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Whitfeld six (bridge)
The most famous of all double-dummy problems was proposed by W.H. Whitfeld, a mathematician at the University of Cambridge, in 1885 and is called the Whitfeld six because each hand has six cards. Whist players of the day could make nothing of it, and, despite the advancement in the science of card playing, it would cause trouble even to most experienced contract bridge players.......
Whitfield, June (British actress)
...Saffron (Julia Sawalha), Eddy’s straight-laced, virtuous teenage daughter, acts as a mother to her mother and serves as the moral centre and conscience of the show. June Monsoon, Eddy’s mother (June Whitfield), is an eccentric kleptomaniac whom Eddy apparently despises and constantly insults. The main cast is rounded out by Bubble (Jane Horrocks), Eddy’s dim-witted personal...
Whitfield, Mal (American athlete)
American middle-distance runner, world-record holder for the 880-yard race (1950–54), for the 1,000-metre race (1953), and, as a member of the U.S. team, for the 4 × 440-yard relay race (1952–56) and the 4 × 880-yard relay race (1952)....
Whitfield, Malvin G. (American athlete)
American middle-distance runner, world-record holder for the 880-yard race (1950–54), for the 1,000-metre race (1953), and, as a member of the U.S. team, for the 4 × 440-yard relay race (1952–56) and the 4 × 880-yard relay race (1952)....
Whitfield, Norman Jesse (American songwriter and producer)
May 12, 1941Harlem, N.Y.Sept. 16, 2008Los Angeles, Calif.American songwriter and producer who helped shape the sound of the music of label Motown Records in the 1960s and ’70s, co-writing (often with Barrett Strong), arranging, and producing many of the hits of the Temptations, notab...
Whitford, Brad (American musician)
...lead guitarist Joe Perry (b. Sept. 10, 1950Boston, Mass.), guitarist Brad Whitford (b. Feb. 23, 1952Winchester, Mass.), bassist Tom......
Whitgift, John (archbishop of Canterbury)
archbishop of Canterbury who did much to strengthen the Anglican church during the last years of Elizabeth I and to secure its acceptance by her successor, James I. He was the first bishop to be appointed to the Privy Council by Elizabeth, who entirely trusted and supported him, insisting on his ministratio...
Whithorn (Scotland, United Kingdom)
royal burgh (town) in Dumfries and Galloway region, historic county of Wigtownshire, southwestern Scotland. It lies on the peninsula between Luce and Wigtown bays. One of the oldest Christian centres in Britain, it was founded about ad 397 by St. Ninian, who built a small w...
whiting (fish)
(species Gadus, or Merlangius, merlangus), common marine food fish of the cod family, Gadidae. The whiting is found in European waters and is especially abundant in the North Sea. It is carnivorous and feeds on invertebrates and small fishes. It has three dorsal and two anal fins and a chin barbel that, if present, is very small...
whiting (fish, Menticirrhus genus)
...Atlantic Ocean; the white seabass (Atractoscion nobilis) of the eastern Pacific; the freshwater drum (Aplodinotus grunniens), a silvery, lake-and-river fish of the Americas; the kingfish, or whiting (Menticirrhus saxatilis), of the Atlantic, notable among drums in that it lacks an air bladder; and the sea drum, or black drum (Pogonias cromis), a gray or coppery......
whiting (chemistry)
...calcium carbonate) and boiled linseed oil. It is beaten or kneaded to the consistency of dough and is used to secure sheets of glass in sashes, to stop crevices in woodwork, and to fill nail holes. Whiting putty of a high grade consists of 85 to 90 percent whiting blended with 10 to 15 percent boiled linseed oil. White-lead whiting putty has an admixture of 10 percent white lead, reducing the.....
whiting
Lake whitefishes (Coregonus) are deep-bodied forms. The largest and most valuable, C. clupeaformis of the Great Lakes region, is known by such other names as Lake Superior whitefish, whiting, and shad. It averages about 2 kg (4.5 pounds) in weight....
Whiting (Indiana, United States)
Lake whitefishes (Coregonus) are deep-bodied forms. The largest and most valuable, C. clupeaformis of the Great Lakes region, is known by such other names as Lake Superior whitefish, whiting, and shad. It averages about 2 kg (4.5 pounds) in weight.......
