502 



THE STANDARD DICTIONARY OF FACTS 



the queen's majority; crowned September 6. 1898. 

 Married Duke Henry of Mecklenberg-Schwerin. 1901. 



Wilkes, Charles, American naval officer, was born 

 in 1801; discovered several islands in Antarctic region, 

 and in 1861 caused a dispute with Croat Britain by his 

 seizure of Confederate commissioners on the "Trent," a 

 British vessel. Died. 1877. 



\Yillard, Kduard S., actor; born in England, in 

 1853; first appearance on the stage in Theater Koval. 

 Weyrnouth, England, December, 1869. as second officer 

 in 'Ladv of Lyons"; supported Sothern at Glasgow 

 and filled other engagements until he went to London, 

 1875; became famous as the Spider in "The Silver 

 King"; managed Shaftesbury Theater, London, 1889; 

 produced there "The Middleman," "Judah," and other 

 plays; appeared at Palmer's Theater, New York. 

 November, 1890, as "The Middleman," and toured the 

 United States under A. M. Palmer's management for 

 three seasons. Leased the Comedy and Garrick theaters, 

 London, 1894-96; since then has toured United States 

 in "David Garrick," "Tom Pinch," "The Middleman," 

 "Professor's Love Story," etc., under his own manage- 

 ment. 



William I.* surnamed the Conqueror, King of Eng- 

 land, founder of the Norman Dynasty, was born, 1027. 

 He was the bastard son of Robert I. or II., Duke of Nor- 

 mandy, and a tanner's daughter of Falaise named Arietta, 

 and succeeded to the dukedom when eight years old. 

 He claimed the throne of England through Emma, sister 

 of his grandfather and mother of Edward the Confessor. 

 When Harold, son of Earl Godwin, visited the Norman 

 court in 1065, he was compelled to swear fealty to Wil- 

 liam; but on Edward's death, in 1066, Harold procured 

 his own elevation to the throne. William then prepared 

 to enforce his pretension by arms, and on September 28, 

 1066, landed at Pevensey with 60,000 men. On October 

 14th was fought the battle of Senlac or Hastings, in 

 which the Saxons were defeated and their king was slain. 

 William was crowned in London, December 25th. At 

 first his rule was mild and just, but after the sanguinary 

 suppression of a league of the Saxon nobles he treated 

 the Saxons as a conquered nation, distributed their 

 estates among his Norman followers, and deposed the 

 principal Saxon clergy. He was long at war for his con- 

 tinental possessions with his rebellious son Robert 

 Courthose, and most of the latter part of his reign was 

 passed in Normandy. His last dispute was with the 

 King of France, some of whose vassals had plundered 

 Norman territory. In retaliation he burned Nantes. 

 While riding over the ruins, he was ruptured by the 

 plunging of his horse, which caused his death several 

 weeks after. Died, 1087. 



William I., first German Emperor, and seventh King 

 of Prussia, second son of Frederick William III., born 

 March 22. 1797. At an early age he began the study of 

 military affairs; took part in the campaign of 1813-14 

 under Blucher; married in 1829 Princess Augusta of 

 Sa xe- Weimar; became heir-presumptive to the throne 

 of Prussia on His father's death in 1840; was commander 

 of the forces which suppressed the revolutionary move- 

 ment (1849) in Baden; created regent in 1858, and on 

 the death of the king his brother in 1861 he succeeded to 

 the throne of Prussia. During his reign Prussia defeated 

 Denmark (1864), annexing the duchies of Schleswig- 

 Holstein; quarreled with Austria, and engaged in a 

 campaign which ended in the victory of Sadowa (1866); 

 and went with the rest of Germany to war with France in 

 1870 (see Germany and France). In this war the opera- 

 tions of the Prussian generals were under the personal 

 supervision of the king. It was at Versailles, during the 

 siege of Paris (January 18, 1871), that he was proclaimed 

 German Emperor. Died, 1888. 



William II., or Friedrlch Wllhelm Victor Al- 

 brecht, King of Prussia and German Emperor, eldest 

 son of Frederick III. and Victoria, princess Royal of 

 England, 1 was born January 27, 1859; educated at 

 Cassel and Bonn, married Augusta Victoria of Schleswig- 

 Holstein-Augustenburg in 1881, and succeeded his father, 

 June 15, 1888. Since his accession he has taken con- 

 siderable interest in social questions, and the strong 

 initiative which he had adopted in political affairs brought 

 about the dismissal of Prince Bismarck in 1890. His 

 independence, ability, and aggressiveness have placed 

 Germany in the foremost rank of the enlightened world 

 powers. In 1907, he spoke of the German nation as 

 " the block of granite upon which the Lord our God can 

 build up and complete His work of civilizing the world." 

 Early in 1908, he established a winter residence on the 

 Island of Corfu. 



William III. of England, born in 1650, having mar- 

 ried Mary, daughter of James II., was regarded as a 

 Protestant reserve against the latter, and, in 1688, was 

 called in to replace him. He defeated James at the 



Boyne in 1690, obtained the acknowledgment of his 



I title from Louis XIV. by the Peace of Ryswick (1697), 



| but had prepared a grand alliance to renew the \\ar 



with him just before he died, Louis having favored the 



claim of James Edward. Died, 1702. 



