Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More

Hedy Lamarr was one of the most beautiful women in the world. She was a Hollywood star who appeared in films with the likes of Clark Gable and Spencer Tracey. But she was much more than just a pretty face. She was also an inventor who created one of the technologies which have helped develop the modern world. The fruits of her labor can be found in Bluetooth and wifi today. Learn more about Heddy...

On December 11, 1941, Nazi Germany declared war on the United States. The interesting thing about this decision is that they didn’t have to do it. In fact, it would have been far better had they not done it. This decision has been one of the biggest mysteries of World War II. Learn more about why Hitler declared war on the United States on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more ab...

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit m...

In northern Greece, lying off the larger Chalkidiki peninsula is a place that is unique on planet Earth. It only has a population of about 2,400 people scattered across 20 settlements and some random people living by themselves. What makes this area unique is that all 2,400 of its citizens are monks and all are men….and women are not allowed to even enter. Learn more about the Monastic Republic of...

About 1500 years ago, a group of people that we would now call Vikings landed in what we now call England, and created a language we now call Old English. Fast-forward to today, and people from 140 countries are listening to a podcast in a dialect we call American English. How did nordic invaders lead to a language which is now spoken on all seven continents? Learn more about the history of the En...

If you think of Spain, you probably think of a European country which has its arm around Portugal and the eat tapas and paella. However, what if I told you that Spain is also an African country? In fact, it is the smallest country in Africa, and no, I’m not talking about the Canary Islands. Learn more about Ceuta and Mellia, the African parts of Spain, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Dail...

There is an old adage about warfare that says “amateurs talk about strategy, whereas professionals talk about logistics”. There is a great deal of truth to this statement. While history books have given a great deal of attention to the D-Day landing at Normandy, what has been almost totally ignored is the incredible logistical effort which was required after the landing. Learn more about the Red B...

Isaac Newton is one of the most important scientists in the history of the world. His discoveries have impacted almost every aspect of physics, and a huge part of the first two semesters of any physics course is dominated by his discoveries. It raises an interesting question: If Nobel Prizes were given out when Newton was alive, how many would he have won? Join me as I play fantasy Nobel Prizes wi...

The internet is often considered to be an open environment where no one really controls anything. A company or a person might have control over a particular website but in the big scheme of things you can set up whatever websites you want without anyone’s permission.  This is mostly true, but not totally true. If you keep going up the chain of control on the internet, you will eventually reach the...

One of the unique things about track and field is that you don’t just compete against your immediate competitors, but you are also competing against the clock or the tape measure. That means you can compare achievements with people in the past, and that means world records. You would expect world records to fall over time, but there are a small number of records that haven’t been broken in decades...

William Shakespeare is widely considered one of the greatest poets and playwrights in the history of the English language. However, over the last two centuries many people have begun to wonder if William Shakespeare of Stratford-on-Avon, England was indeed the person who wrote the works which have been attributed to him. If you look at the evidence or the lack thereof, they aren’t necessarily craz...

I’ve done several episodes pertaining to Ancient Rome. The reason is that so many of the foundational things in our world, from our alphabet to our calendar, to the names of our months, all can be traced back to Rome. During these episodes, I’ve often talked about the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. However, many people might not realize what the difference is between the two. When did the re...

Soccer, aka football, is the most popular sport in the world. Of all the professional leagues in the world, there is one that has achieved a level of success and competition above all others. Spain’s Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, otherwise known as La Liga. Learn more about La Liga, and the history of football in Spain, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more...

Far above the Arctic Circle on the Norwegian island of Spitzbergen, built into the side of a mountain which is permanently frozen, is humanity’s greatest insurance policy. There lie genetic backup copies for much of the world’s agricultural crops. These seeds are stored for a day which hopefully will never come. Learn more about the Svalbard Global Seed Vault on this episode of Everything Everywhe...

Even if you aren’t a fan of classical music, you are probably at least familiar with what an orchestra is. But have you ever wondered why orchestras use the instruments they do? Or why they have them in that combination, or why it is even called an orchestra at all? And what exactly is a symphony or a philharmonic? Learn all about orchestras on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn mo...

World War II was the first major conflict that saw the use of strategic bombers. In the months immediately after the war, the US saw the need for an advanced bomber to replace the bombers which were developed during the war. Moreover, they wanted something bigger, faster, and that used newly developed jet engines. The end result of the process was the B-52 bomber which had its first flight in 1952...

In 1967, war broke out between Israel and Egypt. It was the beginning of what would be known as the Six-Day War. As Israeli forces raced across the Siani Peninsula, Egyptian forces took measures to ensure that the Suez Canal wouldn’t be captured. They scuttled ships on either end of the canal to prevent it from being used. Unfortunately, there were ships still in the canal and they got stuck…..for...

Every March 17th, St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated. Everyone wears a lot of green, there are parades, shamrocks, and a whole lot of drinking. But who exactly was St. Patrick? Why do we celebrate his day? And what does any of this have to do with shamrocks, drinking, and wearing green? Learn more about St. Patrick’s Day and why we celebrate it on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn mo...

The United States Constitution spells out a very specific process for how to amend the document. First, Congress must vote to approve the amendment. Then the amendment is sent to the state legislatures for ratification. Most amendments never make it through congress. But what happens when an amendment makes it through congress but then doesn’t get approved by the states? Learn more about unratifie...

Every so often, you see lottery jackpots that grow to enormous levels. Lotteries such as Powerball and Mega Millions have on occasion grown to have prizes over $1 billion dollars. However, they all pale in comparison to the annual lottery which takes place in Spain every year. The total amount of money given away in this lottery is over double the cash prize given out in the biggest American lotte...

Every year, around this time, people who live in northern latitude countries turn their clocks ahead one hour. Then, months later, we do the exact same thing in reverse, setting all of our clocks back. Why do we do this? Is there a good reason for it? Should we continue to do it? Learn more about the history and future of Daylight Savings Time on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn...

According to most history books, the United States Civil War ended on April 9, 1865, when General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia. This is a truth, but it really isn’t the truth. At best it could be described as the beginning of the end of the Civil War. Learn more about when the US Civil War really ended on this episode of Everything Every...

Australia is what I would call a sporting country. Cricket, rugby, and Australian Football are all incredibly popular sports. Australia has also really punched above its weight in the Summer Olympics, earning an oversized number of medals given its population. Their performance at the Winter Olympics, however, has not been so great. Learn more about the extremely unlikely way that Australia won it...

The country of San Marino is one of the smallest countries in the world. It is completely surrounded by Italy, is about 24 square miles in area, and has a population of about 33,000 people. The most interesting thing about San Marino is the fact that it exists. Why didn’t San Marino get sucked into Italy like every other city-state on the peninsula? Learn more about tiny San Marino and why it stil...

Right now vaccinations are all over the news. There are many companies that have developed vaccines for COVID-19 and there is a good chance that most people in the world will wind up getting a vaccine in the next year or two. Many of you may never have given much thought to what is a vaccine? How do they work, and how were they developed? Well, there are answers to those questions. Learn more abou...