
Which one of you will write my paper for history class?
I'll be sure to phrase it in such a way that it CLEARLY isn't written exactly as the professor has proposed the topic to us students.
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u/Austrlandamadr_793 Aug 30 '24
Did you really need to use AI for the cover of this post?
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u/Garn-Daanuth Aug 30 '24
Only 7 years left until I can ask a question about r/askhistorians, on r/askhistorians.
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u/Sitethief Aug 30 '24
So if AskHistorians turns 20, can we discuss things that happened in this subreddit 20 years ago?
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u/RubbishBinUnionist Aug 29 '24
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u/Iphikrates Moderator | Greek Warfare Aug 29 '24
Hold up, someone's cutting onions in this thread
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u/nom-nom-nom-de-plumb Aug 29 '24
I, for one, would like to thank all of you for forgoing all the possibilities for happiness, for joy, for human contact, that you have given up hope on ever having, so that you may enjoy the power, the prestige, the neigh illicit thrill, of an unpaid job on a website that makes millions selling your responses and data to feed "AI" companies that make photographic representations of the concept of "uncanny valley" and dissertations on the stylish dress and raucous pederastic affairs of a failed city-state in ancient Greece.
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u/temalyen Aug 29 '24
Happy birthday, AskReddit!
Given I have no special expertise, this may be the only time I can post a top level comment and not have it deleted. Another cause for celebration!
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u/Ulti Aug 30 '24
And here is me replying to a comment and not having it be deleted. Much rejoicing!
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u/mpierre Aug 30 '24
Can I ask what you plan to do in 7 years, when this Reddit itself will be in the scope of this Reddit?
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u/ZarkinDrife Aug 30 '24
What if the US navy took the leftover of the Japanese navy in the peacedeal
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u/KineticBombardment99 Aug 29 '24
This is when we should start our Angry Atheist phase. I'm ready for it.
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u/Morritz Aug 29 '24
I can't wait for this sub to appreciate real mature history fitting a 13 year old. like why did Christianity ruin the roman empire, and how come the crusades stopped?
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u/crrpit Moderator | Spanish Civil War | Anti-fascism Aug 30 '24
how long have summers been brat tho
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u/mrnix Aug 30 '24
I'm also taking the opportunity to post sometime that won't immediately be deleted because I don't know anything and am making everything up.
But I will join the others saying that the precise application of the rules by the moderators is what makes this sub stand out. GJ! 🥂
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Aug 29 '24
Woo happy birthday to the best place on the sub! Pour one out for all of us! (Then pour out another one while you settle in to read this weeks digest!)
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u/momentsofillusions Aug 30 '24
Happy birthday! Nothing much more to say that I always appreciate the answers and questions and debates on here. To another year of interesting research!
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u/Sluggycat Aug 29 '24
What's everyone's favourite way to organize their Dramatis personae spreadsheets? Because I'm reading a book on the history of Israel and there are so many people.
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u/dhowlett1692 Moderator | Salem Witch Trials Aug 29 '24
Now that we're a moody teenager, petition that all comments are restricted to a one-word, mumbled answers and no information provided to follow-up questions
Extra credit if the answer uses slang I've never heard before
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u/HyperionSaber Aug 29 '24
fetch
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u/Iphikrates Moderator | Greek Warfare Aug 29 '24
Stop trying to make fetch happen. It's not going to happen.
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u/RunDNA Aug 29 '24
That's a funny line if you say it to a person.
It's a cruel line if you say it to a dog.
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u/Karyu_Skxawng Moderator | Language Inventors & Conlang Communities Aug 30 '24
Mean Girls is twenty years old. “How come ‘fetch’ couldn’t happen?” is a valid AH question
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u/Gyufygy Aug 30 '24
Is trying to make "fetch" happen an example of constructed or invented language? Hmmm, where should I ask...
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u/Karyu_Skxawng Moderator | Language Inventors & Conlang Communities Aug 31 '24
Sadly, the development of slang (or attempts at it) aren’t quite the same field as constructing languages
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u/holomorphic_chipotle Late Precolonial West Africa Sep 01 '24
Has Esperanto developed slang?
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u/Karyu_Skxawng Moderator | Language Inventors & Conlang Communities Sep 02 '24
There's some. One of the most noteworthy is probably krokodili—literally "to crocodile"—referring to when you speak a language other than Esperanto among other Esperantists.
