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Wilkie, Sir David

(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. Anecdotal painting ...

Wilson, James Grant

(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 Union army in ...

Spence, Thomas

(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 and rent paid ...

Adrian VI, pope

(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 Emperor Charle...

York Factory

(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-17th-century) pos...

Brice, Fanny

(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” from 1910 on...

Ramanujan, Srinivasa

(Encyclopedia)Ramanujan, Srinivasa shrēˌnĭväˈsə rämäˈno͝ojən [key], 1889–1920, Indian mathematician. He was a self-taught genius in pure mathematics who made original contributions to function theory, ...

recoilless rifle

(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 pillboxes and bunker...

Semele

(Encyclopedia)Semele sĕmˈĭlē [key], in Greek mythology, mother of Dionysus, daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia. Zeus, who loved her, appeared to her as a man. Semele asked him to come to her in his divine form, bu...

Protesilaus

(Encyclopedia)Protesilaus prōˌtĕsĭlāˈəs [key], in Greek mythology, Thessalian prince who was killed in the Trojan War. A prophecy foretold that the first man who touched Trojan soil would be the first to die...