292 



THE CENTURY BOOK OF FACTS. 



1805 the French made it the capital of the kingdom of 

 Italy; retaken by Austria in 1814; in 1869 was incorpo- 

 rated with Loinbardy in the kingdom of Italy. 



Minstrels, originally piers appointed by the Lords 

 of Manor to divert their copyholders whilst at work; 

 owed their origin to the gleemen or harpers of the 

 Saxons; continued until about 1500; female harpers not 

 uncommon in Britain, 680. 



Mint. First established in London as a privileged 

 place, 1066 ; for the coinage of money, 1813; mint-of the 

 United States first established at Philadelphia, April 2, 

 1792 ; coinage of gold commenced July 31, 1795. 



Michigan (Wolverine State). First settled by the 

 French, at Detroit, 1650. Admitted to the, Union, 1837. 

 Ranks first in copper, lumber, and salt; second in iron 

 ore; third in buckwheat and wool; fifth in hops and 

 potatoes; sixth in wheat, barley, and wealth; seventh 

 in agricultural implements; ninth in pats, population, 

 and miles of railway, and twentieth in square miles. 

 Agriculture, mining^ lumbering, manufacturing, and 

 commerce command the attention of the inhabitants. 

 Large crops of wheat, corn, pa_ts, and potatoes are pro- 

 duced, as also great quantities of wool, butter, and 

 cheese. Fruit raising is extensivelv followed, the value 

 of the orchard products exceeds that of New Jersey or 

 California. The copper mines of the state are the rich- 

 est known, and are extensively worked. The produc- 

 tion of sawed lumber is greater than that of any other 

 state. The value of manufacturing exceeds $100,000,000. 

 The fisheries form one of the secondary, yet important 

 sources of wealth, large quantities being taken for home 

 use and export. 



Montana ranks fourth in silver, and square miles; 

 fifth in gold ; fifteenth in cattle ; thirty-sixth in miles of 

 railway, and forty-fourth in population. The popula- 

 tion of Montana, according to census of 1880, was 39, 159, 

 but in 1884 the total vote cast for delegate to Congress 

 was 26,969, and in 1886, 32,262. In 1890, the population 

 numbered 132, 159. First settlement, by Americans, 1852. 

 Organized as a territory, 1864. Admitted to the Union 

 in 1889. 



Mogul Empire. First conquered by JenghisKahn, a 

 Tartar prince, who died 1226; Timur Bek became 

 great mogul by conquest, 1399 ; the dynasty continued 

 in his family until the conquest of Tamerlane in the 

 fifteenth century; Kpuli Khan, the famous Sophi of 

 Persia, considerably diminished the power of the mogul, 

 and since that event many of the nabobs have made 

 themselves independent; the last sovereign, Shah 

 Allum, died in 1806, a pensioner of England. 



Monkery began in Egypt and Persia ; tolerably well 

 established about 330; in Egypt alone there were'96,000 

 monks. St. Anthony, the first example of a monastic 

 life, 305, established the first monastery on Mt. Colzim, 

 near the Red Sea. Athanasius introduced monastic life 

 into Rome, 341. 



Mount Vernon, memorable as the residence and the 

 burial place of George Washington, is on the right bank 

 of the Potomac, in Virginia, fifteen miles below Wash- 

 ington. In 1856 the mansion and surrounding property 

 were saved from the auctioneer's hammer, and secured 

 as a national possession. 



Moors, driven out of Spain, after they had continued 

 there 900 years, 1620, for attempting to free themselves 

 from the Inquisition; they were in number about 

 900,000. 



Morocco, Empire of, anciently Mauritania, first 

 known, 1008; possessed by the Romans, B. C.25; about 

 1116 Abdallah, the leader of a sect of Mohammedans, 

 founded the dynasty of Almahides, which ended in the 

 last sovereign's total defeat in Spain, 1212; Morocco 

 was afterwards seized by the King of Fez, but the de- 

 scendants of Mahomet, about 1550, subdued and united 

 the three kingdoms, and formed what is called the Em- 

 pire of Morocco. The present sovereign of Morocco 

 belongs to the ninth dynasty, founded in 1648. 



Moscow, burned, 30,000 nouses destroyed, in 1739; 

 entered by the French, September 14, 1812, and burned 

 by the Russians, in consequence of which the French 

 retreated with great loss. 



Museum, The British, established 1753; large addi- 

 tions made to the building and the library of George 

 III. given to the institution by George IV., 1827. 



Nantes, Edict of, passed by Henry IV., by which 

 Protestants enjoyed toleration 'in France, 1598, "revoked 

 by Louis XIV., 1685; in consequence of which 60,000 

 F*rench Protestants emigrated to England ; they engaged 

 largely in the manufacture of silk; some introduced the 

 art of making crystal glasses for watches and pictures. 