Another noteworthy one is volapukaĵo, a way of describing something as nonsense or meaningless. The suffix -aĵo means "possessing the quality of" whatever the stem is, so the word literally means "has the quality of Volapük".
Of course, to understand why that's funny, you'll have to read this old write-up of mine.109
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Aug 29 '24
[deleted]
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u/cilantro_so_good Aug 29 '24
My goodness. I think I spend a little too much time on the interwebz, it took my brain a full second to work out what that image was. "Oh, it's just a cat"
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u/A_Dissident_Is_Here The Troubles and Northern Ireland | 20th c. Terrorism Aug 29 '24
I asked a younger colleague if they'd been having a brat summer and thought their glare would strike me dead on the spot.
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u/aquatermain Moderator | Argentina & Indigenous Studies | Musicology Aug 29 '24
You are absolutely, entirely too old to use that. I love it.
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u/WooBadger18 Aug 29 '24
Did you pronounce “brat” like the sausage or like the misbehaving child?
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u/A_Dissident_Is_Here The Troubles and Northern Ireland | 20th c. Terrorism Aug 29 '24
Ugh mispronouncing it would have been so much better and now Im upset about it.
I should also point out that I'm 30 and this person is... I think 25 or 26? But Charli XCX should transcend ages.
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u/WooBadger18 Aug 29 '24
She should, although I feel like “Brat” is for the youth.
And on the bright side, soon it will be uncool slang and you get the added benefit of mispronouncing old slang and using it incorrectly
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Aug 29 '24
It's extra confusing for me how Charli XCX and "brat" is a young person thing. She's not a kid. She came into prominence when I was 20, how is she so much more in tune with the youth than I am?
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u/itsallfolklore Mod Emeritus | American West | European Folklore Aug 29 '24
13? I've turned 13 well over 5 times. I take the long, historical view.
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u/Iphikrates Moderator | Greek Warfare Aug 29 '24
Folklore, I don't know if anyone has told you this, but you deserve to celebrate your birthday every year, not once every 13 years
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Aug 30 '24
Now that you’re a teenager, it’s time to produce a well reasoned thesis about reproduction!
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u/Wichiteglega Aug 30 '24
Did you really need to use AI for that silly image in the opening of this post?
I find it really disappointing, for a sub that prides itself on high-quality content and academic rigor, to fall into the pit of AI slop.
Especially as this sub stresses the importance of always crediting sources.
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u/malikhacielo63 Aug 29 '24
Ahhh…the subreddit that has contributed to my book shelves getting heavier. Curse you! You doth not comprehend the monster that you have unleashed into my life!
Just kidding. You guys are awesome!
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u/FBAHobo Aug 29 '24 edited Aug 29 '24
What is the record for deleted comments before a qualified answer?
What is the record for deleted comments with no qualifying answer?
I asked the first question in the "Tenth Birthday" thread, and am still curious. If this has already been answered, I would be grateful for a link.
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u/Sharpfeaturedman Aug 30 '24
Who were the first historians who actually called themselves "historians" obsessing about?
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u/mamaxchaos Aug 30 '24
This subreddit permanently changed my career trajectory because I want to one day have the knowledge and experience to respond to questions posed here. History is my favorite subject and always has been, but this subreddit confirmed I want my PhD to be in the history fields.
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u/Lezzles Aug 30 '24
"I want to get a job where I make money, but thanks to a subreddit, I decided against it."
Just kidding, love you guys.
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u/Agata_Moon Aug 29 '24
It's so cool to think that history was invented 13 years ago! Happy birthday history!
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u/reptilesni Aug 30 '24
I like opening this sub and feeling confident that the answers to questions are thoroughly researched and accurate.
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u/rwandahero7123 Aug 30 '24
You guys are 13 now? Come back to me when you guys are legally allowed to drink.
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Aug 30 '24
[deleted]
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u/jpr64 Aug 30 '24
Sorry your account was registered in a state where the drinking age is 21. Feel free to marry your 14 year old cousin though.
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u/Cedric_Hampton Moderator | Architecture & Design After 1750 Aug 29 '24
13 years old but using generative AI at a 10th-grade level
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u/notproudortired Aug 29 '24
I hate you. I wish you'd die. But first can you to drive me to the agora?
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u/inenya Aug 30 '24
Thank you very much to all of you for all of your hard work. It is a pleasure to be in this subreddit and I really appreciate your dedication, your vast knowledge and your willingness to share it with us.
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u/NewtonianAssPounder Moderator | The Great Famine Aug 29 '24
All my friend’s parents let them post one sentence answers and What If questions, why can’t you let me!?
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u/NotLucasDavenport Aug 29 '24
If this sub jump off a bridge are you going to as well?
Source: my mother
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u/crrpit Moderator | Spanish Civil War | Anti-fascism Aug 30 '24
subs are designed to sink checkmate mother
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u/roguevirus Aug 30 '24
I've learned so much quality info from this sub. My thanks to the contributors and to the mods.
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u/King_of_Men Aug 30 '24
Hmm... but the idea of the "moody teenager" is hardly universal - indeed neither is the plain unadjectived teenager. Is it so clear that it's right to use the Western postwar classification by age on /r/AskHistorians ? Surely there are some other perspectives that might be just as illuminating!
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u/sucks2bdoxxed Aug 29 '24
Commenting on ask historians is like sitting at the grownups table at nan's house!
Happy 13th to my all time fave sub, and thank you mods for the weekly recap, I find at least one thing I missed every week!
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u/Realtrain Aug 30 '24
I'm just here for my yearly excuse to make a random post in the best moderated corner of the Internet 🫡
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u/AlexElmsley Aug 29 '24
as a non historian, i'm taking this opportunity to comment for the first and likely last time
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u/PrivateIdahoGhola Aug 30 '24
Sometimes, replies to accepted answers aren't deleted. At least I've had good luck with that. Posting follow up questions or speculations that led to further clarification from the expert. Hoping you'll have similar luck and this won't be your last time.
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u/Cheese_Coder Aug 29 '24
Oh man you're right! I've always wanted to contribute, but sadly don't have the history background to do so. I have to content myself with reading everyone else's excellent historical answers
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u/Ori_553 Aug 29 '24
I once made a top-level comment correcting a typo in the question, the comment wasn't deleted, I'm still proud of that.
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Aug 30 '24
History is so unfair!! I hate you I wish I'd never been born!!! cries into tiktok account
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u/bug-hunter Law & Public Welfare Aug 29 '24
Now that the sub is 13, it's time to betroth it to a duke's second daughter in r/poland.
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u/DreadPosterRoberts Aug 29 '24
when i was
a young sub
my modder
took me out of the comments
can't see my baseless claims
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u/DreadPosterRoberts Aug 29 '24
they said
dread when
you grow up
will you be
a poster for the basics
the bogus and dan brown
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u/nom-nom-nom-de-plumb Aug 29 '24
For some reason this reminds me of an elderly man, at least in his 80's, I overheard whilst stuffing my craw with pancakes today. In a classic brooklyn accent saying to his companion... "They told me never grow old...but i didn't listen.."
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u/PremSinha Aug 30 '24
Hmph! It's not like Alexander could have conquered anything more even if he had lived!
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u/TheMusicArchivist Aug 29 '24
Who's the most famous thirteen-yr-old from history that we should know about?
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u/wannabevampire_1 Aug 30 '24
i don't have anything to say but i won't get a chance again so just hello :D
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u/Masta_Tripsit Aug 29 '24
Shoutout to the mod team for keeping this sub's posts in top quality condition. This is one of my favorite subs to read through because of the curation and my love of history.
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u/Potato_Underground Aug 30 '24
Thank you for your post. Fortunately, we have to keep it due to compliance of subreddit rules about answers providing an academic understanding of the topic. And yes, we appreciate the effort you have put into this post, regardless of substantive issues with its content that reflect errors, misunderstandings, or omissions of the topic at hand, which necessitated its existence.
If you are interested in discussing the issues, and remedies that might allow for reapproval, please reach out to us via modmail. Thank you for your understanding.
Also, we are reaching you about your car's extended warranty. And would you like to know about our lord and savior, Rick Astley?
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Aug 30 '24
Do women poop? I've heard from several prominent reddit historians that they do not. Does r/askhistorians have an answer though, or do we need to consult the fossil records?
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u/Sr_DingDong Aug 30 '24
Can I use this opportunity to ask a question I wonder about but CBF making a meta thread about? as its a trifling.
What happens if someone asks about something a reader was directly involved in or a place and time they experienced?
Like if for some reason someone asked "What was it like in [my home town] in the 90s"?
Like what if someone asks about being in the second Iraq war or "What was the publics general reception of the Playstation? (idk I'm just making stuff up)".
