Lincoln was assassinated April 14, 1865.

Rome was founded by Romulus, 752 B.C.

Gold was discovered in California in 1848.

Chinese history begins from the year 3000 B.C.

Ignatius Loyola founded the order of Jesuits, 1541.

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

The German Empire was reestablished January 18, 1871.

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

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

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

Electric light was invented by Lodyguin and Kossloff, at London, 1874.

War was declared with Great Britain, June 19,1812; peace, February 18, 1815.

First public schools in America were established in the New England States about 1642.

Postage stamps first came into use in England in the year 1840; in the United States, in 1847.

The highest range of mountains is 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.

Alma Mater (bounteous mother), is a familiar term applied by university men to their own particular university.

The Sombrero (Spanish, from Sombra, "shade"), is a broad-brimmed felt hat, originally Spanish, but common throughout North and South America.

An oak grows 2 ft. 101/2 in. in 3 years. An elm in 3 years grows 8 ft 3 in.; a beach, 1 ft. 8 in.; a poplar, 6 ft.; a willow, 9 ft. 3 in.

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 largest suspension bridge is the Brooklyn. The length of the main span is 1,595 feet 6 inches. The entire length of the bridge is 5,989 feet.

Bowstring, the string of a bow, is a name specifically used for an old Turkish mode of execution, the offender being strangled by means of a bowstring.

The sweetest singer is the nightingale; then come the linnet, the lark, sky-lark and wood-lark. The mocking bird has the greatest powers of imitation.

Creches are nurseries to which mothers can send their children whilst they go to work. They were started first in France, 1844, and in England, 1863.

An ornament or knot of ribbon or rosette of leather, worn either as a military or naval decoration, or as the badge of a political party, is called a Cockade.

The nine great public schools of England are Eton, Harrow, Rugby, Winchester, Westminster, Shrewsbury, Charterhouse, St. Paul's and Merchant Taylors'.

Cross-buns are small cakes especially prepared for Good Friday, and in many towns of England cried about the streets on the morning of that day as "hot cross-buns."

Cricket is supposed to have been played in England in the fourteenth century. The first English team visited Australia, 1861, and the first Australian team visited England, 1878.

The term crofter is commonly used in Scotland to designate a small tenant of land who derives a substantial portion of his livelihood from cultivation or the raising of live-stock.

A poison used by some of the South American Indians for putting on the points of their arrows, is called curari. Animals killed with it may be eaten, however, without injury.

Dead reckoning is the method of reckoning a ship's position by calculating by the log how far she has run, making allowance for drift, leeway, etc., without an observation of the stars.

The ancient inhabitants of Jutland were called Cimbri. They made serious incursions into Italy, but were utterly routed by the Romans, 101 B. c., and were afterwards merged in the Saxons.

A canton is a division of territory, constituting a separate government or state, as in Switzerland; or, as in France, a collection of communes, forming a subdivision of an arrondissement.

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

The term "Cockney" is a familiar name for a Londoner, the earlier meaning of which was a foolish, effeminate person, or a spoilt child. The original meaning is very obscure, and various accounts are given of its origin.

Cremation is a term signifying the reduction of the dead human body to ashes by fire, which was a very early and widespread usage of antiquity. There are nine crematories in the United States.

Almeh, Alme, or Almai (Arabic alim, "wise," "learned"), a class of Egyptian singing girls in attendance at festivals, entertainments, or funerals. The Ghawazee, or dancing girls, are of a lower order.

A splendid thing of fancy or hope, but wholly without any real existence, is called a "castle of Spain." So Greek Kalends means "never," because there were no such things as "Greek Kalends."

The camel is a caisson-like apparatus for rendering a vessel navigable in shoal water. It was invented by the Russian engineer De Witte (1790-1854), and is often used between Kronstadt and St. Petersburgh.

Chalet is the French-Swiss name for the wooden hut of the Swiss herdsmen on the mountains; but is also extended to Swiss dwelling-houses generally, and to picturesque and ornate villas built in imitation of them.

The origin of the game of billiards is uncertain. Some suppose that it was invented by Henrique Devigne in 1571. Slate tables were introduced in 1827. Shakspeare makes Cleopatra invite her companion to billiards.

A dais is the raised platform at the upper end of ancient dining halls, also the high table of the hall itself. The name is also applied to a seat with a canopy or high wainscot back for the occupants sitting at the high table.

It is a common Asiatic custom for the bridegroom to give chase to the bride, either on foot, horseback, or in canoes. If the bridegroom catches the fugitive, he claims her as his bride, otherwise the match is broken off.