Whiting, Beatrice B. (American anthropologist)
...disorders, which consist of persistent lying, stealing, vandalism, and fighting, although these differences do not appear until after about the age of three. A study by the American anthropologists Beatrice B. Whiting and Carolyn P. Edwards found that males were consistently more aggressive than females in seven cultures, suggesting that there is a predisposition in males to respond......
Whiting, John Robert (British playwright)
playwright whose intellectually demanding dramas avoided the audience-pleasing formulas current in the early 1950s and paved the way for the revolution in English drama that took place in mid-decade....
Whiting, Leonard (British actor)
...romance, the actors who played the title lovers were often too old to plausibly portray the characters. Refreshingly, Zeffirelli gave the roles to young, inexperienced actors Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting, who at the time of filming were ages 15 and 17, respectively. The acclaimed director provided his trademark sweeping production design, emulating the actual societal conditions in......
Whiting, Margaret (American singer)
July 22, 1924Detroit, Mich.Jan. 10, 2011Englewood, N.J.American singer who recorded dozens of hit songs in the 1940s and ’50s and was known for her clear voice, expressive interpretation, excellent phrasing, and musicality. Whiting, the daughter of songwriter Richard Whiting, had her...
Whiting, Sarah Frances (American physicist and astronomer)
American physicist and astronomer who advanced the scientific education of women in the 19th century....
Whitlam, Edward Gough (prime minister of Australia)
Australian politician and lawyer whose premiership (1972–75) of his country ended when he was dismissed by the governor-general....
Whitlam, Gough (prime minister of Australia)
Australian politician and lawyer whose premiership (1972–75) of his country ended when he was dismissed by the governor-general....
Whitley, Chris (American musician)
American singer-songwriter (b. Aug. 31, 1960, Houston, Texas—d. Nov. 20, 2005, Houston), experimented with a wide variety of musical genres (from blues and folk to grunge and electronica) but arrived at his own distinctive, often hybridized version of each, winning praise from critics and musicians such as Bob Dylan but often frustrating expectations. Following the much-praised Living wi...
Whitley, Christopher Becker (American musician)
American singer-songwriter (b. Aug. 31, 1960, Houston, Texas—d. Nov. 20, 2005, Houston), experimented with a wide variety of musical genres (from blues and folk to grunge and electronica) but arrived at his own distinctive, often hybridized version of each, winning praise from critics and musicians such as Bob Dylan but often frustrating expectations. Following the much-praised Living wi...
Whitley Council (labour relations)
in Great Britain, any of the bodies made up of representatives of labour and management for the promotion of better industrial relations. An original series of councils, named for J.H. Whitley, chairman of the investigatory committee (1916–19) who recommended their formation, were first instituted as a means of remedy...
Whitley, H. J. (American real-estate magnate)
...Hollywood was laid out as a real-estate subdivision in 1887 by Harvey Wilcox, a prohibitionist from Kansas who envisioned a community based on his sober religious principles. Real-estate magnate H.J. Whitley, known as the “Father of Hollywood,” subsequently transformed Hollywood into a wealthy and popular residential area. At the turn of the 20th century, Whitley was responsible.....
Whitlock, Albert (American filmmaker)
To reduce the graininess that each generation of film adds to the original, concerns such as George Lucas’ Industrial Light and Magic produce their effects on 65-mm film. Others, notably Albert Whitlock, have revived the old practice of making matte effects on the camera negative. In the silent film days, this was achieved using a glass shot in which the actors were photographed through a p...
Whitlock, Brand (American writer and politician)
...Many (1907), the latter reporting methods being tried to extend democracy in other countries. Lincoln Steffens wrote on corrupt city and state politics in The Shame of the Cities (1904). Brand Whitlock, who wrote The Turn of the Balance (1907), a novel opposing capital punishment, was also a reform mayor of Toledo, Ohio. Thomas W. Lawson, a Boston financier, in “Fren...
Whitlock, Elizabeth (British actress)
noted actress in England and the United States....
