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Wood, Anthony ... Worcester
Wood, Anthony
English antiquarian whose life was devoted to collecting and publishing the history of Oxford and its university.
Wood, Evelyn
American educator who developed a widely used system of high-speed reading.
Wood, Fernando
American congressional representative and mayor of New York City who led the Northern peace Democrats-or "Copperheads"-during the American Civil War.
Wood, Grant
American painter who was one of the major exponents of Midwestern Regionalism, a movement that flourished in the United States during the 1930s.
Wood, John, the Elder
English architect and town planner, a resident of Bath from 1727 who fixed the physical character of that resort city. Though some of his individual buildings were noteworthy exercises in ...
Wood, John, The Younger
British architect whose work at Bath represents the culmination of the Palladian tradition initiated there by his father, John Wood the Elder. Bath is one of the most celebrated achievements ...
Wood, Leonard
medical officer who became chief of staff of the U.S. Army and governor general of the Philippine Islands (1921-27).
Wood, Mary Elizabeth
American librarian and missionary, whose efforts brought numerous libraries to China and established a strong program in that country to train librarians.
Wood, Mrs. Henry
nee Ellen Price English novelist who wrote the sensational and extremely popular East Lynne (1861), a melodramatic and moralizing tale of the fall of virtue. Translated into many languages, it ...
Wood, Robert E
U.S. business executive under whose leadership Sears, Roebuck and Co. grew to become the world's largest merchandising company.
Wood, Robert Williams
U.S. physicist who extended the technique of Raman spectroscopy, a useful method of studying matter by analyzing the light scattered by it.
Wood, Sir Henry J.
conductor, the principal figure in the popularization of orchestral music in England in his time.
Wood-Forbes Mission
(1921), fact-finding commission sent to the Philippines by newly elected U.S. president Warren Harding in March 1921, which concluded that Filipinos were not yet ready for independence from the United ...
Woodall Mountain
highest point in Mississippi, U.S., reaching an elevation of 806 feet (246 metres) above sea level. It lies in Tishomingo county in the extreme northeastern part of the state, just ...
woodbine
any of many species of vines belonging to a number of flowering-plant families, especially the Virginia creeper (q.v.; Parthenocissus quinquefolia) of North America and a Eurasian species of honeysuckle (q.v.; ...
Woodbridge
township, Middlesex county, eastern New Jersey, U.S. It lies across the Arthur Kill (a narrow channel) that separates New Jersey from Staten Island, New York City, and is 4 miles ...
Woodbridge
town ("parish") in Suffolk Coastal district, administrative and historic county of Suffolk, England, at the head of the Deben estuary. The community was originally a Saxon settlement near the site ...
Woodbury, Helen Laura Sumner
American economist whose investigative work centred largely on historical and contemporary labour issues, particularly in relation to women and children.
Woodbury, Levi
American politician who was an associate justice of the Supreme Court from 1846 to 1851.
woodchuck
one of 14 species of marmots, the woodchuck is basically a giant North American ground squirrel. It is sometimes destructive to gardens and pasture lands, especially hay, clover, alfalfa, and ...
woodcock
any of five species of squat-bodied, long-billed birds of damp, dense woodlands, allied to the snipes in the waterbird family Scolopacidae (order Charadriiformes). The woodcock is a startling game bird: ...
Woodcock, George
Canadian poet, critic, historian, travel writer, playwright, scriptwriter, and editor, whose work, particularly his poetry, reflects his belief that revolutionary changes would take place in society.
Woodcock, George
English labour leader who was general secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) from 1960 to 1969.
woodcreeper
any of about 48 species of tropical American birds comprising the subfamily Dendrocolaptinae, family Furnariidae, order Passeriformes. Some authorities classify the birds as a separate family (Dendrocolaptidae). Woodcreepers work their ...
woodcut
technique of printing designs from planks of wood incised parallel to the vertical axis of the wood's grain. It is one of the oldest methods of making prints from a ...
