Facts To Settle Arguments

Telephone invented. 1861.

There are 2,750 languages.

Sound moves 743 miles per hour.

Hawks can fly 150 miles an hour.

Chinese invented paper, 170 B. C.

A hand, horse measure, is 4 inches.

German Empire re-established, 1871.

Storm clouds move 36 miles an hour.

The first steel pen was made in 1830.

Phonographs invented by Edison, 1877.

Light moves 187,000 miles per second.

Watches were first constructed in 1476.

First steamer crossed the Atlantic, 1819.

Rome was founded by Romulus, 752 B. C.

First musical notes used, 1338; printed, 1502.

The first Atlantic cable was operated in 1858.

The first balloon ascended from Lyons, France, 1783.

Slow rivers flow at the rate of seven-tenths of a mile per hour.

Napoleon I. crowned Emperor, 1804; died at St. Helena, 1820.

Harvard, the oldest college in the United States, was founded, 1638.

The first steam engine on this continent was brought from England, 1753.

The most extensive park is Deer Park in Denmark. It contains 4,200
acres.

Measure 209 ft. on each side and you will have a square acre, to an
inch.

Albert Durer gave the world a prophecy of future wood engraving in 1527.

The first iron ore discovered in this country was found in Virginia in
1715.

Bravest of the Brave was the title given to Marshal Ney at Friedland,
1807.

The highest bridge in the world, 360 ft. from the surface of the water,
is over a gorge at Constantine in Algiers.

The first volunteer fire company in the United States was at
Philadelphia, 1736.

St. Augustine, oldest city in the United States, founded by the
Spaniards, 1565.

Jamestown, Va., founded, 1607; first permanent English settlement in
America.

Books in their present form were invented by Attalus, kind of Pergamos,
198 B. C.

Robert Raikes established the first Sunday-school, at Gloucester,
England, 1781.

Oberlin College, Ohio, was the first in the United States that admitted
female students.

The first knives were used in England, and the first wheeled carriages
in France, in 1559.

The largest park in the United States is Fairmont, at Philadelphia, and
contains 2.740 acres.

The highest natural bridge in the world is at Rockbridge, Virginia,
being 200 feet high to the bottom of the arch.

The largest empire in the world is that of Great Britain, being
8,557,658 square miles, and more than a sixth part of the globe.

The first electrical signal ever transmitted between Europe and America
passed over the Field submarine cable on Aug. 5, 1858.

Paris was known as Lutetia until 1184, when the name of the great French
capital was changed to that which it has borne ever since.

The longest tunnel in the world is St. Gothard, on the line of the
railroad between Lucerne and Milan, being 9-1/2 miles in length.

Burnt brick were known to have been used in building the Tower of Babel.
They were introduced into England by the Romans.

The loftiest active volcano is Popocatapetl. It is 17,784 feet high, and
has a crater three miles in circumference and 1,000 feet deep.

The largest insurance company in the world is the Mutual Life of New
York City, having cash and real estate assets of over $350,000,000.

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 advertisement appeared in 1652.

Benjamin Franklin used the first lightning rods, 1752.

Glass 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
circumference.

The grade of titles 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 canals, 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 Washington 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 homoeopathy 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.; assassinated, 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 Washington 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.

French Revolution, 1789; Reign of Terror, 1793.

$1,000,000 gold coin weighs 3,685.8 lb. avoirdupois.

Mormons arrived at Salt Lake Valley, Utah, July 24, 1847.

The largest cavern in the world is the Mammoth Cave, Kentucky.

Experiments in electric lighting, by Thomas A. Edison, 1878-80.

Daguerre and Nieper invented the process of daguerreotype, 1839.

First American library founded at Harvard College, Cambridge, 1638.

First cotton raised in the United States was in Virginia, in 1621; first
exported, 1747.

First sugar-cane cultivated in the United States, near New Orleans,
1751; first sugar-mill, 1758.

First telegraph in operation in America was between Washington and
Baltimore, May 27, 1844.