Whitlock, Tom (American songwriter and lyricist)
...for A Room with a ViewOriginal Score: Herbie Hancock for ’Round MidnightOriginal Song: “Take My Breath Away” from Top Gun; music by Giorgio Moroder, lyrics by Tom WhitlockHonorary Award: Ralph Bellamy...
whitlow grass (plant)
any plant belonging to either of two genera (Erophila and Draba), of the mustard family (Brassicaceae); some authorities believe that all these plants belong to one genus, Draba. The genus Erophila contains 10 European species, the genus Draba about 300 species distributed throughout the New...
Whitman (Massachusetts, United States)
town (township), Plymouth county, eastern Massachusetts, U.S., just east of Brockton. The site was settled about 1670, and the town of South Abington (or Little Comfort) was formed and incorporated in 1875 from parts of Abington and East Bridgewater. The name was changed in 1886 to honour Augustus Whitman, a prominent citizen. Local mills squared white oak tim...
Whitman, Albery Allson (American poet)
African American poetry developed along two paths after 1880. The traditionalists were led by Albery Allson Whitman, who made his fame among black readers with two book-length epic poems, Not a Man, and Yet a Man (1877) and The Rape of Florida (1884), the latter written in Spenserian stanzas....
Whitman, Charles (American assassin)
American thriller film, released in 1968, that marked the directorial debut of Peter Bogdanovich. It is loosely based on a real-life incident in 1966 in which Charles Whitman, an ex-Marine and a student at the University of Texas, killed his wife and mother and then began randomly shooting people from atop a tower on the campus—though it also acquired an unexpected resonance from the......
Whitman, Marcus (American missionary)
American physician, Congregational missionary to the Indians in the territories of present-day Washington and Oregon, and a pioneer who helped open the Pacific Northwest to settlement....
Whitman, Margaret (American business executive and politician)
American business executive and politician who served as president and CEO (1998–2008) of eBay, an online auction company....
Whitman Massacre (Canadian history)
...sorcery, in order to remove the Indians to make way for white settlers. On Nov. 29, 1847, the Indians attacked, killing 14 whites, including the Whitmans, and kidnapping 53 women and children. The Whitman Massacre directed national attention to the difficulties faced by settlers in the Far West and contributed to early passage of a bill to organize the Oregon Territory (1848). It also led......
Whitman, Meg (American business executive and politician)
American business executive and politician who served as president and CEO (1998–2008) of eBay, an online auction company....
Whitman, Narcissa (American missionary)
...of present-day Wyoming greatly encouraged the missionaries. Parker continued west, while Whitman returned to New York for additional recruits and assistance. There he married his fiancée, Narcissa Prentiss, who was also registered with the mission board. When the Whitmans set out for the West, they were accompanied by another married couple, the Reverend Henry H. Spalding and his......
Whitman, Sarah Helen Power (American writer and critic)
American poet and essayist, noted for her literary criticism and perhaps best remembered for her alliance with and scholarly defense of Edgar Allan Poe....
Whitman, Walt (American poet)
American poet, journalist, and essayist whose verse collection Leaves of Grass is a landmark in the history of American literature....
Whitman, Walter (American poet)
American poet, journalist, and essayist whose verse collection Leaves of Grass is a landmark in the history of American literature....
Whitmonday (holiday)
...they were further reduced to four: Good Friday, May 1, November 1, and Christmas Day. By the act of 1871, the following were constituted bank holidays in England, Wales, and Ireland: Easter Monday; Whitmonday, the first Monday of August; December 26 if a weekday; and, by the act of 1875, December 27 when December 26 falls on a Sunday (i.e., the first weekday after Christmas; Boxing Day). The......
Whitmore, James (American actor)
Oct. 1, 1921White Plains, N.Y.Feb. 6, 2009Malibu, Calif.American actor who won critical acclaim for his live one-man shows during the 1970s; he portrayed the title character in Will Rogers’ U.S.A., Harry Truman in Give ’Em Hell, Harry!—the film version (19...
Whitney, Adeline Dutton Train (American writer)
American writer whose books, largely for young people, reflected her belief that the home was the ultimate key to virtue....
Whitney, Amos (American manufacturer)
U.S. manufacturer. He was apprenticed at age 13. In 1860, with Francis Pratt, he founded the firm of Pratt & Whitney, originally to manufacture thread spoolers. It later diversified into the manufacture of innovative designs of guns, cannons, sewing machines, and typesetting machines; instruments for measurement developed there proved of great value to ...
