Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More

If you are an American, you probably grew up hearing the story of Thanksgiving. How the pilgrims came to America to escape religious persecution to establish a new life. But who were the pilgrims really? Were they really persecuted? Why did they decide to cross the ocean? And how did they end up where they did? Learn more about the pilgrims and everything that happened before the first Thanksgivin...

On the fourth Thursday in November every year, Americans celebrate the holiday of Thanksgiving. It is a holiday that originated in the Americas but has subsequently spread to many countries around the world.  It is a holiday that is actually secular but with some religious overtones and has a unique set of traditions that aren’t really shared with any other holiday.  Learn more about the history a...

If you ever want to travel around the world, even if you don’t know another language, no matter where you go there is already one word you know. It is the most ubiquitous word in the world, can be found in almost every language, and it has multiple meanings. The good news is that you know the word already, so it requires no extra effort. Learn more about the history of the word OK, the most common...

The world has many amazing buildings. From the 2,000-year-old Pantheon in Rome to the gleaming new Burj Khalifa in Dubi, humanity has been reflected in its buildings.  However, some of the greatest architectural concepts were buildings that were never built. Whether it was due to a lack of money, having ideas ahead of the technology to build it, or pure insanity, many of the greatest ideas for bui...

In 1872 the first international football match took place between England and Scotland.  Since then, international football has been at the apex of world sport.  Starting in 1930, a quadrennial competition has been held where the greatest national teams competed to determine the world champion. Learn more about the FIFA World Cup, its history, and the controversy surrounding it on this episode of...

During the Roman Republic, two brothers took it upon themselves to seek to change Rome to benefit the poor and underclass. Needless to say, the Roman elites did not like this and did everything in their power to ensure it didn’t happen.  …and the elites were successful. But in the process, they changed Roman history forever and put the Republic on a path to destruction.  Learn more about the Gracc...

On March 25, 1911, one of the deadliest industrial disasters in American history took place.  In the middle of Manhattan, a fire broke out in a garment factory that killed 146 people.  Most of the deaths were totally preventable, and the legacy of that incident had repercussions that still exist today. Learn more about the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire and its legacy, on this episode of Everyth...

Every few years, without any schedule or planning, officials at the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service will add an extra second to the year.  The reason why this is done does make sense, but adding an extra second to a year can cause a host of problems, and many are wondering if it is a practice that should be continued.  Learn more about Leap Seconds, why they exist, when...

In 1942, Allied forces attempted a landing on the coast of France to gain a toe hold on the continent. Thousands of men took part in the landing…and it was a disaster. Over a thousand men were killed, and over 2,000 were captured.  Despite being a massive failure, the lessons learned from that raid paved the way for the massive success of the invasion of Europe almost two years later. Learn more a...

Human beings have been around for hundreds of thousands of years. For the vast majority of that time, the total population of humans has been quite small.  Then, quite suddenly, at least in the grand sweep of history, the population of humanity exploded.  Now, it appears that humans might be on the cusp of a new era of demographics, the likes of which we haven’t experienced before. Learn more abou...

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...

For over 300 years, the Romanov family ruled over the Russian Empire.  After the Communist Revolution, Tsar Nicholas II abdicated the throne, and he and his family were placed under house arrest, where they ultimately met a grizzly fate. For decades after their deaths, the world wondered what happened to them until their bodies were discovered and identified 80 years later.  Learn more about the f...

Children are highly inquisitive and are always asking questions. One of the most common questions that children have is, “why is the sky blue?”  It is a simple and reasonable question, yet the answer is rather complicated, and most adults really aren’t sure why the sky is blue. Learn why the sky is blue and how to answer a child’s most common question on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily...

Located between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, in the middle of the Irish Sea, lies one of the oddest political jurisdictions in the world.  It isn’t a country, nor is it a territory of another country. For the most part, it has autonomy over its affairs, yet it depends entirely on another country for its survival. It has an ancient history, once had its own language, and is probably th...

In 1648, Europe saw the end of two of the most horrific wars that had ever been seen on the continent up until that point.  The treaties which ended these conflicts established an international order which overturned the system which had existed for centuries and established a new order which, in many respects, still exists today.  Learn more about the Peace of Westphalia and how its legacy can st...

Every four years, Americans go to polling places where they do NOT decide who will be President of the United States.  These elections usually aren’t given as much historical attention as presidential elections. Nonetheless, they can be extremely important and can influence a president’s agenda. Learn more about the history of midterm elections and how they have influenced US history on this episo...

There was a time when languages had no punctuation. Not only did they not have punctuation, but they also didn’t even have spaces between words, and in some cases, they didn’t even use vowels.  It was extremely confusing if you were trying to read something, so eventually, people began inserting marks and characters into text to make it easier to read.  Learn more about punctuation marks and how a...

The Roman Empire was one of the greatest empires in the ancient world.  In its wake are a host of languages based on Latin, as well as many cultural institutions which still exist. While the Roman Empire is gone, when exactly did it cease to exist?  Learn more about exactly when the Roman empire fell and if such a thing even makes sense on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. -------------...

For over two years and 850 episodes, I have been providing you with daily podcasts on a wide assortment of topics.  Now, for the first time, I’m letting you take over the show by answering whatever questions you might have had about anything and everything, including Everything Everywhere. Prepare to enjoy answers to questions provided by listeners of the show, on this episode of Everything Everyw...

On February 15, 1971, the United Kingdom had a landmark day in its history.  On that day, the country’s currency was changed after centuries of a currency system with very little change. It was a day that was years in the making. It wasn’t the currency that changed, however. Rather it was how the currency was divided. It was the change that changed.  Learn more about Decimal Day and British Curren...

Most people think of the second world war as being a mechanized war fought with tanks, planes, jeeps, and ships. This is true, it was certainly a mechanized war. However, there is a part of the war which is often overlooked—aspects of ancient warfare which played an important part in World War II.  Learn more about horses in the second world war, their surprising numbers, and their important role...

In 1910, a German Earth scientist noticed something about the map of the world. South America seemed to fit into Africa. North America seemed to fit into northwest Africa and Europe.  He proposed that the continents may at one time have been joined and subsequently moved.  The scientific community laughed at him and rejected his idea. Learn more about Alfred Wegener and the theory of Continental D...

In 1968, American high jumper Dick Fosbury introduced a new way to compete in the high jump. His new technique worked so well that he won an Olympic gold medal, and within a few years, everyone used his method of high jumping. Fosbury’s innovation isn’t the only one in the track and field world. There have been several other technique innovations in other events, which have been shown dramatically...

Many movies and television shows have as their plot some disaster that eliminates the United States government.  As a result, some low-level cabinet official becomes president, who then has to solve the crisis. How accurate is such a scenario? What really would happen if multiple members of the executive branch were incapacitated?  Learn more about the Presidential Line of Succession, its history,...

It was the worst economic depression that the United States had ever seen.  The stock market crashed. Thousands of businesses went bankrupt. The unemployment rate hit 20% There were soup lines and an army of homeless scattered throughout the country.  It was not the Great Depression. Learn more about the Panic of 1893, the forgotten depression which realigned American politics, on this episode of...