Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More

Sitting in most homes is a deck of playing cards. Cards and card games have become almost ubiquitous They are played by children and in retirement homes. They are played at family picnics, and there are also televised games played with millions of dollars on the line.  You can play games with friends, or you can even play them by yourself. Despite how common they are, most people don’t realize tha...

In 1958 the United States government created the National Aeronautics and Space Administration or NASA. NASA has achieved some of the most incredible accomplishments in human history and also has suffered some incredible failures.  Yet this agency wasn’t created out of nothing. It has a past that goes back far earlier than most people realize.  Learn more about the history of NASA and how it came...

As soon as automobiles were created, people began racing them.  As with many sports, early were often unorganized and disjointed. After world war II, however, an effort was made to provide an organized championship series for the world’s best drivers.  Over the last 70 years, it has grown into the world’s foremost racing circuit and become a business worth billions of dollars.  Learn more about Fo...

Over the last several centuries, there has been a concerted effort to raise literacy rates around the world. For the most part, although there is still work to be done, we’ve done a pretty good job. The vast majority of people around the world know how to read and write. While literacy has improved, despite our world becoming ever more dependent on technology, overall mathematical literacy has not...

With an atomic number of three, Lithium is the third lightest element and the lightest solid at room temperature and pressure.  For almost two centuries after its discovery, Lithium didn’t have much in the way of practical uses. However, in the last few decades, its status changed, and it went from one of the least useful elements to one of the most important to the world’s economy.  Lithium is al...

Around the year 36 BC, the King of Judea, Herod the Great, built a fortress in the Judean desert overlooking the Dead Sea. Almost 100 years later, that fortress became the scene for what was one of the most dramatic moments in the history of the Jewish people.  It was the final act in a rebellion against the Roman Empire, the ramifications of which are still felt in the world today.  Learn more ab...

On October 26, 1881, one of the most defining moments in the history of the American west took place.  That shootout between nine men defined the popular perception of what the old west was about, even though it was actually a very atypical event.  Since then, the gunfight has become legendary, having been the subject of songs, books, and movies. Learn more about the Gunfight at the OK Corral, the...

Tens of thousands of years ago, early paleolithic humans painted on cave walls things that were important to them and with which their entire lives revolved. One of the most prominent images which have been preserved on countless cave walls is an animal that looks like an enormous bull. That animal has gone extinct, but while it was alive, it played an important role in the development of humanity...

The First World War wasn’t just fought on the fields of France and Belgium. There were lesser battles fought on the homefronts of the nations which were fighting.  In the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries, this battle was fought on the streets of cities and towns between men who didn’t wear a uniform and women who tried to shame them into joining the military.  These street conflicts...

Johannes Vermeer was one of the greatest painters of the Dutch Golden Age. Unlike many of his contemporary painters, however, he didn’t leave a large body of work behind.  The paintings he did create have left experts in both art and technology wondering if he didn’t have a secret that helped him with his craft. A technical secret, not an artistic one. Learn more about Vermeer and the question as...

The Great Nobel Prize winning physicist Richard Feynman was once asked to convey in a single sentence the most important scientific knowledge that humans possessed.  His answer was short and simple: “Everything is made of atoms.” Believe it or not, this was believed to be the case over 2000 years ago in ancient Greece and India. However, it wasn’t until the modern era that we were able to prove to...

Located in Northern France is one of the most well-known wine-producing regions on Earth. In fact, it is so well known that it has legally protected the name of its signature product around the world.  It is the preferred drink for both royalty and rappers as well as at nightclubs and brunches, yet its discovery was believed to be an accident.  An accident that is today a $6 billion dollar industr...

Marie Antoinette was the last queen of France prior to the French Revolution. She and her husband were executed by guillotine during the Regin of Terror, which soon followed.  Over the years, she has been vilified as a woman who was out of touch with the common folk and was famously reported to have said that if the French people couldn’t eat bread, then “let them eat cake.” But was she really tha...

Located between Hawaii and Guam in the middle of the Pacific Ocean is one of the smallest countries in the world: The Marshall Islands.  The Marshall Islands has a history unlike many other small island countries in the Pacific. Not the least of which is the fact that it has experienced more nuclear detonations per capita in its territory than any other country. Learn more about the Republic of th...

As you probably know, the Earth consists of 70% water and 30% land. However, all those bits of water and land are not the same.  Some of them hold great strategic importance because they serve as choke points for people who want to get from place to place.  One one-and-a-half-mile stretch of water is perhaps the most important stretch of water in the world. Through this small strait passes approxi...

Entering the second world war, Britain was still the top naval power in the world.   While the British Navy was superior in its entirety, Nazi Germany had created a ship that terrified the British. One-on-one, it could take out any ship in the British fleet.  Eventually, it was sent out into the open ocean of the North Atlantic to disrupt shipping. When the British found out, they dedicated almost...

In the year 607, the Emperor Yang of the Sui dynasty implemented a reform whereby a series of exams would be administered throughout the empire to create a bureaucratic elite that would administer the country.  That reform became one of the bedrocks of Chinese society, throughout every dynasty, for the next 1,300 years. The effects of these exams can still be felt in Chinese society today. Learn m...

In 1914, Erwin “Cannon Ball” Baker crossed the United States on a motorcycle in 11 and a half days.  Fifty-seven years later, a writer and editor for Car and Driver magazine set out to honor his trip by driving from Manhattan to Los Angels.  Ever since, people have been trying to replicate their journey in ever shorter times.  Learn more about the Cannonball Run and the highly illegal quest to dri...

Ancient astronomers from almost every culture knew of seven things in the sky that moved. the Sun, the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter. The seventh and slowest moving of those was the one named after the Roman god of time: Saturn.  For centuries Saturn was a dot in the sky. Then when telescopes were invented, our perception of the planet changed dramatically.  Learn more about Saturn and w...

The United States and Canada are like two siblings. They live next to each other, have the same parents, and are a lot alike. However, the way they both grew up was very different.  The United States achieved its independence through a revolution. The Canadians, however, didn’t join the American Revolution even though they almost certainly could have. Learn more about why Canada didn’t join the Am...

From July 1 through the 3rd, 1863, the largest battle in the history of the Western Hemisphere took place in southern Pennsylvania.  After the battle, tens of thousands of dead were laid to rest, and an official national cemetery was established to honor the war dead.  The cemetery was consecrated on November 19, 1963. During the ceremony, a short speech was given by the President of the United St...

If you go through the history of ancient Rome, you will find the stories of many important men.  What you won't find are the tales of many great women. Women in Roman history are given little to no mention. There is one major exception to this, however: Livia Drusilla.  Learn more about the most powerful woman in Roman history, and determine if she was one of history’s most shrewd Machivelliean ch...

Once humans managed to put artificial satellites into orbit, the next question was, “what can we do with this?” One of the first applications of satellites, and still one of the biggest uses still today, has been for communications.  Using satellites for communications requires cutting-edge technologies in space flight, solar power, radio engineering, and computers.  Learn more about satellite com...

Located near the city of Masvingo in Central Zimbabwe are the ruins of one of the greatest civilizations of the Middle Ages.  When European explorers first discovered the ruins, they simply couldn’t believe that it was built by native Africans.  Subsequent archeological investigations showed not just that they were wrong, but that the civilization which was there had contact with some of the furth...

Introduced in 1968, the Boeing 747 totally revolutionized commercial air transportation. It was more than twice the size of the next closest passenger plane, and it brought air travel to a much wider audience. Not only did it help democratize air travel, but the plane’s unique features also added a new element of style and luxury to the jet age.  In addition to carrying passengers, it has also ser...