286 



THE CENTURY BOOK OF FACTS. 



the Empire, and its first sovereign, B. 0. 2247. The 

 country conquered l>y the eastern Tartars, when th 

 emperor and his family killed themselves, A. D. 1641 

 First voyage to China from the United States made 

 from New York, February 22, 17*4. 



Cimbri, The, were the ancient inhabitants of Jut 

 land, of disputed nationality. They made serious in 

 cursions into Italy, but were utterly routed by th 

 Romans, 101 B. C.,and were afterwards merged in th 

 Saxons. 



Colorado (Centennial state). First settlement, In 

 Americans, near Denver, about 1850. Organized as i 

 territory, 1861. Ranks first in silver, fourth in gold 

 eighth in square miles, seventeenth in miles of railway 

 thirty-fifth m population and wealth. About one thirc 

 of the state is good agricultural land and easy of irriga 

 tion, bringing forth bountiful harvests of all the cereals 

 As a grazing and dairy country it is unsurpassed, it 

 nutritious grasses having peculiar advantages for herd 

 mg. Its chief production is mining;' in its vield of 

 gold and silver, it is the leading state of the Union. 



Commune, The, is the unit or lowest division in the 

 administration of France, corresponding in the rura 

 districts to our township, and in towns to a munici 

 pality. The rising of the Commune at Paris in 1871 

 and which should not be confounded with communism 

 was a revolutionary assertion of the autonomy of Paris 

 that is, of the right of self-government through its 

 commune or municipality. The theory of the rising 

 was that every commune should have a real autonomy" 

 the central government being merely a federation of 

 communes. The movement was based on discontent at 

 1 ans, where the people found themselves in possession 

 ot arms after the siege by the Germans. The rising be- 

 gan on the 18th of March, 1871, and was only suppressed 

 ten weeks later, after long, bloody fighting'between the 

 forces of the Commune and a larg'e army of the central 

 government; 6,500 Communists having fallen during 

 20-30th of May, and 38,578 having been taken prisoners. 



Covent Garden, originally the garden of the Abbot 

 ol Westminster, is a spacious square in London, cele- 

 brated for a great market held within it of fruit vege- 

 tables, and flowers. The square was formed about 1631 

 and is famous from its connection with the modern his- 

 tory of London. 



Confederation of the Rhine, The, formed July 12, 

 806, was a federation of the Germanic States, formed 

 by Napoleon Bonaparte, whose disastrous Russian cam- 

 paign (1812) caused the dissolution of the confederation, 

 the Germanic Confederation taking its place. 



Connecticut, first settled by the English at Windsor 

 1633. Ranks first in clocks ; third in silk goods ; fourth 

 in cotton goods ; eighth in tobacco ; fourteenth in wealth. 

 Manufactures cotton, woolen, and worsted goods, hard- 

 ware, jewelry, plated ware, leather goods. Agricul- 

 ture and manufacture are carried on to a considerable 

 extent. Several extensive granite and freestone quar- 

 ries are successfully worked as are also mines of lead 

 copper, and iron. Many of the towns have an extensive 

 coasting trade, and foreign commerce with the West 

 Indies. 



Comedy, the first acted at Athens on a stage, B C 

 562 ; those of Terence first acted, B. C. 154 ; the first reg- 

 ular one performed in England, 1551. 



Constantinople, founded by Argives, B. C 658 be- 

 sieged and destroyed, 193; received its present name 

 from Constantino the Great, who removed there the 

 seat of the Eastern Empire, 324 ; suffered greatlv by fire, 

 pestilence, famine, and an earthquake, that overturned 

 its walls and towers, 446; had first an emperor, 1268- 

 taken from the Greeks by Mahomet II., who slew the 

 emperor and 60,000 inhabitants this put an end to the 

 eastern empire, which began with the reign of Arcadus, 

 39o, and continued 1055 years; the embassadors of Eng- 

 land and France arrived at, June 20, 1829. 



Convention, for forming the constitution of the 

 United States, met at Philadelphia, May 25, 1787, and re- 

 ported the same to the States for adoption September 

 17, of the same year. 



Cook, Captain, sailed July 30, 1768, to go round the 

 world ; returned August, 1771 ; again to explore the south- 

 ern hemisphere, July 13, 1772 ; returned July 29, 1775. 

 Billed by savages on a voyage to the Sandwich Islands, 

 18i9 ; ship returned, 1780. 



Copenhagen burned, 77 streets destroyed, 1723 Sir 

 Hyde Parker and Lord Nelson passed the sound, and 

 after destroying the fleet, made peace with the Danes 

 April 2, 1801 ; garrison of, capitulated to the British 

 troops after a severe bombardment of three davs, Sep- 

 tember 6, 1807. 



