Dr William Gilbert Grace (known as W G Grace) was an English cricketer. He was born in 1848 at Downend, Gloucestershire and died in 1915. Educated privately, he entered the medical profession and practised in Bristol during the twenty years, from 1879 until 1899. He was a member of the Royal College of Surgeons of England and a licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. He made his first appearance in a leading cricket match in 1864, at the Kennington Oval, Surrey's famous ground, and from 1870 to 1900 he played in the Gloucestershire county eleven. In 1899 he was made secretary and general manager of the London County CricketClub. He was long recognized as the most notable personality in English cricket of his time. His greatest achievements were accomplished with the bat, but he was a master of all departments of the game. A record breaking player, during his career playing for Gloucestershire - whom he captained for 29 years, London County and England he scored 54904 runs, 126 centuries, took 2876 wickets and held 877 catches in major matches. He scored the first Test century against Australia in 1880. His publications comprised Cricket (published in 1891) and Cricketing Reminiscences and Personal Recollections (published in 1899). Research W G Grace
William Henry Smith was an English bookseller. Publisher and newsagent. He was born in 1792 and died in 1865. In 1812 he joined his father's newsagent firm in the Strand, London and together with his brother, Henry Edward Smith, expanded the business into the largest in the United Kingdom through the use of the railways and fast carts for nationwide deliveries. His son, William Henry Smith, later took over the business. Research W H Smith
Sir William Alexander Smith was the founder of the Boy's Brigade. He was born in 1854 at Thurso and died in 1914. He founded the Boy's Brigade in 1883 while in Glasgow, and spent the rest of his life organising the movement of which he was secretary, travelling extensively on behalf of the Boy's Brigade visiting Canada in 1895 and the USA in 1907. He was knighted in 1909. Research W. A. Smith
W Averell Harriman was an American politician and diplomat. He was born in 1891 at New York and died in 1986. A close friend of President Roosevelt, in 1941 he was America's special war-aid representative (Lease and Lend envoy) in Britain, leading three-power supply talks between Britain, America and Russia and in 1943 was appointed ambassador to Russia, and in 1946 to Britain. He was a Democratic governor of New York from 1955 until 1958. Research W. Averell Harriman
William Lyon Mackenzie King was a Canadian politician. He was born in 1874 at Berlin, Ontario and died in 1950. A Liberal politician, he was prime minister of Canada from 1921 to 1926, again from 1926 to 1930, and finally from 1935 to 1948. He maintained the unity of the English- and French-speaking populations, and was instrumental in establishing equal status for Canada with the UK. Research W. L. Mackenzie King
Wade Hampton was an American politician and noted slave owner. He was born in 1754 and died in 1835. He represented South Carolina in Congress from 1795 to 1797 and from 1803 to 1805, and commanded on the Northern frontier from 1813 to 1814. He was noted as owning 3000 slaves. Research Wade Hampton
The Wahabis or Wahabees were a Muslim sect founded in the middle of the 18th century in Nejd Arabia by Mohammed Abdul Wahab, who attempted to restore the primitive simplicity of Islam and established a militant church at issue both with the infidel and with other forms of Islam.
Thousands flocked to the Wahabi standard, and enabled the reformer to secure the whole of his native provinceNejd, and to carry his victorious arms into Yemen. Under his successors the greater part of Arabia fell under the Wahabi power. Mecca and Hejaz were captured in 1803, and the loss of the sacred city roused the Turks to action. Several expeditions were sent from Egypt, and in 1818 Ibrahim Pasha was at last successful in dispersing the Wahabi forces, in capturing their capital, Derayeh, and their leaders, who were executed at Constantinople (Istanbul). They, however, gradually regained their influence, especially in their native homes of Nejd, where they formed an independent state of Arabia. Research Wahabis
Waino Aaltonen was a Finnishartist. He was born in 1894 and died in 1966. At first a painter, he later turned to sculpture, and was a pioneer in the revival of carving directly from stone, his favourite medium being granite, though he also worked in bronze, notable his 1925 statue of the Finnish runner Nurmi. Research Waino Aaltonen
Waits was the name given at one time to the king's minstrels, whose duty it was to guard the streets at night and proclaim the hour; to the musicians of a town; and to private bands when employed as serenaders. The term is now applied to those who sing or play carols on Christmas and Newyear's Eve with a view to donations. Research Waits
Waldemar I (Waldemar the Great) was king of Denmark in 1157. He was born in 1131 and died in 1182. Aided by his great minister, ArchbishopAbsalon, he raised his kingdom to a high degree of prosperity. Having formed a league against the Wends with Henry the Lion, duke of Saxony, he conquered the island of Rugen in 1169. He was exceedingly popular with his people, especially with the peasantry. Research Waldemar I
Waldemar II (Waldemar the Victorious or Waldemar the Conqueror) was king of Denmark in 1202. He was born in 1170 and died in 1241. He was the youngest son of Waldemar the Great and ascended to the throne in 1202. His attempts to reduce Sweden and Norway were unsuccessful, but in Germany he acquired Holstein and Mecklenburg, and in 1219 undertook a crusade against the Esthonians, whom he routed at the Battle of Arvel, on which occasion the Danish national standard, the Danebrog, is said to have fallen down from heaven in response to the prayers of the Danish bishops. Yet when Waldemar was treacherously seized by Count Henry of Schwerin and imprisoned for two years, the German princes at once revolted against Waldemar and defeated him, after his release, at Bornhovede on July the 22nd 1227. Research Waldemar II
Waldemar IV (Atterdag) was King of Denmark. He ascended to the throne in 1340 and died in 1375. He sold Estonia in 1346 to the Teutonic Order and in 1360 he succeeded in regaining Scania, Halland and Blekinge from the Swedish king. In 1361 he conquered Gotland, returning to Denmark with the incalculable treasures of Wisby; but this expedition involved him in two ruinous wars with the Hanseatic League and their allies, Sweden and Mecklenburg, during the second of which in 1369 his enemies burned Copenhagen. Peace was finally made at Stralsund in 1370. Research Waldemar IV
The Waldenses were a religious community founded by Peter Waldo in 1170 when he renounced his possessions and wandered as a preacher of voluntary poverty. The group established themselves in the valleys of the Cottian Alps and denounced the authority of the Church of Rome. As a result they were persecuted by the Duchess of Savoy in 1475 who ordered a war of extermination against them. In 1487 the Pope announced a Crusade against them. In 1686 the Duke of Savoy exiled to Geneva those he failed to forcibly convert. Three years later a small band returned and in 1848 were granted full religious and political rights. Research Waldenses
In Mediaeval England, a walker was a person who was employed to trample woollen cloth in a bath of urine so as to soften the cloth. From the profession came the family name 'Walker'. Research Walker
The Walloon are lineal descendants of the old Gallic Belgae, who occupy the Belgian provinces of Hainault, Liege, Namur, and part of Southern Brabant and Western Luxembourg, with adjacent parts of France. They differ in physique from their Flemish compatriots, and a large proportion of them, have black hair and eyes. They are not so numerous as the Flemings in Belgium. Their language, also called Walloon, is a French patois retaining numerous Gallic words, but it somewhat varies in the different provinces. Research Walloon
Walt Disney was an American artist and film producer. He was born in 1901 and died in 1967. He is best remembered for his animations. His first successful animated film was Mickey Mouse which was released in 1928. Research Walt Disney
Walt Whitman was an American poet. He was born in 1819 at Long Island and died in 1892. In his early days he worked at the carpentry trade and at printing. Subsequently he became a school teacher, and wrote for the press. During the American Civil War Walt Whitman devoted himself to the care of the wounded in the hospitals of Virginia and Washington, and at the end of the war came out with his constitution irretrievably broken. He subsequently entered the government service in the capital, remaining there until 1874. He then moved to Camden, New Jersey, where he died in 1892. In 1887 his English admirers raised a subscription in his behalf. His poems are like nothing else in the language, rough, rude, chaotic even, but strongly individual. The best known are: Leaves of Grass, Drum Taps, and Democratic Vistas. Specimen Days and Collect, and November Boughs, contain his prose writings, old and new; though it is difficult in the case of Whitman to distinguish prose from poetry in the ordinary senses of the terms. Research Walt Whitman
Walter Baade was a German-born American astronomer. He was born in 1893 and died in 1960. He proposed the existence of two stellar populations. He deduced this from photographs taken of the satellites of the AndromedaGalaxy (M31). Young stars belonging to the spiral arms of galaxies he called Population I stars and the old stars associated with the more central regions he called Population II stars. Baade reinvestigated the period-luminosity law for variable stars which can be used to measure the distances of nearby galaxies. In 1952 he proposed a revision of the law which meant that the estimated distances of these galaxies had to be doubled. Research Walter Baade
Walter Bagehot was an English economist and journalist. He was born in 1826 at Langport, Somerset and died in 1877. He studied at Bristol, and at University College, London, and graduated as B.A. and M.A. at the London University in 1848. He was for some time associated with his father in the banking business at Langport, and for a number of years he acted as London agent for the bank. He was one of the editors of the National Review from 1855 until 1864, and from 1860 until his death he was editor and part proprietor of the Economist. His chief works are: Physics and Politics; The English Constitution; Lombard Street; and Studies, Literary, Biographic, and Economic. He was a high authority on economics, banking, and finance, and was often consulted by public men. Research Walter Bagehot
Sir Walter Besant was an English novelist. He was born in 1836 and died in 1901. Educated in London and at Christ's College, Cambridge, where he graduated with mathematical honours. He was for a time professor in the Royal College, Mauritius.
His first work, Studies in Early French Poetry, appeared in 1868, and to the field of French literature also belong his French Humorists and his Rabelais (for the Foreign Classics series). He was for years secretary to the Palestine Exploration Fund, and has published a History of Jerusalem in connection with Professor Palmer, a biography of whom he also wrote. He is best known by his novels, a number of which were written in partnership with James Rice, including Ready-Money Mortiboy; This Son of Vulcan; The Case of Mr. Lucraft; The Golden Butterfly, The Monks of Thelema; etc. After the death of James Rice in 1882 he wrote All Sorts and Conditions of Men; All in a Garden Fair; The World Went very Well Then; The Rebel Queen; etc. Research Walter Besant
Walter Crane was an English painter, decorative artist and prominent socialist. He was born in 1845 at Liverpool and died in 1915. He was apprenticed to W J Linton, the well-known wood-engraver, and soon began to illustrate books, and in 1862 exhibited a picture - The Lady of Shalott - at the Royal Academy. He has held various posts in connection with art education, such as that of principal of the Royal College of Art, South Kensington from 1898 to 1899, and had numerous medals and other honours conferred upon him in recognition of his artistic work. He belongs essentially to the imaginative and poetic school of artists, and his tendency was towards pre-Raphaelitism and mediaevalism, the decorative element also making itself more or less prominent. Among his chief pictures are Renascence of Venus, Fate of Persephone, Europa, The Bridge of Life, La Belle Dame Sans Merci, England's Emblem, The Rainbow and the Wave, Britannia's Vision, The World's Conquerors. The Sirens Three is a poem written and decoratively illustrated by himself. Spenser's Faerie Queene and Shepherd's Calendar, some of Shakespeare's plays, etc, have been illustrated by him; and he did much in the decoration of buildings internally. He aided the socialist movement, both as a writer and as a lecturer. Research Walter Crane
Walter de Stapledon was an English divine. He was born in 1261 at Annery, Devon and died in 1326. Educated at Oxford, he occupied the chair of cannon law their before being elected bishop of Exeter in 1307. He devoted a great deal of time and money to the rebuilding of Exetercathedral. In conjunction with his brother, Richard de Stapledon he founded Stapledon Hall, Oxford which later became Exeter College, for the benefit of poor scholars from the Exeter diocese. Walter de Stapledon was murdered by a mob at Cheapside in 1326. Research Walter de Stapledon
Walter Forward was an American politician. He was born in 1786 and died in 1852. He was a Congressman from Pennsylvania from 1822 to 1825, and was active in the State Constitutional Convention in 1837. He was appointed First Controller of the Treasury in 1841, was Secretary of the Treasury in Tyier's Cabinet from 1841 to 1843, and Charge d'affaires to Denmark from 1849 to 1851. Stephen S Foster
Stephen S Foster was an American anti-slavery agitator. He was born in 1809 and died in 1881. He studied for the ministry, but zealously opposed the pulpit for upholding slavery, and published 'The Brotherhood of Thieves: a True Picture of the American Church and Clergy', and many articles on the abolition of slavery. Research Walter Forward
Walter Hagen was an American professional golfer. He was born in 1892 and died in 1969. He was the winner of four Open Championships, two US Open Championships, five US Professional Golfers Association Championships, numerous lesser national titles and more than 60 sponsored tournaments. Research Walter Hagen
Walter Reginald Hammond was an English cricketer. He was born in 1903 and died in 1965. An outstanding all-rounder, he was a commanding batsman, penetrative fast-medium bowler and superb slip fielder - taking a record 78 catches in 1928. He played for Gloucestershire and England, playing in 85 Test matches in which he made 22 centuries, seven being over 200 runs, and against New Zealand in 1928 he made 336 not out. Research Walter Hammond
Walter Savage Landor was an English poet. He was born in 1775 at Ipsley Court, Warwickshire and died in 1864. Educated at Knowle, Rugby and Trinity College, Oxford, he was expelled from both Rugby and Oxford for unruliness.
He published a small volume of poems in 1795, and a lengthy poem, Gebir, in 1798. This latter he subsequently translated into Latinverse, being one of the most accomplished Latinists of his time. He succeeded to a large property on the death of his father, but he soon sold it off, determining to live abroad.
In 1808 he raised a body of men at his own expense for the defence of Spain against France. In 1811 he married a Miss Thuillier of Bath, and settled at Florence, where many of his works were written. Having separated from his wife he returned to England in 1835. In 1857 the publication of some ugly slanders against a lady of Bath led to a prosecution for libel, and Landor was brought in for 1000 pounds damages. He left England, and once more found a resting-place in Florence, where he died.
His fame chiefly rests on his Imaginary Conversations, between celebrated persons of ancient and modern times, which is a model of a pure, vigorous, finished English style. Among his other works are Count Julian, a tragedy; Hellenics or Greek poems; Pericles and Pentalogue; and the dramas Andrea of Hungary and Giovanni of Naples. Research Walter Landor
Walter Map, or Walter Mapes was a Welsh scholar and poet of the 12th century. He is supposed to have been born about 1150, and to have died about 1210. He studied at the University of Paris, and made an important figure in the court of Henry II. He became Archdeacon of Oxford in 1199; contributed to the Arthurian cycle of romance the romances of the Quete du Saint Graal, Lancelot du Lac, and the MortArtus; was the author of a curious book, De Nugis Curialium, a notebook of the events of the day and of court gossip; and to him is attributed a collection of rhymed Latinverse, in which the abuses of the church are hit off with vigour and humour. Among the most remarkable of these are the satirical Apocalypse and the Confession of Bishop Golias. Research Walter Map
Walter Hines Page was an American diplomat and journalist. He was born in 1855 in North Carolina and died in 1918. After being educated at Johns Hopkins University he became a partner in the publishing firm of Doubleday Page and Company. From 1890 to 1895 he edited The Forum and edited other publications. In 1913 he was appointed by President Wilson American ambassador in London where he worked to promote Anglo-American unity. He retired due to ill health in 1918. Research Walter Page
Walter Pater was an English essayist and critic. He was born in 1839 at London and died in 1894. Educated at King's School, Canterbury, and at Queen's College, Oxford, in 1864 he was elected to a fellowship at Brasenose College, and his life was chiefly spent in retirement at Oxford, where he died in 1894. His works are not numerous, but they are all characterized by careful construction, accurate and wide knowledge, and a fastidiously exact, though at times over-elaborated style. They comprise The Renaissance: Studies in Art and Literature (1873), a series of detached essays; Marius the Epicurean, his Sensations and Ideas (1885); Imaginary Portraits (1887); Appreciations (1889), of Wordsworth,Coleridge, Lamb, SirThomas Browne, Rossetti, etc, with an essay on Style;
and Plato and Platonism, a series of Lectures (1893). Besides these there were published posthumously Greek Studies (1895); Miscellaneous Studies (1895); and Gaston de Latour, an unfinished romance (1896). Research Walter Pater
Sir Walter Raleigh was an English soldier, explorer and author. He was born in 1552 at Hayes Barton and died in 1618. He saw his first battles at Jarnac in 1569 and Montcontour, fighting as a volunteer. In 1577 a patent of colonization was given to his half-brother, Sir Humphrey Gilbert; but the expedition in which Raleigh took part in 1578 was a failure. In 1580 he helped Lord Grey de Wilton, Irish deputy, in putting down an insurrection. He then saw service in the Netherlands with the French Huguenots under Coligny. During the next few years he sent out expeditions to America, explored the seaboard from Florida to Newfoundland, and christened Virginia, which he endeavoured, though in vain, to plant with colonists. At the same time he attempted to introduce settlers into Ireland. A friend of the poet Spenser, Raleigh represented the influence of the renaissance movement among the Upper classes in Elizabeth I' s reign. His influence at court was often great, and he devoted all his energies to crippling the power of Spain.
In 1592 he prepared an expedition, which sailed under Frobisher, but the same year was himself sent to the Tower as a punishment for a court intrigue. In 1595 he went with Keymis to help to find gold in Guiana. he sailed up the Orinoco, but was unable to establish any permanent settlement. In 1596 he took part in an expedition against Spain under Lord Howard of Effingham and Robert Devereux, second Earl of Essex. Cadiz was attacked and stormed, and a Spanish fleet destroyed. In 1597 Raleigh, Essex, and Sir Thomas Howard equipped another fleet to attackSpain, but little was achieved due to arguments and stormy weather. In 1600 Raleigh was made governor of Jersey in America, and started a trade between Jersey and Newfoundland, and did much to promote the prosperity of the island. James I did not like Raleigh, and deprived him of his office of captain of the guard. Raleigh's advocacy of war with Spain increased James' dislike, and in 1603, being suspected of complicity with Cobham in a plot against the king he was sent to the Tower and tried for high treason. Though condemned to death, he was reprieved.
At length, James' being in great need of money, listened to Villiers who urged him to release Raleigh and allow him to make an expedition to Guiana to look for gold. Accordingly, on March the 16th 1616, Raleigh was allowed to leave the Tower. Though not pardoned, Raleigh was full of hope, and started in April 1617. The expedition was a failure, and Raleigh's son was killed. He arrived at Plymouth on June the 21st 1618 and was executed on October the 29th. Research Walter Raleigh
Sir Walter Scott Bart was a Scottish novelist and poet. He was born in 1771 at Edinburgh and died in 1832. He was a younger son of Walter Scott, writer to the signet, by Anne, daughter of Dr. John Rutherford, professor of medicine in the University of Edinburgh, both connected with old Border families. Before he was two years old his right leg was attacked with a weakness, which left him lame for life, and generally as a boy his health was not robust. He entered the high-school of Edinburgh in 1779, and in October 1783 he was matriculated at the University of Edinburgh, where he studied Latin under Professor Hill, Greek under Professor Dalzell, and logic under Professor Bruce; but neither at school nor at college did he manifest any special brilliance. He was not idle, however, being a voracious reader from his earliest years, especially in the fields of ballad literature, romance, and history, and he acquired a fair acquaintance with modern languages, French, Italian, and Spanish, and with German, a knowledge which was in that day not common.
At the age of sixteen he started in his father's office an apprenticeship to legal business, and in 1792 he was admitted a member of the Scottish bar (the Faculty of Advocates). In 1797 he married a Miss Charpentier, the daughter of a French refugee; in 1799 he was appointed sheriff of Selkirkshire, a situation to which an income of 300 pounds was attached; and in 1806 he became a principal clerk of the Court of Session, although by arrangement with his predecessor he did not receive the full emoluments of his office, about 1200 until the death of the latter in 1812.
His first ventures in literature were a translation of Burger's Lenore, and Derwilde Jager (The Wild Huntsman), which he published in a small quarto volume in 1796; then followed the ballads of Glenfinlas, The Eve of St John, and the Gray Brother; a translation of Goethe's Goetz von Berlichingen in 1799; the Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border in 1802-1803; and an edition of the old metrical romance of Sir Tristrem in 1804. In 1805 he became prominent as an original poet with the Lay of the Last Minstrel, an extended specimen of the balladstyle, which fell upon the public as something entirely new, and at once became widely popular.
In 1808 he published Marmion, another poetic romance which greatly increased his reputation; and in 1810 the Lady of the Lake, in which his poetical genius seems to have reached the peak of its powers. His subsequent poetical productions - The Vision of Don Roderick (1811), Rokeby (1812), The Bridal of Triermain (1813), The Lord of the Isles (1815), Harold the Dauntless (1817), Halidon Hill (1822), The Auchindrane Tragedy (1830), The Doom of Devorgoil (1830) - did not attain the same success.
On the decline of his popularity as a poet he turned his attention to the proseromance, for which the greater part of his early life had been a conscious or unconscious preparation. The appearance of Waverley, in 1814, forms an epoch in modern literature as well as in the life of Scott. This romance or novel was rapidly followed by numerous others, forming, from the name of the first, the series known as The Waverley Novels. The earlier of these were Guy Mannering (1815), The Antiquary, The Black Dwarf, Old Mortality (1816), Rob Roy (1817), The Heart of Midlothian (1818), The Bride of Lammermoor, A Legend of Montrose, and Ivanhoe (1819). These splendid works of fiction which surprised and enchanted the world, it is held by most, mark the high tide of his genius, those which follow being placed on a somewhat lower level, although there are several, especially in the second period, up to 1825, in which no falling-off is perceptible. Ivanhoe was followed by The Monastery, The Abbot (1820), Kenilworth, The Pirate (1821), The Fortunes of Nigel, Peveril of the Peak(182-2), Quentin Durward, St. Ronan's Well (1823), Redgauntlet (1824), The Betrothed and The Talisman (1825), Woodstock (1826), The Chronicles of the Canongate, The Fair Maid of Perth (1829), Anne of Geierstein (1829), Count Robert of Paris and Castle Dangerous (1831).
The Waverley novels were all published anonymously, nor did Scott cease to be the 'Great Unknown' until 1827, although their authorship had long been an open secret to many. Meanwhile he performed an amount of miscellaneous literary work which would have been almost more than enough for any other man, and the mere enumeration of which would be tedious; he also attended to the duties of his offices as sheriff of Selkirkshire, and a clerk of the Court of Session. The desire of becoming an extensive landed proprietor, and of founding a family, was a passion which apparently inspired him more than even the appetite for literary fame. This desire he began to gratify in 1811, when he purchased a small farm of about 100 acres, lying on the south bank of the Tweed, three miles above Melrose, upon which was a small and inconvenient farmhouse. Such was the nucleus of the mansion and estate of Abbotsford. By degrees, as his resources increased, he added farm after farm to his domain, and reared his chateau turret after turret, until he had completed what a French tourist not unaptly terms 'a romance in stone and lime'; clothing meanwhile the hills behind, and embowering the lawns before, with flourishing woods of his own planting.
It was here that he dispensed for a few years a splendid hospitality to the numerous visitors whom his fame drew from every part of the civilized world. In 1820, when he was made a baronet by George IV, who was a great admirer of his genius, he reached the zenith of his fame and outward prosperity. But this prosperity was founded on no solid basis, and the crash came in 1826, when Constable and Co. the Edinburgh publishers were obliged to suspend payment, hopelessly involving Ballantyne and Co, with whom it then appeared Scott had been connected as a partner since 1805. The liabilities which were thus incurred by him amounted to 130,000 pounds. His humiliation was indescribable, but he met the trial with strength and dignity. Liberal offers of assistance were made to him, but he refused them all. 'Time and I against any two,' he said; and leaving Abbofsford and taking a lodging in Edinburgh, he worked like a galley-slave in order to clear off the debt.
Within a few years he was able to pay his creditors 40,000 pounds, and to put things in such shape that soon after his death the whole debt was liquidated. Symptoms of gradual paralysis, a disease hereditary in his family, began to be manifested, and in the autumn of 1831 his physicians recommended a residence in Italy as a means of delaying the approaches of his illness. He was loathed to act upon his doctors orders, as he feared he might die on foreign soil; but by the intervention of friends he was persuaded upon to comply. He sailed in a government vessel from Portsmouth, landed at Naples, and afterwards proceeded to Rome, Tivoli, Albani, and Frascati. Feeling, however, that his strength was rapidly decaying, his desire to return to his native land became irrepressible, and he hurried home with a speed which in his state of health was highly dangerous. He reached Abbotsford in July 1832, and died there on the 21st of September, 1832. He was interred in his family burial aisleamidst the ruins of Dryburgh Abbey. His biography was written by his son-in-law, John Gibson Lockhart, a work which has taken the position of a classic. Research Walter Scott
Walter William Skeat was the first great English philologist. He was born in 1835 at London and died in 1912. He was educated at King's College School, London, and Christ's College, Cambridge, where be graduated BA as fourteenthwrangler in 1858, and became a fellow in 1860. Having taken orders he fulfilled parochial duties for three years, when he was appointed mathematical lecturer at Christ's College in 1866, holding the post until 1867, and English lecturer from 1867 to 1876. In 1878 he was elected to the Elrington and Bosworth professorship of Anglo-Saxon at Cambridge. He wrote The Principles of English Etymology and the Etymological English Dictionary. He was the founder and later president of the English Dialect Society. Research Walter Skeat
Walter Thornbury was an English writer. He was born in 1828 at London and died in 1876. Beginning his literary career in Bristol at the age of seventeen, he soon after settled in London, where for thirty years he was almost continuously at work writing for Household Words, Once a Week, and Athenaeum, etc. A mong his numerous works are Shakespeare's England, Songs of the Cavaliers and Roundheads, Haunted London, Legendary and Historic Ballads, and a Life of Turner, under the supervision of Ruskin. Research Walter Thornbury
Walther von der Vogelweide was a German lyric poet. He was born about 1170 and died about 1230. His earliest patrons were Duke Leopold VI of Austria and his son Frederick. Subsequently he visited, for longer and shorter periods, the courts of most German princes, who were in favour of an imperial as against a papal policy and who could appreciate his distinguished muse. The emperor Frederick II provided him with a small estate near Wurzburg, where he seems to have always retired when disgusted with travelling, the courts, and intrigues, and there he died. He was a politician and reformer as well as a poet, and his exquisite and manly verses breathe a liberalism far in advance of his times; while the subjects of his favourite love-songs are women true and noble. Research Walther von der Vogelweide
The Wampanoags were a former tribe of Massachusetts Indians. They at first showed great friendliness toward the white settlers. In 1621 they entered into an amicable compact with the Plymouth settlers, and continued in peaceable trade relations with them. Later Massasoit, the chief of the tribe, was on terms of friendship with Roger Williams. They resisted all attempts to convert them to Christianity and so in 1676 a war was waged upon them by the white settlers. The tribe were quickly wiped out, the few survivors being scattered. Research Wampanoags
Warren Gamaliel Harding was the 29th president of the USA. He was born in 1865 in Ohio and died in 1923. After various manual jobs, he found employment in the newspaper business, becoming a director of the ' Marion Star' before becoming involved in politics with the Republican party and in 1914 was elected a US senator, and in 1921 became president. His presidency was beset by corruption and scandals, and he died in 1923 supposedly from exhaustion resulting from political scandals surrounding corrupt individuals he had appointed and trusted. Research Warren Harding
Warren Hastings was the first governor-general of India. He was born in 1732 at Daylesford in Worcestershire and died in 1818. He was the grandson of the rector of Daylesford. He was educated at Westminster School, and in 1750 he set out for Bengal in the capacity of a writer in the service of the East India Company. When stationed at Cossimbazar he was taken prisoner by Surajah Dowlh on the capture of the place in 1756. Having made his escape, he served as a volunteer under Clive in 1757.
He was representative of the Company at Moorshedabad from 1758 to 1761. In the latter year he moved to Calcutta, having obtained a seat in the Bengal Council, but returned to England in 1764. As he lost the bulk of his means by unfortunate Indian investments, he again entered the Company's service, and sailed for India in 1769. In consequence of the misgovernment of the Nabob of Bengal the Company had deprived him of all real power, and now wished to have the country more directly under their control. Warren Hastings was its chief instrument in this undertaking, and in 1772 became president of the Supreme Council of Calcutta. Mohammed Reza Khan, the administrator of the revenues of Bengal, was now accused by an unprincipled character named Nuncomar of corruption and abuses of power. In this prosecution Warren Hastings acted as the tool of the Company. Mohammed and Shitab Roy, dewan of Behar (who had been similarly accused), were afterwards honourably acquitted, but meantime the reorganization desired by the Company had been carried out.
In 1773 the Company's powers were considerably modified by an act of parliament and Warren Hastings now received the title of Governor-general of India. As the majority of the Council disapproved of Warren Hastings' past policy, Nuncomar, his old ally, took advantage of the circumstance to accuse him of peculation in 1776. The accusations were favourably received by the Council, when Nuncomar was suddenly accused by a Calcuttamerchant of forgery, was tried, and executed - a fate which he undoubtedly deserved.
In 1776 the directors of the Company petitioned government for his removal from the Council, but Warren Hastings resigned, and a successor to him was appointed. In 1777 one of the members of the Council died, and Warren Hastings,having thus procured a casting vote, withdrew his resignation, and returned to office. He now displayed extraordinary resource in meeting dangerous movements on the part of the Mahrattas, the Nizam of the Deccan, and Hyder Ali of Mysore, and to procure the needful money was less than scrupulous in his treatment of the rulers of Benares and Oude. He thus gave good grounds for censure, and a motion for his recall was passed in the House of Commons.
Fox's India Bill was thrown out in 1783, but next year Pitt's bill, establishing the board of control, passed, and Warren Hastings resigned. He left India in 1785, and was impeached by Burke in 1786, being charged with acts of injustice and oppression, with maladministration, receiving of bribes, etc. This celebrated trial, in which Burke, Fox, and Sheridan thundered against him, began in 1788, and terminated in 1795 with his acquittal, but cost him his fortune.
The Company in 1796 settled on him an annuity of 4000 pounds a year, and lent him 50,000 pounds for eighteen years-free of interest. He passed the remainder of his life in retirement at Daylesford, which he purchased. Research Warren Hastings
Washington Allston was an American painter. He was born in 1779 and died in 1843. Described as the first important American romantic painter, he experimented in dramatic subject matter and the use of light and atmospheric colour. Research Washington Allston
Washington Irving was an American author. He was born in 1783 at New York and died in 1859.
He was the son of a Scotsman who had emigrated to New York before the American War of Independence, and had become a merchant of some standing. He was educated for the legal profession, but his tastes were in the direction of literature, and already in 1802 his Letters of Jonathan Oldstyle appeared in the New York Morning Chronicle. Shortly afterwards, being threatened with pulmonary disease, he sailed for Europe, visited most continental countries, and did not return to America until March, 1806, being called to the New Tork bar the same year.
In 1807, in partnership with his brother, he established the Salmagundi. In 1808 he published his 'Knickerbocker History of New York'. About this time he joined his two brothers as a sleeping partner in a mercantile venture, and in 1815 he visited England. The failure of his brothers' business made him resolve to follow literature as a profession, and he settled in London. In 1819 appeared the 'Sketch Book', which proved a great success. This was followed by 'Tales of a Traveler', 'Life of Columbus', which is considered his best historical work, 'The Conquest of Granada',and 'The Alhambra'. His greatest work is a 'Life of Washington' in five volumes published in 1855, but he also developed the 'short-story' wrote 'Rip Van Winkle'.
He also acted for a time as secretary to the American Embassy in London, and the University of Oxford honoured him in 1831 with the degree of DOL. Having returned to New York in the spring of 1832 he accompanied the expedition for the removal of the Indian tribes beyond the Mississippi, and collected the material for his Tour on the Prairies, published in 1835. From 1842 to 1846 he acted as United States ambassador at Madrid, and on his return in that year he retired to his conntry-seat at Sunnyside. His biography of Oliver Goldsmith, Mahomet and his Successors, and the Life of Washington (1855-1856) occupied his last years. Research Washington Irving
Washington A Roebling was an American engineer. He was born in 1837 and died after 1897. He was the son of the German immigrant John Roebling, was a colonel in the American Civil War, serving at South Mountain, Antietam and Bull Run. He succeeded his father in the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge, which had been started by his father in 1869 and was completed in 1883. Research Washington Roebling
Wasiliy Vereshtchagin was a Russian historical painter. He was born in 1842 and died in 1904. Educated at the naval school in St Petersburg, in 1864 he entered the Ecole des Beaux Arts at Paris, where Gerome was his master. He joined the Caucasian expedition under General Kaufmann in 1867, and in 1869 went to Siberia. In 1874 he went to India with the Prince of Wales, and afterwards settled in Paris. He took part in the Russo-Turkish war, and was wounded at Plevna. Afterwards he visited all the chief cities of Europe exhibiting his pictures. They are of immense size, extremely realistic, and treat chiefly of the horrors of war. Latterly he took up religious subjects, and his Family of Jesus, and The Resurrection, attracted some attention. Research Wasiliy Vereshtchagin
Waslaw Nijinsky was a Russian ballet dancer and choreographer. He was born in 1890 and died in 1950. He was associated with Diaghilev and his creations include settings of Stravinsky's Petrushkaand The Rite of Spring. Research Waslaw Nijinsky
The Waziris are a hardy Afghan race occupying Waziristan, a mountainous tract of country on the north-west frontier of India. During the British empire in India they gave trouble to the British on several occasions. Research Waziris
The Wend were a Slavic people of Saxony and East Prussia. In the 6th century the Wends were a powerful people, extending along the Baltic from the Elbe to the Vistula, and southwards to the frontiers of Bohemia. They comprised a variety of tribes. The favourite occupation of the Wends was agriculture. There are several dialects of the Wend language still extant. Research Wend
Wendell Phillips was an American abolitionist. He was born in 1811 at Boston and died in 1884. Educated at Harvard he became a lawyer, but from 1837 onward gave his chief energies to the abolitionist movement. He was the lecturer of the cause, as Garrison was the writer. For many years he laboured against a hostile sentiment. He succeeded Garrison as president of the anti-slavery society. He was, moreover, an ardentadvocate of the temperance and woman suffrage reforms, a champion of the greenback party, and an eloquent and acceptable lecturer on various topics, such as the Lost Arts, etc. Research Wendell Phillips
Wenzel Hollar (also known as Wenceslaus Hollar) was a Bohemian engraver. He was born in about 1607 at Prague and died in 1677. He accompanied the Earl of Arundel, the British ambassador to the German emperor, to London, who employed him to engrave some of the pictures of his collection. Among his numerous works, which are esteemed for their delicate, firm, and spirited execution, and which number some 2740 plates, are a set of twenty-eight plates, entitled Ornatus Muliebris Anglicanus, representing the dresses of Englishwomen of all ranks and conditions in full-length figures; Holbein's Dance of Death, etc. Research Wenzel Hollar
Werner Herzog is a German film director. He was born in 1942. His films include 'Signs of Life',' Fata Morgana', 'Aguirre', 'Wrath of God','Wozzeck' and 'Fitzcarraldo'. Research Werner Herzog
Westland Marston was an English poet and dramatist. He was born in 1820 at Boston and died in 1890. He went to London to study law, but devoted himself to literature, his first tragedy, The Patrician's Daughter, being produced at Drury Lane in 1842 by Macready, Phelps, and Helen Faucit. Of his many subsequent plays (collected in two volumes in 1876) the best known are Strathmore (1849), Ann Blake (1852), and Life for Life (1868). He was also the author of several lyrical compositions, some short stories collected in 1861 under the title of Family Credit, and a novel, A Lady in her own Right, published in 1860. Research Westland Marston
In the 16th century, a whiffler was an attendant armed with a javelin, battleaxe, sword, or staff employed to keep the way clear for a procession or other public spectacle. In effect, an early form of steward involved in crowd control. Research Whiffler
Whig was the name which was from the time of Charles II to the late 19th century was applied to the political party that advocated such changes in the constitution as tended in the direction of democracy. The term is of Scottish origin, and various explanations of it are given. It was originally applied to the Covenanters of the south-west of Scotland. From Scotland the word was brought to England, where it was used as the distinguishing appellation of the political party opposed to the Tories. The term Liberals is now applied to the representatives of the party formerly known as Whigs.
In the United States, the name of Whigs was taken by the party which furthered the Revolution, because their principles were but the application to America of those principles which the Whigs of England had advocated, and had secured through the Revolution of 1688. In 1834 the name was revived. The Federal party had virtually come to an end about 1817. Henceforth all American politicians were simply Republicans. But, as will usually happen in such cases, a divergence of views developed itself within the party. Adams and Clay and their followers, on the one hand, advocated a policy of protection and federal internal improvements and a broad or loose construction of the Constitution. Others, on the other hand, construing the Constitution strictly, opposed these things; these found a leader in Jackson. The former took the name of National Republicans. Adams was their candidate in 1828. After his defeat their chief leader was Clay, whom they nominated for President in 1831.
Their opposition to Jackson drew to them various elements and, as opponents of executive usurpation, the coalition took the old name of Whigs in 1834. The Whig body always formed rather a coalition than a party. They were united in opposition to Jackson, but the Northern Whigs favoured the US Bank, a protective tariff, etc., while the Southern Whigs were strict constructionists.
In the election of 1836 these various elements supported various candidates. In that of 1840 they united upon the availableHarrison, and triumphantly elected him and Tyler in a campaign of unthinking enthusiasm. Harrison died, and the Whigs quarreled violently with Tyler.
In 1844 they nominated their real leader, Clay, who narrowly missed election. The annexation of Texas and the Mexican War and the Wilmotproviso now brought slavery to the front as the leading issue of politics. This was fatal to the Whigs, for it was sure to divide the Northern and the Southern Whigs. In 1848 they preserved themselves temporarily by passing over Clay and Webster and nominating a military candidate, Taylor. He was elected. But when similar tactics were tried in 1852 with Scott, the party was decisively defeated. It was disintegrating because of its inability to maintain any opinion on slavery.
The Northern Whigs became Free-soilers, and by 1856, Republicans; the Southern, Democrats. Many Whigs went temporarily into the American-party. A small portion of them formed the Constitutional Union Party which nominated Bell and Everett in 1860. Parties became sectional, and the Whig party ceased to exist. Its chief leaders were, beside those mentioned, in the North, Winthrop, Choate, Seward, Weed and Greeley; in the South, Mangum, Berrien, Forsyth, Stephens, Toombs, Prentiss and Crittenden; in the West, McLean, Giddings, Ewing and Corwin. Research Whig
A whipping boy was formerly a boy servant retained to be whipped in place of a prince when the prince required chastisement. Mungo Murray was the whipping boy employed to be whipped in place of Charles I. Barnaby Fitzpatrick was the whipping boy whipped in place of Edward VI. Research Whipping Boy
The Whiteboys were an illegal association formed in Ireland about 1760. The association consisted of starving day-labourers, evicted farmers, and others in a like condition, who used to assemble at nights to destroy the property of harsh landlords or their agents, the Protestantclergy, the tithe collectors, or any others that had made themselves obnoxious in the locality. In many cases they did not confine their acts of aggression merely to plunder and destruction, but even went the length of murder. Research Whiteboys
Whitley Stokes was an Irish scholar. He was born in 1830 at Dublin and died in 1909. Educated at Dublin university where his father was professor of physics, Whitley Stokes lived in India from 1862 until 1882 where he drafted the codes of civil and criminal procedure. His reputation, however, rests upon his numerous works associated with the Celtic languages. Research Whitley Stokes
Wilfred Edward Salter Owen was an English poet. He was born in 1893 at Plas Wilmot, Oswestry, Shropshire and died in 1918. He was educated at Birkenhead Institute and London University. He went to France 1913 as a tutor, returning to England to enlist in the Artists' Rifles in 1915; two years later he was invalided home and sent to Craiglockhart War Hospital, Edinburgh, where Sassoon was his fellow patient. Sent back to France as a company commander, he won the MC, but was killed in the crossing of the SambreCanal. His verse, owing much to the encouragement of Siegfried Sassoon, is among the most moving of Great Warpoetry; it shatters the illusion of the glory of war, revealing its hollowness and cruel destruction of beauty. Only four poems were published during his lifetime; he was killed in action a week before the Armistice. Sassoon posthumously collected and edited his Poems in 1920. Among the best known are 'Dulce et Decorum Est' and 'Anthem for Doomed Youth', published in 1921. Benjamin Britten used
