Everything Everywhere Daily
1,469 episodes - English - Latest episode: 5 days ago - ★★★★★ - 1.1K ratingsLearn something new every day!
Everything Everywhere Daily is a daily podcast for Intellectually Curious People. Host Gary Arndt tells the stories of interesting people, places, and things from around the world and throughout history. Gary is an accomplished world traveler, travel photographer, and polymath.
Topics covered include history, science, mathematics, anthropology, archeology, geography, and culture.
Past history episodes have dealt with ancient Rome, Phoenicia, Persia, Greece, China, Egypt, and India. as well as historical leaders such as Julius Caesar, Emperor Augustus, Sparticus, and the Carthaginian general Hannibal.
Geography episodes have covered Malta, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Monaco, Luxembourg, Vatican City, the Marshall Islands, Kiribati, the Isle of Man, san marino, Namibia, the Golden Gate Bridge, Montenegro, and Greenland.
Technology episodes have covered nanotechnology, aluminum, fingerprints, longitude, qwerty keyboards, morse code, the telegraph, radio, television, computer gaming,
Episodes explaining the origin of holidays include Memorial Day, April Fool’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, May Day, Christmas, Ramadan, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Canada Day, the Fourth of July,
Famous people in history covered in the podcast include Salvador Dali, Jim Thorpe, Ada Lovelace, Jessie Owens, Robert Oppenheimer, Picasso, Isaac Newton, Attila the Hun, Lady Jane Grey, Cleopatra, Sun Yat Sen, Houdini, Tokyo Rose, William Shakespeare, Queen Boudica, Empress Livia, Marie Antoinette, the Queen of Sheba, Ramanujan, and Zheng He.
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Episodes
The Brooklyn Bridge
October 16, 2021 09:00 - 11 minutesBrooklyn wasn’t always a part of New York City. It used to be a separate city located across the East River from New York, which at the time was only on the island of Manhattan. For decades, people talked about a bridge to connect New York and the growing city of Brooklyn to facilitate travel and commerce. In 1883, that bridge finally opened. Learn more about the Brooklyn Bridge on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Decimation (Encore)
October 15, 2021 09:00 - 10 minutesYou 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
Moore's Law
October 14, 2021 09:00 - 14 minutesIn 1965, the director of research at Fairchild Semiconductor, Gordon Moore, made a prediction about the future of semiconductors. He said that over the next ten years, the number of transistors on an integrated circuit would double every two years. His prediction didn’t just hold true for the next 10 years, but it has held true for almost 60 years, and it had driven the global computer industry. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Stanislav Petrov: The Man Who Saved the World
October 13, 2021 09:00 - 11 minutesI’ve done episodes before about people who have saved a large number of human lives. Mostly, these people have done so through inventions or innovations in fields like agriculture or medicine. What about people who prevented an impending disaster? Like when Superman stops an asteroid from hitting the Earth. Well, there was such a case, and thanks to the actions of a single man, millions of lives might have been saved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nostradamus
October 12, 2021 09:00 - 13 minutesIn 1555, a French physician and astrologer named Michel de Nostredame published a book of poems titled Les Prophéties. Ever since people have been trying to interpret world events through his writings. Was Nostradamus a prophet? Was he a fraud? Or are people just reading way too much into a bunch of vague, random statements? Learn more about Nostradamus and how his writings have been interpreted, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaph...
The USS Constitution
October 11, 2021 09:00 - 14 minutesOn March 27, 1794, the United States Congress passed the Naval Act. The Naval Act authorized funding for six frigates which would become the basis for the new US Navy. One of those six ships, and the third one built, was the USS Constitution. It was launched in 1797 and saw service in multiple conflicts all around the world. That ship which first set sail 225 years ago, is still in service and operational today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Dancing Plague of 1518
October 10, 2021 09:00 - 10 minutesPeople who love to dance are said to have dancing fever. Dancing fever is just a phrase and not something meant to be taken literally. However, could there really be an actual dancing fever? Could there be a disease that caused people, many people, to dance until they fell from exhaustion? Well, maybe. Learn more about the Straussberg Dancing Plague of 1518 on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Which Came First: Beer or Bread?
October 09, 2021 09:00 - 11 minutesThe rise of agriculture has been pointed to as being responsible for the rise of civilization as we know it. However, that raises the question, what was responsible for the rise of agriculture? In particular, at least in the Middle East with the cultivation of grain, the debate has always been which came first: Beer or Bread? Learn more about the great beer vs bread debate, and which was responsible for the rise of civilization, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more a...
