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Dollond, John

(Encyclopedia)Dollond, John dŏlˈənd [key], 1706–61, English optician and inventor. A silk weaver, he taught himself languages, mathematics, and science, becoming a noted scholar as well as a scientist. He inve...

Wolcot, John

(Encyclopedia)Wolcot, John wo͝olˈkət [key], pseud. Peter Pindar, 1738–1819, English poet. He wrote several satires, notably Lyric Odes to the Royal Academicians (1782–83), Bozzy and Piozzi (1786), and The Lo...

Dyer, John

(Encyclopedia)Dyer, John, 1700?–1758, English nature poet, b. Wales. He is best known for the topographical poem Grongar Hill (1726). ...

Foxe, John

(Encyclopedia)Foxe, John, 1516–87, English clergyman, author of the noted Book of Martyrs. He early became a Protestant and, when Mary Tudor became queen, he fled from England to Strasbourg. There was printed (15...

Stow, John

(Encyclopedia)Stow, John, 1525?–1605, English chronicler and antiquarian. He was a tailor in his youth, but after 1560 he came under the patronage of Archbishop Matthew Parker, whose Society of Antiquaries he joi...

Hampden, John

(Encyclopedia)Hampden, John hămpˈdən, hămˈ– [key], 1594–1643, English parliamentary leader; cousin of Oliver Cromwell. He entered Parliament in 1621, became closely associated with Sir John Eliot, and was ...

Gauden, John

(Encyclopedia)Gauden, John gôˈdən [key], 1605–62, English clergyman. He claimed to have written the Eikon Basilike (1649), a tract in defense of Charles I. After the Restoration, Gauden was bishop of Exeter (1...

Gerard, John

(Encyclopedia)Gerard, John jĕrˈärd, jərärdˈ [key], 1545–1612, English botanist and barber-surgeon. He compiled a catalog (1596) of the plants in his garden, the first of its kind to be published in England....

Roebuck, John

(Encyclopedia)Roebuck, John, 1718–94, English physician, chemist, and inventor. He acted as a chemical consultant to local industries in Birmingham and invented the lead chamber process of manufacturing sulfuric ...

Capgrave, John

(Encyclopedia)Capgrave, John, 1393–1464, English author and Augustinian friar. One of the most learned men of his day, he was a distinguished theologian, philosopher, and historian. His writings, many of which ha...