Author: Gary Arndt

Which person can be credited with having saved the most human lives in history? There might not be a direct answer to that question, but one person whose name always comes up is that of Normal Borlaug. Borlaug has been called “Humanity’s Forgotten Benefactor” and was the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. His efforts have been attributed to having saved the lives of over a billion people. Yet, few people know who he is.

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

In the Roman Republic, men of senatorial rank could compete for political offices which were placed in a set order and had to be earned sequentially. This hierarchy was known as the Cursus Honorum. The Cursus Honorum was the basis of political and social life in ancient Rome, and the fortunes of entire families could rise and fall based on how high someone could climb. Learn more about the Roman political ladder on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

North America and Europe have much which separates them culturally as well as geographically. One of the biggest differences is in the area of sports. Not just which sports we play, but in how sports are organized. Many people on either side of the Atlantic have no clue how sports are organized on the other side, or at least have major misconceptions. Learn more about how sports are managed and operated in Europe and North American on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lis Hartel was a Danish equestrian competitor in the 1940s and 1950s. She competed in the 1952 Olympics and the 1956 Olympics and she won medals at both. However, her Olympic medals are just the starting point of her fascinating and inspirational story. Learn more about Lis Hartel and her remarkable accomplishments on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Each of the 50 states in the United States has a unique history. 13 of them were originally British Colonies. Some of them were former Spanish or French territory. Most of them were officially US territories before they became states. A few, however, were actually independent countries before they joined the Union…..or at least they sort of were independent countries. Learn more about the states that were once countries on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ask most Muslims what the holiest site is in Islam, and they would all obviously tell you it is the Kaaba at the Great Mosque of Mecca. Ask most Christians what the holiest site is in Christianity, and you might get a blank stare or at least several different answers. Through most of Christianity, there has been one place that has been agreed upon as the holiest site, and it has been the cause of wars and disagreements which have continued to this day.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For eight seasons, the TV show Dexter showed the fictional life of a crime solving forensics expert who just so happened to have been a serial killer who killed serial killers. This got me wondering, has there ever been a real life Dexter? A killer, or even a criminal, who targeted other criminals? Well, there sort of has been. Learn the story of the real life Dexter on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The ancient Romans had a practice called Damnatio Memoriae, which was to banish someone’s memory from public life. It was also sometimes known as oblivion. It called for the complete deletion of the person’s name or image from all statues, inscriptions, coins, and texts. While the practice neither began nor ended with the Romans, they are ones who gave it the name we used today. Learn more about the history of expunging people from history on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sports history is littered with really bad teams. The 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers didn’t win a single game and wound up losing 26 in a row. The 2012 Charlotte Bobcats went 7-59 for a .106 winning percentage. The 1899 Cleveland Spiders set a record for futility in baseball winning only 20 games out of 154. However, all of those teams are giants compared to the worst professional sports team in history: The Washington Generals.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices