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Prescott, William

(Encyclopedia) Prescott, William, 1726–95, American Revolutionary officer, b. Groton, Mass. He saw service in the French and Indian Wars. In the American Revolution, he fortified (1775) Breed's Hill…

Prout, William

(Encyclopedia) Prout, William, 1785–1850, English chemist and physician. Prout's hypothesis, advanced in 1815–16, suggested that atomic weights of elements are multiples of that of hydrogen and that…

Proxmire, William

(Encyclopedia) Proxmire, William (Edward William Proxmire), 1915–2005, U.S. senator (1957–89), b. Lake Forest, Ill. He worked in army counterintelligence during World War II and later entered…

Prynne, William

(Encyclopedia) Prynne, WilliamPrynne, Williamprĭn [key], 1600–1669, English political figure and Puritan pamphleteer. Beginning his attacks on Arminian doctrine in 1627, he soon earned the enmity of…

Powell, William

(Encyclopedia) Powell, William, 1892–1984, American movie actor, b. Pittsburgh. Powell made his stage debut in 1912. He played the dapper villain in such early films as Sherlock Holmes (1921), Romola…

Pinkney, William

(Encyclopedia) Pinkney, William, 1764–1822, American political leader and diplomat, b. Annapolis, Md. Admitted to the bar in 1786, he soon became prominent in state politics. In 1796 he was sent to…

Tell, William

(Encyclopedia) Tell, William, legendary Swiss patriot. According to legend, Tell was a native of Uri, one of the Swiss forest cantons. Gessler, the canton's Austrian bailiff, decreed that Swiss…

Tennent, William

(Encyclopedia) Tennent, William, 1673–1745, American Presbyterian clergyman and educator, b. Ireland, grad. Univ. of Edinburgh, 1695. He was ordained in the Church of Ireland in 1706. He emigrated to…

Archer, William

(Encyclopedia) Archer, William, 1856–1924, English author, critic, and translator, b. Scotland. Throughout his life he worked as drama critic on several London newspapers. He influenced the direction…

Kidd, William

(Encyclopedia) Kidd, William, 1645?–1701, British privateer and pirate, known as Captain Kidd. He went to sea in his youth and later settled in New York, where he married and owned property. In 1691…