482 



THE STANDARD DICTIONARY OF FACTS 



pension bridge, both at Pittsburg; the Suspension bruise 

 at Niagara, tue Ohio bridge at Cincinnati, etc. Roebling 

 died in 1*69, having just before projected the bridge 

 over the East Hiver, to connect the cities of New York 

 and Brooklyn, completed by his son and opened to travel 

 in 1883. 



Rochling. Washington Augustus, engineer; born 

 in Baxonbuijfc Pa.. May 26, Is37; graduate of Rens- 

 selaer Polytechnic Institute, ls.~>7; joined his father in 

 construction of Pittsburg suspension bridge across Alle- 

 gheny River; served, 1861-65, in I'nion Army, private 

 to brevet colonel; resigned January, lM>.">, to ":i 

 father in building Cincinnati and Oovinfftoa suspension 

 bridge. The Brooklyn bridge was undertaken by his 

 father, but his death, July 22, 1869. befpre the work had 

 been begun, left the entire construction in his hnmls, and 

 he directed it to completion. He is vice-president of 

 The John A. Roebling and Sons Company, manufac- 

 turers of iron and steel wire and wire rope, Trenton. N . J . 

 Author: " Military Suspension Bridge,' etc. 



KoentueM. Williclm Conrad, the discoverer of the 

 is of Dutch origin, and was born in 1856. 

 He began his university studies at Zurich, and from there 

 followed Professor Kundt to Wiirzburg, and afterwards ' 

 to Strasburg, in whose university he acted as Kundt's 

 assistant in 1873. In 1875, he became professor of 

 physics and mathematics .at the Agricultural Academy 

 in Wurttemberg; in 1876, he returned to Strasburg; in 

 1879, became professor at Giessen, and since 1888 has 

 held a professorship at Wiirzburg University. He has 

 written several works on scientific subjects, and of late 

 years has studied the effects of electricity when passed 

 through various gases; also the absorption of heat rays | 

 by steam and gases. His discovery of the rays which 

 he has named X-Rays came by chance when he was" j 

 experimenting with vacuum tubes. He studied them 

 thoroughly, however, before making his discovery public. 



Roger II., King of Sicily; born in 1097. He gained 

 some territory from his cousin, William of Apulia, after 

 whose death, in 1127, he was acknowledged as Duke of 

 Apulia, Calabria, and Naples, receiving his investiture 

 from Pope Honorius II. (1128). Soon afterwards the 

 Prince of Capua did homage to him as his over-lord. 

 In 1129, he received from the anti-pope, Anacletus, the 

 title of King of Sicily. Died, 1154. 



Rogers, Henry H., capitalist; born in Fairhaven, 

 Mass.; one of large stockholders and vice-president 

 and director of Standard Oil Company; president and 

 director of Amalgamated Copper Company, National 

 Transit Company, Natural Fuel Gas Company, New 

 York Transit Company, Richmond Light & Railroad 

 Company; vice-president and trustee of Anaconda Cop- 

 per Mining Company; vice-president and director of 

 Brooklyn Union Gas Company, United Metals Selling 

 Company; trustee of Mutual Life Insurance Company 

 York; director of United States Steel Corpora- 

 tion, Atchison, Topeka & Santa FC" Railroad Company, 

 Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Company, 

 Union Pacific Railroad Company, New Jersey & Staten 

 Island Ferry Company, Rapid Transit Ferry Company, 

 Staten Island Ferry Company, Atlas Tack Company, 

 Farmers' Loan and Trust Company, Guaranty Trust Com- 

 pany, Mutual Alliance Trust Company, National Bank 

 of Fairhaven, New York, Carbide and Acetylene Company, 

 Richmond Borough Company, Tennessee Copper Com- 

 pany, etc. Has made many gifts to his native town, 

 including a library, town hall, schools, churches, etc. 



Rogers, Henry Wade, dean law department of Yale 

 from January, 1904; born in Holland Patent, X. V., 

 October 10, 1853; graduate of University of Michigan, 

 1874 (A. M., LL. D.. Wesleyan University, Conn.). 

 Admitted to bar, 1877; professor law in law school, 

 University of Michigan, 1883; dean of same, 1885-90; 

 president of Northwestern University, 1890-1901; pro- 

 fessor of law, Yale, 1901-03. Author: "Illinois Cita- 

 tions," "Expert Testimony," also numerous articles for 

 law journals and reviews. 



Roland, Marie Jeanne Phlipon, born in 1754; 

 was daughter of an engraver at Paris, and married Roland 

 in 1780. She sympathised with his revolutionary ideas, 

 and exercised much influence over the policy of the 

 Girondist party. On the proscription of the Girondists 

 she was confined in the Abbaye, and, after five months' 

 imprisonment, put to death. Her " Memoires " were 

 written during her confinement. Died, 1793. 



Romanes, George John, naturalist; born in Kings- 

 ton, Canada, in 1648; took an honors degree in science at 

 Cambridge; came under the influence of Darwin, whose 

 theory of evolution he advocated and developed in 

 lectures and various works, e. g.. "Scientific Evidences 

 of Organic Evolution," "Mental Evolution in Animals," 

 " Mental Evolution in Man " ; his posthumous "Thoughts 

 on Religion" reveal a marked advance from his early 



agnosticism towards a belief in Christianity; founded 

 the Romanes Lectures at Oxford. Died. iv.M. 



