Chapter 1
Section 1 of 1000 Things Worth Knowing. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Logan Lorenz.
1000 Things Worth Knowing by Nathaniel C. Fowler, Jr. Chapter 1. ACETELINE GAS. Acetoline gas is used largely for the search lamps on automobiles. It is composed of carbon and hydrogen.
ADVENTISTS. A religious sect whose members believe that the second coming of Christ is near at hand. There are over 100,000 communicants and ministers. Aeolian harp. This instrument was invented in the 17th century and was named after Aeolus, the god of the winds.
It is of the simplest construction, and its music is produced by the vibration of the strings automatically moved by the winds. In construction, it is a rectangular box of thin boards of a few inches in depth and width, and of sufficient length to extend across a window so that the breeze may pass through it. The strings are stretched lengthwise across the top of the box, and may be tuned by increasing or decreasing their tension. AGE.
About 50% of the persons living in the United States are under 20 years of age, 45% from 20 to 60 years, and 5% over 60 years, the average age being about 25 years. This average seems low and is due largely to infant mortality. If the percentage was taken excluding those under 15 years of age, it would be very much higher.
AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENT INDUSTRY. Capital invested about $260 million, and an annual output of about $150 million. About 60,000 people are employed. ALASKA. Alaska is the only territory of the United States, the Hawaiian Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines being known as possessions.
It has an area of over 590,000 square miles, and a population of about 65,000. Its climate is semi-polar. ALGEBRA. The discoverer, or the first user of Algebra, is unknown. It is said that Diophantus wrote it in 170 AD, and he may have been its inventor.
It was brought into Spain in about 900. Its signs are said to have been used first in 1544, but Algebra did not come into common use until 1590. Descartes applied Algebra to geometry in 1637. ALMANACS. The word almanac is of Saxon origin, and probably the first almanac was published in 1470,
and the first in English in 1673. AMAZONS. An ancient body of warlike women ruled by a queen who allowed no man to live with them. They were opposed to marriage and resolved to form a female state. They burned off their right breasts that they may better use the bow and javelin.
This custom is the origin of the name amazons, or breastless ones. APOSLES CREED. Considered by most biblical students as the earliest form of Christian creed, it is attributed directly to the apostles. It is doubtless the formula of belief that existed in all the early Latin churches.
It was made a part of public worship of the Christian church at Antioch, and introduced into the Roman Catholic Church in the 11th century, and subsequently into the Church of England. APRIL FOOLS DAY. Its origin is unknown, but it is supposed to follow an ancient pageant custom of playing tricks on the first day of April. ARBOR DAY.
A few years ago, the United States and Canada officially set apart one day in the year for the planting of trees, shrubs, etc. It was the intention to have this day observed chiefly by the children of the public schools. Its observance has resulted in the planting of millions of trees. ARITHMATIC. While the inventor or discoverer of arithmetic is unknown, it is said that it was brought from Egypt into Greece in 600 BC.
Euclid is the author of the oldest treatise upon arithmetic, and wrote it about 300 BC. The arithmetic of decimals began in 1482, and the first arithmetic in English was printed in 1522. ARTESIAN WELLS. An artesian well is one made by boring perpendicularly into the earth. The oldest known well of this kind was sunk in Europe in 1126.
Probably the most famous one is near Paris, which was born in 1833, bringing water from a depth of 1792 feet. From this well, 516 gallons of water flow per minute. In Missouri, there is one well 2,197 feet deep, and another nearly 4,000 feet deep. The invention of the artesian well is undoubtedly due to the Chinese. ARTIFICIAL ICE.
The artificial manufacture of ice is of somewhat recent origin, and there are over 2,000 ice making plants in the United States, exclusive of those used by breweries, packers, and others for the making of their own ice. Artificial ice making showed an increase of 81% during the last few years. End of section 1.
