(Encyclopedia) Wilkie, Sir David, 1785–1841, Scottish genre painter. He studied in Edinburgh and at the Royal Academy and won early popularity with his admirable little scenes of everyday life.…
(Encyclopedia) Wilson, James Grant, 1832–1914, American biographer and man of letters, b. Scotland. He was brought to the United States in 1833. After journalistic work in Chicago and service in the…
(Encyclopedia) York Factory, fur-trading post, NE Man., Canada, on Hudson Bay, at the mouth of the Hayes River, just east of the mouth of the Nelson River. The name was used for several early (late-…
(Encyclopedia) Caine, Hall (Sir Thomas Henry Hall Caine), 1853–1931, English novelist. Secretary to Dante Gabriel Rossetti, he lived with him from 1881 until the poet's death and wrote Recollections…
(Encyclopedia) Brice, Fanny or Fannie, 1891–1951, American comedienne, b. New York City as Fanny Borach. Brice appeared in burlesque and vaudeville from 1906. She starred in the Ziegfeld “Follies”…
(Encyclopedia) Adrian VI, 1459–1523, pope (1522–23), a Netherlander (b. Utrecht) named Adrian Florensz; successor of Leo X. He taught at Louvain and was tutor of the young prince, later Holy Roman…
(Encyclopedia) recoilless rifle, light artillery piece, without recoil, usually operated by two men. An American invention, it was used as an infantry weapon for attacking fortifications such as…
(Encyclopedia) Susanna. 1 Heroine of a story told in the Book of Daniel, in a chapter (13) placed in the Apocrypha in the Authorized Version (see Daniel). Two elders attempt to seduce Susanna and are…
(Encyclopedia) Sultan HusaynSultan Husayns&oobreve;ltänˈ h&oomacr;sānˈ [key], d. 1729, Safavid shah of Persia (1694–1722). A weak and superstitious man, Shah Sultan Husayn was surrounded by…
(Encyclopedia) Spence, Thomas, 1750–1814, English agrarian socialist. A forerunner of the single taxers (see single tax), he devised a scheme by which the parishes would assume ownership of the land…
