Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography, & More

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 Drift, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ahoy ye mates! It be International Talk Like a Pirate Day. So I be thinking tis time to talk about the pirate life and how much of the legends of the pirates be true. Did they bury their gold? Did they fly the Jolly Roger? Did their dogs have scurvy? ...and did they really talk like this? So join me as I cast me pod on tis episode of Arrrverything Arrrverywhere. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At 9:30 am on July 2, 1881, at the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station in Washington, D.C., James Garfield, President of the United States was fatally shot. It is an event that, quite frankly, doesn’t really get the attention that other political assassinations have received. The story behind how and why it happened is as fascinating as any in American History. Learn more about the Assassination of President Garfield and his assassin, Charles Giteau, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Dail Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

According to legend, sometime in the 5th century, a king of the Celtic Britons named Vortigern hired Anglo-Saxons mercenaries to help him fight his domestic enemies to hold his grip on power. His plan worked really well. Until it didn’t. And then it blew up in his face. Learn more about the Treachery of the Long Knives on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Who matter where you are right now, no matter what time you are listening to this, there is one thing that I can safely say about you right now. Your body is being bombarded with cosmic rays. In fact, pretty much every moment of your life since you’ve been born, you’ve been hit by cosmic rays. Learn more about cosmic rays, what they are and where they come from, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On July 17, 1944, one of the worst disasters to befall the American military during World War II occurred. It didn’t occur in Europe or the Pacific, however. It took place on US soil. The events leading up to this calamity and its aftermath permanently shaped the United States military. Learn more about the Port Chicago Disaster, and the lasting changes it brought about on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1994, a German archeologist named Klaus Schmidt was investigating a site in southeastern Turkey which had been know to be a source of ancient stone tools. What he found was far greater. His discovery totally upended the world of archeology and has changed everything we thought we knew about early human civilization. Learn more about Göbekli Tepe and how it changed our views of early human civilization on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ever since humans have understood the workings of the atom, the potential has existed for humanity to exploit the energy source which powers the stars: fusion power. Yet, for decades fusion power has been just out of our grasp. Some have said fusion is the power source of the future, and always will be. Learn more about fusion power and why it is so hard and has taken so long, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Located 1,500 miles south of the nation of Cote d’Ivoire and about 2,500 miles east of Rio de Janeiro, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, lies one of the most remote human settlements on Earth: The island of St Helena. Given its remote location, St. Helena has had a history unlike most other islands, and people who live there are unlike any others in the world. Learn more about the island of Saint Helena, its history, and life on the island, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Prior to their destruction in 2001, the World Trade Center in New York was a marvel of architecture. It was a collection of seven different buildings which served as the center of New York’s financial district. The planning for the complex was decades in the making and during its brief history, it was witness to several significant events. Learn more about the history of New York’s World Trade Center on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On September 13, 1848, a 25-year-old man named Phineas Gage received a horrific brain injury while working on a railroad in Vermont. The odds of anyone surviving such an accident were a million to one. Yet, despite astronomical odds, he survived his injury and he became a case study for neuroscientists ever since. Learn more about Phineas Gage and his incredible story, and how it helped us to understand the workings of the human brain, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the week of July 1, 1946, there were two explosions that shook the world. One was a physical explosion and the other was cultural. These two events, seemingly unrelated, are now linked forever due to the circumstances of that week. Learn more about what an atomic bomb test and a two-piece swimsuit have in common, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Earth is pretty old. Our current, best estimate is that it is 4.54 billion years old, plus or minus 50 million years. Since then, however, a lot has happened. To help clarify the Earth’s timeline, geologists have divided the Earth’s history into various eras and periods. Each division of time represents a change in something, which happened on the planet. Learn more about the Earth’s history and geologic time scales, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It is the American Revolutionary War. A rider on horseback sets out on an all-night ride to warn the militia of nearby towns that the British were coming. I am of course talking about the ride of Paul Revere, right? Nope. I’m talking about the ride of Sybil Luddington. Learn more about Sybil Luddington and her role in the Revolutionary War, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The era of presidential aviation began on October 11, 1910 when former president Theodore Roosevelt took to the skies in a Wright Brothers Flyer at a county fair in Saint Louis. The flight only lasted a few minutes. Fast forward 110 years, and the President of the United States has one of the sweetest rides on the planet. Learn more about Air Force One, the airplanes which have served presidents, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On September 1 and 2 of 1859, people all over the world were treated to something quite rare. Auroras were seen in the skies as far south as the Caribbean and as far north as Brisbane, Australia. However, some astronomers and telegraph operators experienced something different. If this same event were to happen today, it might bring out society to its knees. Learn more about the Carrington Event and what it means for our modern world, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a previous episode, I spoke about the Drake equation and the odds of there being intelligent extraterrestrial life. Many people have used the Drake equation to argue that it is almost impossible for there not to be intelligent life in our galaxy. However, in