The Handy Cyclopedia of Things Worth Knowing Part 7

The Latin tongue became obsolete about 580.

The value of a ton of pure gold is $602,799.21.

First authentic use of organs, 755; in England, 951.

Ether was first used for surgical purposes in 1844.

Ignatius Loyola founded the order of Jesuits, 1541.

The first newspaper advertis.e.m.e.nt appeared in 1652.

Benjamin Franklin used the first lightning rods, 1752.

Gla.s.s windows (colored) were used in the 8th century.

The largest desert is Sahara, in Northern Africa. Its length is 3,000 miles and breadth 900 miles, having an area of 2,000,000 square miles.

The most remarkable echo known is that in the castle of Simonetta, two miles from Milan. It repeats the echo of a pistol shot sixty times.

The first deaf and dumb asylum was founded in England, by Thomas Braidwood, 1760; and the first in the United States was at Hartford, 1817.

The largest diamond in the world is the Braganza, being a part of the Portugese jewels. It weighs 1,880 carats. It was found in Brazil in 1741.

The "Valley of Death," in the island of Java, is simply the crater of an extinct volcano, filled with carbonic acid gas. It is half a mile in circ.u.mference.

The grade of t.i.tles in Great Britain stands in the following order from the highest: A Prince, Duke, Marquis, Earl, Viscount, Baron, Baronet, Knight.

The city of Amsterdam, Holland, is built upon piles driven into the ground. It is intersected by numerous ca.n.a.ls, crossed by nearly three hundred bridges.

Coal was used as fuel in England as early as 852, and in 1234 the first charter to dig it was granted by Henry III. to the inhabitants of Newcastle-on-Tyne.

The present national colors of the United States were not adopted by Congress until 1777. The flag was first used by Was.h.i.+ngton at Cambridge, January 1, 1776.

Tobacco was discovered in San Domingo in 1496; afterwards by the Spaniards in Yucatan in 1520. It was Introduced into France in 1560, and into England in 1583.

Kerosene was first used for illuminating in 1826.

Cork is the bark taken from a species of the oak tree.

National banks first established in the United States, 1816.

Introduction of h.o.m.oeopathy into the United States, 1825.

Egyptian pottery is the oldest known; dates from 2,000 B. C.

Authentic history of China commenced 3.000 years B. C.

The largest free territorial government is the United States.

The Chaldeans were the first people who worked in metals.

Spectacles were invented by an Italian in the 13th century.

Soap was first manufactured in England in the 16th century.

Julius Caesar invaded Britain, 55 B. C.; a.s.sa.s.sinated, 44 B. C.

Medicine was introduced into Rome from Greece, 200 B. C.

First electric telegraph, Paddington to Brayton, England, 1835.

First photographs produced in England, 1802; perfected, 1841.

First life insurance, in London, 1772; in America, Philadelphia. 1812.

Slavery in the United States was begun at Jamestown, Va. in 1619.

The highest denomination of legal-tender notes in the United States is $10,000.

Postage stamps first came into use in England in the year 1840; 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 term "Almighty Dollar" originated with Was.h.i.+ngton Irving, as a satire on the American love for gain.

The largest inland sea is the Caspian, between Europe and Asia, being 700 miles long and 270 miles wide.

A span is ten and seven-eighths inches.

First watches made in Nuremberg, 1476.

Pianoforte invented in Italy about 1710.

The value of a ton of silver is $37,704.84.

French and Indian War in America, 1754.

A hurricane moves eighty miles per hour.

Coaches were first used in England in 1569.

The first horse railroad was built in 1826-7.

Electricity moves 288,000 miles per second.

Modern needles first came into use in 1545.

The average human life is thirty-three years.