The largest university is Oxford, in England. It consists of twenty-one
colleges and five halls.

The first illumination with gas was in Cornwall, Eng., 1792; in the
United States, at Boston, 1822.

Printing was known in China in the 6th century; introduced into England
about 1474; America, 1516.

The great wall of China, built 200 B. C. is 1,250 miles in length, 20
feet high, and 25 feet thick at the base.

Glass mirrors first made by Venetians in the 13th century. Polished
metal was used before that time.

Meerschaum means froth of the sea. It is white and soft when dug from
the earth, but soon hardens.

In round numbers, the weight of $1,000,000 in standard gold coin is
1-3/4 tons; standard silver coin, 26-3/4 tons; subsidiary silver coin,
25 tons; minor coin, 5-cent nickel, 100 tons.

The highest monument in the world is the Washington monument, being 555
feet. The highest structure of any kind is the Eiffel Tower, Paris,
finished in 1889, and 989 feet high.

There has been no irregularity in the recurrence of leap year every four
years since 1800, except in 1900, which was a common year, although it
came fourth after the preceding leap year.

It is claimed that crows, eagles, ravens and swans live to be 100 years
old; herons, 59, parrots, 60; pelicans and geese, 50; skylarks, 30;
sparrow hawks, 40; peacocks, canaries and cranes, 24.

The greatest cataract in the world is Niagara, the height of the
American falls being 165 feet. The highest fall of water in the world is
that of the Yosemite in California, being 2,550 feet.

The most ancient catacombs are those of the Theban kings, begun 4,000
years ago. The catacombs of Rome contain the remains of about 6,000,000
human beings; those of Paris, 3,000,000.

The first English newspaper was the English Mercury, issued in the reign
of Queen Elizabeth, and was issued in the shape of a pamphlet. The
Gazette of Venice was the original model of the modern newspaper.

The Great Eastern, at one time the greatest steamer afloat, and twice as
long as any other vessel at the time of her launching, in 1858, was 692
feet in length and 118 feet in breadth. She was too large to be handled
profitably with the motive power then available, but proved
indispensable in the laying of the Atlantic cable. She was broken up and
sold as junk, although the Isherwood system, on which she was built, has
since been revived, and is now successfully employed in shipbuilding.

The seven sages flourished in Greece in the 6th century B. C. They were
renowned for their maxims of life, and as the authors of the mottoes
inscribed in the Delphian Temple. Their names are: Solon, Chilo,
Pittacus, Bias, Periander, Cleobolus, and Thales.

A monkey wrench is not so named because it is a handy thing to monkey
with, or for any kindred reason. Monkey is not its name at all, but
Moncky. Charles Moncky, the inventor of it, sold his patent for
$2,000, and invested the money in a house in Williamsburgh, Kings
County, N. Y.

The Seven Wonders of the World are seven most remarkable objects of
the ancient world. They are: The Pyramids of Egypt, Pharos of
Alexandria, Walls and Hanging Gardens of Babylon, Temple of Diana at
Ephesus, the Statue of the Olympian Jupiter, Mausoleum of Artemisia, and
Colossus of Rhodes.

In 1775 there were only twenty-seven newspapers published in the United
States. Ten years later, in 1785, there were seven published in the
English language in Philadelphia alone, of which one was a daily. The
oldest newspaper published in Philadelphia at the time of the Federal
convention was the Pennsylvania Gazette, established by Samuel Keimer,
in 1728. The second newspaper in point of age was the Pennsylvania
Journal, established in 1742 by William Bradford, whose uncle, Andrew
Bradford, established the first newspaper in Pennsylvania, the American
Weekly Mercury, in 1719. Next in age, but the first in importance, was
the Pennsylvania Packet, established by John Dunlap, in 1771. In 1784 it
became a daily, being the first daily newspaper printed on this
continent.

