Learn 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.
On December 11, 1978, one of the most audacious heists in history took place at JFK Airport in New York City. A small group of thieves executed an almost perfect crime and walked away with 6 million dollars in cash and jewelry. While the actual robbery went off without a hitch, it was after the crime that things fell apart and eventually left a trail of bodies strewn across New York. Learn more about the 1978 Lufthansa Heist, how they pulled it off, and its bloody results on this episode of Ever...
For decades, the nation of Ethiopia has dreamed of creating a damn on the Blue Nile River. Such a dam would provide an enormous amount of electricity for a country that is one of the lowest electricity consumers in the world. Such a project would be a massive undertaking and it would also bring a great deal of prestige to the country. What was once a dream began to become a reality in the 21st century, and today is producing energy for the country. However, the project has also caused problems w...
A popular activity that millions of people around the world engage in every week is bowling. Today, all the equipment manufacturers and bowling alleys constitute a multibillion-dollar business. However, this modern pastime has a history that goes back not hundreds of years but thousands. Learn more about bowling, where it came from and how it has developed on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Sponsors Sign up at butcherbox.com/daily and use code daily to get chicken breast, salmon or ...
As early as 2400 years ago, Greek philosophers were coming up with paradoxes that seemingly had no solution. Early mathematicians came up with problems that seemed impossible to solve. It wasn’t until the 17th century that the techniques were finally developed to solve these problems and unlock new fields of science and mathematics. Learn more about calculus, what it is, and what it attempts to do on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Sponsors Plan your next trip to Spain at Spain.info...
On October 28, 1929, a day known as Black Monday, the New York Stock Exchange suffered its greatest one-day loss in history. The next day, known as Black Tuesday, the market dropped even further, registering the second biggest one-day loss in history. This was the start of an extended bear market that saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average drop 89% in just under three years and ushered in the period we know as the Great Depression. Learn more about the 1929 Stock Market crash, its causes, and its ...
This episode explores the profound influence of French on the English language, tracing its roots back to the Norman invasion and examining how French shaped English vocabulary in law, diplomacy, the arts, and cuisine. It also discusses the decline of French in England and introduces 'Anglish,' a constructed version of English without foreign influence.
After the Nazi invasion of France in 1940, the French were forced to sign a lopsided armistice that gave control over most of the country to Germany. However, about 40% of Frace was not occupied by the Germans. It was controlled by a French government that came to power after the invasion and collaborated with and sided with Germany. The government ruled much of France for four years until the Allied invasion of France, and after liberation, the collaborators paid the price. Learn more about Vic...
In 1961, Michael Rockefeller, an heir to one of the greatest fortunes in the world, disappeared on an art-collecting trip off the coast of the island of New Guinea. For decades, the family simply assumed that he accidentally drowned off the coast in an attempt to rescue his anthropologist colleague. However, in the decades since he disappeared, more information may have come forward about exactly what happened, and it may not have been a simple drowning. Learn more about Michael Rockefeller and ...
People in the entertainment industry often say that show business is “show business.” As much as motion pictures are an art form, it is also a business. In many cases, a very big business. Motion picture studios will often invest hundreds of millions of dollars into a film expecting to see a return on their investment. Most of the time, a film will break even. However, in a few spectacular cases, a disastrous film has ruined a studio. Learn more about box office bombs and some of the worst-perfo...
Located between Canada and the United States is one of the largest bodies of freshwater in the world, Lake Superior. Lake Superior is the largest and deepest of the Great Lakes, and it is the first of the lakes in terms of water flow. Despite being the largest of the Great Lakes, it has the fewest number of people living on its shores, yet it is one of the most important economically. Learn more about Lake Superior, the big lake they call Gitche Gumee, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Da...
As soon as money was invented, counterfeiting was invented soon after. Counterfeiting has been around for as long as money, and as money has changed, counterfeiters have changed with it. What used to be a relatively simple process has become a highly technical game of cat and mouse. Today, it is considered a crime in every country on Earth, but of course that depends on what currency you are trying to counterfeit. Learn more about counterfeiting and the perpetual game of trying to stop counterfe...
Almost every country in the world uses the metric system…..almost. There are still a few stragglers, like the United States, who use units handed down to them from the British. These are known as Imperial Units. These units often confuse those living in countries that use the metric system….as well as those who live in countries that use Imperial Units. They don’t often make sense. They don’t have any consistency between units, and their histories are quite murky. Learn more about imperial units...
In 1908, a two-year-old boy named Puyi was installed as the 11th Emperor of the Qing Dynasty in China. His life would prove to be radically different from that of any other Chinese emperor who came before him. He would see the end of Imperial China, become a puppet ruler for those who wished legitimacy, wind up in prison, and finally live out his final days as a commoner. His personal story can be seen as a microcosm of the history of China during the 20th century. Learn more about Puyi, the las...
Located on the island of La Gomera in the Spanish Canary Islands is one of the most unusual languages on Earth. For centuries, the people on this island have been able to communicate over vast distances not by shouting, using smoke signals, or drums, but rather by whistling. This system allowed them to communicate just as easily as if they were talking, and it is still being used today. Learn more about Silbo Gomero, the whistling language of the Canary Islands, on this episode of Everything Eve...
Every country in Africa is unique and has its own history. However, many African countries share a similar story over the last 150 years, having gone through European colonization and decolonization. The nation of Liberia, however, has a history, unlike any other country in the world. From its founding to its modern-day governance, the story of the country is truly fascinating. Learn more about the West African country Liberia and its unique history on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily...
