500 



THE STANDARD DICTIONARY OF FACTS 



headed by Jodocus of Moravia, but the German princes 

 secure<l He joined France in urging theaUli- 



cation of Boniface IX. and Benedict XIII., in order that 

 a new pope might take their place. Hereupon several 

 German princes deposed him in 1400, electing Rupert of 

 the Palatinate. He abdicated his claims to the imperial 

 crown in favor of his brother Sigismund in 1410, and 

 indulged in excesses till he died of apoplexy. Died. 1410. 



>Ve-lc>, John, was horn at Kpworth. in Lincolnshire, 

 June 17 eminent evangelist and divine, the 



founder of "the people called V He was the 



son of a clergyman of the Church of England; and he 

 became hnn-elf a clergyman, after having been educated 

 .arterhouse School, and at Christ Church, Oxford. 

 The year after he took orders (1725) he was chosen a 

 Fellow of Lincoln College, and was appointed lecturer 

 on Greek; but shortly afterwards he became curate to 

 his father, and labored at Kpworth and in the neighbor- 

 hood, where his father was vicar, till he returned to 

 Oxford in 17JU. It was during his residence at Oxford 

 that the first Methodist Society was formed, he and his 

 brother Charles (born, 1708; died, 1788). being accus- 

 tomed to meet together, with a few others, for the pur- 

 pose of mutual edification. Wesley continued to act as 

 tutor at Oxford till 1735. when he was induced to visit 

 Georgia, in North America. After about two years he 

 returned to Knirland, and soon after commenced preach- 

 ing in association with his friend George Whitefield, from 

 whom, however, he separated in 1740 on account of a 

 difference in theological belief. His labors were inces- 

 sant. During fifty years he traveled all over the country 

 everywhere preaching the gospel, and founding societies; 

 at the same time he administered the affairs of an organi- 

 zation which at the time of his death embraced no fewer 

 than 80.000 members; and during the whole period he 

 was a very copious writer his works, when first col- 

 lected, amounting to no fewer than thirty-two volumes. 

 During the whole of his career he continued still, pro- 

 fessedly, a minister 9f the Church of England. Wesley 

 died in the house adjoining his chapel in the City Road, 

 London, and in the adjoining graveyard he was buried. 

 His brother Charles, who died three years before him, is 

 chiefly celebrated as the author of numerous hymns, 

 some of which are considered among the best in the 

 language. Died, 1791. 



West, Benjamin, was born at Springfield, Pennsyl- 

 vania, October 10, 1738; an eminent painter, who settled 

 in England in 1763. and in 1792 succeeded Sir Joshua 

 Reynolds as President of the Royal Academy, an office 

 which he held until his death. His works were formerly 

 very highly esteemed, and he is still considered one of the 

 greatest painters whom America has produced. He is 

 buried in St. Paul's Cathedral. Died in London, 1820. 



\Vextcott, Brooke Foss, D. D., was born near Bir- 

 mingham, England, in January, 1825, and was educated 

 at Trinity College, Cambridge. He obtained the Nor- 

 risian Prize in 1850, and was ordained deacon and priest 

 in the following year. He was elected Fellow of his col- 

 lege in 1849, and proceeded M. A. in 1851, B. D. in 1865, 

 and D. D. in 1870. Doctor Westcott received from 

 Oxford University the honorary degree of D. C. L. in 1881 

 and that of D. D. from Edinburgh University at its ter- 

 centenary commemoration in 1883. He was elected 

 regius professor of divinity at Cambridge, November 1, 

 1870, and, on the retirement of Doctor Jeremie, Doctor 

 Westcott was nominated honorary chaplain to the queen 

 in 1875, and a chaplain in ordinary in 1879. In May, 

 1881, was published, under the title "The New Testa- 

 ment in Greek," the result of the twenty-eight years' 

 joint labor of Doctors Westcott and Hort upon the 

 Greek text. In Octpber, 1883, he was nominated to the 

 canonry of Westminster, vacated by Canon Barry, 

 bishop designate of Sydney, Australia. He was one of 

 the company for the revision of the authorized version of 

 the New Testament. Died, 1901. 



Westlnfchouse, George, inventor and manufacturer; 

 born in New York in 1846; educated in public and high 

 schools; spent much time in his father's machine shop, 

 inventing, at 15, a rotary engine. Served in Union 

 army, 1863-64; assistant engineer in United States Navy, 

 1864-65; then attended Union College to sophomore 

 year (Ph. D., 1890). Invented. 1865, a device for re- 

 placing railroad cars on the track; invented and success- 

 fully introduced, 1868, the Westinghouse air brake, 

 which he has since greatly improved; has also made 

 other inventions in railway signals, steam and gas en- 

 gines, steam turbines, and electric machinery. W,as 

 pioneer, against great opposition, in introducing alter- 

 nating current machinery in America, which has rend- 

 ered possible the great development of water powers 

 for long distance, electrical transmission; built the great 

 generators at Niagara Falls and those for elevated rail- 

 way and rapid transit system in New York; has estab- 



lished large works in United States, England France, 

 and Germany for manufacturing air brakes, electrical 

 and steam machinery; president of numerous corpora- 

 tions, employing over 20,000 people and with a capital- 

 ization of about $75,000.000. His inventions of the air 

 brake and of automatic railway signals have been 

 largely instrumental in the possibility and safety of 

 modern high-speed railroading. 



