Everything Everywhere Daily

On April 15, 1920, two men who were delivering the payroll to the Slater-Morrill Shoe Company in Braintree, Massachusetts were killed in broad daylight. The payroll was taken by the killers, and they jumped into a getaway car. A few weeks later, two Italian immigrants with known ties to radical anarchist groups were arrested for the murder. It became one of the most controversial criminal cases in US history. Learn more about Sacco and Vanzetti, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.

American history isn’t a single linear story. There are periodic changes to the political order where political parties and affiliations are reordered. According to political scientists, there have been six different political eras in American history. Each era was a reflection of issues that confronted the country at the time. Learn more about America’s six political eras and what caused them on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.

The space race officially began on October 4, 1957, at 7:28 PM Moscow Time. That was when Sputnik was launched into orbit as the first artificial satellite, and from that moment, it was on. But when did the space race end? That is a much trickier question and there is no formal answer. However, I think an excellent case can be made for July 17, 1975. Learn more about the Apollo/Soyuz Test Program and the handshake that ended the space race on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.

For thousands of years, food storage was one of humanity’s biggest problems. Even if you could grow or hunt sufficient calories when food was abundant, it was very difficult to store those calories for when food was scarce. One man made a huge advancement in our ability to store foods, which now allows us to enjoy fresh produce all year round. Learn more about Clarence Birdseye, and the invention of frozen foods, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.

Standards make everything easier. When everyone can agree on a standard way to do things, regardless of how it is done, it can reduce confusion and facilitate progress. You’d think if there was one thing that would be standardized everywhere, it would be the side of the road everyone drives on. I mean, there are only two options. Yet, there is no global standard for what side to drive on.

In 2002 the BBC did a poll where they named the top 100 Britons in history. It had many people you have probably heard of, including Isaac Newton, Princess Diana, John Lenon, and Queen Victoria. The person who was ranked #2, however, is someone that many people outside of the UK might not have heard of. Yet, he really is one of the most important people when it came to the development of the modern world. Learn more about Isambard Kingdom Brunel on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.

László Polgár was born just after World War II in Hungary. His field of study was the nature of human intelligence. After studying the lives of over 400 great intellectuals from throughout human history, he came to a startling conclusion: geniuses weren’t born, they were made. So he set about conducting an experiment on his own children. The results were astonishing. Learn more about Judit, Susan, and Sophia, the incredible Polgar sisters, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.

On May 7th, 1824, in Vienna, Austria, the musical world changed forever. The assembled crowd in the Theater am Kärntnertor heard one of the most groundbreaking and revolutionary musical performances in history. However, there was one person in attendance who didn’t hear the performance. The composer, Ludwig van Beethoven. Learn more about Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, and how it changed the musical landscape forever, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.

The British House of Commons has been called the Best Club in Town due to the fact that there is a 1,000-gallon vat of Scotch whiskey located in the cellar. However, I prefer to think of it as a roach motel. Because technically, once you are elected to Parliament, you can’t leave. It is actually illegal to resign from the House of Commons. Yet, people seemingly do all the time. Learn more about the convoluted way you can quit the House of Commons on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.

Every year around June, millions of people will wear robes and put on funny flat hats to receive their university degrees. But why do they all wear robes, and what’s the deal with that flat hat, and why does the hat have a frilly thing hanging off of it? And why do we give out degrees named after unmarried men? And why are some people called a doctor if they don’t have any patients? Learn more about the history of academic degrees on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.

In 1942, two and a half years into the Second World War, the British were facing a problem. While the British Navy mostly commanded the Atlantic, the Germans had one significant advantage: The battleship Tirpitz. Rather than attack the Tirpitz head-on, they came up with an alternate plan which would effectively limit the effectiveness of the battleship. Learn more about The St. Nazaire Raid on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.

Who do you think what the wealthiest athlete in history? Maybe Michael Jordan. Perhaps Tiger Woods or Roger Federer. Or maybe Lionel Messi or LeBron James? Well, historically speaking, if you added up the fortunes of all of those people, they probably couldn’t compare to one man who competed in ancient Rome. A man who put his life at risk far more than any golfer or tennis player. Learn more about Gaius Appuleius Diocles on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.

Every year, on the last Monday in May, the United States honors its war dead. It is often celebrated with parades, cookouts, and ceremonies at military cemeteries. While many people just think of it as a three-day weekend and the beginning of summer, it is a tradition that extends back over 160 years. Learn more about Memorial Day, how it got started, and how it is celebrated, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.

If I was to ask you what the wealthiest royal family in Europe was, your first guess would probably be the British Royal Family. But it isn’t. It also isn’t the royal families in Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Norway, or even the wealthy enclave of Monaco. The richest royal family is also the unlikeliest. Learn more about Liechtenstein, how their family got so wealthy, and why the country even exists, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.

One of the simplest mathematical statements possible is 2+2=4. While the concept is very easy to understand, when you write it down you have to use mathematical symbols which are, historically speaking, a relatively recent invention. At one point, mathematicians were doing reasonably complicated work without the benefit of symbols at all. Something which is unthinkable today. Learn more about mathematical symbols on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.