Wooden, John
American basketball coach who directed teams of the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) to 10 National Collegiate Athletic Association championships in 12 seasons (1964-65, 1967-73, 1975). Several of ...
Woodhull, Victoria
unconventional American reformer, who at various times championed such diverse causes as woman suffrage, free love, mystical socialism, and the Greenback movement. She was also the first woman to run ...
Woodland
city, seat (1862) of Yolo county, central California, U.S. It lies in the Sacramento Valley, 20 miles (30 km) northwest of Sacramento. It was founded in 1853 by Henry Wyckoff ...
Woodland cultures
prehistoric cultures of eastern North America dating from the 1st millennium BC. A variant of the Woodland tradition was found on the Great Plains. Over most of this area these ...
woodland vole
a small mouselike rodent of the eastern United States that is well adapted to burrowing, as reflected by its slender, cylindrical body, strong feet, and large front claws. The very ...
woodpecker
any of about 180 species of birds that constitute the subfamily Picinae (true woodpeckers) of the family Picidae (order Piciformes), noted for probing for insects in tree bark and for ...
woodpecker finch
species of Galapagos finch (q.v.).
woodrat
any of 20 species of medium-sized North and Central American rodents. Some species are commonly known as "packrats" for their characteristic accumulation of food and debris on or near their ...
woodruff
any of various species of plants of a genus (Asperula) belonging to the madder family, Rubiaceae. The woodruff is found growing wild in woods and shady places in many countries ...
Woodruff, Wilford
fourth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), who issued the proclamation that relinquished the church practice of polygyny, or polygamy as it was popularly called.
Woods Hole
unincorporated village in Falmouth town (township), Barnstable county, southeastern Massachusetts, U.S. It lies at the southwestern end of Cape Cod. Woods Hole is the cape's principal port and a point ...
Woods, Lake of the
scenic lake astride the Canadian-United States boundary where the provinces of Ontario and Manitoba and the state of Minnesota meet. Relatively shallow and irregular in shape, it is 70 miles ...
Woods, Tiger
American golfer, who enjoyed one of the greatest amateur careers in the history of the game and became a dominant player on the professional circuit in the late 1990s. In ...
Woods, William B.
associate justice of the United States Supreme Court (1880-87).
Woodson, Carter G.
American historian who first opened the long-neglected field of black studies to scholars and also popularized the field in the schools and colleges of black people. To focus attention on ...
Woodstock
unincorporated village and town (township) in Ulster county, southeastern New York, U.S., lying in the foothills of the southern Catskills near the Ashokan Reservoir. Located 10 miles (16 km) northwest ...
Woodstock
city, seat of Oxford county, southeastern Ontario, Canada, on the Thames River. The first settler was Zacharius Burtch, who built a log cabin (1798) on a hill overlooking the town ...
woodswallow
(Artamus), any of 10 species of songbirds constituting the family Artamidae (order Passeriformes). Woodswallows are found from eastern India, Southeast Asia, and the Philippines southward to Australia and Tasmania. They ...
Woodville, Elizabeth
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).
woodwarbler
any of several members of the songbird family Parulidae (formerly Compsothlypidae or Mniotiltidae, order Passeriformes). They are New World birds distinct from the true warblers of the Old World (see ...
Woodward
city, seat (1907) of Woodward county, northwestern Oklahoma, U.S. The city lies along the North Canadian River on the Western Trail, a northbound cattle route. It was originally a train ...
Woodward, C. Vann
American historian and educator who became the leading interpreter of the post-Civil War history of the American South.
Woodward, Robert Burns
American chemist best known for his syntheses of complex organic substances, including quinine (1944), cholesterol and cortisone (1951), and vitamin B12 (1971). He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry ...
Woodward, William
American banker and an influential breeder, owner, and racer of horses.
woodwind
any of a group of wind musical instruments, composed of the flutes and reed pipes (i.e., clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and saxophone). Both groups were traditionally made of wood, but now ...
Woodworth, Robert S.