Naples, anciently Capua and Campania, kingdom of, 

 began 1020; given by the pope to the Comte D'Anjou, 

 1266; Alphonsusof Arragon united Sicily to it, and the 

 kings have since been called king of tne Two Sicilies, 

 1442; taken from the French and annexed to Spain, 

 1504; order of the Crescent founded, 1464; taken by the 

 French, January 24, 1799; Joseph Bonaparte was made 

 king of Naples in 1805, but replaced by Murat in 1808; 

 the Austrians took possession in 1814; in 1861* the last 

 king of Naples was expelled by Garibaldi, and the two 

 Sicilies were merged in the kingdom of Italy. 



Nebraska. First settlement made by " Americans. 

 Beef, cattle, and other livestock are raised in great num- 

 bers upon the grazing sections. Corn, wheat, and other 

 cereals, and fruit growing are carried on extensively 

 and with great success. The cheap and fertile land's 

 offer great inducements for settlement to immigrants. 



New Hampshire (Granite State). First settlement 

 by the English at Little Harbor, 1623. Ranks third in 

 manufacture of cotton goojds; fifteenth in potatoes; 

 twenty-second in wealth; thirty-first in population; 

 thirty-seventh in. miles of railway ; forty-first in square 

 miles. Largely engaged in manufacturing ; the abun- 

 dant water power affords great advantages. Agricul- 

 ture, pasturage, and drainage occupy a large number. 



New Mexico. First settled by the Spaniards at Santa 

 Fe, 1537 ; organized as a territory, 1850. Ranks eighth 

 in silver; eleventh in gold; nineteenth in sheep, and 

 twenty-second in cattle. Chief industries, mining and 

 cattle raising. 



Nevada. First settled, by Americans, in 1850. Ranks 

 second in gold; fourth in silver, and thirty-seventh in 

 wealth. The leading industry is mining, 'fhe mines of 

 the state yield over three fifths of all the silver pro- 

 duced in the United States. Stock raising is also 

 largely followed, owing to the large amount of good 

 pasture land. 



Netherlands were placed under the sovereignty of 

 the house of Orange and became a kingdom, 1815 ; in 

 1816, the Prince of Orange was elevated to the rank of 

 King of the Netherlands, with increased territories, ex- 

 tending over the present kingdom of Belgium ; Bel- 

 gium was then erected into a kingdom, and the present 

 limits of the kingdom of the 'Netherlands were defined 

 in 1833. 



New England, First settlement of, madeat Plymouth, 

 November 10, 1620; states united, 1643. 



Newfoundland, discovered bv Cabot about 1500; 

 began to be settled by the English, 1520; in 1713 it was 

 declared by the treaty of Utrecht to belong wholly to 

 Great Britain. 



New Jersey (Jersey Blue). First settlement by the 

 Dutch at Bergen, 1620. Ranks first in fertilizing marl, 

 zinc, and silk goods; fourth in iron ore; fifth in iron 

 and steel; sixth in buckwheat, manufactories, and 

 soap; seventh in rye, twelfth in wealth; nineteenth in 

 population; twenty-sixth in miles of railway; forty- 

 third in square m'iles. Manufactures: Mola'sses ami 

 sugar refining, flour, machinery, leather and leather 

 goods, hats, caps, and clothing, woolen and cotton 

 goods, bleaching and dyeing, glass. Industries : Tlio 

 commerce of the state is small, its manufactures large 

 and various. Its shad and oyster fisheries are exten- 

 sive. Mining is also a leading industry. But its chief 

 industry is agriculture and market gardening, the state 

 being one immense garden, the mildness of its climate 

 being such that small fruits are very productive, and, 

 being adjacent to the markets of New York and Phila- 

 delphia, farmers and fruit raisers find large profits from 

 their labor. 



New Orleans. First laid out bv the French, 1720; 

 battle of, January 8, 1815. 



New Zealand, in the South Seas, first discovered by 

 Abel J. Tasman, 1642; visited bv Pope Marcus, :<;; 

 formally taken possession of as a British colony in 1840. 

 New Tork (Empire State). First settlement liytlie 

 Dutch at New York (New Amsterdam), 1614. Ranks first 

 in value of manufactories, population, soap, printing, 

 and publishing, hops, hav, potatoes, buckwheat, milch 

 cows, and wealth ; second in salt, silk goods, malt and 

 distilled liquors, and barley; third in agricultural im- 

 plements, iron ore, iron and steel, oats and rye; fourth 

 in wool and miles of railway ; twenty-seventh in square 

 miles. In population, wealth, and commerce, New Vork 

 is the first in the Union. The commerce extends to all 

 parts of the world. Manufacturing is large, and con- 

 stantly increasing. Agriculture is one of the chief pur- 

 suits, wheat and corn being the staple productions. The 

 development of the salt springs of the interior is also one 

 of the industries of the state. Its magnificent system 



