Rensselaer Republican, Volume 22, Number 48, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 July 1890 — Brief Historical Facts. [ARTICLE]

Brief Historical Facts.

The height of the atmosphere is almost forty miles. Sound travels through water at the rate of 4,800 feet per seco hd. The freedom of the press was first granted in England in 1688. There are more magazines and newspapers published in the United States than in all the rest of the world combiued. The cost of the railroads in the United States has been $9,000,000,000. Over 1,000,000 persons are employed by the railroads of the United States. The average cost of constructing a mile of railroad in'the United States at present is $30,000. The first printing by steam was done in London In ,181?. - L - The first newspaper established in America waa the Boston News Letter, first issued April 24, 1704. The first public performance on « pianoforte was in the Covent Carden Theatre, London, May Is, 1767.