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

From December 27, 1831, to October 2, 1836, the HMS Beagle set out on a scientific survey expedition in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. On the ship was a young man named Charles Darwin. That expedition exposed him to ideas that would develop his theory of natural selection which would revolutionize the world of biology. This episode is not about that theory, however. This is about his OTHER theory that he developed from that expedition. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At 12 noon on March 4, 1849, the presidential administration of James Polk ended. 24 hours later, at noon on March 5, President Zachary Taylor took the oath of office to become president. During those 24 hours in-between, who was the president? According to some, it was a member of the United States Senate. Learn more about David Rice Atchison, and if he was president of the United States for a single day, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Imagine taking all of the trees, grass, animals, insects, fish, coral, and bacteria on the surface of the Earth and in the sea. Basically, every living thing on the planet. If you were to add it all up, all of the biomass, it would be quite a bit. Yet according to some scientists, that might not even account for most of the life on Earth. Learn more about the Deep Biosphere on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Airplanes were not the first type of aircraft. Lighter than air airships were flying decades before the Wright Brothers flew their first airplane. Of all the airships, there was one company that became so successful in airship development and construction that their name became synonymous with the rigid airship. Learn more about zeppelins on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Throughout history, there have been many causes for wars. Surprise attacks, broken marriages, unpaid debts, and even, of course, good old greed. However, an 18th-century war between Great Britain and Spain had perhaps the oddest genesis of all: a severed ear. Learn more about the War of Jenkins Ear on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1483, the King of England, Edward V, and his brother were taken into custody by his uncle Richard the Duke of Glouster and placed into the Tower of London. Both the king and his brother were never seen again. They just….disappeared. It is probably the greatest unsolved mystery in British History. Learn more about the Princes in the Tower on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1917, British Intelligence intercepted a diplomatic telegram between Germany and Mexico. The contents of the telegram contained information that had the potential to change the course of the first World War. Not only was it an important turning point in World War I, but it was also one of the first successful signal intelligence operations in world history. Learn more about the Zimmerman Telegram on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you have ever traveled in Europe, odds are you have visited at least one major cathedral. These massive religious buildings were and still are, the architectural centerpieces in most cities. Yet, most visitors to a cathedral will usually walk around, gawking at lofty ceilings and old art without ever really knowing what they are looking at. ...and by the way, what exactly is a cathedral? Learn more about cathedrals on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Copyright is what protects creators from having someone copy and make money off of their work without compensation. However, there are some things like directories or maps which have information that can be difficult to copyright. It’s just presenting information or data which exists out in the real world. Such creators of maps and directories have found unique ways around this problem. Learn more about copyright traps, aka Mountweazels, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ever since humans looked up at the stars they noticed that a few of them were different from the others. They moved. These moving points of light were planets. One of those points of light was, of course, the planet Mars. This first observation of Mars by early humans slowly and inexorably lead to landing robots on the surface of the planet. Learn more about our exploration of Mars on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Early 19th century London was a dangerous, dirty, dingy place with tons of poverty and a lot of drinking. Alcoholism was common and excessive drinking, especially amongst lower-income people in London, was the norm, not the exception. All of that alcohol had to be produced, which meant lots of breweries and lots of beer. All of these trends came crashing home on the day of October 17, 1814, in one horrific disaster. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every day we are constantly using measurements. We have ways of measuring distance, temperature, time, light, pressure, energy….everything. Yet, why do we measure everything the way we do? Why is a second, a second, and why is a meter, a meter? Learn more about why our units of measurement are the way they are on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On January 1, 1987, a paper was published in the journal Nature which rocked the world of anthropology. Researchers Allan Wilson, Mark Stoneking, and Rebecca Cann used the then-new science of genetic analysis to analyze the DNA in human mitochondria. What they found was evidence that humans on Earth can trace their ancestry back to a single woman who lived approximately 180,000 years ago. Learn more about Mitochondrial Eve, the mother of everyone, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Some of the things we use every day were invented in the distant past. Other things were invented quite recently. However, there is a category of inventions that have been known forever, but no one ever had any practical use for it until recently. Learn more about the elevator, and how it helped create the modern world, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1957, Sputnik was launched into orbit as the world’s first artificial satellite. Today, 64 years later, there are more than 1,000,000 objects larger than 1 centimeter floating around the Earth. Almost all of those objects in orbit were not put there intentionally. Learn more about space junk, the problem, and possible solutions, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 richest person in history was on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Everyone loves french fries. It is one of the few things which most people can agree on in the world today. The average American consumes over 16 pounds of them every year, and they have become a staple part of the cuisine in countries all over the world. Yet, why do American’s call them “french” fries? What do the French have to do with it? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Of the 193 countries in the United Nations, exactly three haven’t adopted the widespread use of the metric system: Myanmar, Liberia, and the United States of America. Of those three, the US is the country that really stands out. It has the biggest economy in the world, does an incredible amount of international trade, and has immigrants from every country in the world If there was one country on paper that should be using the metric system, it is the United States. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You are probably familiar with the term decimation. The word is usually used in English to mean “to cause great destruction or harm”. However, to ancient Rome, the word had a very different and very specific meaning. It was one of the most devastating and brutal forms of punishment that the military could inflict. Learn more about Decimation, the ultimate collective punishment, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You are probably familiar with the four basic types of musical instruments: strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion. However, is it possible to have an instrument that doesn’t fit into one of these families? In the early 20th century, Russian inventor Leon Theremin came up with an instrument that doesn’t fit into any family and doesn’t sound or play like any other. Learn more about the theremin, the world’s first electronic instrument, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every February 14, people around the world celebrate Valentine’s Day. It is a day for everything heart-shaped, flowers, flowers, candy, and romance. Why is this day the day dedicated to romance? What’s with the hearts? And who or what is a valentine? Is this all a giant conspiracy of greeting card manufacturers? Learn more about Saint Valentine’s Day on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, known to history as just Nero, was not the best of Roman Emperors. In fact, on most lists of Roman Emperors, he would rank somewhere near the bottom. In no small part, this is due to how he reacted after the greatest fire ever to engulf Rome and what he built in its aftermath. Learn more about the Domus Aurea, or Nero’s Golden House, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the middle of World War II, a small island in Scotland’s Hebrides Islands was suffering through war shortages like most of the country. However, on February 5, 1941, a very fortunate disaster struck the island, and the island’s residents couldn’t have been happier. The reverberations from this lucky calamity are still being felt today. Learn more about the wreck of the SS Politician and its incredible cargo on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1901, Swiss archeologists Gustave Jequier discovered a large stone stele in what is today western Iran. That large stone was 2.25m or 7.5 feet tall and was covered with cuneiform writing. After it was translated, it was found to have been a list of 282 laws written down by the Babylonian King Hammurabi. The laws covered many of the same issues that people deal with in the modern world. 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

