Everything Everywhere Daily

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.