American psychologist who conducted major research on learning and developed a system of "dynamic psychology" into which he sought to incorporate several different schools of psychological thought.
wool
animal fibre forming the protective covering, or fleece, of sheep or of other hairy mammals, such as goats and camels. Prehistoric man, clothing himself with sheepskins, eventually learned to make ...
Woolf, Arthur
British engineer who pioneered in the development of the compound steam engine.
Woolf, Douglas
American author of gently comic fiction about people unassimilated into materialistic, technological society.
Woolf, Leonard
British man of letters, publisher, political worker, journalist, and internationalist who influenced literary and political life and thought more by his personality than by any one achievement.
Woolf, Virginia
British author who made an original contribution to the form of the novel and was one of the most distinguished critics of her time.
Woollcott, Alexander
American author, critic, and actor known for his acerbic wit. A large, portly man, he was the self-appointed leader of the Algonquin Round Table, an informal luncheon club at New ...
Woolley, Frank Edward
English cricketer, one of the greatest of all time, remembered especially for his graceful left-handed batting. His impressive record in first-class cricket included an aggregate of 58,969 runs, 145 centuries ...
Woolley, Mary Emma
American educator who, as president of Mount Holyoke College from 1901 to 1937, greatly improved the school's resources, status, and standards.
Woolley, Sir Leonard
British archaeologist whose excavation of the ancient Sumerian city of Ur (in modern Iraq) greatly advanced knowledge of ancient Mesopotamian civilization. His discovery of geological evidence of a great flood ...
woolly monkey
any of five species of densely furred South American primates found in rainforests of the western Amazon River basin. Woolly monkeys average 40-60 cm (16-24 inches) in length, excluding the ...
woolly rhinoceros
extinct genus (Coelodonta) of Pleistocene rhinoceros, found in fossil deposits in Europe, North Africa, and Asia of the Pleistocene epoch (1,600,000 to 10,000 years ago). The genus probably evolved from ...
woolly spider monkey
extremely rare primate that lives only in the remaining Atlantic forests of southeastern Brazil. The woolly spider monkey is the largest monkey in South America and is intermediate in structure ...
Woolman, John
British-American Quaker leader and abolitionist whose Journal is recognized as one of the classic records of the spiritual inner life.
Woolsey, Sarah Chauncey
American children's author whose vivacious and mischievous heroines presented a popular contrast to the norm of her day.
Woolsey, Theodore Dwight
American educator and scholar, president of Yale (1846-71), whose many innovations later became common in institutions of higher learning.
Woolson, Constance Fenimore
American writer whose stories and novels are particularly notable for the sense of place they evoke.
Woolston, Thomas
English religious writer and an extremist among English Deists.
Woolwich
historic town in the borough of Greenwich, London. It lies on the south bank of the River Thames. Formerly a metropolitan borough of London, it was made part of the ...
Woolworth Co.
American company that developed a large chain of general-merchandise retail stores based on the concept of the five-and-ten (i.e., a store that sells all items in stock for 10 cents ...
Woonsocket
city, Providence county, northern Rhode Island, U.S., on the Blackstone River just south of the Massachusetts border. The first European occupation of the site was made by Richard Arnold, who ...
Wooster
city, seat (1811) of Wayne county, north-central Ohio, U.S., on Killbuck Creek, 28 miles (45 km) southwest of Akron. The site was laid out in 1808 by John Bever, William ...
Worcester
city (district), administrative and historic county of Worcestershire, west-central England. Worcester is the historic county town (seat) of Worcestershire. Except for the small residential suburb of St. John's, it lies ...
Worcester
town, Western Cape province, South Africa. It lies in the Bree River valley, between the rugged Dutoits and Hex River mountains, east-northeast of Cape Town. Worcester was founded in 1820 ...
Worcester
county, extreme southeastern Maryland, U.S., bordered by Delaware to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Virginia to the south, the Pocomoke River to the southwest and northwest, and ...
Worcester
city, seat of Worcester county, central Massachusetts, U.S., on the Blackstone River, about midway between Boston and Springfield. A major commercial and industrial centre and the state's second largest city, ...