Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More

After the horrors of the first world war, many of the nations in the conflict sought to build memorials to honor their dead.  While there were many memorials built, often large and grandiose, the most important memorial in many countries is that of a tomb, oftentimes simple, dedicated to a soldier whose remains could not be identified.  These tombs are often guarded with great pomp and ceremony an...

Most people know of Isaac Newton as one of the world’s foremost mathematicians and physicists.  Listeners of this podcast might also know that he was inadvertently responsible for the creation of the gold standard. Yet there is another part of Isaac Newton that most people aren’t aware of. A part of him that was very much not a scientist. Learn more about Isaac Newton and his fascination with alch...

After the rise of Islam in the 7th century, it spread rapidly, establishing a foothold in Asia, Africa, and in Europe. In Europe, it established a foothold on the Iberian Peninsula.  For almost 800 years, the Europeans who lived in Peninsula sought to expel them. It took the better part of a millennium, but they finally achieved their goal. Learn more about the Spanish Reconquista and the high poi...

In 2005, a small auction house in New Orleans sold a painting at auction labeled at Lot 664. The description of the item was simply, “Christ Salvator Mundi. Oil on cradled panel.” The painting was sold for $1,000.  Twelve years later, the same painting was sold at Christie’s in New York for a record $450 million dollars.  Learn more about Salvator Mundi, the world’s most expensive painting, and th...

Adolf Hitler single-handedly started the Second World War in Europe.  While the allies were desperately trying to end the Third Reich and Hitler personally, they weren’t the only ones trying to bring Hilter’s reign to an end. Inside Nazi Germany, a small but committed group sought to remove Hitler from power, and they took action in July 1944. Learn more about Operation Valkyrie and the plot to as...

On April 11, 1970, Apollo 13 was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, as the third mission to land on the moon.  It never achieved its mission objective.  Despite having failed in its goal, it still managed to return to Earth and, in its own way, achieved a type of success it could never have planned for. Learn more about Apollo 13, the most successful failure in the history of space flight, on...

Formerly located in the territory of Hong Kong was arguably the most densely populated place on Earth. In fact, it might have been the most densely populated place in human history.  Not only was it packed with people, but it also had a unique political status. No government controlled it, which made it lawless, which in turn made it a magnet for organized crime. Learn more about the Walled City o...

There are estimated to be over 1,300 active volcanoes in the world today.  Almost all of them have one thing in common, they were around well before there were humans to record their creation. In fact, their creation might have taken many thousands of years.  However, there is one volcano were know quite a bit about because we were around when it was born, and we have everything on film. Learn mor...

There are a host of different musical instruments. There are woodwinds, strings, brass, and percussion instruments. These are the instruments that make up the backbone of orchestras and bands.  However, there is one instrument that is unlike any other.  Almost no one who plays the instrument actually owns one, and if you want to play it, you probably have to schedule a time to play when no one is...

Located 1,500 miles south of the nation of Cote d’Ivoire and about 2,500 miles east of Rio de Janeiro, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, lies one of the most remote human settlements on Earth: The island of St Helena. Given its remote location, St. Helena has had a history unlike most other islands, and people who live there are unlike any others in the world.  Learn more about the island of Sa...

The elite citizens of the Roman Republic were part of a system built to encourage ambition and competition.  As the men of the republic competed for honors and political positions, the greatest honor Rome could bestow upon someone was a triumph.  A triumph was much more than a parade. It was a mixture of political, civic, and religious ritual. Learn more about the Roman Triumph, its significance,...

For thousands of years, one of the most valuable elements which humanity has treasured is silver.  Not only has silver been valued for its use in coins in jewelry, but it also has several unique properties which no other metal has.  Today silver is still as treasured as it was thousands of years ago, but it is being used in ways that the ancients could never have imagined. Learn more about silver,...

History is shaped by many things. Political and religious leaders, diseases, and technologies.  But perhaps the thing which has resulted in the most poignant inflection points in history has been the results of great battles.  Battles where if things had gone another way, the entire world we live in would look totally different.  Learn more about the most important battles in world history on this...

Previous Episodes Referenced https://everything-everywhere.com/question-and-answers-volume-1/ Subscribe to the podcast!  https://link.chtbl.com/EverythingEverywhere?sid=ShowNotes -------------------------------- Executive Producer: Darcy Adams Associate Producers: Peter Bennett & Thor Thomsen   Become a supporter on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/everythingeverywhere Update your podcast app at n...

It has been said that a dog is a man’s best friend.  This might be true, but…..why. How was it that this particular animal developed such a special relationship with humans?  How did the domestication process take place, and where did it happen? …and how is it that there are so many different breeds of dogs that call came from the same original source? Learn more about the domestication of dogs an...

One of the most ubiquitous forms of payment today is credit cards. The odds are good that you have one, and most probably have one on your person right now.  But how did it come about that you could pay for something by just giving someone a piece of plastic and who exactly came up with this idea? Learn more about credit cards, where they came from and how they work, on this episode of Everything...

Almost thirty years ago, a rather unremarkable soccer match in an unremarkable tournament became the stuff of legend.  Had it not been for a confluence of events and rules that all came together at one point in one game, it never would have happened.  The result was something totally ridiculous that had never happened before or since. Learn more about the 1994 match between Grenada and Barbados, a...

The First World War saw many innovations in warfare. Probably the most significant was the introduction of aircraft.  The first military pilots didn’t really know what they were doing. There was no rulebook about how to fight with other aircraft. However, one pilot mastered the art of aerial and terrorized the allies over skies on the western front.  Learn more about Manfred von Richthofen, aka th...

Soon after the start of the space race, a major problem with space flight became obvious: it was really expensive. The high cost of space flight was in large part due to the fact that every rocket and spacecraft was expendable. Every trip meant a new rocket and a new vehicle.  To solve this problem, in the early 1970s, the United States launched a new program to create a reusable spacecraft.  Lear...

Countries are kind of like people. Every one of them has a name.  Just like people, sometimes they change their names.  The are a host of reasons why countries change their names, and for every country that does change its name, there is a different story behind it.  Learn more about the countries that were formerly known as other countries and why they did it on this episode of Everything Everywh...

Prime numbers are considered to be the building blocks of mathematics. Every natural number can be broken down into the constituent prime numbers that make it up. Prime numbers have been known since antiquity and they are one of the most simple aspects of mathematics to understand, yet they remain at the center of some of the most puzzling problems in mathematics. Learn more about prime numbers, w...

The Earth is highly imbalanced. Some countries have more resources than others. Some have natural harbors, and some are landlocked. Some consist primarily of deserts, and others have fertile farmland.  Some countries are islands, and some border many other countries.  These differences between countries result in each having a unique set of interests, desires, and abilities. This results in a syst...

Almost every day, you might check the forecast to see what the temperature will be like in the near future or if it might rain. When you hear a forecast, how exactly do they know what the temperature will be or if it will rain? Also, just how accurate are weather forecasts, and how accurate could they possibly be? Learn more about weather forecasting, its history, and how it works on this episode...

Located in northcentral Spain live, one of the most unique people in all of Europe.  They have a language that is literally like no other, and even their genetics are unlike the people around them.  In addition, they have a unique culture, and a mysterious history and just may have visited the Americas before Columbus.  Learn more about the Basque people and the Basque Country and what makes them...

The United States has created many cultural institutions which have spread around the world. People all over the Earth have enjoyed and benefited from rock and roll, Hollywood films, and the Internet.  However, we’ve also created some things that have spread to other countries which, to be totally honest, are probably not our best look.  Learn more about Black Friday, the surprising history of the...