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Wyatt, James

(Encyclopedia)Wyatt, James, 1746–1813, English architect. He worked in many styles but is best known as one of the originators of the Gothic revival. Appointed surveyor at Westminster Abbey in 1776, he did cathed...

Quay, Matthew Stanley

(Encyclopedia)Quay, Matthew Stanley kwā [key], 1833–1904, American political leader, b. Dillsburg, Pa. He studied law in Pittsburgh and was admitted (1854) to the bar. He fought in the Civil War, and after the w...

Berlin Philharmonic

(Encyclopedia)Berlin Philharmonic, orchestra, Berlin, Germany, founded 1882 by musicans who had left an ensemble led by Benjamin Bilse. The orchestra performs in the modernist Philharmonie concert hall (1963). Amon...

Récamier, Juliette

(Encyclopedia)Récamier, Juliette zhülyĕtˈ rākämyāˈ [key], 1777–1849, celebrated French beauty and social figure, née Jeanne Françoise Julie Adelaïde Bernard. At 15 she married Jacques Récamier, a weal...

Bancroft, Edward

(Encyclopedia)Bancroft, Edward, 1744–1821, spy in the American Revolution, b. Westfield, Mass. He studied medicine and natural history, producing a book (1769) on Guiana's flora and fauna, a defense of the coloni...

Rittenhouse, David

(Encyclopedia)Rittenhouse, David, 1732–96, American astronomer and instrument maker, b. near Germantown, Pa., self-educated. A clockmaker by trade, he developed great skill in the making of mathematical instrumen...

Mishima, Yukio

(Encyclopedia)Mishima, Yukio yo͞oˈkēō mĭshˈēmä [key], 1925–70, Japanese author, b. Tokyo. His original name was Kimitake Hiraoka and he was born into a samurai family. Mishima wrote novels, short stories,...

Leopold and Loeb

(Encyclopedia)Leopold and Loeb lōb [key], notorious American murderers defended by Clarence Darrow in 1924. The gregarious, dominating Richard A. Loeb (1905–1936) and the shy, submissive Nathan F. Leopold, Jr. (...

Chandler, Zachariah

(Encyclopedia)Chandler, Zachariah, 1813–79, U.S. Senator from Michigan (1857–75, 1879) and Secretary of the Interior (1875–77), b. Bedford, N.H. He moved to Detroit in 1833 and through merchandising, land spe...

Fort Fisher

(Encyclopedia)Fort Fisher, Confederate earthwork fortification, built by Gen. William Whiting in 1862 to guard the port of Wilmington, N.C.; scene of one of the last large battles of the Civil War. Because Wilmingt...