These sentences are taken from "English as She is Taught", a collection of answers given by American schoolchildren, published 1887. The whole thing is available in various formats here. These are simply the ones I liked best.
Longevity
Alfred the Great reigned 872 years.
Elijah was a good man who went up to heaven without dying and threw his cloak down for Queen Elizabeth to step over.
Luther introduced Christianity into England a good many thousand years ago. He was once a Pope. He lived at the time of the Rebellion of Worms.
Julius Caesar is noted for his famous telegram despatch I came I saw I conquered.
Technical Terms
Greece is divided into periods.
The history of Rome is wrapped in antiquity.
The Middle Ages come in between antiquity and posterity.
Animals in History
Gorilla warfare was war where men rode on gorillas. [Wishful thinking?]
The Celts were driven out of England into Whales.
Queen Mary married the Dolphin.
The only form of government in Greece was a limited monkey.
Personalities
Columbus knew the earth was round because he balanced an egg on the table.
Benedict Arnold was greatly regretted by the Americans as well as by the English.
Rufus was named William on account of his red hair.
The Britains conquered Julius Caesar and drove him ignominiously from his dominions.
Cromwell was only a parallel with Bonaparte.
Did You Know..?
The Puritans found an insane asylum in the wilds of America.
The Habeas Corpus Act said that a body whether alive or dead could be produced in court.
Slavery was caused by the admission of Missouri into the Union.
Floundering (or How to Answer a Question with no Information)
William Penn was born in Boston in 1607. He was the first white man who founded Pennsylvania. He founded Pennsylvania because his name was William Penn.
Gen. Washington is famous for the Washington Monument.
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