Whately. Kichard. was born in London, February 1. 

 1787; an eminent prelate, theologian, and menial and 

 moral philosopher; from 1831 to his death archbishop of 

 Dublin. In 1822, he was made Hampton lecturer, and 

 in that capacity preached his sermons on "The I 

 Abuse of Party Feeling in Religion." In 1825, he became 

 principal of St. Alban's Hall, Oxford; and four years 

 later was appointed professor of political economy, an 

 office which he held till his appointment to the arch- 

 bishopric. Whately's intellectual activity was remark- 

 able. In 1821, he wrote "Historical Doubts Relative to 

 Napoleon Bpnaparte," a logical satire upon historical 

 scepticism; in 1826 he published in a separate form his 

 admirable treatises on "Logic and Rhetoric," both of 

 which had already appeared in the " Encyclopaedia Met- 

 ropqlitana"; and in 1856-59 he published his annotated 

 editions of Bacon's "Essays" and Paley's "Moral 1'hi- 

 lospphy," both admirable specimens of criticism, and full 

 of interesting original discourse. Died in Dublin, 1863. 



Wheatstone, Sir Charles, was born at Gloucester, 

 1802; an eminent electrician and physicist, for many 

 years professor of natural philosophy in King's College, 

 London. He was the first to introduce and to give prac- 

 tical application to the electric telegraph in England, his 

 experiments having been made, in conjunction with Mr. 

 Cooke, when he was quite unaware of the experiments 

 being made about the same time by Professor Morse in 

 America. He was also the inventor of the sterescope. 

 He received his knighthood in 1858, and was for some 

 years a vice-president of the Royal Society, of which he 

 had been elected a Fellow in 1836. He twice received 

 the Royal Medal at the Royal Society, and in 1848 won 

 the Copley Medal. Died, 1875. 



Wheeler, Joseph, an American military officer; born 

 in Augusta, Ga., September 10, 1836; was graduated at 

 the United States Military Academy in 1859; served in 

 the cavalry till the outbreak of the Civil War, when he 

 entered the Confederate army, in which he was commis- 

 sioned major-general and senior commander of cavalry. 

 He won great distinction during the Civil War as a raider. 

 After the war he entered the law profession; held a seat 

 in Congress in 1881-1899; and was made major-general 

 of volunteers in May, 1898. During the Santiago cam- 

 paign in Cuba he commanded the cavalry division; 

 participated in the battles of Las Guasimas and San Juan 

 Hill; was appointed senior member of the commission 

 to make arrangements for the surrender of the Spanish 

 army; served in the Philippines as commander of the 1st 

 brigade, 2d division, from August, 1899, to January, 

 1900; was appointed a brigadier-general, U. S. A., June 

 16, 1900, and was retired on September 10, following. 

 Died, 1906. 



Whewell, William, (hu'el), was born at Lancaster, 

 1795; an eminent writer on many various subjects; 

 from 1841 to his death Master of Trinity College, Cam- 

 bridge. In 1833 he published his Bridgewater Treatise, 

 on "Astronomy and General Physics Considered in Ref- 

 erence to Natural Theology " ; and this was followed by 

 a "History of the Inductive Sciences" (1837), and "The 

 Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences" (1840), "Lectures 

 on Political Economy" (1861), undoubtedly his three 

 greatest works, displaying equal learning and inde- 

 pendent power. His other writings are too numerous 

 to mention. His death was caused by injuries which he 

 sustained through a fall while riding. Died, 1866. 



Whipple, Edwin Percy, author, born in Gloucester, 

 Mass., March 8, 1819. He attended the public schools 

 at Salem in 1837, and later was appointed superintendent 

 of the newsroom of the Merchant's Exchange in Boston. 

 Following this he wrote for the " Boston Miscellany" and 

 other magazines, and lectured in Boston and other cities. 

 In 1872, he became literary editor of the "Boston Globe," 

 in 1877, wrote for the "North American Review," and 

 at the same time did considerable bookseller's jobwork. 

 His publications are numerous and, were followed by 

 several posthumous publications. Died, in Boston, 

 Mass., 1886. 



Whistler, James Abbott McNelll, painter, born in 

 Lowell, Mass., in 1834; was educated at the United States 

 Military Academy, studied drawing and painting in Paris, 

 France, and in 1863 settled in London, England. He 

 held original views concerning his art, and made inter- 

 esting experiments with color, in quest of novel effects. 

 He also gained celebrity as an etcher, and is the author 

 of etchings and paintings of established reputation and 



