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Christopher Wren
Sir Christopher Wren PRS FRS (; – ) was one of the most highly acclaimed English architects in history, as well as an anatomist, astronomer, geometer, and mathematician-physicist. He was accorded responsibility for rebuilding 52 churches in the City of London after the Great Fire in 1666, including what is regarded as his masterpiece, St Paul's Cathedral, on Ludgate Hill, completed in 1710. The principal creative responsibility for a number of the churches is now more commonly attributed to others in his office, especially Nicholas Hawksmoor. Other notable buildings by Wren include the Royal Hospital Chelsea, the Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich, and the south front of Hampton Court Palace. Educated in Latin and Aristotelian physics at the University of Oxford, Wren was a founder of the Royal Society and served as its president from 1680 to 1682. His scientific work was highly regarded by Isaac Newton and Blaise Pascal. Life and works Wren was born in East ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Godfrey Kneller
Sir Godfrey Kneller, 1st Baronet (born Gottfried Kniller; 8 August 1646 – 19 October 1723), was the leading portrait painter in England during the late 17th and early 18th centuries, and was court painter to English and British monarchs from Charles II to George I. His major works include '' The Chinese Convert'' (1687; Royal Collection, London); a series of four portraits of Isaac Newton painted at various junctures of the latter's life; a series of ten reigning European monarchs, including King Louis XIV of France; over 40 " kit-cat portraits" of members of the Kit-Cat Club; and ten " beauties" of the court of William III, to match a similar series of ten of Charles II's mistresses painted by Kneller's predecessor as court painter, Sir Peter Lely. Early life Kneller was born Gottfried Kniller in the Free City of Lübeck, the son of Zacharias Kniller, a portrait painter.Cokayne, George Edward (1906) Complete Baronetage'. Volume V. Exeter: W. Pollard & Co. . pp. 2 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great Fire Of London
The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through central London from Sunday 2 September to Thursday 6 September 1666, gutting the medieval City of London inside the old Roman city wall, while also extending past the wall to the west. The death toll is generally thought to have been relatively small, although some historians have challenged this belief. The fire started in a bakery in Pudding Lane shortly after midnight on Sunday 2 September, and spread rapidly. The use of the major firefighting technique of the time, the creation of firebreaks by means of removing structures in the fire's path, was critically delayed due to the indecisiveness of the Lord Mayor, Sir Thomas Bloodworth. By the time large-scale demolitions were ordered on Sunday night, the wind had already fanned the bakery fire into a firestorm which defeated such measures. The fire pushed north on Monday into the heart of the City. Order in the streets broke down as rumours arose ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Julian Calendar
The Julian calendar, proposed by Roman consul Julius Caesar in 46 BC, was a reform of the Roman calendar. It took effect on , by edict. It was designed with the aid of Greek mathematicians and astronomers such as Sosigenes of Alexandria. The calendar became the predominant calendar in the Roman Empire and subsequently most of the Western world for more than 1,600 years until 1582, when Pope Gregory XIII promulgated a minor modification to reduce the average length of the year from 365.25 days to 365.2425 days and thus corrected the Julian calendar's drift against the Tropical year, solar year. adoption of the Gregorian calendar, Worldwide adoption of this revised calendar, which became known as the Gregorian calendar, took place over the subsequent centuries, first in Catholic Church, Catholic countries and subsequently in Protestantism, Protestant countries of the Western Christianity, Western Christian world. The Julian calendar is still used in parts of the East ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fellow Of The Royal Society
Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathematics, engineering science, and medical science". Fellowship of the Society, the oldest known scientific academy in continuous existence, is a significant honour. It has been awarded to many eminent scientists throughout history, including Isaac Newton (1672), Michael Faraday (1824), Charles Darwin (1839), Ernest Rutherford (1903), Srinivasa Ramanujan (1918), Albert Einstein (1921), Paul Dirac (1930), Winston Churchill (1941), Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (1944), Dorothy Hodgkin (1947), Alan Turing (1951), Lise Meitner (1955) and Francis Crick (1959). More recently, fellowship has been awarded to Stephen Hawking (1974), David Attenborough (1983), Tim Hunt (1991), Elizabeth Blackburn (1992), Tim Berners-Lee (2001), Venki Ramakrishn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
President Of The Royal Society
The president of the Royal Society (PRS) is the elected Head of the Royal Society of London who presides over meetings of the society's council. After informal meetings at Gresham College, the Royal Society was officially founded on 28 November 1660 when a group of academics decided to find "a College for the Promoting of Mathematicall Experimentall Learning", acquiring a Royal Charter on 15 July 1662. The Royal Charter nominated William Brouncker as president, and stipulated that future presidents should be elected by the Council and Fellows of the society at anniversary meetings each year on St. Andrew's Day (30 November). The details of the presidency were described by the second Royal Charter, which did not set any limit on how long a president could serve. There were considerable fluctuations in the president's term of office until well into the 19th century. By then, sentiment had turned against electing wealthy amateurs solely because they might become patrons of the soc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plympton Erle (UK Parliament Constituency)