Kom.m/otl'. Peter Alexandrovltsch (ro-man'tsof), 

 Count dt, a Russian general, was born, about 17:>(>. and 

 entered the army at a very early period. After having 

 acquired reputation in subordinate ranks, he was, in 

 1769, appointed to command the army against the 

 Turks. In four campaigns he obtained several victories, 

 and conquered several fortresses; and he crowned his 

 labors by compelling the grand vizier to sign, in 1774. 

 the treaty ol Kainardgi. In 1788 he was again placed 

 at the head of an army against the Ottomans; but he 

 was thwarted by Potemkin, and resigned in disgust. 

 He died in \7W\. 



Roninoy, Gieorge, painter, born at Dalton, in Lan- 

 cashire, 1734; after receiving some lessons from a coun- 

 try artist, came to Londqn in 1762; visited France in 

 1764, and Italy, 1773-5; on his return became the rival 

 of Reynolds as a portrait painter; also gained distinc- 

 tion as a painter of historical pictures. Died, 1802. 



Roosevelt, Theodore, twenty-sixth President, was 

 born in New York City, October 27, 1858, the son of 

 Theodore and Martha (Bullock) Roosevelt. Though 

 physically delicate in youth, he entered Harvard Uni- 

 versity at eighteen, and was graduated in 1880. I he 

 year following he began the study of law, but in the 

 same year was elected, to the New York Legislature. 

 He was twice reflected, and became the candidate of 

 the minority party for speaker in his second term. In 

 1884 he was chosen a delegate to the Republican National 

 Convention, and later in the year went to North Dakota, 

 where he spent several years on a ranch, raising cattle. 

 In 1886 he was the unsuccessful candidate for Mayor of 

 New York. President Harrison appointed him a mem- 

 ber of the United States Civil Service Commission in 

 1889, in which capacity he served until 1895, when he 

 resigned to accept the presidency of the Police Commis- 

 sion of New York City, under Mayor Strong. President 

 MoKinley appointed him Assistant Secretary of the 

 Navy in April, 1897, and upon the outbreak of the Span- 

 ish-American War, in 1898, he resigned the post to assist 

 in organizing the First U. S. Volunteer Cavalry (after- 

 wards known as Roosevelt's Rough Riders), of which 

 he became lieutenant-colonel, and later colonel, for gal- 

 lantry in the battles of Las Guasimas and San Juan, 

 Cuba. In September, 1898, he was mustered out, with 

 his regiment, at Montauk. Long Island. Shortly follow- 

 ing he was nominated for governor of New York, and 

 elected, November, 1898. Two years later he was unani- 

 mously nominated for vice-president of the United 

 States by the Republican National Convention, at Phila- 

 delphia, and elected. He succeeded to the presidency 

 September 14, 1901, upon the death of President Mc- 

 Kinley, and at the close of the term was unanimously 

 nominated by his party to succeed himself, and elected 

 November, 1904. He has long been an advocate of 

 administrative, political, and social reforms, and has 

 contributed widely to periodical and general literature. 

 Among his important publications are: "Winning of 

 the West," " History of the Naval War of 1812," "Hunt- 

 ing Trips of a Ranchman," "Life of Thomas Hart Ben- 

 ton," "Life of Gouverneur Morris," "Ranch Life arid 

 Hunting Trail," "History of New York," "American 

 Ideals and Other Essays," "The Wilderness Hunter." 

 "The Rough Riders," "Life of Oliver Cromwell," and 

 "The Strenuous Life." His efforts in bringing about 

 the treaty of peace between Japan and Russia in l'.)0.~> 

 were important and effective. Many academic degrees 

 have been conferred up9n him by Harvard. Columbia. 

 Yale, and other universities. He has been twice mar- 

 ried; first, to Alice Lee, in 1883, who died the following 

 year; second, to Edith Kermit Carow, in 1886. 



Root, Elihu, an American statesman and lawyer; 

 born in Clinton, N. Y., Feb. 15, 1845; was graduated at 

 Hamilton College in 1864, and after teaching for a while 

 entered the New York University Law School and was 

 graduated in 1867. On August 1, 1899, he was appointed 

 secretary of war by President MoKinley, and on March 

 5, 1901, was reappointed. After the Spanish-American 

 War, Secretary Root represented the United States < Jov- 

 ernment in all official communications with Cuba, Porto 

 Rico, and the Philippine Islands. In August, 1903, he 

 resigned the office of secretary of war, his resignation 

 to take effect in January, 1904. In 1905, President 

 Roosevelt appointed him secretary of state, and \\hile, 

 discharging the duties of that office he did much to unify 

 the Pan-American countries. In 1907, he visited 

 Mexico in the interest of a closer relationship between 

 that country and the United States. 



Rosebery, Archibald Philip Primrose, fifth earl 

 of; born in 1847; was first commissioner of works in 

 1884, and was chairman of the first London County 

 Council; became foreign secretary under Mr. Gladstone 