Whenever there is a lottery, the odds of winning are given. If you go to a pizzeria, they might tell you the number of possible pizzas that can be made, given their toppings. If you have a combination lock, it is secured because of the number of different solutions that are possible. All of these things might seem different, but they are all part of the same branch of mathematics. Learn more about Permutations and Combinations and how they work on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Spo...
In 19th century America, a movement began to take areas of exceptional natural beauty and preserve them. This idea of setting aside land for the purpose of preservation is something that was never really taken seriously before. These areas became known as national parks, and they spawned a movement of land preservation that spread around the world and continues to this day. Learn more about National Parks, America’s best idea, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Sponsors Sign up for ...
There is a good chance that sometime in the last few days, weeks, or months, you might have enjoyed a slice or two of pizza. Pizza has become a near-ubiquitous food which can be found in almost every country. However, there is no one pizza. There are vehement disagreements about what pizza is best and what sort of toppings are acceptable. Learn more about pizza, where it came from, and its variations on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Sponsors Sign up for ButcherBox today by going t...
In the Spring of 1846, a group of intrepid pioneers set out from Independence, Missouri, to cross the Oregon Trail to seek a better life in the fertile Oregon Territory. However, almost nothing went according to plan for this group. They got a late start, took a devastating wrong turn, and were delayed by many natural obstacles. They ended up being stuck in the mountains during the winter in one of the more horrific episodes in the history of the American West. Learn more about the Donner Party,...
The cold war was the defining event of the second half of the 20th century. When exactly it ended has been subject to debate. Was it the fall of the Berlin Wall? Was the day the Soviet Union was dissolved? There is an argument to be made that end might have actually occurred before any of those things, although no one knew it at the time. The event in question didn’t take place in Moscow or Washington but in a supermarket in the suburbs of Houston. Learn more about the most important supermarket...
If you think of the First World War, your mind probably turns to images of trench warfare and thousands of men losing their lives to try and gain just a few meters of land. However, in the first few weeks of the war, this was not at all the case. In fact, it initially looked like the war might not even last two months. What stopped the collapse of France and began widespread trench warfare was a desperate battle that took place in the first week of September 1914. Learn more about the First Batt...
Thirty days hath September, and on 29 of those days, I’ll run normal episodes. But for one day, I will turn the microphone over to you and answer your questions…..and that day is today. So stay tuned for another episode of Questions and Answers on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Sponsors Sign up for ButcherBox today by going to Butcherbox.com/daily and use code daily at checkout to get $30 off your first box! Subscribe to the podcast! https://link.chtbl.com/EverythingEverywhere?sid=...
Located in the middle of the Old City of Jerusalem lies one of the most famous structures in the world. In addition to being the visible symbol of the city, it lies on a plot of land that is one of the most historical and contested pieces of property on the planet. It has been a center of controversy for thousands of years and looks to continue to do so for at least hundreds more. Learn more about the Dome of the Rock and the ground it sits on, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Spo...
In 2015, the hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan released an album that was unlike any other in the history of recorded music. It simultaneously set the record for the highest amount of money ever spent on a work of music, and it was the worst-selling album in history in terms of unit sales. The reason why it holds both of those distinctions is because only one copy of it was ever made. Learn more about Once Upon A Time in Shaolin and the album which is unlike any other ever made, on this episode of Ever...
On August 20, 1672, one of the most shocking moments in Dutch political history took place. Actually, it is one of the most shocking moments in world political history. The man who was perhaps the most important political figure in the Dutch Republic was murdered by a mob of Dutch citizens…and then eaten. The events that led up to this event were some of the most significant in the history of the Netherlands. Learn more about Johan de Witt and his unlikely gastronomical demise on this episode of...
The Roman Empire, at its height, was a juggernaut. However, during the third century, almost everything fell apart. In fact, for a brief period of time, it arguably did. It suffered from invasions, plagues, a collapsing economy, lower agricultural productivity, and numerous political assassinations. They eventually solved their problems, but the Empire was changed forever. Learn more about the Crisis of the Third Century and how the Roman Empire almost collapsed on this episode of Everything Eve...
The Allied invasion of Normandy was one of the most complex military operations ever conducted. Thousands of ships and planes had to work in conjunction with tens of thousands of soldiers who had to do one of the most difficult things in warfare: an amphibious landing. In addition to all of the planning that went into the invasion, there were many unknowns. The only way to learn was to practice some of the elements of the landing. In April 1944, about six weeks before D-Day, the Allies conducted...
Ever since astronomers figured out that the stars in the sky are just like our sun, they began wondering if those stars had planets just like our sun. For centuries this remained an unanswerable question. Telescopes and techniques weren’t advanced enough to get an answer one way or another. Eventually, however, astronomers developed methods to detect if there were planets outside of our solar system, and when they did, they found them everywhere. Learn more about exoplanets, planets that orbit a...
Every day, whether or not you even realize it, you are subject to a host of unwritten rules. These are rules that are not written down and are not part of any formal law, but they are fundamental to the functioning of any society. These unspoken rules differ from place to place and have changed over time, and there are even different rules for different groups that you might be a part of. These unwritten rules of behavior have been with us ever since the dawn of humanity. Learn more about the Mo...
Italy as we know it today is a relatively recent invention. Ever since the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, the Italian Peninsula had been a patchwork of city-states, dutchies, kingdoms, and lands controlled by the pope. It wasn’t until the 19th century that a group of idealistic Italians sought to unify the Italian Peninsula and all its Italian-speaking people. Learn more about the Risorgimento, or the 19th-century Unification of Italy, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Spons...
