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Byrd, William, English composer

(Encyclopedia)Byrd, William, 1543–1623, English composer, organist at Lincoln Cathedral and, jointly with Tallis, at the Chapel Royal. Although Roman Catholic, he composed anthems and services for the English Chu...

Bramah, Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Bramah, Joseph brămˈə, bräˈ– [key], 1748–1814, English inventor. In 1784 he took out his first patent on a safety lock, and in 1795 he patented his hydraulic press, known as the Bramah press ...

Barclay, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Barclay, Robert, 1648–90, Scottish apologist for the Society of Friends (Quakers). He wrote many controversial works but is best known for his great treatise An Apology for the True Christian Divini...

Crompton, Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Crompton, Samuel, 1753–1827, English inventor of the mule spinner, or muslin wheel, an important step in the development of fine cotton spinning. Working as a young man in a spinning mill, he knew t...

Williams, Roger

(Encyclopedia)Williams, Roger, c.1603–1683, clergyman, advocate of religious freedom, founder of Rhode Island, b. London. A protégé of Sir Edward Coke, he graduated from Pembroke College, Cambridge, in 1627 and...

Curtis, George Ticknor

(Encyclopedia)Curtis, George Ticknor, 1812–94, American lawyer and writer, b. Watertown, Mass. A highly successful patent attorney, Curtis served in the Massachusetts legislature (1840–43) and as U.S. commissio...

Marsh, Charles Wesley

(Encyclopedia)Marsh, Charles Wesley, 1834–1918, American inventor and editor, b. Ontario. In 1849 his family moved to De Kalb co., Ill. Assisted by his brother William, he designed a hand-binding harvester and ob...

Adams, Samuel Hopkins

(Encyclopedia)Adams, Samuel Hopkins, 1871–1958, American author, b. Dunkirk, N.Y., grad. Hamilton College, 1891. He was a reporter for the New York Sun (1891–1900) and then joined McClure's Magazine, where he g...

Popham, George

(Encyclopedia)Popham, George pŏpˈəm [key], c.1550–1608, early colonist in Maine, b. England. He was named in the patent granted to the Plymouth Company in 1606. In consequence of the colonization project of hi...

Andrée, Salomon August

(Encyclopedia)Andrée, Salomon August säˈlo͞omôn ouˈgəst ändrāˈ [key], 1854–97, Swedish polar explorer, grad. Royal Inst. of Technology, Stockholm. An aeronautical engineer and head of the Swedish patent...