Williams, George Fred, lawyer; born in Dedham, 

 Mass., July 10, 1852; graduate of Dartmouth. 1872; 

 studied at Heidelberg and Berlin; admitted to bar: 

 prai-tiei's in Boston. Edited "Williams' Citations of 

 Massachusetts Cases"; edited volumes 10 to 17 "An- 

 nual Digest of the United States"; member of Massa- 

 chusetts Legislature, 1889. Member of Congress, 1891- 



Wllliams, John Sharp, congressman; born in 

 Memphis, Term., July 30, 1854; educated in Kentucky 

 Military Institute, University of the South, University 

 of Virginia, and University of Heidelberg, Germany; 

 studied law at University of Virginia and in Memphis, 

 Tenn.; admitted to Tennessee bar, 1877; removed to 

 Yazoo City, Miss., 1878; has since practiced law; is 

 also a cotton planter; delegate to Democratic National 



i Conventions, 1892, 1904; temporary chairman of St. 



I Louis Convention, July 6-9, 1904; member of Congress 

 from fifth Mississippi district, 1893-1903; from eighth 

 Mississippi district, since 1903. 



Williams, Roger, founder of the State of Rhode 



i Island, United States, was born in Wales in 1600; 



; being a Puritan, fled the country to escape persecution, 

 and settled in New England, where he hoped to enjoy 

 the religious freedom he was denied at home, but was 

 received with disfavor by the earlier settlers as, from 

 his extreme views, a "troubler of Israel," and obliged 

 to separate himself and establish a colony of his own, 

 which he did at Providence by favor of an Indian tribe 

 he had made friends of, and under a charter from the 

 Long Parliament of England, obtained through Sir Henry 

 Vane, where he extended to others the toleration he 

 desired for himself; he was characterized by Milton, 

 who knew him, as "that noble champion of religious 

 liberty." Died, 1683. 



Wilson, Francis, actor; born in Philadelphia, Pa., 

 February 7, 1854; first professional appearance in a 

 minstrel company; engaged in legitimate comedy at 

 Chestnut Street Theater, 1877-78, Philadelphia, as 

 "Cool" in "London Assurance," 1878-79; with Annie 

 Pixley in "M'liss," 1879; with "Mitchell's Pleaure 

 Party," 1880-83; started in comic opera as Sir Joseph 

 Porter in "Pinafore"; became leading comedian of 

 McCaull Opera Company and of Casino, New York, 1885- 

 89, where he created the character of "Cadeaux" in 

 "Erminie." Subsequently organized his own company 

 in which he has since taken leading comedy roles in "The 



! Oolah." "The Merry Monarch," "The Lion Tamer," 

 "Erminie" (a revival), "The Chieftain," "Devil's Dep- 

 uty," "Half a King," and more recently "The Little 

 Corporal," "Cyrano de Bergerac," "The Monks of Mala- 

 bar," "The Strollers," "The Toreador," and "Cousin 



! Billy." Author: "The Eugene Field I Knew," "Recol- 

 lections of a Player," "Going on the Stage." 



Wilson, Henry, an American senator; born in 



j Farmington, N. H., in 1812, of poor parents; received 

 scanty education, and was taught the trade of shoe- 

 maker. Elected to the Massachusetts House of Repre- 



j sentatives by the Whig party, in 1840, he there became 

 a prominent anti-slavery advocate, and largely contrib- 

 uted to the formation of the Free-soil party in 1848. In 



I 1855, he succeeded Edward Everett as United States 

 senator, and became one of the leaders of the Republican 

 party. In 1872, he was nominated by the Republican 

 convention a candidate for .the vice-presidency of the 

 United States, on the same ticket with General Grant, 

 and was elected. Died, 1876. 



Wilson, James, United States secretary of Agricul- 

 ture since March 5, 1897; born in Ayrshire, Scotland, 

 1835; came to United States, 1852, settling in Connecti- 

 cut, with parents; in 1855 went to Tama County, la. In 

 1861, engaged in farming; member 12th, 13th, and' 

 (speaker) 14th assemblies of Iowa; has been State rail- 



I way commissioner; member Congress, 1873-77, and 

 1883-85; regent State University of Iowa, 1870-74; for 

 six years director Agricultural Experiment Station 

 and professor of agriculture, Iowa Agricultural College, 

 Ames, la.; LL. D., University of Wisconsin, 1904. 



Wilson, Wood row, educator; born in Staunton, 

 Va., December 28, 1856; graduated from Princeton, 1879; 

 studied law, University of Virginia, 1879-80; post- 

 graduate course, Johns Hopkins, 1883-85 (Ph. D., 

 Johns Hopkins, 1886; LL. D., Wake Forest College, 

 1887, Tulane University, 1898, Johns Hopkins, 1901, 

 Rutgers, 1902, University of Pennsylvania, 1903, Brown 

 University, 1903; Litt. D., Yale, 1901); practiced law, 

 Atlanta, Ga., 1882-83; professor of history and political 

 economy, Bryn Mawr College, 1885-88, Wesleyan Uni- 



