Category: DailyShorts

While different countries may debate as to what sport should really be called ‘football’, the reality is that the word football describes a broad family of sports all of whom have a very similar background and origin. Just like species with a common ancestor can evolve in ways where they look totally unlike each other, so too did the football sports evolve from a common ancestor into very different forms today.

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The Latin Alphabet has become the most widespread system of writing in the world. Its origins can be traced back thousands of years to Ancient Romans and to civilizations before that. It is probably the single biggest thing that we use today which originated in Rome. Today’s English alphabet, you know that one from the song, is a modification of the system which was used by the Romans, which has had some unique quirks in the past that most English speakers are unaware of.

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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?

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The Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia, a collective of independent podcasts from PRX.

A note on notes: We’d much rather you just went into each episode of The Memory Palace cold. And just let the story take you where it well. So, we don’t suggest looking into the show notes first.

Music

• Ruby by Ali Farka Toure

• Party’s End, from Bernard Herrmann’s score to The Egyptian

• Future Green by Masuhiro Sugaya

• The Boy and the Snake Dance by Charles Cohen

• Vier Stucke for Xylophone as performed by Guniid Keetman

• Opening from Marcelo Zarvos’ score to Please Give

• Herbert’s Story from Mark Orton’s score to Nebraska

• Solitary Living by The Flashbulb

Notes

• You should read Dan De Quille. He’s a good writer! I like his book on the Comstock Load, Big Bonanza.

• Also check out The Tall Tales of Dan De Quille, by C. Grant Loomis from 1946.

• I found this article about Twain’s time in Nevada particularly helpful.

On May 31, 2020, Irene Triplett passed away at the age of 90. Her life was rather unremarkable save for one important fact: she was the last person who received a pension from the United States government from the US Civil War. Find out how a woman who died two decades into the 21st Century was still receiving a pension from a war which ended 155 years ago on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.

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If there is one song almost everyone knows it is Happy Birthday to You (yes, that is the actual title of the song, even though everyone just calls it Happy Birthday). Not only has the song been sung at countless children’s birthday parties, but it has also been mentioned in Supreme Court decisions and was the subject of one of the most important copyright cases in history. Learn more about the most famous song in the world on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.

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The border between the United States and Canada is the longest border between any two countries in the world. The total length of the land border is 8,891 kilometers or 5,525 miles long. In addition to being the longest border in the world, it is also the longest non-militarized and non-fenced border in the world. With a border that long, you are bound to have some oddities, and the US/Canadian border has plenty.

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The longbow was one of the most devastating weapons in medieval Europe. It was a weapon that could launch projectiles hundreds of yards and pierce the heaviest of armor. It was the battlefield trump card to heavy armored cavalry. No country adopted and mastered the longbow quite like the English. One reason why they found the military success they did was due to a complete societal commitment to the longbow.

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