The speaker, Vsauce Michael, begins by asking if you have a best friend who is there for you 24/7. He then proceeds to discuss the birth dates of George Washington, which are said to be either February 22nd, 1732 or February 11th, 1730. He also mentions a historical event in Russia in 1752, where the British Empire was involved.
The speaker then delves into the movement of Earth through space, explaining how it spins counterclockwise, revolves around the Sun, and how this rotation causes our daily sunrise and sunset. He discusses the concept of meridians and how they align with the North and South Poles, and how shadows fall straight down at the subsolar point, giving us a perfect circle of shadows.
He then explains the concept of a sidereal day, which is the time it takes for a meridian to complete a trip around the Earth, and the solar day, which is the time it takes for the Earth to spin to complete a solar day. He explains the discrepancy between these two definitions, and how this was addressed with the introduction of the equation of time.
The speaker then discusses the concept of a year, explaining that it varies due to the elliptical orbit of Earth and its tilt. He explains how this affects the seasons and the length of a year. He also discusses the concept of leap years, explaining how adding an extra day every four years keeps our calendar aligned with the seasons.
Finally, he discusses the movement of the solar system and the Milky Way through the universe, explaining that we are moving towards a point in the universe known as the Great Attractor. He ends with a promotional announcement for the Vsauce Curiosity Box.
Here are the key facts extracted from the text:
1. George Washington was born on February 22nd, 1732, but his family Bible says he was born on February 11th, 1730.
2. The Earth spins counterclockwise on its axis.
3. The Earth orbits the Sun in a counterclockwise direction.
4. The Earth's orbit is slightly elliptical, which affects its speed throughout the year.
5. The Earth is tilted at an angle of 23.4 degrees relative to its orbit around the Sun.
6. The subsolar point is the point on the Earth's surface directly below the Sun.
7. The subsolar point crosses over Hawaii twice a year.
8. The Earth's rotation causes day and night, and its orbit around the Sun causes the seasons.
9. A sidereal day is the time it takes the Earth to rotate once relative to the stars, which is approximately 23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4 seconds.
10. A solar day is the time it takes the Earth to rotate once relative to the Sun, which is approximately 24 hours.
11. The Earth's rotation is not perfectly regular, which causes the length of a solar day to vary.
12. The Julian calendar, introduced by Julius Caesar in 46 BC, was the standard calendar in the Western world for over a millennium.
13. The Julian calendar had a leap year every four years, but this caused a discrepancy of about 11 minutes per year.
14. The Gregorian calendar, introduced by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582, corrected the Julian calendar's discrepancy by omitting three leap years every 400 years.
15. The Gregorian calendar is still in use today and is the standard calendar in most of the world.
16. The Earth's movement through space is affected by the movement of the solar system, the galaxy, and the universe as a whole.
17. The Earth is moving through the universe at a speed of approximately 2.1 million kilometers per hour towards the Great Attractor.
18. The cosmic microwave background radiation is the oldest detectable light in the universe, dating back to the Big Bang.
19. The universe became transparent to light about 380,000 years after the Big Bang, when electrons and protons formed hydrogen.