(Encyclopedia) Thornton, William, 1759–1828, American architect, b. Tortola, British Virgin Islands, He studied (1781–84) medicine at Edinburgh but received his medical degree (1784) at the Univ. of…
(Encyclopedia) Prout, William, 1785–1850, English chemist and physician. Prout's hypothesis, advanced in 1815–16, suggested that atomic weights of elements are multiples of that of hydrogen and that…
(Encyclopedia) Proxmire, William (Edward William Proxmire), 1915–2005, U.S. senator (1957–89), b. Lake Forest, Ill. He worked in army counterintelligence during World War II and later entered…
(Encyclopedia) Prynne, WilliamPrynne, Williamprĭn [key], 1600–1669, English political figure and Puritan pamphleteer. Beginning his attacks on Arminian doctrine in 1627, he soon earned the enmity of…
(Encyclopedia) Pynchon, William, c.1590–1662, American colonist and theologian, b. England. An original patentee and assistant in the Massachusetts Bay Company, he migrated to America in 1630, where…
(Encyclopedia) Robertson, William, 1721–93, Scottish churchman and historian. As moderator (1762–80) of the general assembly of the Church of Scotland, he led the moderate party and enforced the…
(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…
(Encyclopedia) Paca, WilliamPaca, Williampāˈkə, păkˈə [key], 1740–99, political leader in the American Revolution, signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. near Abingdon, Md. A lawyer and…
(Encyclopedia) Page, William, 1811–85, American historical and portrait painter, b. Albany, N.Y., studied with S. F. B. Morse and at the National Academy of Design. Among his best-known works are…
(Encyclopedia) Painter, William, 1540?–1594, English translator. His Palace of Pleasure (1566–67)—a collection of translations from Boccaccio, the Heptameron, and many other sources—was drawn upon by…