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Browne, Sir Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Browne, Sir Thomas, 1605–82, English author and physician, b. London, educated at Oxford and abroad, knighted (1671) by Charles II. His Religio Medici, in which Browne attempted to reconcile science...

Brewster, Sir David

(Encyclopedia)Brewster, Sir David, 1781–1868, Scottish physicist and natural philosopher. He is noted especially for his research into the polarization of light (the invention of the kaleidoscope was one result o...

Brittan, Sir Leon

(Encyclopedia)Brittan, Sir Leon brĭtˈən [key], 1939–, British politician. Educated at Cambridge, he was elected to Parliament as a Conservative in 1974. Under Margaret Thatcher he served as home secretary (198...

Brock, Sir Isaac

(Encyclopedia)Brock, Sir Isaac, 1769–1812, British general, Canadian hero of the War of 1812. A British army officer, he was sent to Canada in 1802 and was given command (1806) of Upper and Lower Canada. He stren...

Brock, Sir Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Brock, Sir Thomas, 1847–1922, English sculptor. One of the leading sculptors under the reign of Victoria, he enjoyed a long and successful career. He became an Academician in 1891 and was knighted i...

Brooke, Sir James

(Encyclopedia)Brooke, Sir James, 1803–68, rajah of Sarawak on Borneo, b. India, of English parents. After active service in Burma (1825–26), he retired (1830) from the army of the East India Company. He sailed ...

Blackstone, Sir William

(Encyclopedia)Blackstone, Sir William, 1723–80, English jurist. At first unsuccessful in legal practice, he turned to scholarship and teaching. He became (1758) the first Vinerian professor of law at Oxford, wher...

Bliss, Sir Arthur

(Encyclopedia)Bliss, Sir Arthur, 1891–1975, English composer. Bliss's teachers included Charles Stanford, Ralph Vaughan Williams, and Gustav Holst. He was made Master of the Queen's Musick in 1953. His early work...

Bodley, Sir Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Bodley, Sir Thomas, 1545–1613, English scholar and diplomat, organizer of the Bodleian Library at Oxford. He was a Greek scholar and teacher at Oxford, and in 1584 he was elected to Parliament. He s...

Bogarde, Sir Dirk

(Encyclopedia)Bogarde, Sir Dirk dûrk bōˈgärd [key], 1921–99, English film actor, b. Hampstead as Derek Niven Van den Bogaerde. In his early career Bogarde played romantic leads in such films as So Long at the...