Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Smith, Sir William Sidney, 1764–1840, British admiral. He was a distinguished commander in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and is especially remembered for his defense of Acre against N...

(Encyclopedia) Marlborough, John Churchill, 1st duke of märlˈbərə, môlˈ– [key], 1650–1722, English general and statesman, one of the greatest military commanders of history. A great strategist and a shrewd...

(Encyclopedia) Mulholland, William, 1855–1935, American engineer, b. Belfast, Ireland. He arrived in Los Angeles in 1877, becoming a laborer for the local water company. Despite his lack of formal training, he eve...

(Encyclopedia) Brewster, William, 1567–1644, English separatist and Plymouth colonist. After studying briefly at Cambridge he became the chief member of the congregation at Scrooby that broke away, or separated, f...

(Encyclopedia) Shirley, William, 1694–1771, colonial governor in British North America, b. England. He became a lawyer and in 1731 emigrated to Massachusetts. In 1741 he became governor of Massachusetts. He oppose...

(Encyclopedia) Whiston, William, 1667–1752, English clergyman and mathematician. He won favor through his New Theory of the Earth (1696) and in 1701 was made deputy to Sir Isaac Newton, whom he succeeded (1703) as...

(Encyclopedia) Rimmer, William, 1816–79, American sculptor and writer, b. Liverpool, England. He was brought up in the United States and after working as a cobbler in Brockton, Mass., at the age of 30 began the st...

(Encyclopedia) O'Shaughnessy, Arthur William Edgar ōshônˈəsē [key], 1844–81, English poet and naturalist. He was a member of the zoological department of the British Museum. He wrote four volumes of poetry—...

(Encyclopedia) Penn, Sir William, 1621–70, British admiral. In the English civil war he served in Parliament's naval forces, and he joined the pursuit (1651–52) of Prince Rupert in the Mediterranean. He served i...

(Encyclopedia) Rayleigh, John William Strutt, 3d Baron rāˈlē [key], 1842–1919, English physicist. He was professor at Cambridge (1879–84) and at the Royal Institution (1887–1905), and chancellor of Cambridg...