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Rives, William Cabell

(Encyclopedia)Rives, William Cabell rēvz [key], 1793–1868, American politician and diplomat, b. Nelson co. (then part of Amherst co.), Va. A lawyer, he sat in the Virginia legislature (1817–21, 1822–23), was...

Whitney, William Collins

(Encyclopedia)Whitney, William Collins, 1841–1904, American financier and political leader, b. Conway, Mass. After attending (1863–64) Harvard law school, he moved to New York City, became successful as a corpo...

Hewlett, William Redington

(Encyclopedia)Hewlett, William Redington hyo͞oˈlĭt [key], 1913–2001, American engineer and business executive, b. Ann Arbor, Mich., grad. Stanford (B.S. 1934, Engineer 1939), Massachusetts Institute of Technol...

Prescott, William Hickling

(Encyclopedia)Prescott, William Hickling, 1796–1859, American historian, b. Salem, Mass. He entered his father's law office, but was compelled by a serious eye injury to abandon law. He received medical attention...

White, William Alanson

(Encyclopedia)White, William Alanson, 1870–1937, American psychiatrist, b. Brooklyn, N.Y., studied at Cornell (1885–89) and Long Island Hospital Medical School (M.D., 1891). In 1892 he joined the staff of the B...

American Legion

(Encyclopedia)American Legion, national association of male and female war veterans, founded (1919) in Paris. Membership is open to veterans of World Wars I and II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. The preamble...

Thornton, William

(Encyclopedia)Thornton, William, 1759–1828, American architect, b. Tortola, British Virgin Islands, He studied (1781–84) medicine at Edinburgh but received his medical degree (1784) at the Univ. of Aberdeen. In...

Ticknor, William Davis

(Encyclopedia)Ticknor, William Davis, 1810–64, American publisher. John Reed and James T. Fields became Ticknor's partners in Boston, and their firm is best known as Ticknor and Fields. They published the works o...

Carstares, William

(Encyclopedia)Carstares or Carstairs, William, 1649–1715, Scottish statesman and Presbyterian divine. While studying theology at Utrecht, he became a friend of William of Orange (later William III of England). He...

American Samoa

(Encyclopedia)American Samoa, officially Territory of American Samoa, unincorporated territory of the United States (2015 est. pop. 56,000), comprising the eastern half of the Samoa island chain in the South Pacifi...

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