Liberty, Bartholdi's statue, presented to the United States by the
French people in 1885, is the largest statue ever built. Its conception
is due to the great French sculptor whose name it bears. It is said to
be a likeness of his mother. Eight years of time were consumed in the
construction of this gigantic brazen image. Its weight is 440,000
pounds, of which 146,000 pounds are copper, the remainder iron and
steel. The major part of the iron and steel was used in constructing the
skeleton frame work for the inside. The mammoth electric light held in
the hands of the giantess is 305 feet above tide-water. The height of
the figure is 152-1/2 feet; the pedestal 91 feet, and the foundation 52
feet and 10 inches. Forty persons can find standing-room within the
mighty head, which is 14-1/2 feet in diameter. A six-foot man standing
on the lower lip could hardly reach the eyes. The index finger is 8 feet
in length and the nose 3-3/4 feet. The Colossus of Rhodes was a pigmy
compared with this latter-day wonder.

The largest and grandest temple of worship in the world is St. Peter's
Cathedral at Rome. It stands on the site of Nero's circus, in the
northwest part of the city, and is built in form of a Latin cross. The
total length of the interior is 612-1/2 English feet; transept, 446-1/2
feet; height of nave, 152-1/2 feet; diameter of cupola, 193 feet; height
of dome from pavement to top of cross, 448 feet. The great bell alone,
without the hammer or clapper, weighs 18,600 pounds, or over 9-1/4 tons.
The foundation was laid in 1450 A. D. Forty-three Popes lived and died
during the time the work was in progress. It was dedicated in the year
1826, but not entirely finished until the year 1880. The cost, in round
numbers, is set down at $70,000,000.

The great pyramid of Cheops is the largest structure of any kind ever
erected by the hand of man. Its original dimensions at the base were 764
feet square, and its perpendicular height in the highest point 488 feet;
it covers four acres, one rood and twenty-two perches of ground and has
been estimated by an eminent English architect to have cost not less
than 30,000,000 pounds, which in United States currency would be about
$145,200,000. Internal evidence proves that the great pyramid was begun
about the year 2170 B. c., about the time of the birth of Abraham. It is
estimated that about 5,000,000 tons of hewn stone were used in its
construction, and the evidence points to the fact that these stones were
brought a distance of about 700 miles from quarries in Arabia.

The largest body of fresh water in the world is Lake Superior. It is 400
miles long and 180 miles wide; its circumference, including the winding
of its various bays, has been estimated at 1,800 miles. Its area in
square miles is 32,000, which is greater than the whole of New England,
leaving out Maine. The greatest depth of this inland sea is 200 fathoms,
or 1,200 feet. Its average depth is about 160 fathoms. It is 636 feet
above the sea level.

The corner stone of the Washington monument, the highest in the United
States, and until 1889 the highest structure in the world, was laid July
4, 1848. Robert E. Winthrop, then Speaker of the House, delivered the
oration. Work progressed steadily for about six years, until the funds
of the monumental society became exhausted. At that time the monument
was about 175 feet high. From 1854 until 1879 nothing to speak of was
done on the building. In the year last above named Congress voted an
appropriation of $200,000 to complete the work. From that time forward
work progressed at a rapid rate until December 6th, 1884, when the
aluminum apex was set at 555 feet 5-1/2 inches from the foundation and
the work declared finished. The foundation is 146-1/2 feet square;
number of stones used above the 130-foot level, 19,163; total weight
stone used in work, 81,120 tons.

The largest State in our grand republic is Texas, which contains 274,350
square miles, capable of sustaining 20,000,000 people, and then it would
not be more crowded than Scotland is at present. It has been estimated
that the entire population of the globe could be seated upon chairs
within the boundary of Texas and each have four feet of elbow room.

The Mississippi River, from the source of the Missouri to the Eads
jetties, is the longest river in the world. It is 4,300 miles in length
and drains an area of 1,726,000 square miles. The Amazon, which is
without doubt the widest river in the world, including the Beni, is
4,000 miles in length and drains 2,330,000 square miles of territory.

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Facts To Settle Arguments