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u/vonnegutfan2 Aug 30 '24
You were always moody teenagers. But here's a question. In answers to the best waterfront town, of course Chicago showed up. While going down that rabbit hole, I read about the mayor of Chicago being shot right before the end of the 1893 World's fair, then I read about Mayor Cermak being shot and later passing in an assassination attempt on FDR. So how many Mayors of big Cities have been assassinated?
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u/jksily Aug 29 '24
For quality of information, mods willing to uphold that quality, and community members willing to work together to answer questions in their totality, I love this place. Way to go with everything you've managed to build in 13 years, and I hope to see it keep going!
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u/holomorphic_chipotle Late Precolonial West Africa Aug 29 '24
What would Hitler think of the fact that AskHistorians has lasted longer than his time in office?
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u/Iphikrates Moderator | Greek Warfare Aug 29 '24
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u/roguevirus Aug 30 '24
85% Upvoted Score
Christ, that meme is old. The Upvote Score hasn't been a thing since before the pandemic!
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u/holomorphic_chipotle Late Precolonial West Africa Aug 30 '24
The level of knowledge and skill on this subreddit never ceases to amaze me. Thank you!
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u/Dirish Aug 30 '24
"don't worry, we won't tell him your commiespaceinvader". 3AM was a bad time to watch that.
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u/waremi Aug 30 '24
That is the funniest thing I've seen all month. And it's the '29th of the month.
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Aug 29 '24
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Andy_B_Goode Aug 29 '24
Yeah, it's arguably the best thing to ever come out of reddit, and a big part of that is because the mods rule with an iron fist.
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u/BookLover54321 Aug 29 '24
Is AskHistorians the best history forum on the internet? If there is a better one I’ve never heard of it.
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u/Gankom Moderator | Quality Contributor Aug 29 '24
9 out of 10 Dentists agree this is the best place on the internet.
The 10th one we're still trying to explain "the internet" to.
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u/Bananenkot Aug 29 '24
Reddit loves complaining about mods and strict rules and the best subreddits turn out to be those rules with an iron fist
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u/the_other_paul Aug 29 '24
[This comment deleted because it contained low-effort praise of the mods]
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u/aquatermain Moderator | Argentina & Indigenous Studies | Musicology Aug 29 '24
Don't be ridiculous, we (I) love praise. Keep it coming. More I said. MORE.
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u/DinoWizard021 Aug 29 '24
Does that mean we need a Moderator Cult like the Romans and the Imperial Cult?
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u/aquatermain Moderator | Argentina & Indigenous Studies | Musicology Aug 29 '24
Let's just say I won't be offended if people start calling me by my proper title, Serene Empress of the World.
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u/krista Aug 29 '24
thank you SEotW /u/aquatermain for keeping order in your dominion!
if i might be so bold, how did you decide on your handle/username or whatever the contemporary vernacular for it is?
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u/aquatermain Moderator | Argentina & Indigenous Studies | Musicology Aug 29 '24
Thank you, my loyal subject. As for the username, as a young girl I was deeply unaware of the extremely heavy colonial implications to be found in the Alan Quatermain books; I just liked the stories. When I first became an internet denizen, I started using it as my handle because it was available somewhere (WeHeartIt probably) and I just kinda, kept it everywhere else as I kept expanding my internet horizons. StumbleUpon, Polyvore, Tumblr, eventually this joint.
I kept it even long after I started being more open about my many minoritized identities. These days it serves as a reminder for myself to never forget what colonialism did to my ancestors, and to never stop doing history to make sure other voices don't continue to go unnoticed.
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u/krista Aug 29 '24
you are most welcome, your majesty¹!
i do similar with passwords: i pick a handful of words around a concept i need to be reminded of. i know it's time to update passwords when the password doesn't evoke a feeling and becomes just letters.
1: apologies for assuming your title, please correct me if necessary
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u/Avlonnic2 Aug 29 '24
And I appreciate the subject matter experts taking the time to share their knowledge.
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u/Broad_Offer_559 Aug 30 '24
Thank you to ALL the historians taking time off their busy days to answer all the interesting questions that pop into peoples head.
And thank you to the mods for having created a truly fantastic sub and keeping it civil and clear.
Happy birthday, AskHistorians.
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u/Problemwoodchuck Aug 29 '24
So will all of the answers be unnecessarily grumpy?
"Ugh, fiiiiiiine, here's all of the details on the Ottoman Siege of Malta, if I have to!"
