Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Alexander, Sir William, d. 1640: see Stirling, William Alexander, earl of. ...

(Encyclopedia) Fitzmaurice, William Petty: see Shelburne, William Petty Fitzmaurice, 2d earl of. ...

(Encyclopedia) Vanderbilt, Cornelius, 1794–1877, American railroad magnate, b. Staten Island, N.Y. As a boy he ferried freight and passengers from Staten Island to Manhattan, and he soon gained control of most of ...

(Encyclopedia) Sheeler, Charles, 1883–1965, American painter and photographer, b. Philadelphia, studied at the School of Industrial Art there and later at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts under William M....

(Encyclopedia) Rogers, William Barton, 1804–82, American geologist and educator, b. Philadelphia, grad. William and Mary, 1822. He was professor of geology at William and Mary (1828–35) and at the Univ. of Virgi...

(Encyclopedia) Frederick William II, 1744–97, king of Prussia (1786–97), nephew and successor of Frederick II (Frederick the Great). He had the power but lacked the ability of his distinguished predecessors. He ...

(Encyclopedia) Longchamp, William of lôngˈshămp, lôNshäNˈ [key], d. 1197, chancellor and justiciar of England, bishop of Ely. After service with Geoffrey, duke of Brittany, he joined Richard (later Richard I) ...

(Encyclopedia) Camden, William kămˈdən [key], 1551–1623, English scholar, chief historian and antiquary of Elizabethan times. His two chief works are Britannia (1586) and Annales rerum Anglicarum et Hibernicaru...

(Encyclopedia) Bartram, William, 1739–1823, American naturalist, b. Philadelphia; son of John Bartram. He is known chiefly for his Travels (1791), in which he describes his journey (1773–77) through the Carolina...

(Encyclopedia) Smith, William, 1769–1839, English geologist. Through direct observation as a canal-site surveyor, Smith made a systematic study of the geological strata of England and identified the fossils peculi...