Be sure you're right, then go ahead. GEMS OF KNOWLEDGE. Handy Facts to Settle Many Arguments. London plague in 1665. Telephone invented, 1861. There are 2,750 languages. Two persons die every second. Sound moves 743 miles per hour. Chinese invented paper, 170 B.C. A square mile contains 640 acres. A barrel of pork weighs 200 pounds. Hawks can fly 150 miles in one hour. Watches were first constructed in 1476. Chinese in United States in 1880, 105,613. Rome was founded by Romulus, 752 B.C. Gold was discovered in California in 1848. Phonograph invented by T. A. Edison, 1877. The first balloon ascended from Lyons, France, 1783. The first fire insurance office in America, Boston, 1724. Jet is found along the coast of Yorkshire, Eng., near Whitby. Napoleon I. crowned emperor, 1804; died at St. Helena, 1820, Electric light invented by Lodyguin and Kossloff, at London, 1874. Harvard is the oldest college in the United States; established in 1638. War declared with Great Britain, June 19, 1812; peace, Feb. 18, 1815. Until 1776 cotton spinning was performed by the hand spinning-wheel. Measure 209 feet on each side and you will have a square acro within an inch. Postage stamps first came into use in England in the year 184c; in the United States, in 1847. The highest range of mountains are the Himalayas, the mean elevation being from 16,000 to 18,000 feet. The largest inland sea is the Caspian, between Europe and Asia, being 700 miles long and 270 miles wide. The term "Almighty Dollar" originated with Washington Irving, as a satire on the American love for gain. Envelopes were first used in 1839. Telescopes were invented in 1590. Iron horseshoes were made in 481. A barrel of flour weighs 196 pounds. A hand (horse measure) is four inches. A rifle ball moves 1,000 miles per hour. First steamer crossed the Atlantic, 1819. Assassination of Lincoln, April 14, 1865. German empire re-established, Jan. 18, 1871. Storm clouds move thirty-six miles an hour. First subscription library, Philadelphia, 1731. Dark Ages, from the 6th to the 14th century. The Latin tongue became obsolete about 580. The great London fire occurred Sept. 26, 1666. The value of a ton of pure gold is $602,799.21. Ether was first used for surgical purposes in 1844. Ignatius Loyola founded the order of Jesuits, 1541. First authentic use of organs, 755; in England, 951. The first newspaper advertisement appeared in 1652. Cork is the bark taken from a species of the oak tree. Benjamin Franklin used the first lightning rods, 1752. Glass windows (colored) were used in the 8th century. Authentic history of China commenced 3,000 years B.C. Introduction of homoeopathy into the United States, 1825. Spectacles were invented by an Italian in the 13th century. Medicine was introduced into Rome from Greece, 200 B.C. First electric telegraph, Paddington to Brayton, Eng., 1835. The Chaldeans were the first people who worked in metals. First life insurance, in London, 1772; in America, Phila., 1812. Egyptian pottery is the oldest known; dates from 2,000 B.C. Julius Cæsar invaded Britain, 55 B.C.; assassinated, 44 B.C. Soap was first manufactured in England in the 16th century. The largest free territorial government is the United States. First photographs produced in England, 1802; perfected, 1841. First marine insurance, A. D. 533; England, 1598; America, 1721. Professor Oersted, Copenhagen, discovered electro-magnetism, in 1819. First American express, New York to Boston-W. F. Harnden. Glass windows were first introduced into England in the 8th century. Chicago is little more than fifty years old, and is the eighteenth city of the world. Glass was made in Egypt, 3,000 B.C.; earliest date of transparent glass, 719 B.C. First public schools in America were established in the New England States about 1642. |