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Levitt, William Jaird

(Encyclopedia)Levitt, William Jaird lĕvˈət [key], 1907–94, American builder, b. Brooklyn, N.Y. After studying at New York Univ., he (and his brother) joined his father's construction company; it became (1929) ...

McAdoo, William Gibbs

(Encyclopedia)McAdoo, William Gibbs măkˈədo͞o [key], 1863–1941, American political leader, U.S. secretary of the treasury (1913–18), b. near Marietta, Ga. The son of a prominent Georgia jurist, McAdoo becam...

MacEwen, Sir William

(Encyclopedia)MacEwen, Sir William məkyo͞oˈən [key], 1848–1924, Scottish surgeon. A professor of surgery at the Univ. of Glasgow, he was noted for his work on bone grafting, on the radical cure of hernia, and...

McGill, William James

(Encyclopedia)McGill, William James, 1922–97, American educator and psychologist, b. New York City, grad. Fordham (A.B., 1943) and Harvard (Ph.D., 1953). A specialist in psychophysics and mathematical psychology,...

McGuffey, William Holmes

(Encyclopedia)McGuffey, William Holmes məgŭfˈē [key], 1800–1873, American educator, b. near Claysville, Pa. He was graduated from Washington and Jefferson College in 1826, having meanwhile taught in rural sch...

Mackay, John William

(Encyclopedia)Mackay, John William măkˈē [key], 1831–1902, American financier, b. Dublin, Ireland. He immigrated to the United States in 1840. In 1859 he joined the rush to Nevada, where silver had been discov...

Mackenzie, Sir William

(Encyclopedia)Mackenzie, Sir William, 1849–1923, Canadian railroad builder and financier, b. Ontario. In the early 1870s he became a railroad contractor. He constructed portions of the Canadian National and the C...

Mackenzie, William Lyon

(Encyclopedia)Mackenzie, William Lyon, 1795–1861, Canadian journalist and insurgent leader, b. Scotland; grandfather of William Lyon Mackenzie King. Emigrating to Upper Canada in 1820, he published (1824–34), f...

Longchamp, William of

(Encyclopedia)Longchamp, William of lôngˈshămp, lôNshäNˈ [key], d. 1197, chancellor and justiciar of England, bishop of Ely. After service with Geoffrey, duke of Brittany, he joined Richard (later Richard I) ...

May, Philip William

(Encyclopedia)May, Philip William (Phil May), 1864–1903, English pen-and-ink caricaturist, b. Leeds. After living in poverty for many years, he made numerous drawings for the St. Stephen's Review. Phil May's Wint...

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