Did Shakespeare Write the Works of Shakespeare? (Encore)
October 08, 2021 09:00 - 12 minutesWilliam 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 crazy for thinking it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mountweazels (Encore)
October 07, 2021 09:00 - 10 minutesCopyright 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. L...
The Legend of Andre the Giant (Encore)
October 06, 2021 09:00 - 13 minutesOn 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....
The Canary Islands (Encore)
October 05, 2021 09:00 - 10 minutesIf you think of Spain as the country on the Iberian Peninsula which is sandwiched between France and Portugal, you are not wrong, but you are also not totally right. There is also a significant part of the country which is located in the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Morocco: The Canary Islands. Here you will find things that you aren’t going to find in mainland Spain or even the rest of Europe. Learn more about the Canary Islands on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more ...
Longitude (Encore)
October 04, 2021 09:00 - 10 minutesNavigation on the open ocean is extremely difficult. It is a skill that takes years to master. Even with years of skill, an experienced mariner was still able to ground their ship on an unseen reef, underwater rocks, or a sandbar, because they didn’t know their precise location. The main problem, which was unsolved for centuries, was determining your longitude. Learn more about the longitude problem, and how it was eventually solved, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn...
The Four Great Inventions of Ancient China
October 03, 2021 09:00 - 12 minutesAs I have mentioned in many episodes of this podcast, there are a great many things that were originally invented in Ancient China. There are literally hundreds of inventions that were developed in China before they were introduced anywhere else. However, there are four inventions in particular which stand out as having revolutionized not just Chinese civilization, but the entire world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Korean Demilitarized Zone
October 02, 2021 09:00 - 12 minutesIn the early 1950s, war ravaged the Korean peninsula. However, the fighting ceased on July 27, 1953. Both sides of the conflict pulled back from the front and created a buffer zone 4 kilometers or 2.5 miles wide. That buffer zone still exists today. Learn more about the Korean Demilitarized Zone, its past and present, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Greatest Thing Since Sliced Bread (Encore)
October 01, 2021 09:00 - 9 minutesYou probably heard the expression that something is “the greatest thing since sliced bread”. Well did you ever wonder what the greatest thing was before sliced bread? Or why we measure greatness in terms of sliced bread? Well, there’s an answer to these questions. Learn more about why sliced bread is so freaking amazing on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Year One
September 30, 2021 09:00 - 13 minutesI am speaking these words in the year 2021. You might be listening to them in a different year, but whatever year you happen to be in right now, it will be a year using the same number convention for years that we do now. But why did we start counting years at year 1? What did they do before that? Who picked year 1 and why? Why isn’t there a year zero? And what is the deal with AD and CE? Learn more about why we count years the way we do on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Lea...
How Close Were the Nazis to Making an Atomic Bomb?
September 29, 2021 09:00 - 14 minutesDuring the second world war, one of the biggest efforts of the war was the Manhattan Project: the secret American program to create an atomic bomb. The scientists and staff of the Manhattan Project were in a race to beat Nazi Germany to be the first country to build the A-bomb. When Germany surrendered in May 1945, and Americans detonated the first device in July, they had seemingly won the race. But was it in fact a race at all? How close were the Nazis to actually building an atom bomb? ...
Alexandria
September 28, 2021 09:00 - 13 minutesIn the year 331 BC, fresh from his conquest of Egypt, Alexander the Great established a new city in Egypt named after himself. This new city, situated on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea, at the end of the Nile Delta, would go on to become one of the most important cities in the world, and Alexander’s city is still alive and vibrant today. Learn more about Alexandria, the "Bride of the Mediterranean" on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit ...
Survivorship Bias
September 27, 2021 09:00 - 11 minutesDuring World War II, the US Army assigned statistician Abraham Wald the task of statistically figuring out where extra armor should be added to American bombers. After analyzing the evidence and sharing it with the Army, he recommended the exact opposite of what the Army assumed. The reason was that the Army had engaged in a logical fallacy. Learn more about survivorship bias and how it manifests itself into everyday thinking, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about...
The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact
September 26, 2021 09:00 - 12 minutesWhen most people think of World War II, they think of the Allied power of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union, versus the Axis power of Germany, Italy, and Japan. However, this wasn’t always the case. At the start of the war in Europe, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union actually coordinated with each other to invade their neighbors. Learn more about the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Righties vs Lefties
September 25, 2021 09:00 - 12 minutesStatistically speaking, about 90% of you listening to my words right now are right-handed. Of the rest of you, almost all of you will be left-handed. The question of why so many more people are right-handed as opposed to left-handed is one that people have asked for centuries. It is an imbalance that has existed throughout history and across every culture. Learn more righties and lefties and why the imbalance between them exists, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more a...
