Benzene
an aromatic hydrocarbon, also called benzol, or phenyl hydride, discovered in 1825 by Faraday in the liquid condensed during the compression of oil gas. In 1849, it was found in coal tar by C. B. Mansfield, who lost his life while lin. From 1890 to 1895 he was super- experimenting ing with it on Feb. 25, 1855. intendent of schools at Fort Scott, Kan., Aniline is produced from it, which again and in 1895-1896 he was assistant state is the source of the celebrated modern superintendent of public instruction, Kansas. He served as professor of history and sociology at Baker University from 1896 to 1899. From the latter year to 1902 he was president of the Upper Iowa University. In 1902 he was appointed president of Miami University, serving until 1911, when he became president of the University of Vermont. He was a member of the Kansas State Board of Education, president of the Southeastern Kansas Teachers' Association, and a member and officer of several other educational societies. From 1910 he was secretary of the National Association of State Universities. During the World War he was in the service of the Y. M.
C. A. in the city of Paris. He wrote "The Real College" (1909).
BENTON, THOMAS HART, an American statesman, born near Hillsboro, N. C., March 14, 1782; settled in Tennessee, where he studied law, and was elected to the Legislature. In 1812 he raised a regiment of volunteers, and also served on General Jackson's staff.
On the admission of Missouri as a State, he was chosen United States Senator in 1820, and served 30 years. A determined opponent of Calhoun's nullification scheme, he afterward supported Jackson in his war on the United States bank, and earned the sobriquet of "Old Bullion" by his opposition to the paper currency.
He published "A Thirty Years' View, or a History of the Working of the American Government from 1820 to 1850" (2 vols., 1854-1856) and "An Abridgment of the Debates of Congress from 1789 to 1856" (15 vols., 1857). He died in Washington, April 10, 1858.