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Burton, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Burton, Robert, 1577–1640, English clergyman and scholar, b. Leicestershire, educated at Oxford. He served as librarian at Christ Church, Oxford, all his life; in addition he was vicar of St. Thomas...

Willing, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Willing, Thomas, 1731–1821, American merchant and financier, b. Philadelphia. He studied law in London. Returning to Philadelphia in 1749, he entered his father's business and later established with...

Rymer, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Rymer, Thomas rīˈmər [key], 1643?–1713, English critic and historiographer. Educated at Cambridge and Gray's Inn, he was called to the bar in 1673 but turned his efforts instead to literature, es...

Tompion, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Tompion, Thomas, 1639?–1713, English clockmaker. When the Royal Observatory at Greenwich was established in 1676, Tompion was chosen to make two clocks, to be wound only once a year, which proved to...

Smith, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Smith, Robert, 1757–1842, U.S. government official, b. Lancaster, Pa. Admitted to the bar in 1786, he practiced law in Baltimore before serving in the Maryland state senate (1793–95) and in the Ba...

Milken, Michael Robert

(Encyclopedia)Milken, Michael Robert mĭlˈkən [key], 1946–, American financial executive, b. Van Nuys, Calif. Nicknamed the “junk bond king,” he was an executive at Drexel Burnham Lambert, Inc., where he tr...

Say, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Say, Thomas, 1787–1843, American naturalist, b. Philadelphia. He went on collecting expeditions to Georgia and Florida and, with Stephen H. Long, to the Rocky Mts. and up the Mississippi and Minneso...

Wise, Thomas James

(Encyclopedia)Wise, Thomas James, 1859–1937, English bibliographer and book collector. His famous Ashley Library of rare editions and manuscripts was acquired by the British Museum in 1937. His many bibliographie...

Berger, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Berger, Thomas bûrˈgər [key], 1924–2014, American novelist, b. Cincinnati, grad. Univ. of Cincinnati (B.A., 1948). He is known for bitterly comic novels that often deal with the chasm he perceive...

Grosseteste, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Grosseteste, Robert grōsˈtĕst [key], c.1175–1253, English prelate. Educated at Oxford and probably also at Paris, he became one of the most learned men of his time. He taught at Oxford and later,...