Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More

Democracies have elections, and when you have elections sometimes you have close elections. Sometimes very close elections. Sometimes very very very close elections. I’m not talking about vote differences of a tenth of a percent, I’m talking about vote differences you can count on one hand…..if you are missing a few fingers. Learn more about the history of extremely close elections on this episode...

Jeff Bezos, the founder, and CEO of Amazon was recently named the richest person in the world. This is primarily a function of the stock he owns in the company and the company’s valuation in the stock market. How would Jeff Bezos stack up against other wealthy figures from history? Are business titans of today in the same league as the famously wealthy from antiquity? Learn more about who the rich...

The Camino de Santiago is one of the most significant and popular pilgrimage routes in the World. For over 1,000 years pilgrims have traveled to the tomb of St. James in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. Some do it for religious reasons and some just to have an adventure. Today, hundreds of thousands of pilgrims still make the journey every year. Learn more about the Camino de Santiago, aka Way of Sa...

On January 15, 1919, the city of Boston suffered its greatest disaster when a storage tank filled with over 2 million gallons of molasses burst and killed 21 people and injured 150 more. Researchers have been studying the unique circumstances surrounding this industrial accident ever since. Learn more about the Great Boston Molasses Flood on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more...

On October 31 every year, we celebrate Halloween. It is especially popular in the United States where we use the holiday as an excuse for kids to dress up and ask for candy, and for adults to dress up and drink. But why do we dress up, and what’s the deal with pumpkins, how does this have anything to do with monsters and bats? Learn more about the history of Halloween and how so many unrelated thi...

Everyone knows that Neil Armstrong was the first person to step foot on the moon. But who was the last person on the moon? And why haven’t we ever sent anyone back to the moon? Learn more about the last person to set foot on the moon and the future of lunar exploration, or the lack thereof, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoic...

Antarctica has been an object of fascination since it was first discovered by explorers in the early 19th century. Despite never having had a permanent human population, or as far as we know even a temporary population, Antarctica does have a history. Perhaps not as long and rich a history as Africa or Asia, but a history nonetheless Learn more about the history of the seventh continent at the bot...

In the year 2000, people in Japan were polled and asked what the greatest Japanese creation of the 20th century was. They didn’t pick the walkman, digital cameras, or the compact disc. Nor did they pick any even any cultural achievements like the works of Akira Kurosawa, anime, or Pokemon. What they selected as the greatest Japanese accomplishment of the 20th century was…….instant noodles. Learn m...

In 1970, scientists in the Soviet Union set out to drill the deepest hole in the world. They weren’t drilling for oil or gas, they were just drilling for the sake of drilling to see what they could find. They actually found out quite a lot. Learn about the Kola Superdeep Borehole, the deepest hole on Planet Earth, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Vi...

How many continents are there? That sounds like a really easy question. After all, there are only so many giant landmasses on the planet and we can easily count them with our fingers. Yet, for something seemingly so simple, the answer to the question can be surprisingly complicated. Learn more about the continents on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Vi...

I’m sure everyone is familiar with the word outlaw. It mostly used as a synonym for “criminal”. However, if I can paraphrase Inigo Montoya from The Princess Bride, “that word does not mean what you think it means.”. Learn about the ancient punishment of outlawry, and how it was used throughout the world and throughout history, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your a...

On October 30, 1961, the Soviet Union detonated the largest explosion the world had ever seen, before or since. The explosion was so large, that it permanently changed the course of nuclear weapons development. Learn more about the Tsar Bomba, the world’s largest nuclear explosion, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you have ever taken out a loan, you are probably familiar with the details of taking on debt. You have an amount that is borrowed, an interest rate, and a term over which the debt is paid back. However, sometimes, a term might be extremely long. In a few cases, the debts can be served in perpetuity. Learn more about the extremely old debts which took forever to pay off on this episode of Everyt...

Every four years, citizens of the United States sit down for one or more nights to watch something which is called the Presidential Debates. The debates have become a centerpiece of US Presidential elections, but it wasn’t always that way. Learn more about the history of presidential debates, or the lack thereof, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Vis...

In a previous episode, I talked about how you can win by not losing. That is called the Fabian Strategy named after Roman general Quintus Fabius Maximus. However, the opposite is true as well. You can lose by winning. Here too, ancient history has examples for us, this time in the case of King Pyrrhus, who defeated the Romans but ultimately lost without losing a battle. Learn more about your ad ch...

If you think the current American political climate is contentious, then you need to take a step back and take a close look at American history. The most controversial, divisive, and probably corrupt election in US history was the election of 1876. It’s an event that has been largely forgotten by most Americans today. Learn more about the election of 1876, and why we never had a President Tilden,...

In 1867, United States Secretary of State William Seward signed a treaty with the Empire of Russia to purchase the territory of what would be called Alaska. The United States purchased it for 2 cents an acre. At the time it was called one of the worst deals in American History. Today, it is considered the greatest bargain of all-time. Learn more about the purchase of Alaska on this episode of Ever...

On April 30, 1943, a Spanish fisherman came across the floating body of Major William Martin of the Royal Marines. Handcuffed to the corpse was a satchel with top-secret plans for the Allied invasions of Greece and Sardinia. With the information gathered from this intelligence, the Germans moved their troops into position to counter the planned landing. ...and Allies couldn’t have been happier. Le...

On May 28, 1828, a 16-year-old boy mysteriously appeared in Nuremberg, Bavaria. He had a letter in his hand and could only speak a few words. No one knew where he came from, who his parents were, or why he was there. Five years later, just as mysteriously as he appeared, he was found murdered. His tale made him one of the most talked-about celebrities in 19th century Europe. Learn more about the c...

It the one of the world’s most commonly used condiments. Even though it is most often associated with the United States, it has a pedigree that is extremely ancient and global. I am of course talking about ketchup. Learn more about this common condiment, and its extremely ancient and interesting history, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaph...

History remembers the rulers and the leaders. We know of Napoleon, Caesar, Elizabeth, Ghengis Khan, and Captain Picard. However, for every one of the people I just listed, their success was due in large part to the people who worked underneath them. The ones who carried out their orders and made sure things got done. They had to have a competent number two. In this episode, I will put forward that...

Every so often you need to step back and take an assessment of where you’ve been and where you are going. This is the 100th episode of the podcast, so I figured now is a good time to take a one episode break from the normal content to give you the backstory of how the show came about and how it works. Learn more about Everything Everywhere Daily on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Lear...

Earth is a big place. Really big. And on it are mountains, deserts, rivers, and swamps.  Some of those points are higher than others, some of the deserts are drier than others, and some of the rivers are longer than others.  Learn more about the Earth’s most extreme points on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.  https://Everything-Everywhere.com/scottevest --------------------------------...

The Lockheed SR-71, nicknamed the Blackbird, holds the record for the fastest airplane ever. A record which it set in 1976 and has held for 44 years. It also set a record for the highest altitude ever recorded for a sustained flight. Even though the plane hasn’t flown in over 20 years, it is still high in the consciousness of many aviation enthusiasts. Learn more about the SR-71 on this episode of...

The US one-cent coin has been a part of American currency since the country started issuing money in 1793. As inflation has continued to creep up, the cost of making a one-cent coin is now more than it is worth. Unsurprisingly, people have been starting to question if we should continue using the penny. Learn more about the past, present, and future of the United States penny in this episode of Ev...