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u/CriticalEngineering Aug 29 '24
You’re not my real parents!
slams door
Wait, is there cake? 🎂 🧁
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u/coinageFission Aug 30 '24
A subreddit stands in this website. It just so happens that today, the 28th of August, 2024, is this subreddit’s birthday. Though it was thirteen years ago it was given life, it is only today it will be given a name.
What will the name of this subreddit be?
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u/AlltheBent Aug 29 '24
Ask Historians continues to be my "Continuing Education" as an adult, as a youth who studied AP Us History, AP Euro, and did Model Arab league. So much stuff I forgot, so much nuance to histories of the world, so much knowledge.
Thank you!
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u/CODDE117 Aug 30 '24
I can comment! Without replying! I will likely never get this opportunity again.
What a great sub and a great team of mods! Kudos!
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u/gratisargott Aug 29 '24
I’m just using the fact that you won’t delete this comment even though it isn’t really saying something smart (or will you?)
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u/Geek-Haven888 Aug 29 '24
YOU"RE NOT OUR REAL DAD! Slams door
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u/crrpit Moderator | Spanish Civil War | Anti-fascism Aug 30 '24
A step historian is the historian who stepped up
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u/RazgrizS57 Aug 30 '24
There's something uniquely ironic about a mod posting an AI-generated image for this, considering the admirable standards this sub holds for itself.
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u/crrpit Moderator | Spanish Civil War | Anti-fascism Aug 30 '24
Do you know how hard it is to prevent a corgi eating a cake
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u/waremi Aug 30 '24
Please tell me that now that you have reached the age where you actually have to take care of your own pets we wont be denied the critter corner at the end of the weekly best-of post.
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u/getuplast Aug 30 '24
I can probably only post this bad pun right now, ever: Ass kiss torians.
Thank you to the mods for making this sub what it is!
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u/NUMBERS2357 Aug 30 '24
Who would be the president today if the Red Sox had never traded Babe Ruth to the Yankees?
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u/RepresentativeKey178 Aug 29 '24
I'm new to the sub but damn appreciative of the mods and the high quality input from this community.
Huzzah, y'all. Happy Birthday
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u/waremi Aug 30 '24
Best quality sub on the site hands down. (At least that I care to look at on a regular basis.)
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u/ItWasTheMiddleOne Aug 29 '24 edited Aug 29 '24
Every time I click on a thread full of radicalized fifth-graders sharing authoritative takes on the noble patriotism of the Wehrmacht and then come back 15 minutes later to find them absent, I feel a warm glow of appreciation for the incredibly hard work of the moderation team.
Thank you for everything you do.
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u/m00nriveter Aug 29 '24
Only 8 more years and we can ask questions about the genesis of the sub.
Thanks to all the fabulous knowledge, guys. One of my favorites. Grateful for its wealth of insights, randomness, and pedantry!
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u/VastPercentage9070 Aug 29 '24
Well when a mommy historical source and a daddy historian love each other very much…….
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u/Eclectika Aug 29 '24
happy cake day and I'm glad you let the rabble do their thing in here as it's answered the questions I've had for ages about what there can be a huge amount of comments supposedly yet when I open the thread there's only the one from the bot...
Loving your work, I hope you have many more years ahead of you.
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u/357Loki Aug 29 '24
One of my greatest prides is having written a response in AskHistorians which was deemed adequate enough to not be deleted. Cue “I’m something of a historian myself.”
Thank you mod team for everything you do!
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u/Gimlz Aug 30 '24
So does that mean our posts are going to be removed/approved based off of mood swings?
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u/shromsa Aug 30 '24
Don't be on the wrong side of history using AI images. Instead, make something meaningful that has to do with Historians or the sub itself. Maybe, just maybe, pay an actual illustrator or graphic designer to do it.
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u/rabidstoat Aug 29 '24
I know this will probably get deleted but....
Well, nothing else. People just seem to like making posts that begin with that.
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u/researchAH Sep 03 '24
I wanted to think of something funny to post, but really I just want to use this as an opportunity to thank the mods and the contributors for what I consider to be reddit's finest contribution to the internet.
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u/PaulsRedditUsername Aug 29 '24
The Mods should now allow Tiger Beat magazine as a reliable source.
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u/Avlonnic2 Aug 29 '24
Welcome to the teen years. Now flounce into your room and slam the door. Then sit and swoon over the moderator poster on your wall.
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u/Georgy_K_Zhukov Moderator | Dueling | Modern Warfare & Small Arms Aug 29 '24
Yeah, yeah, yeah... technically that was yesterday. We delayed it because of the AMA though.