On May 19, 1946, André René Roussimoff was born into the world in Coulommiers, France. At birth, he weighed 13 pounds or 6 kilograms...and from there, he only got bigger. He eventually topped out at 7 feet, four inches tall, weighed 520 pounds, and became a worldwide phenomenon as a professional wrestler and actor. He is one of the few humans to whom the adjective “legendary” can truly be ascribed. Today people still speak of his incredible feats in awe. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1888, the city of London was terrorized by its most infamous serial killer. Anywhere between 5 and 11 murders were committed over a three-year period in the Whitechapel area of London, and the crimes have never been solved. In the decades since then, a cottage industry has developed of amateur sleuths who have tried to determine the identity of this killer, that the newspapers dubbed Jack the Ripper. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One Sunday every year, the United States celebrates its biggest non-official holiday: Super Bowl Sunday. The championship game of the National Football League is almost always the biggest television audience of the year, and one of the most expensive tickets for any sporting event. However, it wasn’t always that way. In fact, it wasn’t even called the Super Bowl. Learn more about the Super Bowl and how it became so big on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For over 100 years, radio has been one of the biggest mediums for communication, information, and entertainment. It was the first true broadcast medium. However, recent technical and demographic changes have made the future of radio, or at least some of the bands, doubtful. Learn more about AM and FM radio, its past, present, and future, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the 17th century, the Netherlands was struck by the world’s first investment bubble. They weren’t investing in stocks or bonds or real estate. They were investing in…..tulip bulbs. Tulip bulbs became a mania and even common people were spending money on tulips. The price of some tulip bulbs rose so high that at one point a single bulb was worth 10 times the annual salary of a laborer. Learn more about Tulipmania on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How small can a country be and still be a country? In theory, there is no lower limit on the number of people to be a sovereign state. However, in reality, there are costs associated with being an independent country. The fewer the number of people, the higher the cost for everyone in the country. There is one country that has managed to remain an independent republic for over 50 years with a population of only about 10,000 people. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1936, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin determined it was time for the Soviet Union to have another census. They hadn’t conducted one since 1926 and he wanted some actual numbers to show the world the success of the Soviet system. Needless to say, the numbers were not what Stalin had expected….and promised. Learn more about the 1937 Soviet Census, the census that exposed Stalin, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A common misconception that many people have is that embassies are part of the territory of the country that owns the embassy. For example, the American embassy in Canada is part of the United States. This is not quite true. The theory covering how an embassy or a diplomat works deals with the concept of extraterritoriality. Learn more about extraterritoriality, the thing which makes international relations function, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Multiple births happen very infrequently. The odds decrease dramatically the more children are born at once. The odds of twins is 1 in 250 pregnancies. The odds of triplets are about 1 in 62,000. The odds of quadruplets are one in 15 million. And the odds of quintuplets, five children, is an astonishing 1 in 55 million. In fact, the first case of natural quintuplets surviving infancy occurred 86 years ago during the Great Depression. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1957 the United States embarked on its most controversial series of nuclear tests. These tests took place on US soil in the state of Nevada. They detonated 29 devices and tested a wide number of things, including how blasts would damage builds, pigs, and soldiers. They detonated bombs on towers, from balloons, and even underground. And, according to legend, they might have even accidentally launched the first man-made object into space. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

