Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More

In the days immediately following the surrender of Germany in May 1945, new concerns gripped the victorious Allied forces.  The alliance had always been one of convenience. Diametrically opposing political and economic systems joined forces to defeat a common foe.  But now that the foe had been vanquished, what was next? Would the former allies now become enemies?  Learn more about Operation Unthi...

In the year 70, the Roman Emperor Vespasian commissioned what would become the world’s largest amphitheater.  Approximately ten years later, it opened to great fanfare and 100 days of games.  No greater amphitheater has ever been built in the nearly 2000 years since its construction. Learn more about the Flavian Amphitheater, aka the Colosseum, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, on this episod...

In the early 1960’s the Soviet space program was on a roll. They launched the first satellite into space. They launched the first man and woman into space. They conducted the first space walk.  Then, around 1966, everything changed.  The momentum they had ground to a halt, and the Americans quickly surpassed them in the space race.  What happened? Learn more about Sergei Korolev, the most importan...

Right now, you are listening to the sound of my voice on some sort of digital audio device. In fact, almost all of the audio you consume today was digitally recorded or edited at some point in the process. But sound is inherently analog. How does sound, the movement of air, become converted into 1s and 0s?  …and once sound is digitally converted, how is it distributed, and how has the digitization...

In 1605, members of the Catholic resistance in England hatched a plot that would have completely changed the political landscape of the country. They wanted to blow up the entire parliament and the king on November 5, which they thought would return a Catholic monarch to the throne. The plotters got caught, and their demise has been celebrated for the last 400 years.  Learn more about Guy Fawkes,...

You have questions, and I have answers.... Sponsors BetterHelp Visit BetterHelp.com/everywhere today to get 10% off your first month   ButcherBox ButcherBox is offering our listeners turkey FREE in your first box plus $20 off your first order. Sign up at butcherbox.com/daily and use code DAILY Subscribe to the podcast!  https://link.chtbl.com/EverythingEverywhere?sid=ShowNotes --------------------...

Approximately 93 million miles or 150 million kilometers from Earth lies our nearest star, the Sun. The Sun is responsible for life as we know it and for the entire solar system.  The Sun doesn’t just provide light and heat. It also constantly affects the plants and the solar system in ways most people don’t even realize. Learn more about the Sun, its past, present, and future on this episode of E...

One of the most successful enterprises of the Middle Ages was a collection of free cities located in Northern Germany and along the North and Baltic Seas.  These cities created one of the greatest trade networks that the world had ever seen and, for several centuries, dominated trade and economics in Northern Europe. It was the early prototype for successful trade organizations in the future.  Lea...

The British ruled India for over 200 years.  During that period, the British attempted to impose British culture on India. While they were somewhat successful, especially in exporting India’s national sport of cricket, they unknowingly were influenced by India as well. It turns out that words from several languages on the subcontinents have made their way into English. Many of these words are comm...

In 1692, in the town of Salem, Massessechuets, two young girls made claims that other members of their community were witches. These accusations soon spiraled out of control, resulting in over 200 people being charged with witchcraft and the deaths of 20. It remains one of the most notable cases of mass hysteria and religious intolerance in the history of the Americas. Learn more about the Salem W...

In 1893, the eyes of the world turned to the city of Chicago, which was hosting the World’s Fair. The fair was the largest public demonstration at that point of the new technology called electricity.  However, there was a dark side to what was happening in Chicago.  One man created a building that has been dubbed a murder castle. Many of the people who entered his macabre structure never left aliv...

On October 31, every year, we celebrate Halloween. It is especially popular in the United States where we use the holiday as an excuse for kids to dress up and ask for candy and for adults to dress up and drink.  But why do we dress up, and what’s the deal with pumpkins? How does this have anything to do with witches?  Learn more about the history of Halloween and how so many unrelated things got...

As early as 2400 years ago, Greek philosophers were coming up with paradoxes that seemingly had no solution.  Early mathematicians came up with problems that seemed impossible to solve. It wasn’t until the 17th century that the techniques were finally developed to solve these problems and unlock new fields of science and mathematics.  Learn more about calculus, what it is, and what it attempts to...