Whitney, Anne (American sculptor)
American sculptor whose life-size statues and portrait busts frequently addressed abolitionist and feminist concerns....
Whitney, Asa (American merchant)
The first public proposal for such a line was made by the New York City merchant Asa Whitney in 1844. At that time the United States did not hold outright possession of land west of the Rockies, though it exercised joint occupation of the Oregon Country until 1846, when under a treaty with Britain it gained possession of the Pacific coast between the 42nd and 49th parallels. Whitney’s Railr...
Whitney, Caspar (American journalist)
From 1889 through 1897, Camp and Caspar Whitney collaborated in choosing the annual All-America football team, an idea that seems to have originated with Whitney. From 1898 through 1924, the teams were announced in the magazine Collier’s under the name of Camp alone. On his death he was succeeded as All-America selector by the noted sportswriter Grantland Rice...
Whitney, Charlotte Anita (American activist)
American suffragist and political radical who was prominent in the founding and early activities of the Communist Party in the United States....
Whitney, Cornelius Vanderbilt (American businessman)
American businessman who turned inherited wealth and a variety of interests into significant achievements in business and public service....
Whitney, Eli (American inventor and manufacturer)
American inventor, mechanical engineer, and manufacturer, best remembered as the inventor of the cotton gin but most important for developing the concept of mass production of interchangeable parts....
Whitney, Gertrude Vanderbilt (American sculptor)
American sculptor and art patron, founder of the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City....
Whitney, Jock (American sportsman and businessman)
American multimillionaire and sportsman who had a multifaceted career as a publisher, financier, philanthropist, and horse breeder....
Whitney, John Hay (American sportsman and businessman)
American multimillionaire and sportsman who had a multifaceted career as a publisher, financier, philanthropist, and horse breeder....
Whitney, Mary Watson (American astronomer)
American astronomer who built Vassar College’s research program in astronomy into one of the nation’s finest....
Whitney, Mount (mountain, California, United States)
highest peak (14,494 feet [4,418 metres] above sea level) in the 48 coterminous U.S. states. It is the culminating summit of the Sierra Nevada. In eastern California on the Inyo-Tulare county line, the peak is at the eastern border of Sequoia National Park, immediately...
Whitney Museum of American Art (museum, New York City, New York, United States)
collection in New York City of predominantly 20th-century American art, including painting, sculpture, and graphics. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, a sculptor and promoter of American art. The museum opened at a ...
Whitney, Phyllis Ayame (American author)
American author who wrote for both juvenile and adult audiences—largely mysteries and maturation stories for the former and romantic mysteries for the latter....
Whitney, Ruth Reinke (American editor)
American editor who served as editor in chief of Glamour magazine from 1967 to 1998; during that time she introduced women’s social and health issues into the magazine’s fashion pages, guided Glamour to four National Magazine Awards, and helped increase its circulation to 2.1 million readers (b. July 23, 1928, Oshkosh, Wis.—d. June 4, 1999, Irvington, N.Y.)....
Whitney v. California (law case)
...to be able to make laws suited to varied and changing needs, but he wished to restrict state laws when they interfered with the freedom to express ideas. In the case of (Charlotte) Anita Whitney (Whitney v. California, 1927), a communist who had been convicted under a state criminal-syndicalism statute, he delivered a concurring opinion urging that penalties on speech be applied.....
Whitney, William C. (United States naval secretary)
U.S. secretary of the navy (1885–89) who played a major role in the post-Civil War rebuilding of the navy....
Whitney, William Collins (United States naval secretary)
U.S. secretary of the navy (1885–89) who played a major role in the post-Civil War rebuilding of the navy....
Whitney, William Dwight (American linguist)
American linguist and one of the foremost Sanskrit scholars of his time, noted especially for his classic work, Sanskrit Grammar (1879)....
Whitney, Willis Rodney (American chemist)
American chemist and founder of the General Electric Company’s research laboratory, where he directed pioneering work in electrical technology and was credited with setting the pattern for industrial scientific laboratory research in the United States...
Whitson, Peggy (American biochemist and astronaut)
American biochemist and astronaut, who was the first female commander of the International Space Station (ISS) and who set a record among American astronauts and among women for spending the most time in space....
