(Encyclopedia) Galt, John, 1779–1839, Scottish novelist. He went to Canada as secretary for the Canada Company, founding there in 1827 the town of Guelph and encouraging Canadian immigration. He…
(Encyclopedia) Borden, Sir Robert Laird, 1854–1937, Canadian political leader, prime minister during World War I, b. Grand-Pré, N.S. Called to the bar in 1878, he won a reputation as a constitutional…
(Encyclopedia) Audubon, John JamesAudubon, John Jamesôˈdəbŏn [key], 1785–1851, American ornithologist, b. Les Cayes, Santo Domingo (now Haiti). The illegitimate son of a French sea captain and…
(Encyclopedia) Van Vleck, John Hasbrouck, 1899–1980, American physicist, b. Middletown, Conn., Ph.D. Harvard, 1922. As a professor at Harvard, Van Vleck developed fundamental theories on the quantum…
(Encyclopedia) Shaffer, Sir PeterShaffer, Sir Petershăfˈər [key], 1926–2016, English playwright, b. Liverpool, grad. Cambridge, 1950. Before turning to the stage he wrote for radio and television and…
(Encyclopedia) Phips, Sir William, 1651–95, American colonial governor. Born in what is today Maine, he was a carpenter and shipbuilder in Boston and became interested in sunken treasure. On his…
(Encyclopedia) Dalton, JohnDalton, Johndôlˈtən [key], 1766–1844, English scientist. He revived the atomic theory (see atom), which he formulated in the first volume of his New System of Chemical…
(Encyclopedia) Symonds, John AddingtonSymonds, John Addingtonsĭmˈənz [key], 1840–93, English author. Educated at Harrow and Oxford, constant ill health exiled him for the greater part of his life to…
(Encyclopedia) Launcelot, SirLauncelot, Sirlănˈsəlŏtˌ, lŏnˈ–, lônˈ– [key], in Arthurian legend, bravest and most celebrated knight at the court of King Arthur. He was kidnapped as an infant by the…