(Encyclopedia) Waynflete, WilliamWaynflete, Williamwānˈflēt [key], 1395?–1486, English prelate and lord chancellor. He was master of Winchester College before 1429, and in 1443 he became provost of…
(Encyclopedia) Weatherford, William, c.1780–1824, Native American chief, b. present-day Alabama, also called Red Eagle. In the War of 1812 he led the Creek war party, stirred by Tecumseh, against the…
(Encyclopedia) Wordsworth, William, 1770–1850, English poet, b. Cockermouth, Cumberland. One of the great English poets, he was a leader of the romantic movement in England.
Wordsworth's…
(Encyclopedia) Wotton, William, 1666–1727, English scholar. He is best known for his Reflections upon Ancient and Modern Learning (1694), a defense of contemporary learning written in response to an…
(Encyclopedia) Wycherley, WilliamWycherley, Williamwĭchˈərlē [key], 1640?–1716, English dramatist, b. near Shrewsbury. His first comedy, Love in a Wood (1671), was a huge success and won him the…
(Encyclopedia) Wyler, William, 1902–1981, American film director, producer, and writer, b. Mülhausen, Germany (now Mulhouse, France) as Willi Wilder. He came to the United States (1920) at the…
(Encyclopedia) Whipple, William, 1730–85, political leader in the American Revolution, signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. Kittery, Maine. Whipple, who had been a sea captain, was a…
(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…
(Encyclopedia) White, William, 1748–1836, American Episcopal bishop, b. Philadelphia, grad. College of Philadelphia (now Univ. of Pennsylvania), 1765. He was ordained in England in 1772, returning to…
(Encyclopedia) Whitehead, William, 1715–85, English poet and playwright. He wrote several plays based on ancient Greek models, including Creusa, Queen of Athens (1754). Whitehead was appointed poet…