Whitson, Peggy Annette (American biochemist and astronaut)
American biochemist and astronaut, who was the first female commander of the International Space Station (ISS) and who set a record among American astronauts and among women for spending the most time in space....
Whitstable (England, United Kingdom)
town east of the Isle of Sheppey on the Thames Estuary shore in the city (district) of Canterbury, administrative and historic county of Kent, southeastern England. From Roman times it was known for the oysters gathered from the sea....
Whitsunday (Christianity)
(Pentecost from Greek pentecostē, “50th day”), major festival in the Christian church, celebrated on the Sunday that falls on the 50th day after Easter. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit on the disciples, which occurred on the Jewish Pentecost, after the death, Resurrection, and Ascension ...
Whitsunday Island (island, Queensland, Australia)
largest of the Cumberland Islands, lying 6 miles (10 km) off the northeastern coast of Queensland, Australia, in the Coral Sea. An inshore, coral-fringed continental island, it measures 12 by 8 mi...
Whitsunday, Mount (mountain, Queensland, Australia)
...the Coral Sea. An inshore, coral-fringed continental island, it measures 12 by 8 miles (19 by 13 km), has an area of 42 square miles (109 square km), and rises from steep cliffs of volcanic rock to Mount Whitsunday, 1,426 feet (435 m). The island lies between the coral formations of the Great Barrier Reef and the Whitsunday Passage, which is 20 miles (32 km) long and a minimum of 2 miles (3 km)...
Whittaker, Charles E. (United States jurist)
associate justice of the United States Supreme Court (1957–62)....
Whittaker, Charles Evans (United States jurist)
associate justice of the United States Supreme Court (1957–62)....
Whittaker, Robert H. (American biologist)
Modern biology, following the lead of the German biologist Ernst Haeckel and the American biologists Herbert F. Copeland and Robert H. Whittaker, has now thoroughly abandoned the two-kingdom plant-versus-animal dichotomy. Haeckel proposed three kingdoms when he established “Protista” for microorganisms. Copeland classified the microorganisms into the Monerans (prokaryotes) and the......
Whittaker, Sir Edmund Taylor (British mathematician)
English mathematician who made pioneering contributions to the area of special functions, which is of particular interest in mathematical physics....
Whittelsey, Abigail Goodrich (American editor)
American editor whose mission in her magazine work was to provide information and instruction on the role of mothers....
Whittemore, Edward Reed, II (American teacher and poet)
American teacher and poet noted for his free-flowing ironic verse....
Whittemore, Reed (American teacher and poet)
American teacher and poet noted for his free-flowing ironic verse....
Whitten Brown, Sir Arthur (British aviator)
British aviator who, with Capt. John W. Alcock, made the first nonstop airplane crossing of the Atlantic....
Whitten v. Georgia (law case)
...America was not necessarily so in subsequent periods. In 1791, for example, larceny, burglary, and even forgery could in some cases result in hanging. Less than a century later, however, in Whitten v. Georgia (1872), the Supreme Court put limits on what was constitutionally permissible, holding that the “cruel and unusual” clause was “intended to prohibit......
Whittier (California, United States)
city, Los Angeles county, southern California, U.S. It lies at the foot of the Puente Hills, about 12 miles (19 km) southeast of the city centre of Los Angeles. Part of the Rancho Paso de Bartolo Viejo land grant, the site was chosen in 1887 by Aquila H. Pickering for a Quaker community and named for the Quaker poet and abolitionist John Greenleaf Whi...
Whittier College (college, Whittier, California, United States)
city, Los Angeles county, southern California, U.S. It lies at the foot of the Puente Hills, about 12 miles (19 km) southeast of the city centre of Los Angeles. Part of the Rancho Paso de Bartolo Viejo land grant, the site was chosen in 1887 by Aquila H. Pickering for a Quaker community and named for the Quaker poet and abolitionist John Greenleaf Whi...
Whittier, John Greenleaf (American author)
American poet and abolitionist who, in the latter part of his life, shared with Henry Wadsworth Longfellow the distinction of being a household name in both England and the United States....
Whittier, Pollyanna (fictional character)
fictional character, the orphaned but ever-optimistic heroine of Eleanor Hodgman Porter’s novel Pollyanna (1913)....