the summer of 1950, physicist Enrico Fermi pushed back against this by asking a very simple question: if there are so many intelligent civilizations, where are they? Learn more about the Fermi Paradox Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1844, the Philological Society of London began investigating the creation of a new English dictionary. This initial foray would lead to a dictionary that would be unlike any other dictionary ever created. It would not just give the definition and spelling of a word, but a complete history of each word and where it came from. It would be one of the most ambitious literary projects in history. Learn more about the Oxford English Dictionary on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What did the first Chinese Emperor Qin, Julius Caesar, Alexander the Great, Gengis Kahn, the Queen of Sheba, and all their contemporaries who lived when they did have in common? None of them ever ate a potato. The potato is a rather new addition to the diets of the old world, and one which revolutionized civilization. Learn more about the potato and how changed world history, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Beginning in 1801, the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, the Earl of Elgin, began a project to document the sculptures located at the Parthenon in Athens. He then took it one step further and took half of the sculptures at the Parthenon and shipped them back to England. It has been a source of controversy and diplomatic conflict ever since. Learn more about the Elgin Marbles on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the mid-19th century, a Hungarian physician named Ignaz Semmelweis advocated for an incredibly simple technique that would go on to save millions of lives. However, when he first proposed it, his idea wasn’t just ignored, it was vehemently rejected by the very people who could have used it to save lives. Not only was the idea rejected, but he was ridiculed to a point that might have led to his early death. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The planet Mercury is the smallest, fastest, and most pot-marked planet in our solar system. It is in many ways, unlike any other planet. However, there is more to this overlooked planet than meets the eye. It isn’t just a scarred, hot rock near the sun. There are some things about it that I’m quite sure will astonish you. Learn more about Mercury, the first planet, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

San Francisco Bay is one of the largest and best natural harbors in the world. The entrance to the harbor is a one-mile, 1.6 kilometer, wide straight called the Golden Gate. Historically, getting from one side of the Golden Gate to the other was a time-consuming task. During the Great Depression the decision was made to solve the problem once and for all, but building the biggest bridge the world had ever seen. Learn more about the Golden Gate Bridge on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1816, the world experienced something that it had never seen before. All over the Northern Hemisphere in Europe, Asia, and North America, summer never came. ...or at least it didn’t in any way which it did before. It caused chaos and misery all around the world. Learn more about 1816, the year without a summer, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sometime around the year 95, a man who called himself John wrote what became known as the Book of Revelations. In that book, he said, “Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is 666." So, what is the deal with this number and what does it mean? Learn more about the number of the beast and how it has been used and abused throughout history, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 more about the simplest, cheapest food in the world Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the 1950s and 1960s, the United States detonated nuclear bombs on land, on the water, underground, underwater, and in the atmosphere. The only thing that they hadn’t nuked was space itself. So, in 1962 they did just that. Learn more about Starfish Prime and the time that the United States detonated a nuclear weapon in space, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When the Austro-Hungarian Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated it set off a chain reaction resulting in the First World War. That chain reaction, however, was fully anticipated and one of the belligerent countries, Germany, had a plan in their back pocket ready to go. It was a highly detailed plan, nine years in the marking, which was designed to give them a swift victory. Learn more about the Schlieffen Plan, and why it didn’t work, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Divided between Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinian West Bank lies the lowest point on the surface of the Earth: The Dead Sea. Not only is it the lowest point on Earth, but the sea is one of the saltiest bodies of water on the planet. But how did this place come to exist, and is it true that it will completely disappear at some point? Learn more about the Dead Sea and how it came to be, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For several hundred years, the British navy was the most powerful in the world. One of the things which the British navy ran on was rum. Every sailor on a British ship for hundreds of years was given a daily ration of rum. However, on one dark day, the tradition of the daily rum allotment came to an end. Learn more about Black Tot Day and why it saddened a generation of British sailors, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you’ve ever seen a sculpture or an ancient coin of a Roman Emperor, you probably have noticed that they were wearing a wreath on their head. That wreath, however, doesn’t mean what you probably think it means. It actually had a specific meaning which predated the imperial age, and the reason why emperors wore it all has to do with a single person. Learn more about the Civic Crown, also known as the Corona Civica, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fritz Haber is unquestionably one of the greatest chemists in history. He was a Nobel prize winner and his inventions have touched billions of lives. However, Haber is a two-sided coin. He has touched the lives of millions for the better, and he also touched the lives of millions for the worse. Learn more about Fritz Haber, perhaps the best and worst chemist in history, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the 1970s NASA embarked on a mission it had never attempted before. Due to a fortunate alignment of planets, they were going to attempt to send robotic probes on a flyby mission to Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, before being sent to deep space, out of the solar system. Some of the mission planners figured if they were going to send a probe all that way, maybe they might as well add something extra to the payload. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One of the most ubiquitous forms of payment today is credit cards. The odds are good that you have one, and most probably have one on your person right now. But how did it develop that you could pay for something by just giving someone a piece of plastic? How exactly does this system work and how do credit card companies make money? Learn more about credit cards, where they came from and how they work, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There are tens of millions of stories to come out of World War II. Many of them are tales of horrible human cruelty. However, there is one particular story that is as horrific as any other, yet it doesn’t involve human barbarity, it involves nature. It was so horrific that it has been the subject of books and movies, and was the inspiration for the film Jaws. Learn more about the USS Indianapolis and the terrifying fate of its sailors, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you were to call someone a snake oil salesman, it usually means they are trying to defraud someone, and more specifically it often implies making false medical claims. But what exactly is snake oil, and why did it develop such a bad reputation, and why specifically do we use snake oil for such a negative metaphor? Learn more about snake oil and why we still reference it on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There are few things that are truly universal across all cultures and throughout history. These things are often so obvious that we overlook them and forget how they are things that make us human. One such thing which seems so simple yet actually has profound origins: singing children to sleep. Learn more about the lullaby and how it is one of the things which all humanity has in common, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Friday, October 21, 1966, the small Welsh village of Aberfan suffered woke up to a typical autumn day. Many of the men in the village went to work at the local coal mine and the children went to the local school. At 9:15 am, the lives of everyone in the village had changed forever. The village suffered one of the worst industrial accidents in British history. Learn more about the Aberfan Disaster, its causes, and its aftermath, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There is an old saying that everything old is new again. This is certainly true with electric cars. The recent surge in popularity of electric vehicles is technically a resurgence, because believe it or not, there was a time when electric cars were more popular than cars with internal combustion engines. Learn more about electric cars, their history, future, as well as their benefits and drawbacks, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 2005, a small auction house in New Orleans sold a painting at auction labeled at Lot 664. The description of the item was simply, “Christ Salvator Mundi. Oil on cradled panel.” The painting was sold for $1,000. Twelve years later, the same painting was sold at Christie’s in New York for a record $450 million dollars. Learn more about Salvator Mundi, the world’s most expensive painting, and the controversy surrounding it, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is known to almost everyone in the world. If he isn’t known, then his music certainly is. Even though he is one of the greatest composers in history, he was not the only musician in his family. In fact, according to some, he might not have even been the best musician in his family. Learn more about Maria Anna Mozart, the other Mozart, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Most coverage of the Olympics is very biased towards whatever country you happen to live in, and certain popular sports. Lesser sports and accomplishments from athletes in other countries may often be completely overlooked. So, I figured I’d give a recap of the Tokyo Olympics by putting my very special touch on it, and focus on the exceptional performances across all sports from this Olympics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the year 60, Roman forces on the island of Britain, the Roman town of Lunduniam, modern-day London, were attacked and sacked by a group of native Celts. They lashed out at the Romans over years of poor treatment abuse. When Romans lost Lunduniam, they were shocked and embarrassed, not just at the loss to a group of barbarians, but because those barbarians were led by a woman. Learn more about Queen Boudica on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For over 30 years, Monty Hall was the host of the game show Let’s Make A Deal. In the show, they played a very simple game where you would choose one of three doors. This simple game has led to one of the most controversial and public kerfuffles amongst mathematicians, which caused many distinguished mathematicians to have egg on their face. Learn more about the Monty Hall Problem on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The American constitution was written in 1788, but there was a mechanism built in to adapt and change the document. Since 1788 the Constitution has been amended 27 times, most recently in 1992. The most recent amendment, however, had a path to ratification which was far different than any other of the 26 before it. Learn more about the 27th amendment and the very circuitous route it took to ratification, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

American politics has been called a two-party system. While there are two major parties today, and those two parties have been around a long time, they weren’t always the only two parties. In fact, there was a political party in the US that, took its name from a British political party, had four US presidents, and even held control of Congress for several years. Today, they are all but unknown to most people. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Somewhere over your head, right the moment is an artificial satellite. Many of them actually. They beam television and radio signals down to Earth. They can tell us our exact time and location, and they can also help us predict the weather and they are now even providing broadband internet. But how do they work? How do you get something to wiz around in space without crashing down? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the morning of November 1, 1755, the citizens of Lisbon, Portugal set out to go to church for the feast of All Saints Day. Little did they know that moments later, their lives and the lives of everyone in Lisbon were about to be turned upside down and that the city of Lisbon would almost cease to exist. Learn more about the Great Lisbon Earthquake, one of the most devastating earthquakes in history, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You’ve seen it in your science classrooms, and there was probably a copy of it on the inside cover of your chemistry book. Maybe if you are a real nerd, you might even have your own personal copy. Yet its very creation was a revolutionary breakthrough that helped scientists and generations of students understand the very things which make up our world. Learn more about the Periodic Table of the Elements and how it helped explain the natural world, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices