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Wilkes, Charles

(Encyclopedia)Wilkes, Charles, 1798–1877, American naval officer and explorer, b. New York City, educated by his father. In 1815 he entered the merchant service and received (1818) an appointment as a midshipman....

Warren, Charles

(Encyclopedia)Warren, Charles, 1868–1954, American lawyer and historian, b. Boston. He was admitted to the Massachusetts bar in 1892. An assistant U.S. Attorney General (1914–18), he served as a special master ...

Wesley, Charles

(Encyclopedia)Wesley, Charles, 1707–88, English Methodist preacher and hymn writer. As a student at Oxford he devoted himself to systematic study and to the regular practice of religious duties; he and companions...

Townshend, Charles

(Encyclopedia)Townshend, Charles, 1725–67, English statesman; grandson of the 2d Viscount Townshend. Distrusted for his marked instability, he held relatively minor offices until the 1st earl of Chatham made him ...

Thomson, Charles

(Encyclopedia)Thomson, Charles, 1729–1824, political leader in the American Revolution, b. Co. Londonderry (now Derry), Ireland. Emigrating to America in 1739, he later taught school and became a merchant. His pr...

Tilly, Charles

(Encyclopedia)Tilly, Charles, 1929–2008, American sociologist, b. Lombard, Ill. Educated at Harvard and Oxford, Tilly taught at the Univ. of Michigan, the New School for Social Research, and Columbia, among other...

Bonnet, Charles

(Encyclopedia)Bonnet, Charles shärl bônāˈ [key], 1720–93, Swiss naturalist and philosopher. He drew attention to parthenogenesis in aphids, but his theories were highly fanciful and unscientific. His books in...

Booth, Charles

(Encyclopedia)Booth, Charles, 1840–1916, English social investigator, pioneer in developing the social survey method. Aided by the notable social scientist Beatrice Potter Webb, he made an exhaustive statistical ...

Wright, Charles

(Encyclopedia)Wright, Charles, 1935–, American poet, b. Pickwick Dam, Tenn. While in the army in Italy (1957–61), he began reading Pound's Cantos, which, along with his Southern roots and ancient Chinese poetry...

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