Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More

As long as humans have looked up in the sky, they noticed something. There was an unusually bright star that would show up in the early morning or early evening.  This star was one of the few points of light in the sky that moved. They were dubbed planets, and the one that appeared in the morning and evening was thought to be two different ones. Today, we know much more about that moving star in t...

In 1945 after the conclusion of the Second World War, a Dutch man was accused of collaborating with the Nazis and plundering the Netherlands of some of its greatest artistic works.  During the trial, he came up with a defense that seemed to everyone to be preposterous yet wound up being true.  Learn more about Han van Meegeren, the painter who duped the Nazis, on this episode of Everything Everywh...

The English language is full of very quirky idioms and phrases. Every language has them, and these are just some of the things which make each language unique.  Most native speakers of English may use these idioms and phrases all the time, even though they have no idea where they came from. For people who don’t speak English as their first language, these phrases can often make no sense.  Learn mo...

Sometime in the 15th century, a drink became popularized in the Arabian peninsula. It was dark, bitter, and people couldn’t get enough of it.  From its simple origins, over the centuries, it has spread around the world to become one of the most popular beverages in history. Today you can find it being served almost everywhere, including specialty stores built around its consumption. Learn more abo...

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After the end of the second world war, Berlin was a divided city controlled by the four major allied powers. Despite the different zones of control, people could move freely between the zones in the city.  However, on August 13, 1961, the East German government decided to end the free travel of Berliners by building a wall around West Berlin.  For 28, the wall defined the city and served as a meta...

For hundreds of thousands of years, humans lived a nomadic life, hunting for game and foraging for food.  Then, several thousand years ago, they stopped. They began domesticating animals, started growing crops, and lived a sedentary lifestyle.  The question anthropologists have asked is, why?  Learn more about the rise of agriculture, aka the Neolithic Revolution, on this episode of Everything Eve...

Every country in Africa is unique and has its own history. However, many African countries share a similar story over the last 150 years, having gone through European colonization and decolonization.  The nation of Liberia, however, has a history, unlike any other country in the world. From its founding to its modern-day governance, Liberia the story of the country is fascinating.  Learn more abou...

In 1906, George Soper, a freelance sanitary engineer, was hired to investigate several outbreaks of typhoid fever in wealthy New York households.  The reason why it was mysterious is that typhoid fever usually only occurred in places with unsanitary conditions. What Soper discovered radically changed our knowledge of infectious diseases and how they spread.  Learn more about Typhoid Mary and how s...

When one thinks of the history of North America, it often invokes images of native Americans and cowboys riding on horseback.  However, horses weren’t in the Westen Hemisphere when Europeans arrived. There was a time when if native people had to move from one place to another, they had to do so on foot.  But, while that is true, the truth is more complex because if you go back far enough, there wa...

Songkran is a traditional festival celebrated in Thailand that marks the start of the Thai New Year. It is also known as the Water Festival, as it involves splashing water on one another as a symbolic gesture of cleansing and washing away the sins and bad luck of the previous year. However, it is since evolved into something much more than a religious observance. It has become the world’s biggest...

For over 1000 years, England has been a monarchy.3…except for twelve years in the 17th century when it wasn’t.  During that period, it was ruled by a very non-royal person by the name of Oliver Cromwell.  He was a highly controversial figure during his life, after his death, and remains so today.  Learn more about Oliver Cromwell, the Lord Protector of England, on this episode of Everything Everyw...

Located on the tips of our fingers are features known as friction ridges. We evolved them to get a better grip on objects.  It just so happens that those friction ridges are unique to every person.  That allows us to use friction ridges as unique identifiers and for authorities to use them to catch criminals, and in some ways, we have been doing so for centuries.  Learn more about fingerprints and...

Located in southeastern Europe is the Balkan Peninsula. It is home to multiple ethics groups, languages, and religions.  It has one of the most dynamic and confusing histories of anywhere in Europe, with multiple migrations of people arriving over the centuries.  Not surprisingly, it has also been the source of many conflicts, some of which are still ongoing today. Learn more about the Balkans, it...

Every year, Christians around the world celebrate Easter.  However, when they celebrate Easter can vary dramatically. In fact, the possible dates of Easter can vary by over a month. What most people don’t know is that setting the date for Easter was one of the biggest controversies in the early Christian church. In fact, it was a major reason behind one of the most important councils in history. ...

Gravity is the weakest of the fundamental forces of nature, yet, if you have enough of it, it can create the most powerful thing in the known universe: a black hole.  The very idea of a black hole didn’t really exist until the early 20th century, and now they are regularly found by the world’s most powerful telescopes.  As much as we know about them, there is, even more we don’t know and probably...

Cleopatra VII Philopator was the last ruler of an independent Egypt and one of the most important women of the ancient world.  In addition to being a brilliant and cunning ruler in her own right, she was also famously associated with two of the most powerful men in the late Roman Republic.  Yet was her involvement with these men that ultimately led to the downfall of her and of Egypt. Learn more a...

The rise of agriculture has been pointed to as being responsible for the rise of civilization as we know it.  However, that raises the question, what was responsible for the rise of agriculture? In particular, at least in the Middle East with the cultivation of grain, the debate has always been which came first: Beer or Bread?  Learn more about the great beer vs bread debate, and which was respons...

Located in the middle of North America lies one of the largest collections of freshwater lakes in the world.  These lakes have a unique geological origin and function, like few lakes in the world.  Also, given their location, they are home to several large industrial centers and is part of one of the most important economic waterways on the planet.  Learn more about the Great Lakes, how they were...

In 1947, a Norwegian adventurer named Thor Heyerdahl set out to prove a theory of his that the people of Polynesia came there from South America. To prove his theory, he built a raft out of local materials in Peru and set sail across the Pacific. His voyage was successful, but the same couldn’t be said for his theories.  Learn more about Thor Heyerdahl and the Kon-Tiki Expedition on this episode o...

Depending on how you define it, there were approximately 70 Roman Emperors.  They were a mixed bag ranging from philosophers to the insane, from generals to children.  Some were truly horrible, but some were actually pretty good at their job. In particular, there were five consecutive emperors who reigned during the peak of Pax Romana. Learn more about the Five Good Emperors on this episode of Eve...

Two years, nine months, and 1 day ago, I sat down and recorded the first episode of a daily podcast.  Today, I’m recording the 1000th episode of that show.  It has been a lot of work, but it has been a great experience, and to date, hundreds of thousands of people from almost every country on Earth have listened to the show.  Join me as I celebrate the milestone of episode number 1000 of Everythin...

Every day on April 1st, you have to be careful what you read and hear. This day, known to accounts as the beginning of the second quarter, is known to most people as April Fool’s Day.  Why do we have a day where we try to trick people, and why does that day occur on April 1st?  Learn more about April Fool’s Day on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Sponsor If you’re looking for a simpler...

Throughout history, people have bet on everything and anything. From the mundane to the extremely important. From casino bets to bets on science, and even the future of humanity.  These bets can serve as vehicles to win or lose tons of money or as a way to prove a point. Other times they are just done on a lark.  Either way, bets, and wagers have literally shaped history.  Learn more about some of...

We are often told that schools are where you learn how to think, not what to think. Sadly, almost no school curriculum deals directly with logic and the closely related subject of logical fallacies.  Fallacies are all around us. Just read something online or watch a few minutes of television and you’ll probably encounter examples of people using fallacious reasoning and logical fallacies. In fact,...