Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More

Subscribe to the podcast!  https://podfollow.com/everythingeverywhere/ I’ve done many episodes talking about the first world war and I’ve done many episodes talking about the second world war.  However, despite the names we’ve given them, they weren’t the only world wars. There was another global war that occurred well before the 20th-century wars. This war actually saw conflicts on five different...

Subscribe to the podcast! https://podfollow.com/everythingeverywhere/ In 1889, a new exhibit was constructed for the Paris World’s Fair. It completely dominated the Paris skyline.  Most people considered it an eyesore and an architectural abomination. The only redeeming thing about it in their mind was the fact that it was only temporary and was going to be torn down after the fair was over.  But...

New Year’s Day is not only the day we turn over a new year on the calendar, but also a day where people start resolutions, companies begin new budgets, and everyone screws up writing checks.  While documenting our trips around the sun makes perfect sense, why do we use this day, January 1, as the starting point for our calendar years? Why not some other date? Learn more about how January 1st becam...

The printing press is considered to be one of, if not the greatest invention in history. The printing press allowed for an explosion in information and it ushered in the renaissance, the enlightenment, and the scientific and industrial revolutions.  As such, Johannes Gutenberg is often considered one of the most important people in history. But did Gutenberg actually invent the printing press? Sho...

Subscribe to the podcast!  https://podfollow.com/everythingeverywhere/ On December 6, 1917, one of the greatest tragedies of World War I took place.  In a single instant, 1,782 people, mostly civilians were killed.  However, this tragedy didn’t take place on the fields of Belgium or in a trench in France. It took place in the harbor of Halifax, Nova Scotia.  Learn more about the Halifax Explosion,...

Subscribe to the podcast!  https://podfollow.com/everythingeverywhere/ When you think of battles involving broadswords and longbows you are probably thinking back to the time of Braveheart.  But what if I told you that those weapons were being used much more recently in a modern mechanized war?  ...well, at least one guy was using them in World War II. Learn more about ‘Mad’ Jack Churchill, the ma...

Subscribe to the podcast!  https://podfollow.com/everythingeverywhere/ László Polgár was born just after World War II in Hungary. His field of study was the nature of human intelligence. After studying the lives of over 400 great intellectuals from throughout human history, he came to a startling conclusion: geniuses weren’t born, they were made.  So he set about conducting an experiment on his ow...

Subscribe to the podcast!  https://podfollow.com/everythingeverywhere/ If I was to ask you what the wealthiest royal family in Europe was, your first guess would probably be the British Royal Family.  But it isn’t.  It also isn’t the royal families in Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Norway, or even the wealthy enclave of Monaco.  The richest royal family is also the unlikeliest.  Learn mo...

Subscribe to the podcast! https://podfollow.com/everythingeverywhere/ Henrietta Lacks was a mother of five who died of cervical cancer in 1951 at the age of 31. Before she passed, a tissue sample of her cancer cells was taken. Those cells have been the basis for decades of cancer and biological research, and have also been at the center of one of the greatest medical ethics controversies in modern...

Subscribe to the podcast!  https://podfollow.com/everythingeverywhere/ The bible talks of three wise men who traveled to Bethlehem bringing gifts to the infant Jesus. These gifs were gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  I think most of you probably have a good conceptual grasp of gold, but what is the deal with frankincense, and myrrh? Were they really that big of a deal that they would bring it as a g...

Subscribe to the podcast!  https://podfollow.com/everythingeverywhere/ Every year, people around the world celebrate Christmas on December 25. In many countries, it is the biggest single holiday of the year.  Why is it celebrated on December 25? Is there any historical basis for this date and if not, then why do we celebrate it on this date? Learn more about why we celebrate Christmas when we do o...

Subscribe to the podcast!  https://podfollow.com/everythingeverywhere/ He sees you when you are waking, he knows when you are asleep, and he puts your name on a list.  No, I’m not talking about an omnipresent surveillance state, I’m of course talking about Santa Claus. If you think of Santa, you probably have a very firm idea of what he looks like, but how did this identity get developed? And wher...

Subscribe to the podcast!  https://podfollow.com/everythingeverywhere/ Christmas is the time of year where we celebrate traditions that have been developed over centuries.  However, traditions can vary from place to place and not all traditions are old. Some traditions are very modern.  …and some traditions are downright bizarre.  Learn more about the world’s strangest Christmas traditions on this...

Subscribe to the podcast!  https://podfollow.com/everythingeverywhere/ In 1987, a German teenager and novice pilot named Mathias Rust set out on a two-week flight where he visited several countries in Europe.  What was remarkable about the flight wasn’t the age of the pilot or the distance he traveled. The reason people still remember it was where he ended up.  Learn more about The Highly Improbab...

Subscribe to the podcast!  https://podfollow.com/everythingeverywhere/ Sometime within the next week of my recording this episode, hopefully, a rocket will be launched from the European Space Agency’s launch facility in French Guyana.  On it will be NASA’s latest and greatest space telescope. It is unlike anything which has ever been launched into space before, and if successful, it will allow us...

The British House of Commons has been called the Best Club in Town due to the fact that there is a 1,000-gallon vat of Scotch whiskey located in the cellar. However, I prefer to think of it as a roach motel. Because technically, once you are elected to Parliament, you can’t leave. It is actually illegal to resign from the House of Commons.  Yet, people seemingly do all the time. Learn more about t...

Subscribe to the podcast!  https://podfollow.com/everythingeverywhere/ They are some of the most devastating natural disasters on Earth. They can strike without warning, or sometimes you might have several hours’ notice.  Their effects can be limited to small areas, or they can devastate communities on opposite sides of the world.  They have killed hundreds of thousands of people and have been res...

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 Everythin...

It is arguably the world’s oldest game, yet it is one of the most popular cybersports. It has been called the game of kings, and yet it can be mastered by children. Its origins are truly global having passed through several of the world’s greatest civilizations, and it can and is played almost everywhere on Earth. I am of course talking about chess. Learn more about chess, where the game came from...

From 1969 through 1972 six Apollo missions landed on the moon and returned a total of 840 pounds of moon rocks to the Earth. Geologists were able to study them and learned an enormous amount about the composition and formation of the moon. However, those same rocks have been the center of several controversies and mysteries ever since they came back to Earth. Learn more about moon rocks and where...

A world’s fair used to be a very big deal. They would draw tens of millions of visitors and they would showcase some of the most cutting edge advancements in science and technology. They were also responsible for the creation of some of the most iconic structures in the world. Nowadays…..eh….not so much. Learn more about world fairs and how they shaped history on this episode of Everything Everywh...

Henry, King of England, Ireland, and Wales, Eighth of his name and head of the House of Tudor, was one of the most significant monarchs in British history. One of the things which made his reign so significant was the controversy surrounding his wives. His marriages completely changed the course of England and of Christianity in Europe. Learn more about the wives of Henry VIII, all six of them, an...

In 1815, one of the most catastrophic and deadly events in recorded human history occurred in Indonesia. A volcanic explosion took place which was larger than anything, any human had ever witnessed in over 10,000 years. The total global death toll from the event might have been as high as the tens of millions. Learn more about the Mount Tambora explosion on this Episode of Everything Everywhere Da...

Humans have been aware of ice for as long as there have been humans and ice. However, using ice outside of winter has always been a huge challenge, but that didn’t stop people from trying to harness and use ice even when it was well out of season. It wasn’t until relatively recently, historically speaking, that ice became something that most people could just take for granted. Learn more about ice...

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 unnatural 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...