Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More

From the end of the Second World War through 1991, the city of Berlin, the former capital of Germany and its largest city, was split in two.  The two Berlins, East and West, were in a geopolitical situation unlike any that the world had seen before or since.  This one city split into two, was ground zero for the Cold War. Here, the conflict between East and West was a daily reality for the people...

Ever since the dawn of the space age, there have been some who have dreamed of establishing a human presence on Mars. However, despite being really far away, Mars is not exactly hospitable to humans.  Some suggest that the answer might be to completely change Mars's environment, to radically change its atmosphere, and, over time, to turn it into a second Earth where humans could live.  Learn more...

In the late 13th century, the Mongol Empire was at the peak of its power.  It was at this time that the Mongol Emperor of China, Kublai Khan, set his eyes on the islands of Japan.  On two separate occasions, the Mongols assembled the largest amphibious fleet in world history. Both times, they discovered the limits of their military conquests. Learn more about the Mongol invasions of Japan on this...

After the founding of Rome as a city in the 8th century BC, it created a social system based on an elite few and a majority of commoners.  This social arrangement wasn’t unique to Rome, and it has appeared in cultures and civilizations around the world. However, Rome was one of the first cultures to experience a conflict between these classes and for the commoners to win major concessions.  Learn...

Approximately every eleven years, our sun experiences a cycle in which its magnetic poles flip. During this cycle, solar flares and sunspot activity increase, and then the sun returns to a state of relative calm.  These solar cycles have been tracked for over two hundred years and are among the best-recorded aspects of solar astronomy. These extremes, known as the solar maximum and solar minimum,...

One of the most powerful forces in economics and finance is compound interest.  Not everyone understands compound interest, even though they may reap its benefits or suffer its consequences.  Compounding has the potential to build fortunes and wreck empires. The effects of compounding are also not limited to interest payments. It can apply to a great many things in and out of the natural world. Le...

Every day, billions of people around the world wake up and have breakfast.  Breakfast is very different than the other meals you eat in a day. The types of food that people consume for breakfast are usually much more narrow than what they might be for lunch or dinner.  Moreover, the way we eat breakfast and what we eat is very different to the types of meals people ate in the past.  Learn more abo...

In 1475, Michelangelo Buonarroti was born in Caprese, Italy.  Over the next 88 years, he left a legacy of paintings and sculptures unlike any artist before or since.  His art shaped the city he came from, the era he lived in, and, eventually, the entire world of Western art.  Today, the works he created are some of the most treasured and valuable artworks in the entire world.  Learn more about Mic...

Two of the United States's most distant territories are located in the Western Pacific Ocean: Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.  Despite being separate political entities today, the two groups of islands have a shared geography, history, and culture. Today, they find themselves on the doorstep of Asia and straddling the world world of the west and the east.  Learn more abo...

On December 25, 2021, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope was launched from the European Space Agency launch center in French Guyana.  After six months of testing and configuring the telescope, in July of 2022, its first images were transmitted.  Since then, we have received a flood of images and data that have caused astronomers to rethink much of what we know about the universe.  Learn more about...

Insurance seems like a pretty modern concept. There are insurance commercials on television, and insurance companies sponsor major sports teams.  Most of us have to buy insurance, or we are at least under someone else’s insurance policy. However, insurance is far from a modern concept. It is actually one of the oldest financial arrangements in human history. Learn more about insurance, how it was...

From 1899 to 1900, China underwent a widespread and violent uprising. The revolt, a reaction against China’s exploitation by foreign powers, was decades in the making. In response to the revolt, a group of eight nations joined together to put down the rebellion and ultimately subjected China to yet another humiliating treaty. The rebellion wasn’t successful, but it laid the groundwork for the seis...

In late 1944, the Allies were on a roll, and Germany was on the ropes. Some Allies, considering how fast they were advancing, thought the war might be over by Christmas. However, Hitler had a plan. He would engage in one last desperate battle, which he thought would turn the tide of the war in the West and possibly wipe out the Allies completely.  The result was one of the largest battles of the S...