several of the poems in his War Requiem of 1962. In technique Owen's work is distinguished by the extensive use of assonance in place of rhyme, anticipating the later school of W H Auden and Stephen Spender. Research Wilfred Owen
Wilfred Rhodes was an English cricket player. He was born in 1877 and died in 1973. He played as an all-rounder for Yorkshire and England, in a career that spanned from 1898 to 1930 during which time he took 4187 wickets and scored almost 40000 runs. Research Wilfred Rhodes
Sir Wilfrid Laurier was a Canadian statesman. He was born at in 1841 at St Liu and died in 1919. Educated at McGill University, Montreal, he was called to the bar in 1864, and seven years later entered the Provincial Assembly. In 1874 he became a member of the Federal Assembly, in 1877 minister of Inland Revenue, and in 1891 leader of the Liberal party. In 1896 he became premier of Canada, being the first French-Canadian or Roman Catholic to hold that post. He was made a privy councillor in 1897, and is also a KCMG. His party lost the election of 1911, but he remained leader of the Liberal party. He oppossed conscription, but supported Canada's involvement in the Great War. Research Wilfrid Laurier
Wilhem Heinrich Immanuel Bleek was a German linguist. He was born in 1827 at Berlin 1827 and died in 1875. In 1855 he went to South Africa and devoted himself to the study of the language, manners, and customs of the natives. In 1860 he was appointed public librarian at Cape Town, and his researches were rewarded with a pension from the civil list. He was principal author of the Handbook of African, Australian, and Polynesian Philology, 1858-63, his other chief productions being Vocabulary of the Mozambique Languages, 1856; Comparative Grammar of South African Languages, 1862; Hottentot cables and Tales, 1864; and The Origin of Language, 1868. Research Wilhelm Bleek
Wilhelm Dindorf was a German classical scholar. He was born in 1802 and died in 1883. He lived most of his life at Leipzig. His chief publications were editions of the Greek dramatists and works elucidative of them and other Greek writers. Research Wilhelm Dindorf
Wilhelm Karl Grimm was a German philologist. He was born in 1786 and died in 1859. Together with his brother Jakob Grimm they wrote a book of fairy tales. He was educated at Cassel and Marburg, and in 1830 he followed his brother to Gottingen, and obtained a professorship. He joined in his brother's protest against the abrogation of the new Hanoverianconstitution, and was deprived of his office. Having obtained an appointment in Berlin, he died in that city in 1859. He devoted himself especially to the German mediaeval poetry, and published a treatise, Ueber die deutschen Runen, a translation of Altdanische Heldenlieder, Balladen und Marchen, etc, all with valuable introductions and disquisitions. Research Wilhelm Grimm
Wilhelm Haring, best known as Wilibald Alexis, was a German novelist. He was born in 1797 and died in 1871. He adopted law as a profession, but gave it up in favour of literature. In 1823 and 1827 respectively he published the novels Walladmor and Schloss Avalon, which were translated into English and other languages. These were followed by a long series of writings, consisting not only of novels and novelettes, but of books of travel, plays, ballads, etc. His most important works, however, were historic novels, such as Cabanis, Roland von Berlin, Der Falsche Waldemar, etc. Research Wilhelm Haring
Wilhelm Hauff was a German author. He was born in 1802 at Stuttgart and died in 1827.
His first publication. was his Almanach of Tales for the Year 1826, which was followed by similar collections for the next two years, the whole forming a collection that has been highly popular. Extracts from the Memoirs of Satan appeared in 1827, but remained uncompleted. Lichtenstein, a novel written under the inspiration of Sir Walter Scott appeared in 1826 and was rated as one of the best German novels of its class. In 1827 was published 'The Man In The Moon' and in the same year 'Fantasies in the Wine Cellar)of Bremen Council', a comedy which was very well received. Wilhelm Hauff was famous in his days for his comedies and fantastic stories. Research Wilhelm Hauff
Wilhelm Kieft was the fifth Dutch Governor of New Netherlands. He was born in 1600 and died in 1647. He ruled from 1638 to 1647. He concentrated the government in himself. He improved the condition and appearance of New Amsterdam, repaired the forts, prohibited illegal traffic, enforced obedience to the police ordinances of the town, erected public houses and improved the system of land tenure. His rule was nevertheless tyrannical and despotic, and he was detested by the people. He organized the first representative assembly in New Netherlands in 1641, but dissolved it in 1643. He was recalled in 1647 at the request of the colonists. Research Wilhelm Kieft
Wilhelm Muller was a German poet. He was born in 1794 at Dessau and died in 1827. He studied at Berlin and afterwards joined the Prussian army as a volunteer in 1813. He was present at the battles of Lutzen, Bautzen, Hanau, and Culm. He journeyed to Italy in 1819 and on his return was appointed teacher of Latin and Greek at Dessau. His chief poetical works are lyrical, and were very popular in Germany. He also published the Library of the Seventeenth Century German Poets. His son waa Friedrich Max Muller. Research Wilhelm Muller
Wilhelm Konrad Rontgen was a German physicist who discovered X-rays. He was born in 1845 at Lennep in Rhenish Prussia and died in 1923. He studied at Zurich and was appointed in 1876 extraordinary professor of physics in Strasburg University, and in 1879 ordinary professor of the same subject at Giessen. In 1888 he was appointed to a like position in the university of Wurzburg, and in 1899 in the university of Munich. He carried out several important physical investigations, but he is known chiefly by his great discovery of 1895, that of X-rays or Rontgen rays. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for physics in 1901 on account of his discovery of X-rays. Research Wilhelm Rontgen
Wilhelm Scherer was a German scholar and historian of literature. He was born in 1841 at Schonborn, in Lower Austria and died in 1886. He studied at Vienna and Berlin, became professor of the German language and literature at Vienna, and then at Strasburg, and in 1877 went to Berlin as professor of modern German literature. His most important work was his History of German Literature (Geschichte der deutschen Litteratur), which has been published in English. Research Wilhelm Scherer
Wilhelm Steinitz was a Bohemian chess-player. He was born in 1836 at Prague and died in 1900. Educated at the institute of technology, Vienna, in 1866 he beat Andressen in a match by eight games to six, and in 1868 he won first prize in the British ChessAssociation Handicap. In 1872 he won the London grand tournament, the 1873 Viennachessconference and in 1876 he defeated Blackburne in sevenconsecutivegames. For some time he was chess editor of The Field and in 1884 he settled in the USA where he published The International Chess Magazine from 1885 until 1891. Research Wilhelm Steinitz
Wilhelm von Kaulbach was a German painter. He was born in 1805 at Arolsen, Waldeck, and died in 1874 of cholera. He studied at the art academy of Dusseldorf under Cornelius, whom he assisted in the execution of the frescoes of the Glyptothek or gallery at Munich, and subsequently succeeded in the Munich Academy. The desire of King Ludwig of Bavaria to make Munich the centre of German art afforded free scope for his genius, and he was long engaged in the decoration of the Hofgarten, the Odeon, the palaces of Maximilian and Ludwig, and the new Pinacothek, for which he did the series of designs of contemporary groups of artists, architects, etc, executed in fresco on the exterior. His most ambitious pictures, with the exception of the Madhouse (1828), are to be found in a series (utilized in the decoration of the BerlinMuseum) seeking to depict the progress of the human race in typical scenes from the great historic periods, and comprising the Tower of Babel, Age of Homer, Destruction of Jerusalem, Battle of the Huns and Romans, the Crusades, and the Reformation (1834-63). Besides these, however, he left a large number of portraits, designs, and illustrations of books, including the Reineke Fuchs, the Gospels, and the works of Shakespeare, Goethe, and Schiller. As a colourist he was of inferior rank, his main strength lying in form and composition. In choice and handling of themes he showed the width of range of a mind of very high order, essaying with exceptional success all styles of his art from Michael Angelo to Hogarth; but the artistic value of his work is often lessened by a tendency to symbolism and allegory, and a too obvious straining after an idea. He stands in the transition from the idealism of Cornelius to the more realistic schools of modern historic painters. Research Wilhelm von Kaulbach
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a 19th century German composer. He was born in 1813 at Leipzig and died in 1883. His first opera, Rienzi, was refused in Paris but was accepted and performed at Dresden in 1842. It was followed by The Flying Dutchman in 1843. Owing to his revolutionary politics, he was exiled for some years and suffered great poverty until 1864 when Ludwig, King of Bavaria, provided him with a home and income at Munich. He later resided at Bayreuth where his great festival theatre was set up. In 1870 he married Cosima, daughter of Franz Liszt. Research Wilhelm Wagner
Wilhem Bissen was a Danishsculptor. He was born in 1798 and died in 1868. He studied at Rome under Thorwaldsen, who in his will appointed Wilhem Bissen to complete his unfinished works and take charge of his museum. Wilhem Bissen's own works include a classicfrieze of several hundred feet for the palace-hall at Copenhagen, an Atalantahunting, Cupid sharpening his arrows, etc. Research Wilhem Bissen
Wilhem Messerschmitt was a German aircraft designer and manufacturer. He was born in 1898 and died in 1978. His planes included the first jet combat aircraft. Research Wilhem Messerschmitt
Wilhem Tegetthoff (Baron Von Tegetthoff) was an Austrian sailor. He was born in 1827 at Marburg and died in 1871. He distinguished himself at the Battle of Heligoland and in the Seven Weeks' War he commanded the Adriatic fleet, and defeated the Italians under Persano at the Battle of Lissa in 1866. In 1868 he was made commander-in-chief of the Austrian navy. Research Wilhem Tegetthoff
Wilhelm Adolf Becker was a German archaeologist. He was born in 1796 at Dresden 1796 and died in 1846. In 1828 he became a teacher at Meissen, and in 1837 was appointed extraordinary professor of classical archaeology at Leipsic, and in 1842 ordinary professor. His best known works are: Gallus; Roman Scenes of the Time of Augustus, and Charikles; Illustrations of the Life of the Ancient Greeks, which wonderfully reproduce the social life of old Rome and Greece Research Wilheml Becker
Willa Mae Buckner ('The Snake Lady') was an American blues singer and entertainer. She was born in 1922 at Augusta, Georgia and died in 2000. As well as a blues singer, she worked cabaret doing fire eating, a snake act and exotic dancing covered in gold paint. Research Willa Mae Buckner More information about Willa Mae Buckner
Willard Saulsbury was an American politician. He was born in 1820 and died in 1892. He was Attorney-General of Delaware from 1850 to 1855. He represented Delaware in the US Senate as a Democrat from 1859 to 1871. He earnestly supported the Union and sought to prevent the American Civil War. He formed the famous Saulsbury combination with his brothers Gove and Eli, which ruled Delawarepolitics for thirty years. He was Chancellor of Delaware from 1874 to 1892.
Saunders, Romulus M. (1791-1867), represented North Carolina in the U. S. Congress as a Democrat from 1821 to 1827 and from 1841 to 1845. He •was Minister to Spain from 1846 to 1849. Research Willard Saulsbury
Willem Bilderdijk was a Dutch poet. He was born in 1756 and died in 1831. He studied at Leyden, and cultivated poetry while practising as an advocate at the Hague. On the invasion of the Netherlands by the French he left his country and lived abroad for many years, part of the time in London, where he delivered, in the French language, lectures on literature and poetry. He returned to Holland in 1799, and soon afterwards published some of his principal works, many of which are translations or imitations. Of his own compositions the principal are Rural Life, The Love of Fatherland, The Maladies of Scholars, The Destruction of the First World, etc. When Napoleon returned from Elba Willem Bilderdijk produced a number of war-songs, which are considered among the best in Dutch poetry. He also wrote a treatise on Geology and a History of Holland in ten volumes, etc. Research Willem Bilderdijk
Willem Einthoven was a Dutch physiologist. He was born in 1860 and died in 1927. In 1924 he was awarded a Nobel Prize for his invention of the electrocardiogram. Research Willem Einthoven
Willem Usselinx was a Dutch businessman. He was born in 1567 at Antwerp and died in 1647. A Dutch merchant, he planned the Dutch West India Company, which was chartered in 1621, but becoming dissatisfied, went over into the service of Gustavus Adolphus in 1624, and founded the Swedish West India Company, which was chartered in 1626. The remainder of his life was spent in efforts in behalf of that company in various countries of Europe. Research Willem Usselinx
Willem van Aelst was a Dutch painter of lavish flower pieces and still lifes. He was born in 1625 and died in 1683. He was a pupil of his uncle Evert van Aelst. He worked in Paris, Florence, and Rome where he was court painter to Ferdinando de Medici, the Grand Duke of Tuscany, before settling in Amsterdam in 1657. His pupils included Rachel Ruysch. Research Willem van Aelst
Willem Van De Velde the Elder was a Dutch painter. He was born in 1610 at Leyden and died in 1693. He was originally trained to be a sailor, but afterwards studied painting, and soon became distinguished for his excellence in marine subjects. Both he and his son (Adrian Van de Velde)
entered the service of Charles II. He chiefly painted in black and white, and is said to have been present at several sea-fights in order to sketch the incidents. Research Willem Van De Velde
Willem Van De Velde the Younger was a Dutch painter. He was born in 1633 at Amsterdam and died in 1707. He painted the same class of subjects as his father, (Adrian Van de Velde) whom he surpassed. His principal works are chiefly to be found in the royal collections and cabinets of England. Research Willem Van De Velde the Younger
Willem van Mieris was a Dutch painter. He was born in 1662 and died in 1747. A son and pupil of Frans van Mieris, he painted genre and mythological pictures, his best work representing subjects taken from ordinary life. Research Willem van Mieris
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