Located within the nation of China is the world’s third-longest river and the longest river to exist in a single country, the Yangtze.  The Yangtze River has played a pivotal role in Chinese history ever since the dawn of history. It played a major role in cultivating Chinese civilization, and its flooding has been responsible for some of the greatest disasters in world history.  Controlling the p...

In June 1940, with the conquest of France, Nazi Germany and Italy had conquered almost all of Western Europe. The map of Europe was one solid color reflecting the domination of the Axis Powers. Except for one small hole in the donut: Switzerland. Switzerland’s neutrality didn’t guarantee anything. In fact, the Nazis desperately wanted to invade Switzerland. Learn more about Operation Tannenbaum, t...

Located in the southeastern corner of the Arabian peninsula is the Sultanate of Oman. Oman isn’t one of the better-known countries in the Middle East, which is not necessarily a bad thing.  However, it has an incredibly rich history and was once the center of a trading empire that extended into Africa.  Learn more about the Sultanate of Oman and its history on this episode of Everything Everywhere...

Ever since humans could see, we’ve been able to look up at the night sky and see things lightyears away. However, for almost that entire time, we had no idea that right in front of us, there was another world so small that we couldn’t see it.  That world was first unveiled in the 17th century, and since then, we have developed the ability to see ever smaller things.  Learn more about the history o...

In 1939, the last naturally occurring element on Earth, Francium, was discovered. However, the periodic table of elements still wasn’t full.  The next year, a non-natural element was discovered: Plutonium.  This new element had fascinating properties which made it incredibly useful and incredibly dangerous.  Learn more about plutonium, how it is made, and what it can do on this episode of Everythi...

The Roman Republic existed for almost 500 years. The Romane Empire then existed for almost another 500 years.  The two institutions had a great deal in common, but they radically differed in how Rome was administered.  The Republic was set up explicitly to prevent the rule of a single individual, and yet, in the end, that is exactly what happened.  Learn more about how the Roman Republic became th...

In the early 13th century, England suffered through the worst monarch it would have in its history: King John. John and his arbitrary policies and high taxation angered the nobility, the church, and the common people.  However, out of his disastrous reign came something good. An uprising against his rule forced him to sign a document establishing fundamental principles of limited government, the r...

In 1582, a Japanese nobleman by the name of Lord Ōtomo Sōrin sent a group of envoys to Europe.  The entire round trip of their journey took eight years, and along the way, they visited several European countries and met multiple European heads of state, including two popes. It was hoped that their mission would revolutionize relations between Europe and Japan. Learn more about the Tensho Embassy a...

All over the world, you can find restaurants serving Japan’s greatest cultural export: sushi.  While many people enjoy sushi, most people have no idea of the origins of sushi beyond the fact that it comes from Japan.  There is also a great deal of confusion about what proper sushi etiquette is and what constitutes real sushi.  Learn more about the history of sushi and the global sushi industry on...

On May 7th, 1824, in Vienna, Austria, the musical world changed forever.  The assembled crowd in the Kärntnertor Theater heard one of the most groundbreaking and revolutionary musical performances in history.  However, there was one person in attendance who didn’t hear the performance. The composer, Ludwig van Beethoven. Learn more about Beethoven’s 9th Symphony and how it changed the musical land...

China has a long and rich history. For over 2,200 years, China, or at least parts of what we would recognize as China, was ruled by a series of imperial dynasties.  These dynasties shaped the history of China and represented distinct eras in Chinese history, characterized by their unique political, cultural, and social systems. The transition from one dynasty to the other often resulted in wars an...

The First World War was one of the most devastating conflicts in human history.  When the armistice was signed on November 11. 1918, the fighting might have stopped, but the impact of the war continued.  Today, over a century after the war concluded, it can still be felt today. Not in the third or fourth-order geopolitical ramifications but in the literal ground where the people of Belgium and Fra...