Henley, William Ernest

As a child Henley contracted a tubercular disease that later necessitated the amputation of one foot. His other leg was saved only through the skill and radical new methods of the surgeon

Vaasa

In full  Vaasan Lääni,  Swedish  Vasa Län,   lääni (province), western Finland, on the Gulf of Bothnia. The province's land rises from a level but indented coastline through generally forested country, with large cultivated plains, toward an eastern lake region. The timber industry and agriculture are important. The city of Vaasa is the province's administrative capital, main seaport, and largest city. Other important

Racine, Jean

French classical tragedy pivots around two basic subjects: passion and politics. Since Racine's audience was naturally intrigued by plots that dealt with the succession to a throne, he doubled their pleasure in his first successful play, La Thébaïde, by creating two legitimate pretenders who are also identical twins. The play centres on the twin sons of Oedipus

Waite, Morrison Remick

Seventh chief justice of the United States (1874–88), who frequently spoke for the Supreme Court in interpreting the post-Civil War constitutional amendments and in redefining governmental jurisdiction over commerce in view of the great expansion of American business. Reacting against the extreme nationalism predominant during

Morea, Despotate Of

Autonomous Byzantine principality located on the Greek Peloponnese (Morea). It was established in the mid-14th century by the Byzantine emperor John VI Cantacuzenus (reigned 1347–54) as an appanage for his son Manuel. Manuel Cantacuzenus consolidated his territory against the claims of Latins (western Europeans) and the inroads of Turks, but after his death (1380) the Palaeologians

Welland Canal

Waterway in southern Ontario, Can., that provides navigation for large vessels between Lake Erie to the south and Lake Ontario to the north and forms an important link in the St. Lawrence Seaway. The canal was necessary because the Niagara River, the natural connection between Lakes Erie and Ontario, has impassable falls and rapids. The modern Welland Canal extends

Andersson, Johan Gunnar

Swedish geologist and archaeologist whose work laid the foundation for the study of prehistoric China. In 1921, at a cave near Chou-k'ou-tien in the vicinity of Peking, on the basis of bits of quartz that he found in a limestone region, he predicted that a fossil man would be discovered. Six years later the first evidence of the fossil hominid