Cordova, the first Roman colony in Spain, settled by 

 Marcellus; the residence of the Moorish princess, 759'; 

 kingdom of, destroyed, 1014. 



knowledged George III. as their king, 1794 : tin- i-laml 

 evacuated by the English, November, 17'J<;. 



Crusades, or Holy Wars, between the Christians and 

 Mohammedans, which, in the end, cost the li\es ot two 

 hundred million men. The first, in 101)5, was under 

 Peter the Hermit and Godfrey de Bouillon ; the second. 

 in 1146, under Emperor Conrad II. and Louis VII. of 

 France; the third, in 1188, by Frederick Barbai">~ a , 

 joined in 1190 by Philip II. of France and Richard I. of 

 England; the fourth, in 1204, under Baldwin, Count of 

 Flanders; the fifth, in 1228, under Frederick II.; the 

 sixth, in 1248, under Louis IX. of France against Egypt : 

 the seventh, in 1270, also by Louis IX., against T linis. 

 where Louis lost his life. 



Curfew Bell was established in England in HMW. 

 which, to prevent fires, obliged people to put out their 

 fire and candles at eight in the evening, when the bells 

 rang; abolished in 1100. t 



Danes, their first descent upon England wa>at Tort- 

 land, 787; their second in Northumberland. 794, when 

 they were repelled and perished by shipwreck. Suc- 

 cessive invasions took place up to the year 998; de- 

 feated the English at Ipswich, 1010; took Canterbury 

 and put nine out of ten of the inhabitants to death, 

 1011; settled in Scotland, 1020; expelled the English. 

 1041 ; landed again at Sandwich, 1047, and carried oil 

 great plunder to Flanders; joined the Northumbrians, 

 burned York, and slew 3,000 Normans, 1069; invadeil 

 England again, but, bribed bv William II., quitted 

 it, 1140. 



Dakotas, The, first settled by Americans at Penibina. 

 Admitted into the Union as two states, North and 

 South Dakota, 1889. Ranks third in gold, ninth in sil- 

 ver, thirty-ninth in population. 



Delaware, first settlement made by Swedes at Cape 

 Henlopen, 1(558. The principal industries are agricul- 

 tural pursuits and mining. Fruit grows in "great 

 abundance. Considerable manufacturing is done in the 

 northern part of the state. 



Delft, one of the most ancient towns of South Hol- 

 land, is situated on the Schie, eight miles northwest .it 

 Rotterdam by rail, and is intersected by numerous 

 canals. Delft was noted from the sixteenth to the 

 eighteenth century for its Delft ware, but has now en- 

 tirely lost its high reputation for this manufacture. 



Decemvirs, The, were men who drew up a code of 

 Roman laws, and who, in 451 B. C., had the whole gov- 

 ernment of Rome in their hands. They were successful 

 in their administration till the incident of Appius 

 Claudius and Virginia led to the appointment of consuls. 



Delphi was an ancient northern Greek town, cele- 

 brated for the oracles pronounced by the Pythian 

 priestess in the temple of Apollo. The oracle was known 

 as early as 900 B. C., and the temple became the reposi- 

 tory of immense treasures. It was plundered by the 

 Phocians and Nero, the latter taking away three hun- 

 dred costly statues in 67 A. D. 



Denmark, the ancient kingdom of the Coths; its 

 Irst king reigned 714; embraced Christianity, 910; 

 united with the Crown of Norway, 1412, and with 8 we- 

 len,1497; separated from Sweden in 1528 ; crown iua<ic 

 lereditary and absolute, 1660; Copenhagen bombarded 

 by the English, 1807; commercial treaty between Den- 

 mark and England, 1824. 



Diana, Temple of, at Ephesus, burned by the Anir.- 

 zons, about 1182; again by Erostratus, in order tojier- 

 >etuate his name, B. C. 356; again by the Goths, in their 

 bird invasion, about 256. 



Dionysius, Usurpation of, B. C. 409; besieged Rhe- 



gium, 388, and took it after eleven mouths; began the 



irst Puni<! war,3iS4; expelled from Syracuse by I>ion.;;:,7 



Doomsday Book, The, or "Domesday Book" (1085- 



086), was a statistical survey of that part of England 



vliic.h was under the sway of William the Conqueror. 



>o called, probably, because it was of authority in all 



looms, i. e., judgments in disputed questions which 



afterwards arose on matters contained therein. It was 



anciently known as the " Liber de Wintonia " (Book of 



Winchester), because at one time it was preserved in 



he royal treasury of that city, under three locks and 



tevs. It was printed and published in 1783, in two folio 



'olumes. In 1816 two supplementary volumes were 



ublished. 