150 years ago, an American inventor by the name of Christopher Latham Sholes developed a machine to allow people to easily put text onto paper by pressing mechanical keys. He called his invention the “type writer”. After years of tinkering and adjusting, he finally came up with an arrangement of the keys that worked. The letters on the left side of the top row were Q-W-E-R-T-Y. We have basically been using the same keyboard ever since. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The National Football League is big business. It earns more money than any other professional sports league in the world. All of the NFL teams are own by billionaires or consortiums of multi-millionaires….except for one. One team, has no billionaire owner, is located in the smallest town in America to have a professional sports team, and yet has won more championships than any other team in the NFL. Learn more about Green Bay Packers on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

According to the old adage, what goes up must come down. Unless you are talking about a satellite, which can go up and never come down. However, sometimes satellites do come down. When they are not expected to. Where they are not wanted. Such was the case in 1978 with a Soviet spy satellite that spread its debris, its nuclear debris, all over northern Canada. Learn more about Cosmos 954, the Soviet Satellite that came crashing to Earth, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Earth takes a year to go around the sun, and a day to turn on its axis. It is tilted 23.5 degrees which is what causes the seasons. All of these facts which you learned in school are true, but they are not permanent. They change, very slowly, over time. One astrophysicist in the 1920s figured out that all of these cycles could interact with each other, affecting the long term climate of the Earth. Learn more about Milankovitch Cycles on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After the end of World War II, the newly created Central Intelligence Agency investigated anything and everything which could give the US an advantage in the Cold War. They looked into anything and everything which might possibly give their side an edge, even if it might have seemed ridiculous on face. One such idea was mind control. Learn more about Project MK Ulta on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every so often, the series Dr. Who would have a special episode where multiple versions of the time-traveling Doctor would appear on the same episode. I think they probably ripped the idea off from the Roman empire, where they had several years with multiple emperors. So, fresh off talking about the year of four emperors, we might as well go straight into the year it was even worse. Learn more about the year 193, the Year of the Five Emperors on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As long as the Roman empire lasted, they never created a set method of choosing successors to emperors. This inability to have an idea of who would be next in line caused numbers problems during the history of the empire. The first major succession crisis occurred in the year 69. One emperor died, and there was no clear replacement. The result was chaos. Learn more about the Year of the Four Emperors on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. 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

Normally, if a foreign country has you totally surrounded, that isn’t a good thing. However, in some parts of the world, it is a normal, everyday occurrence. Due to historical quirks in drawing maps, there are parts of some countries which are separate from the mainland and are totally surrounded by another country. Learn more about exclaves and enclaves on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every four years on January 20th, the United States holds a ceremony for the inauguration of the President of the United States. There are traditions for the inauguration, some of which have been passed down since the very first. Why do we use January 20th as the date, and how did many of these traditions get started? Learn more about the history and traditions of the Presidential Inauguration on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1896, the United States was experiencing what we now call a recession. The Panic of 1896 had made life tough on everyone, and many of the companies in the highly competitive railroad business were looking for new ways to make money. One man, William George Crush, came up with a smashing idea. His idea was so popular that it drew enough people to create the second-largest city in Texas for a single day, and then subsequently got him fired. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Humans and rats have lived in an uneasy relationship for millennia. Rats have spread diseases like the bubonic plague, destroyed grain harvests, and stolen our pizzas. In return, rats have given humans…...pretty much nothing. As such, humans have waged a relentless war against rats which for the most part has gone nowhere. However, there are some fronts where we have had amazing success. Learn more about humanity’s war on rats on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you visit a different country you might need to get some of the local currency. You might get Ringgit in Malaysia, Pesos in Mexico, Kip in Laos, or Tala in Samoa. However, there is one country where you have to be careful what currency you get because there are different notes produced in different parts of the country, and the different notes aren’t accepted everywhere in the country. Learn more about the various British Pounds on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Since the year 1790, New York City has been the largest city in the United States. Given the population density of the city, the vast majority of the people there rent apartments. Now imagine if everyone in New York who switched apartments had to do so on the exact same day every year. Well, this was the reality in New York for over a century. Learn more about moving day in New York City on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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? Should he be given credit for this important invention? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices