• wuxiang fen (food)

    Chinese five-spice powder, combination of five dried spices—fennel seeds, cassia (Chinese cinnamon), cloves, star anise, and Szechuan pepper, though many variations exist—that is of Chinese origin. Five spice powder has come to unify China’s many distinct cuisines, and it is ubiquitous in kitchens

  • wuxing (Chinese philosophy)

    wuxing, originally a moral theory associated with Zisi, the grandson of Confucius, and Mencius. In the 3rd century bce, the sage-alchemist Zou Yan introduced a systematic cosmological theory under the same rubric that was to dominate the intellectual world of the Han dynasty (206 bce–220 ce). In

  • Wuxing (China)

    Huzhou, city, northern Zhejiang sheng (province), southeastern China. It is situated close to the southern shore of Lake Tai, some 45 miles (75 km) north of the provincial capital Hangzhou and 39 miles (63 km) west of Jiaxing. Situated at the confluence of the Dongtiao and Xitiao rivers, which flow

  • Wuyang Cheng (historical town, China)

    Guangzhou: Early period: …a walled town known as Nanwu Cheng, in the northern section of the present-day city, was built during the Spring and Autumn (Chunqiu) period (770–476 bce). Between 339 and 329 bce the town was rebuilt and expanded and was known as Wuyang Cheng (“City of Five Goats”)—named for the legend…

  • Wuyi Mountains (mountains, China)

    Wuyi Mountains, mountain range on the border between Fujian and Jiangxi provinces, southeastern China. Originally used in reference to a cluster of peaks in northwestern Fujian, the name is now applied generally to the range along a southwest-northeast axis forming the northern and central parts of

  • Wuyi Shan (mountains, China)

    Wuyi Mountains, mountain range on the border between Fujian and Jiangxi provinces, southeastern China. Originally used in reference to a cluster of peaks in northwestern Fujian, the name is now applied generally to the range along a southwest-northeast axis forming the northern and central parts of

  • Wuzhi Shan (mountain, China)

    Hainan: Land: …metres) above sea level at Mount Wuzhi. Immediately to the northwest of the Wuzhi massif is the Limu Range, with several peaks above 4,600 feet (1,400 metres).

  • Wuzhi, Mount (mountain, China)

    Hainan: Land: …metres) above sea level at Mount Wuzhi. Immediately to the northwest of the Wuzhi massif is the Limu Range, with several peaks above 4,600 feet (1,400 metres).

  • Wuzhou (China)

    Wuzhou, city, eastern Zhuang Autonomous Region of Guangxi, southern China. It is situated at the confluence of the Xi River with its northern tributary, the Gui River, just west of the border with Guangdong province. The city occupies a location of strategic and economic importance, dominating the

  • Wuzhu (ruler of Minyue)

    Fujian: History of Fujian: Wuzhu, one of the sons of the vanquished Yue king, fled by sea and landed near Fuzhou to establish himself as the king of Minyue. When Zhao Zheng (who, as Shihuangdi, became the first emperor of the Qin dynasty) conquered the kingdom of Chu in…

  • Wuzong (emperor of Tang dynasty)

    China: The struggle for central authority: …ending with the accession of Wuzong in 840. Wuzong and his minister, Li Deyu, managed to impose some restrictions on the eunuchs’ power, especially in the military.

  • Wuzong (emperor of Ming dynasty)

    Zhengde was the reign name (nianhao) of the 11th emperor (reigned 1505–21) of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), during whose reign eunuchs achieved such power within the government that subsequent rulers proved unable to dislodge them. Zhu Houzhao ascended the throne in 1505, taking the reign name

  • WWB (international organization)

    Ela Bhatt: …a cofounder in 1979 of Women’s World Banking (WWB), a global network of microfinance organizations that assist poor women. She served as chairperson of WWB from 1984 to 1988. In 1986 the president of India appointed Bhatt to the Rajya Sabha (Council of States), the upper house of India’s parliament,…

  • WWE (American company)

    John Cena: …first gained fame with the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) organization and later had success in movies and books. His notable films included Trainwreck (2015), F9: The Fast Saga (2021), and The Suicide Squad (2021).

  • WWF (American company)

    John Cena: …first gained fame with the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) organization and later had success in movies and books. His notable films included Trainwreck (2015), F9: The Fast Saga (2021), and The Suicide Squad (2021).

  • WWF (international organization)

    WWF, international organization committed to conservation of the environment. In North America it is called the World Wildlife Fund. In 1960 a group of British naturalists—most notably biologist Sir Julian Huxley, artist and conservationist Peter Scott, and ornithologists Guy Mountfort and Max

  • WWI (1914–1918)

    World War I, an international conflict that in 1914–18 embroiled most of the nations of Europe along with Russia, the United States, the Middle East, and other regions. The war pitted the Central Powers—mainly Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Turkey—against the Allies—mainly France, Great Britain,

  • WWII (1939–1945)

    World War II, conflict that involved virtually every part of the world during the years 1939–45. The principal belligerents were the Axis powers—Germany, Italy, and Japan—and the Allies—France, Great Britain, the United States, the Soviet Union, and, to a lesser extent, China. The war was in many

  • wwPDB (database)

    bioinformatics: Storage and retrieval of data: …biological macromolecular structure is the worldwide Protein Data Bank (wwPDB), a joint effort of the Research Collaboratory for Structural Bioinformatics (RCSB) in the United States, the Protein Data Bank Europe (PDBe) at the European Bioinformatics Institute in the United Kingdom, and the Protein Data Bank Japan at Ōsaka University. The…

  • WWSSN

    earthquake: Earthquake observatories: The World-Wide Standardized Seismographic Network (WWSSN), the first modern worldwide standardized system, was established to help remedy this situation. Each station of the WWSSN had six seismographs—three short-period and three long-period seismographs. Timing and accuracy were maintained by crystal clocks, and a calibration pulse was placed…

  • WWSU

    waterskiing: In 1946 the World Water Ski Union (WWSU) was formed as the international governing body of worldwide waterskiing competition. Claims for world records are ratified by the WWSU.

  • WWW (information network)

    World Wide Web (WWW), the leading information retrieval service of the Internet (the worldwide computer network). The Web gives users access to a vast array of mass media and content—via the deep web, the dark web, and the commonly accessible surface web—that is connected by means of hypertext or

  • WWW (telecommunication network)

    weather bureau: …responsibilities as part of the World Weather Watch. Other notable national weather bureaus include the Japan Meteorological Agency, the China Meteorological Administration, the Bureau of Meteorology in Australia, the Hydrometeorological Centre of Russia, the Meteorological Service in Canada, and the Met Office in the United Kingdom.

  • WXYZ (radio station, Detroit, Michigan, United States)

    Green Hornet: Originating on WXYZ in Detroit, the character soon found a national audience in the United States, first on the Mutual network and then on the NBC-Blue (later ABC) network.

  • WYA (international organization)

    World Youth Alliance (WYA), international nongovernmental organization (NGO) founded in New York City in 1999 that seeks to promote what it calls an international culture of life based on individual rights, family cohesion, and personal development. Membership is limited to persons 10 to 30 years

  • Wyalusing State Park (state park, Wisconsin)

    passenger pigeon: …the passenger pigeon, in Wisconsin’s Wyalusing State Park, declares: “This species became extinct through the avarice and thoughtlessness of man.”

  • Wyandot (people)

    Huron, Iroquoian-speaking North American Indians who were living along the St. Lawrence River when contacted by French explorer Jacques Cartier in 1534. Many aspects of Huron culture were similar to those of other Northeast Indians. Traditionally, the Huron lived in villages of large bark-covered

  • Wyandotte (people)

    Huron, Iroquoian-speaking North American Indians who were living along the St. Lawrence River when contacted by French explorer Jacques Cartier in 1534. Many aspects of Huron culture were similar to those of other Northeast Indians. Traditionally, the Huron lived in villages of large bark-covered

  • Wyandotte (breed of chicken)

    poultry farming: Chickens: …include the Plymouth Rock, the Wyandotte, the Rhode Island Red, and the New Hampshire, all of which are dual-purpose breeds that are good for both eggs and meat. The Asiatic Brahma, thought to have originated in the United States from birds imported from China, is popular for both its meat…

  • Wyandotte (Kansas, United States)

    Kansas City: The earliest, Wyandotte, was bought from an Indian tribe, laid out in 1857 by a town company, and incorporated in 1859. The founding of rival settlements by proslavery and abolitionist supporters after passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854) brought rapid development. The Kansas constitution, under which the…

  • Wyandotte (Michigan, United States)

    Wyandotte, city, Wayne county, southeastern Michigan, U.S., on the Detroit River, just southwest of Detroit. Settled about 1820, it was laid out in 1854 on the site of the Huron village near where the Ottawa chief Pontiac had planned his attack on Detroit in 1763. Its name recalls the Wendat

  • Wyandotte Cave (cave, Indiana, United States)

    Wyandotte Cave, cave in Crawford county, southern Indiana, U.S., near the village of Wyandotte, about 30 miles (48 km) west of New Albany. With 25 miles (40 km) of passages on five levels, it is the largest of the many such caves dissolved out in the horizontally bedded Mississippian limestones

  • Wyandotte Constitution (United States history)

    Wyandotte Constitution, in the period immediately preceding the American Civil War, document under which Kansas was admitted to the Union as a free state (Jan. 29, 1861), concluding the struggle known as Bleeding Kansas. Drawn up at Wyandotte (now part of Kansas City) in July 1859, it rejected

  • Wyat, Sir Thomas (English poet)

    Sir Thomas Wyatt was a poet who introduced the Italian sonnet and terza rima verse form and the French rondeau into English literature. Wyatt was educated at St. John’s, Cambridge, and became a member of the court circle of Henry VIII, where he seems to have been popular and admired for his

  • Wyat, Sir Thomas, the Younger (English soldier)

    Sir Thomas Wyatt the Younger was an English soldier and conspirator who led an unsuccessful rebellion against Queen Mary I, probably the most formidable uprising ever faced by a Tudor monarch. Wyatt’s father was the renowned poet and diplomat Sir Thomas Wyatt. As a young man he acquired a

  • Wyatt Earp: Return to Tombstone (film by Landres and McDonald [1994])

    Dennis Quaid: Comeback: The Parent Trap, The Rookie, and Reagan: …and Bone (1993), with Ryan; Wyatt Earp (1994), in which he played Doc Holliday; and the romantic comedy Something to Talk About (1995), about a husband who cheats on his wife (played by Julia Roberts). He closed out the decade with the popular The Parent Trap (1998), starring Lindsay Lohan,…

  • Wyatt, Hattie Ophelia (United States senator)

    Hattie Caraway was an American Democratic politician who became the first woman elected (1932) to the U.S. Senate. Hattie Wyatt grew up in her native Bakerville, Tennessee, and in nearby Hustburg. She graduated (1896) from Dickson Normal School and for a time thereafter taught school. In 1902 she

  • Wyatt, James (British architect)

    James Wyatt was an English architect chiefly remembered for his Romantic country houses, especially the extraordinary Gothic Revival Fonthill Abbey. In 1762 Wyatt went to Italy, where he remained six years. On his return to England, he designed the London Pantheon (opened 1772; later demolished), a

  • Wyatt, John (English mechanic)

    John Wyatt was an English mechanic who contributed to the development of power spinning. Wyatt began his career as a carpenter in the village of Thickbroom, near Lichfield, but by 1730, with financial support from the Birmingham inventor Lewis Paul, he was working on machines for boring metal and

  • Wyatt, Ken (Australian politician)

    Ken Wyatt is an Australian educator and Liberal Party politician who was the first Aboriginal person to be elected (2010) to the national House of Representatives and to hold (2019– ) a cabinet position in Australia’s federal government. Wyatt, of primarily Nyungar (or Nyoongar), Yamatji, and Wongi

  • Wyatt, Kenneth George (Australian politician)

    Ken Wyatt is an Australian educator and Liberal Party politician who was the first Aboriginal person to be elected (2010) to the national House of Representatives and to hold (2019– ) a cabinet position in Australia’s federal government. Wyatt, of primarily Nyungar (or Nyoongar), Yamatji, and Wongi

  • Wyatt, Sir Thomas (English poet)

    Sir Thomas Wyatt was a poet who introduced the Italian sonnet and terza rima verse form and the French rondeau into English literature. Wyatt was educated at St. John’s, Cambridge, and became a member of the court circle of Henry VIII, where he seems to have been popular and admired for his

  • Wyatt, Sir Thomas, the Younger (English soldier)

    Sir Thomas Wyatt the Younger was an English soldier and conspirator who led an unsuccessful rebellion against Queen Mary I, probably the most formidable uprising ever faced by a Tudor monarch. Wyatt’s father was the renowned poet and diplomat Sir Thomas Wyatt. As a young man he acquired a

  • Wyatville, Sir Jeffry (British architect)

    Western architecture: From the 19th to the early 20th century: …Castle, by James Wyatt’s nephew, Sir Jeffry Wyatville, who began the remodeling in 1824. Gothic was also employed in collegiate work. William Wilkins built the screen and hall at King’s College, Cambridge, between 1824 and 1827, and Rickman and Henry Hutchinson added New Court to St. John’s College, Cambridge, between…

  • Wybicki, Józef (Polish writer)

    Polish literature: Further development of lyric poetry: Among them was Józef Wybicki, whose popular patriotic song “Mazurek Dąbrowskiego” (1797; “Dąbrowski’s Mazurka”) was adopted as the national anthem in 1918.

  • Wych elm (tree)

    elm: Major species: …crown and deeply fissured bark; Wych elm (U. glabra), with smoother bark; and Camperdown elm (U. glabra camperdownii), a variety of Wych elm also known as umbrella elm because of its drooping branches. The fast-growing Siberian elm (U. pumila), a brittle-twigged weak-wooded tree, is sometimes planted for quick shade and…

  • Wychavon (district, England, United Kingdom)

    Wychavon, district, administrative county of Worcestershire, west-central England. It is located in the southeastern part of the county. Pershore is the administrative centre. Most of the district is in the historic county of Worcestershire, but the area around Hinton and Childwickham and the

  • Wyche, Richard (English bishop)

    Saint Richard of Chichester ; canonized Jan. 28, 1262; feast day April 3) was a bishop of Chichester, who championed the ideals of St. Edmund of Abingdon. After becoming an M.A. of Oxford, Richard studied canon law at Paris and perhaps at Bologna and later became chancellor of Oxford. From 1236 to

  • Wycherley, William (English dramatist)

    William Wycherley was an English dramatist who attempted to reconcile in his plays a personal conflict between deep-seated puritanism and an ardent physical nature. He perhaps succeeded best in The Country-Wife (1675), in which satiric comment on excessive jealousy and complacency was blended with

  • Wycherly, Margaret (American actress)

    Sergeant York: Margaret Wycherly’s performance as York’s beloved mother was also praised. Sergeant York was released several month before the United States entered World War II, and its patriotic and inspirational themes resonated with moviegoers.

  • Wycis, Henry T. (American neurologist)

    stereotaxic surgery: Spiegel and Henry T. Wycis. Since then, a number of modifications and refinements have been made to stereotaxic devices, procedures, and atlases, and these advances have significantly improved the utility of stereotaxy.

  • Wyckoff, Ralph Walter Graystone (American chemist)

    Ralph Walter Graystone Wyckoff was an American research scientist, a pioneer in the application of X-ray methods to determine crystal structures and one of the first to use these methods for studying biological substances. Wyckoff was educated at Cornell University and was an instructor in

  • Wyclef Jean Foundation (international organization)

    Wyclef Jean: …Jean Foundation (later known as Yéle Haiti). The organization raised money and engineered programs to assist victims of poverty in Haiti. Following the Haiti earthquake of 2010, Yéle Haiti raised several million dollars for those affected. Jean announced in August of 2010 that he would run for president of Haiti,…

  • Wyclif Reading His Translation of the Scriptures to John of Gaunt (painting by Brown)

    Ford Madox Brown: …and neomedievalism first appears in Wyclif Reading His Translation of the Scriptures to John of Gaunt (1847). In 1848 Brown briefly accepted Dante Gabriel Rossetti as a pupil, and in 1850 Brown contributed to the Pre-Raphaelites’ magazine, Germ. Like William Holman Hunt, Brown painted in the open air to obtain…

  • Wyclif, John (English theologian)

    John Wycliffe was an English theologian, philosopher, church reformer, and promoter of the first complete translation of the Bible into English. He was one of the forerunners of the Protestant Reformation. The politico-ecclesiastical theories that he developed required the church to give up its

  • Wycliff, John (English theologian)

    John Wycliffe was an English theologian, philosopher, church reformer, and promoter of the first complete translation of the Bible into English. He was one of the forerunners of the Protestant Reformation. The politico-ecclesiastical theories that he developed required the church to give up its

  • Wycliffe Bible

    biblical literature: The Wycliffite versions: By the middle of the 13th century, the Anglo component in the Anglo-Norman amalgam had begun to reassert itself, and the close of the century witnessed a Northumbrian version of the Psalter made directly from Latin, which, because it survived in several manuscripts,…

  • Wycliffe Bible Translators

    Christianity: Scripture translations: Wycliffe Bible Translators (1936) concentrated its work among the language groups having the smallest numbers of speakers. From 1968, Roman Catholics and the United Bible Societies have coordinated their efforts and cooperated in translation and production wherever possible.

  • Wycliffe, John (English theologian)

    John Wycliffe was an English theologian, philosopher, church reformer, and promoter of the first complete translation of the Bible into English. He was one of the forerunners of the Protestant Reformation. The politico-ecclesiastical theories that he developed required the church to give up its

  • Wycliffite Bible

    biblical literature: The Wycliffite versions: By the middle of the 13th century, the Anglo component in the Anglo-Norman amalgam had begun to reassert itself, and the close of the century witnessed a Northumbrian version of the Psalter made directly from Latin, which, because it survived in several manuscripts,…

  • Wycombe (district, England, United Kingdom)

    Wycombe, district, administrative and historic county of Buckinghamshire, England, in the southern part of the wooded Chiltern Hills. The River Thames forms its southern boundary. The predominantly rural district overlaps the designated Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Prehistoric

  • wydah (bird)

    whydah, any of several African birds that have long dark tails suggesting a funeral veil. They belong to two subfamilies, Viduinae and Ploceinae, of the family Ploceidae (order Passeriformes). The name is associated with Whydah (Ouidah), a town in Benin where the birds are common. In the Viduinae,

  • Wyden, Ron (United States senator)

    Ron Wyden is an American politician who was elected as a Democrat to the U.S. Senate in 1996 and began representing Oregon later that year. He previously served in the U.S. House of Representatives (1981–96). Wyden was born in Kansas to Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany; his father changed the

  • Wyden, Ronald Lee (United States senator)

    Ron Wyden is an American politician who was elected as a Democrat to the U.S. Senate in 1996 and began representing Oregon later that year. He previously served in the U.S. House of Representatives (1981–96). Wyden was born in Kansas to Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany; his father changed the

  • Wydeville, Elizabeth (queen of England)

    Elizabeth Woodville was the wife of King Edward IV of England. After Edward’s death, popular dislike of her and her court facilitated the usurpation of power by Richard, duke of Gloucester (King Richard III). A woman of great beauty, she was already a widow with two sons when Edward IV married her

  • wye connection (electronics)

    electric generator: Phases: This connection is called a star, or wye, connection. Alternatively, since the three winding voltages also sum to zero at every instant, the three windings can be connected in series—a′ to b, b′ to c, and c′ to a—to form a delta connection. The output can then be transmitted using…

  • Wye Memorandum (Arab-Israeli agreement)

    Israel: The Wye River Memorandum: The breakdown of direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiation at high levels led the United States to intervene again in early 1998 to end the stalemate. Both sides met in rural Maryland in October, and after intensive negotiations that included President Clinton’s active participation produced…

  • Wye Oak State Park (Maryland, United States)

    Easton: …Bay Maritime Museum (west) and Wye Oak State Park (north), which preserved a 460-year-old white oak, 96 feet (29 metres) high and nearly 32 feet (10 metres) around the trunk, a spectacular example of Maryland’s official state tree; in 2002 the tree was felled in a storm. Easton is noted…

  • Wye River Memorandum (Israel-Palestinian Liberation Organization [1998])

    Israel: Occupation of Arab territories: …in September 1995, and the Wye River Memorandum of October 1998. The transfers, executed in stages, actually occurred more slowly than originally agreed, with a number of stages delayed or postponed. In 2002 Israel also began construction on a barrier described as a security measure against suicide attacks; despite a…

  • Wye, River (river, United Kingdom)

    River Wye, river in England and Wales, about 130 miles (210 km) long. It flows from the moorlands of central Wales, generally southeastward through England to its Irish Sea mouth in the Severn Estuary. It is one of the major rivers of Britain. The Wye rises on the eastern slopes of the uplands of

  • Wyeth, Andrew (American artist)

    Andrew Wyeth was an American watercolourist and worker in tempera noted primarily for his realistic depictions of the buildings, fields, hills, and people of his private world. Wyeth’s father, N.C. Wyeth, was a well-known illustrator who had studied under Howard Pyle and who, starting in 1932,

  • Wyeth, Andrew Newell (American artist)

    Andrew Wyeth was an American watercolourist and worker in tempera noted primarily for his realistic depictions of the buildings, fields, hills, and people of his private world. Wyeth’s father, N.C. Wyeth, was a well-known illustrator who had studied under Howard Pyle and who, starting in 1932,

  • Wyeth, Marion Sims (architect)

    Mar-a-Lago: History: Designed by Marion Sims Wyeth in an ersatz Hispano-Moresque style, it boasts some 36,000 antique Spanish floor tiles and 2,200 square feet of black and white marble floor blocks imported from a Cuban castle. Its exterior walls are constructed of Dorian stone, a fossil-bearing limestone, imported from…

  • Wyeth, N.C. (American artist)

    N.C. Wyeth was an American illustrator and muralist. Wyeth was raised on a farm, and he learned drafting and illustration in Boston before studying with the master illustrator Howard Pyle. He first found success in depicting the American West. During his career he contributed his memorable

  • Wyeth, Nathaniel (American merchant)

    Oregon Trail: Missionaries, Mormons, and others: …headed by New England merchant Nathaniel Wyeth. They largely followed the Platte River. At the Snake River, Wyeth built a post, Fort Hall, in Idaho (near present-day Pocatello), which was later bought by the Hudson’s Bay Company; it subsequently became a major supply outpost for future emigrants. The Wyeth-Lee party…

  • Wyeth, Newell Convers (American artist)

    N.C. Wyeth was an American illustrator and muralist. Wyeth was raised on a farm, and he learned drafting and illustration in Boston before studying with the master illustrator Howard Pyle. He first found success in depicting the American West. During his career he contributed his memorable

  • Wykeham, William of (English prelate and statesman)

    William of Wykeham was an English prelate and statesman, the founder of Winchester College and of New College, Oxford. Wykeham evidently came from a very poor family. Wealthy patrons helped him obtain an education, and about 1356 he entered the service of King Edward III. By the mid-1360s he was

  • Wyld, James Hart (American aeronautical engineer)

    Bell X-1: …and tested by American engineer James Hart Wyld. Experience gained in the X-1 tests led to the development of the X-15 rocket plane.

  • Wyle, Noah (American actor)

    ER: …La Salle (1994–2001, 2002, 2009), Noah Wyle (1994–2006, 2009), Maura Tierney (1999–2009), and Goran Visnjic (1999–2008).

  • Wyler, sWilliam (American director)

    William Wyler was a German-born American director of motion pictures that combined a high degree of technical polish with a clear narrative style and sensitive handling of human relationships. Most of his feature films were so-called prestige pictures based on novels or plays. Wyler was a

  • Wyler, Willi (American director)

    William Wyler was a German-born American director of motion pictures that combined a high degree of technical polish with a clear narrative style and sensitive handling of human relationships. Most of his feature films were so-called prestige pictures based on novels or plays. Wyler was a

  • Wylie, Elinor (American writer)

    Elinor Wylie was an American poet and novelist whose work, written from an aristocratic and traditionalist point of view, reflected changing American attitudes in the aftermath of World War I. Elinor Hoyt grew up from age 12 in Washington, D.C., where her father served as assistant U.S. attorney

  • Wylie, Lake (lake, South Carolina, United States)

    York: On the northern border is Lake Wylie, created by one of the state’s first hydroelectric projects, the Catawba Dam on the Catawba River. York county lies in a hilly piedmont region. The eastern portion is urban, while the western section remains rural. Part of Kings Mountain National Military Park, site…

  • Wyman, Bill (British musician)

    the Rolling Stones: Later members

  • Wyman, Jane (American actress)

    Jane Wyman was an American actor who had a long, distinguished career in film and television, but was perhaps equally well known as the first wife (1940–48) of former president Ronald Reagan. Wyman’s father died when she was a small child, and she was placed in the care of neighbours, whose last

  • Wyman, Walter (American physician and government official)

    surgeon general of the United States: …surgeon general was American physician Walter Wyman, who was appointed as supervising surgeon in 1891. He served as surgeon general until 1911.

  • Wynants, Jan (Dutch painter)

    Thomas Gainsborough: Early life and Suffolk period: …first landscapes were influenced by Jan Wynants. The earliest dated picture with a landscape background is a study of a bull terrier, Bumper—A Bull Terrier (1745), in which many of the details are taken straight from Wynants. But by 1748, when he painted Cornard Wood, Jacob van Ruisdael had become…

  • Wyndham (Western Australia, Australia)

    Wyndham, northernmost township and seaport of Western Australia. It lies at the mouth of the King River, on the West Arm of Cambridge Gulf (an inlet of Joseph Bonaparte Gulf of the Timor Sea). Founded in 1885 as a port for the Kimberley goldfield, it was named for the son of Sir Napier Broome,

  • Wyndham Land Purchase Act (United Kingdom [1903])

    Ireland: The Home Rule movement and the Land League: …most important achievement was the Land Purchase Act of 1903, which initiated the greatest social revolution in Ireland since the 17th century. By providing generous inducements to landlords to sell their estates, the act effected by government mediation the transfer of landownership to the occupying tenants.

  • Wyndham, George (British politician)

    George Wyndham was a British Conservative politician and man of letters who, as chief secretary for Ireland, was responsible for the Irish Land Purchase Act of 1903, also known as the Wyndham Land Purchase Act, which alleviated the problem of Irish farm ownership with justice to landlords as well

  • Wyndham, John (British writer)

    John Wyndham was an English science-fiction writer who examined the human struggle for survival when catastrophic natural phenomena suddenly invade a comfortable English setting. Educated in Derbyshire, Wyndham tried his hand at various jobs, from farming to advertising. During the mid-1920s he

  • Wyndham, Sir Charles (British theatrical manager)

    Albery family: …Lady Wyndham when she married Sir Charles Wyndham (1916), founder of Wyndham’s Theatre (1899) and the New Theatre (1903; renamed Albery, 1973). The Wyndhams managed both theatres in addition to the Criterion Theatre.

  • Wyndham, Sir William, 3rd Baronet (British politician)

    Sir William Wyndham, 3rd Baronet was an English Tory politician, a close associate of Henry Saint John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke. A member of Parliament (1710–40), Wyndham was appointed secretary of war in 1712, chancellor of the Exchequer in 1713, and head of the Treasury in 1714, all at

  • Wynema: A Child of the Forest (novel by Callahan)

    S. Alice Callahan: …adult, Callahan wrote a novel, Wynema: A Child of the Forest—about a young Creek girl who becomes a teacher and sets up a school in her village—that was published in 1891, when the author was 23 years old. It was a “reform novel” intended for a white audience, illustrating the…

  • Wynette, Tammy (American singer)

    Tammy Wynette was an American singer, who was revered as the “first lady of country music” from the 1950s to the ’80s, perhaps best known for her 1968 hit “Stand by Your Man.” Wynette’s life personified the theme of a rags-to-riches country song. Her father, a musician, died when she was an infant,

  • Wynfrid (English missionary)

    Saint Boniface ; feast day June 5) was an English missionary and reformer, often called the apostle of Germany for his role in the Christianization of that country. Boniface set the church in Germany on a firm course of undeviating piety and irreproachable conduct. In his letters and in the

  • Wynfrith (English missionary)

    Saint Boniface ; feast day June 5) was an English missionary and reformer, often called the apostle of Germany for his role in the Christianization of that country. Boniface set the church in Germany on a firm course of undeviating piety and irreproachable conduct. In his letters and in the

  • Wynkyn, Jan Van (English printer)

    Wynkyn de Worde was an Alsatian-born printer in London, an astute businessman who published a large number of books (at least 600 titles from 1501). He was also the first printer in England to use italic type (1524). He was employed at William Caxton’s press, Westminster (the first printing

  • Wynn, Ed (American actor)

    Ed Wynn was an American comedian and actor in vaudeville, theatre, and motion pictures and on radio and television. He was also a producer, author, and songwriter. Wynn made his professional debut with the Thurber-Nasher Repertoire Company in Norwich, Conn., in 1902 and acquired the nickname of the

  • Wynn, Emanuel (French pirate)

    Jolly Roger: Purpose and origins: French pirate Emanuel Wynn, who operated in the western Atlantic Ocean near Britain’s Carolina colonies and in the Caribbean Sea about 1700, is considered by many historians to have been the first to fly a flag with a skull and crossbones, but his Jolly Roger also included…