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Wilson, John

(Encyclopedia)Wilson, John, pseud. Christopher North, 1785–1854, Scottish author. Among the first contributors to Blackwood's Magazine, he joined the staff in 1817 and quickly became one of its chief critical wri...

Winebrenner, John

(Encyclopedia)Winebrenner, John: see Churches of God, General Conference. ...

Vanderlyn, John

(Encyclopedia)Vanderlyn, John vănˈdərlĭn [key], 1776–1852, American portrait and historical painter, b. Kingston, N.Y. Under the patronage of Aaron Burr he studied with Gilbert Stuart and in Paris. From 1796 ...

Varley, John

(Encyclopedia)Varley, John, 1778–1842, English painter in watercolor; one of the founders of the Old Water Colour Society. He is best known for his paintings of Welsh mountain country. He was also an influential ...

Benbow, John

(Encyclopedia)Benbow, John bĕnˈbō [key], 1653–1702, English admiral. Some of the stories of his exploits seem to be legendary, but he did command the fleet and successfully fight the French at La Hogue (1692),...

Wain, John

(Encyclopedia)Wain, John, 1925–94, English novelist and critic, b. Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, grad. Oxford (B.A., 1946; M.A., 1950). Originally lumped with England's angry young men after the publication of H...

Wallis, John

(Encyclopedia)Wallis, John wŏlˈĭs [key], 1616–1703, English mathematician. He was Savilian professor of geometry at Oxford from 1649. He systematized the use of formulas, introduced the symbol ∞ for infinity...

Wanamaker, John

(Encyclopedia)Wanamaker, John wŏnˈəmāˌkər [key], 1838–1922, American merchant, b. Philadelphia. He went into the men's clothing business in Philadelphia with Nathan Brown, his brother-in-law, in 1861. The f...

Warren, John

(Encyclopedia)Warren, John, 1753–1815, American surgeon, b. Roxbury, Mass.; grad. Harvard, 1771; brother of Joseph Warren. A leading surgeon of his time in New England, he served in the Revolution and was a found...

Updike, John

(Encyclopedia)Updike, John, 1932–2009, American author, one of the nation's most distinguished 20th-century men of letters, b. Shillington, Pa., grad. Harvard, 1954. In his many novels and stories, written in a w...