Polynesian Navigators (Encore)
September 24, 2021 09:00 - 12 minutesThe ancient world had many great accomplishments. The Pyramids of Giza, The Great Wall of China, and the Colosseum are just a few of the great wonders which are still standing. However, one of early humanity’s greatest achievements is one that didn’t leave any physical monuments. Its legacy is the people who live on the remote islands in the Pacific Ocean. Learn more about the Polynesian navigators and how they explored the Pacific on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn mor...
The Great Pyramid of Giza
September 23, 2021 09:00 - 12 minutesThe Great Pyramid of Giza, also known as the Great Pyramid of Khufu, is a structure in which superlatives don’t really do justice. It isn’t just old, it’s really old. It isn’t just big, it’s really big. It has served as a sentinel to some of the most important people and events in history, and it has also been the focal point of speculation about the past. Learn more about the Great Pyramid of Giza, one of the seven ancient wonders of the world, on this episode of Everything Everywhere ...
The War of the Currents
September 22, 2021 09:00 - 13 minutesIn the late 19th century, several of the world’s foremost investors engaged in a public battle for the future of electricity. The battle was fought in boardrooms and newspapers, and there was seemingly nothing that was off-limits. The battle eventually took the lives of several people…..and several dogs. Learn more about the current wars between George Westinghouse, Nikolai Tesla, and Thomas Edison, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit meg...
The 1961 US Figure Skating Team
September 21, 2021 09:00 - 10 minutesIn 1961, the United States figure skating team was one of the top programs in the world. The year before at the 1960 Olympics, they took the gold in both the men’s and women’s competitions. Then on February 15, 1961, the team suffered a terrible catastrophe. One which took the better part of a decade for the US program to recover from. Learn more about Sabena Flight 548 and the fate of the 1961 US figure skating team, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your a...
Alfred Wegner and Continental Drift
September 20, 2021 09:00 - 11 minutesIn 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 ...
Aye, Mate! Here be Pirates!
September 19, 2021 09:00 - 11 minutesAhoy 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
The Assassination of James A. Garfield (Encore)
September 18, 2021 09:00 - 15 minutesAt 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 Everyw...
Treachery of the Long Knives
September 17, 2021 09:00 - 10 minutesAccording 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
Cosmic Rays
September 16, 2021 09:00 - 11 minutesWho 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
The Port Chicago Disaster
September 15, 2021 09:00 - 13 minutesOn 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
How Göbekli Tepe Changed History
September 14, 2021 09:00 - 10 minutesIn 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. Vis...
Fusion Power
September 13, 2021 09:00 - 11 minutesEver 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
The Island of Saint Helena
September 12, 2021 09:00 - 13 minutesLocated 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...
The New York World Trade Center
September 11, 2021 09:00 - 13 minutesPrior 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 me...
The Fascinating Case of Phineas Gage
September 10, 2021 09:00 - 13 minutesOn 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. Lear...
Atomic Bombs and Two-Piece Swimsuits (Encore)
September 09, 2021 09:00 - 10 minutesOn 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 Geologic Timeline
September 08, 2021 09:00 - 15 minutesThe 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...
The Ride of Sybil Ludington
September 07, 2021 09:00 - 8 minutesIt 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
Air Force One
September 06, 2021 09:00 - 14 minutesThe 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 megaph...
The Carrington Event
September 05, 2021 09:00 - 13 minutesOn 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...
The Fermi Paradox
September 04, 2021 09:00 - 11 minutesIn 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 choic...
The Oxford English Dictionary (Encore)
September 03, 2021 09:00 - 13 minutesIn 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. ...
Behold! The Potato
September 02, 2021 09:00 - 12 minutesWhat 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
The Elgin Marbles
September 01, 2021 09:00 - 11 minutesBeginning 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/adch...
Ignaz Semmelweis and His Simple Great Idea
August 31, 2021 09:00 - 12 minutesIn 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
August 30, 2021 09:00 - 11 minutesThe 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
The Golden Gate Bridge
August 29, 2021 09:00 - 11 minutesSan 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 Everywher...
The Year Without A Summer
August 28, 2021 09:00 - 12 minutesIn 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