Whittingham, Charles (American horse trainer)
American horse trainer of over 2,500 winners, including Kentucky Derby winners Ferdinand (1986) and Sunday Silence (1989), both of which made him the oldest trainer of a Derby champion; he won top-trainer Eclipse Awards three times (1971, 1982, and 1989) and in 1974 was elected to the Racing Hall of Fame (b. April 13, 1913, ...
Whittingham, Charlie (American horse trainer)
American horse trainer of over 2,500 winners, including Kentucky Derby winners Ferdinand (1986) and Sunday Silence (1989), both of which made him the oldest trainer of a Derby champion; he won top-trainer Eclipse Awards three times (1971, 1982, and 1989) and in 1974 was elected to the Racing Hall of Fame (b. April 13, 1913, ...
Whittingham, William (English theologian)
...so-named because of its rendering of the first garments made for Adam and Eve in chapter three, verse seven of Genesis)—published in 1560—may almost certainly be identified as William Whittingham, the brother-in-law of Calvin’s wife, and his assistants Anthony Gilby and Thomas Sampson. The Geneva Bible was not printed in England until 1576, but it was allowed to be......
Whittington, Dick (English merchant and politician)
English merchant and lord mayor of London who became a well-known figure in legend and traditional pantomime....
Whittington, Richard (English merchant and politician)
English merchant and lord mayor of London who became a well-known figure in legend and traditional pantomime....
Whittle, Sir Frank (British inventor and aviator)
English aviation engineer and pilot who invented the jet engine....
Whittlesey, Derwent S. (American geographer)
...gained prominence through the valuable studies in sequent occupance—i.e., the study of the human occupation of a specific region over intervals of historic time—initiated by Derwent S. Whittlesey and Carl O. Sauer. The establishment of the Journal of Historical Geography (1975) and historical-geography research groups by the Institute of British Geographers (1973)......
Whittredge, Thomas Worthington (American painter)
American landscape painter associated with the Hudson River school....
Whittredge, Worthington (American painter)
American landscape painter associated with the Hudson River school....
Whitty, Thomas (British weaver)
floor covering made originally in a factory founded at Axminster, Devon, England, in 1755 by the cloth weaver Thomas Whitty. Resembling somewhat the Savonnerie carpets produced in France, Axminster carpets were symmetrically knotted by hand in wool on woolen warps and had a weft of flax or hemp. Like the French carpets, they often featured Renaissance architectural or floral patterns; others......
Whitworth, Kathrynne Ann (American athlete)
American athlete who was one of the great players of women’s professional golf....
Whitworth, Kathy (American athlete)
American athlete who was one of the great players of women’s professional golf....
Whitworth, Sir Joseph, Baronet (British engineer)
English mechanical engineer who won international recognition as a machine toolmaker....
WHO
specialized agency of the United Nations established in 1948 to further international cooperation for improved health conditions. Although it inherited specific tasks relating to epidemic control, quarantine measures, and drug standardization from the Health Organization of the ...
Who Framed Roger Rabbit (film by Zemeckis [1988])
...his time-traveling teen comedy Back to the Future (1985) and its sequels, Zemeckis began earning a reputation for visual innovation, which he cemented with Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), a feature film that combined the onscreen action of live actors and cartoon characters. In Forrest Gump (1994), the title character......
Who Has Seen the Wind? (novel by Mitchell)
...and ’50s and is reflected in their protagonists, most of whom are sensitive, restless children or artists. In this category fall the Prairie novels As for Me and My House (1941) by Sinclair Ross, Who Has Seen the Wind (1947) by W.O. Mitchell, and The Mountain and the Valley (1952) by Ernest Buckler, set in Nova Scotia’s Annapolis valley. Thes...
Who, the (British rock group)
British rock group that was among the most popular and influential bands of the 1960s and ’70s and that originated the rock opera. The principal members were Pete Townshend (b. May 19, 1945London, England), Roger Daltrey (...
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (American game show)
...brand-new century was a surprising one. After a decades-long absence from the network prime-time schedules, an evening game show was introduced in August 1999 on ABC with astonishing results. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, hosted by TV talk-show veteran Regis Philbin, began as a series of limited runs, functioning as a game show miniseries of sorts. In August, November, and January...