Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More

In the Spring of 1846, a group of intrepid pioneers set out from Independence, Missouri, to cross the Oregon Trail to seek a better life in the fertile Oregon Territory.  However, almost nothing went according to plan for this group. They got a late start, took a devastating wrong turn, and were delayed by many natural obstacles.  They ended up being stuck in the mountains during the winter in one...

The cold war was the defining event of the second half of the 20th century.  When exactly it ended has been subject to debate. Was it the fall of the Berlin Wall? Was the day the Soviet Union was dissolved? There is an argument to be made that end might have actually occurred before any of those things, although no one knew it at the time.  The event in question didn’t take place in Moscow or Wash...

If you think of the First World War, your mind probably turns to images of trench warfare and thousands of men losing their lives to try and gain just a few meters of land.  However, in the first few weeks of the war, this was not at all the case. In fact, it initially looked like the war might not even last two months.  What stopped the collapse of France and began widespread trench warfare was a...

Thirty days hath September, and on 29 of those days, I’ll run normal episodes. But for one day, I will turn the microphone over to you and answer your questions…..and that day is today.  So stay tuned for another episode of Questions and Answers on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Sponsors Sign up for ButcherBox today by going to Butcherbox.com/daily and use code daily at checkout to g...

Located in the middle of the Old City of Jerusalem lies one of the most famous structures in the world.  In addition to being the visible symbol of the city, it lies on a plot of land that is one of the most historical and contested pieces of property on the planet. It has been a center of controversy for thousands of years and looks to continue to do so for at least hundreds more. Learn more abou...

In 2015, the hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan released an album that was unlike any other in the history of recorded music.  It simultaneously set the record for the highest amount of money ever spent on a work of music, and it was the worst-selling album in history in terms of unit sales.  The reason why it holds both of those distinctions is because only one copy of it was ever made.  Learn more about...

On August 20, 1672, one of the most shocking moments in Dutch political history took place.  Actually, it is one of the most shocking moments in world political history. The man who was perhaps the most important political figure in the Dutch Republic was murdered by a mob of Dutch citizens…and then eaten.  The events that led up to this event were some of the most significant in the history of th...

The Roman Empire, at its height, was a juggernaut.  However, during the third century, almost everything fell apart. In fact, for a brief period of time, it arguably did.  It suffered from invasions, plagues, a collapsing economy, lower agricultural productivity, and numerous political assassinations.  They eventually solved their problems, but the Empire was changed forever. Learn more about the...

The Allied invasion of Normandy was one of the most complex military operations ever conducted. Thousands of ships and planes had to work in conjunction with tens of thousands of soldiers who had to do one of the most difficult things in warfare: an amphibious landing.  In addition to all of the planning that went into the invasion, there were many unknowns. The only way to learn was to practice s...

Ever since astronomers figured out that the stars in the sky are just like our sun, they began wondering if those stars had planets just like our sun.  For centuries this remained an unanswerable question. Telescopes and techniques weren’t advanced enough to get an answer one way or another. Eventually, however, astronomers developed methods to detect if there were planets outside of our solar sys...

Every day, whether or not you even realize it, you are subject to a host of unwritten rules. These are rules that are not written down and are not part of any formal law, but they are fundamental to the functioning of any society.  These unspoken rules differ from place to place and have changed over time, and there are even different rules for different groups that you might be a part of.  These...

Italy as we know it today is a relatively recent invention.  Ever since the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, the Italian Peninsula had been a patchwork of city-states, dutchies, kingdoms, and lands controlled by the pope.  It wasn’t until the 19th century that a group of idealistic Italians sought to unify the Italian Peninsula and all its Italian-speaking people.  Learn more about the Risorg...

Each of the fifty US states is like a separate country. Its area, population, and economy are comparable to those of other independent nations.  Yet, the histories of each state, while different, all share broad commonalities.  However, one state has a history that is totally different from all the rest.  Learn more about the history of Texas and how an independent republic became one of the Unite...

When Alexander the Great died, one of his generals and best friends, Ptolemy, took Alexander’s corpse and went to Egypt to establish a new Pharaonic dynasty. One of the things he did during his reign was to begin construction on what would become one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.  It stood for over a thousand years and was unlike the world had ever seen. Learn more about the Lighthous...

If you’ve been around long enough, and by that, I only mean a couple of years, you have probably observed the one fundamental truth about computers: they always get faster.  While games and web browning might seem faster, the average person’s computer usage doesn’t necessarily express just how much more powerful computers have become.  In particular, for several decades, supercomputers have been d...

For over two thousand years, China lived under imperial rule. A series of dynasties and emperors were the defining feature of Chinese governance.  However, in the early 20th century, China threw off its imperial rulers and became, for the first time in its history, a republic.  Much of the reason why China became a republic was due to one man. Learn more about Sun Yat-sen and the downfall of imper...

In November 1884, representatives from a dozen European countries met in Berlin. The reason for the meeting was audacious. They were going to carve up the continent of Africa between them.  No one from Africa was in attendance at the conference, and no one was even invited. The decisions they made at this conference, and in the decades that followed, can still be felt in the world today. Learn mor...

Located north of 66°33′ North latitude is the region we call the Arctic.  The Arctic is unlike any other environment on Earth, even the Antarctic. It is sparsely populated and has unique wildlife and a biome that can’t be found anywhere else.  It completely dark in the winter and the sun never sets in the summer…and of course, it is really cold.  Learn more about the Arctic and what makes it so sp...

For generations, families have attended circuses.  Circuses were a collection of animals, acrobats, clowns, and other exotic oddities.  In an era before television and the internet, circuses were a major form of entertainment for many people.  Over time, however, circuses have changed and evolved into something very different in the 21st century.  Learn more about circuses, how they came about and...

The universe is billions of years old.  If, in the future, humanity were to explore the galaxy and visit other planets around other stars, we might be visiting places where at one time, an advanced civilization once existed.  However, if such a civilization existed, it might have been millions of years in the past. If that was the case, how would we even know that it existed?  Also, what if we ask...

We all eat every day. We use English words for the foods and meals we eat without even thinking about it.  But where did those words come from, and what did they originally mean? What is the difference between dinner and supper?  Were the modern distinctions we have between fruits and vegetables always there, and for that matter, was meat always meat? Learn more about the origins of English words...

A little over 500 years ago, the world underwent massive change.  Empires were growing, religious and political institutions were changing, science was advancing, and art was undergoing a revolution.  It was the start of what many historians called the Early Modern period. A period that began the slow and painful transition to what became the modern world.  Learn more about the world in the year 1...

In the mid-12th century, England was in chaos.  The king of England, Henry I, died without an heir. The country was divided between forces loyal to his daughter, Matilda, and his nephew, Stephen.  For almost two decades, armed conflicts resulted in a breakdown of law and order and central authority. Learn more about The Anarchy, how it began, and how it ended on this episode of Everything Everywhe...

The Vietnam War was perhaps the most significant event that took place in the last half of the 20th century.  It had profound impacts on the American military and foreign policy as well as on its culture.  However, many people have a very simplistic view of the causes of the war. They assume it was just a result of Cold War politics. While that was certainly a cause, the root causes go back much f...

One of the most significant figures in 16th-century Britain was Mary Stuart, aka Mary, Queen of Scots.  Mary’s life was one of the most fascinating of the period. Depending on which historian you consult, she was a schemer, a traitor, a pawn, or a victim. According to some, she was all of these things.  What is certain is that Mary was ultimately responsible for the union of the Scottish and Briti...