For centuries, sailors told tales of gigantic waves that they encountered at sea, and for centuries, scientists didn’t believe them.  However, over time, evidence began to pile up, which suggested that the legends of these freak waves were, in fact, true.  These waves are rare, still not well understood, and terrifying to ships and sailors because there is almost no way to detect or predict where...

Humans have probably had the desire to fly ever since they saw the first bird fly in the air.  Flying, as it turned out, was a very challenging problem for creatures without wings.  Throughout the 19th century, many people tackled the problem without success. It wasn’t until the first years of the 20th century that the problem was finally solved.  Learn more about the invention of the airplane and...

In the 1860s, one of the bloodiest wars in the Western Hemisphere took place….and it wasn’t the US Civil War.  It was a war between Paraguay and an alliance of Uruguay, Argentina, and Brazil, and it was one of the bloodiest ever fought in Latin America. It was a conventional war that resulted in a guerilla war, which spawned famine and disease. Learn more about the Paraguayan War or the War of the...

At the end of the Second World War, Europe was a mess. The economies of most countries were in shambles and the threat of communism loomed over the continent.  In a speech at Harvard University on June 5, 1947, U.S. Secretary of State George C. Marshall proposed a plan which could help get Europe back on its feet. The plan is widely considered one of the most successful foreign aid programs in his...

Every year, hundreds of millions of birds around the world migrate.  Some migrate short distances, some migrate incredibly long distances, and others don’t bother to migrate at all. For centuries, people didn’t know why birds migrated, how they managed to travel such long distances every year, or where they would go. Thanks to modern science and technology we now have a much better idea of how it...

Sitting in most homes is a deck of playing cards. Cards and card games have become almost ubiquitous They are played by children and in retirement homes. They are played at family picnics, and there are also televised games played with millions of dollars on the line.  You can play games with friends, or you can even play them by yourself. Despite how common they are, most people don’t realize tha...

One of the defining events of the Middle Ages took place in Constantinople on April 12, 1204.  Soldiers of the Fourth Crusade, under orders of the Doge of the Republic of Venice, breached the walls and sacked one of the greatest cities of the era.  The sack wasn’t just an orgy of violence and destruction, which it was. It also set into motion events that caused irreparable divisions between the Ea...

For over 600 years, the empire that dominated the region of Southeast Asia was the Khmer Empire.  Built out of a collection of kingdoms, the Khmer Empire dominated its corner of Asia. It was an advanced civilization known for its massive building projects and its system of waterworks.  Even though the empire eventually fell, as all empires do, its legacy can still be seen in the religious and cult...

All around you, in the air and the ground, is the most common element on Earth: Oxygen. As you are certainly well aware, Oxygen is required for life on Earth as we know it. But you might realize that the Earth didn’t always have oxygen in its atmosphere.  Oxygen has been responsible for everything from the rise of multicellular life to the space program. Learn more about the element oxygen, what i...

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, several major Americans were the battleground for a conflict between two great powers.  These powers were not armies or nations; rather, they were newspaper conglomerates headed by two of the most powerful figures in the history of American media.  The competition between them was furious, and it was fought not just on the pages of their newspapers but so...

Every October in the Northern Hemisphere, leaves on the trees turn color and fall to the ground.  While the leaves turn from green to the bright colors of autumn, listeners' green questions are also transformed into colorful answers.  Stay tuned for volume number 23 of questions and answers on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Sponsors Plan your next trip to Spain at Spain.info! Sign up...

When we look at history, we tend to focus on grand things like great leaders and great battles. In reality, what makes for successful empires is often the mundane: stable laws, an uncorrupt civil service, or, for large sprawling empires, a system of roads.  Roads were one of the secrets to the success of Rome, and they proved useful for centuries, even after the empire's fall.  Learn more about Ro...