Plympton Plympton is a suburb of the city of Plymouth in Devon, England. It is in origin an ancient stannary town. It was an important trading centre for locally mined tin, and a seaport before the River Plym silted up and trade moved down river to Ply ... Erle, also spelt Plympton Earle, was a parliamentary borough in Devon. It elected two Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons from 1295 until 1832, when the borough was abolished by the Great Reform Act. Members of Parliament 1295–1640 1640–1832 Elections Elections in Plympton Erle were normally uncontested. The only contest between the Union of England and Scotland in 1707 and the abolition of the borough in 1832 was at the general election of 1802. Notes References *Robert Beatson, ''A Chronological Register of Both Houses of Parliament'' (London: Longman, Hurst, Res & Orme, 1807*D Brunton & D H Pennington, ''Members of the Long Parliament'' (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1954) *'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New Windsor (UK Parliament Constituency)
Windsor (/ˈwɪnzə/) is a constituency in Berkshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2005 by Adam Afriyie of the Conservative Party. It was re-created for the 1997 general election after it was abolished following the 1970 general election and replaced by the Windsor and Maidenhead constituency. Constituency profile The re-created constituency, from 1997, has continued a trend of large Conservative Party majorities. In local elections the major opposition party has been the Liberal Democrats, who have had councillors particularly in the town of Windsor itself. Affluent villages and small towns along the River Thames and around the Great Park have continued to contribute to large Conservative majorities, from Wraysbury to Ascot. The only ward with any substantial Labour support is in Colnbrook with Poyle, based in Slough. Containing one of the least social welfare-dependent demographics and among the highest property prices, the seat has th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Weymouth And Melcombe Regis (UK Parliament Constituency)
Weymouth and Melcombe Regis was a parliamentary borough in Dorset represented in the English House of Commons, later in that of Great Britain, and finally in the Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprem .... It was formed by an Act of Parliament of 1570 which amalgamated the existing boroughs of Weymouth and Melcombe Regis. Until 1832, the combined borough continued to elect the four Members of Parliament (MPs) to which its constituent parts had previously been entitled; the Great Reform Act reduced its representation to two Members, and the constituency was abolished altogether in 1885, becoming part of the new South Dorset constituency. Members of Parliament Members for Weymouth (1348–1570) Members for Melcombe Regis (1319–157 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
English Parliament
The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the great council of bishops and peers that advised the English monarch. Great councils were first called Parliaments during the reign of Henry III (). By this time, the king required Parliament's consent to levy taxation. Originally a unicameral body, a bicameral Parliament emerged when its membership was divided into the House of Lords and House of Commons, which included knights of the shire and burgesses. During Henry IV's time on the throne, the role of Parliament expanded beyond the determination of taxation policy to include the "redress of grievances," which essentially enabled English citizens to petition the body to address complaints in their local towns and counties. By this time, citizens were given the power to vote to elect their representatives—the burgesses—to the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sir John Hoskyns, 2nd Baronet
Sir John Hoskyns, 2nd Baronet PRS (23 July 1634 – 12 September 1705) was an English baronet. He was one of the founders of the Royal Society and served as its president from 1682 to 1683. Between 1685 and 1687 he also represented Herefordshire in the House of Commons. Life He was the eldest son of Sir Bennet Hoskyns, 1st Baronet, of Harewood and Morehampton Park, Herefordshire, and grandson of Serjeant John Hoskins, born in Herefordshire on 23 July 1634. He was educated in the rudiments of Latin by his mother, Anne, daughter of Sir John Bingley of Temple Combe, Somerset, and was later sent to Westminster School under Richard Busby. Sir John married Jane, eldest daughter of Sir Gabriel Lowe of Newark, Gloucestershire by Ann Hungerford of South Marston. They lived at Harewood End, as did Jane continue in widowhood until 1724 when she died, and was buried in the church there. They left a large family. Of these Sir Bennet Hoskyns succeeded as 3rd baronet. His brother S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joseph Williamson (English Politician)
Sir Joseph Williamson, PRS (25 July 1633 – 3 October 1701) was an English civil servant, diplomat and politician who sat in the House of Commons of England variously between 1665 and 1701 and in the Irish House of Commons between 1692 and 1699. He was Secretary of State for the Northern Department from 1674 to 1679. Early life Williamson was born at Bridekirk, near Cockermouth in Cumberland, where his father, also called Joseph, was vicar. His father died when he was very young, and his mother remarried the Reverend John Ardery. His relatively humble origins were often referred to unkindly in later life by his enemies, especially after he married into the aristocracy. He was educated at St. Bees School, Westminster School and Queen's College, Oxford, of which he became a fellow. Early career In 1660 he entered the service of the Secretary of State for the Southern Department, Sir Edward Nicholas, retaining his position under the succeeding secretary, Sir Henry Bennet, af ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Benson (architect)
William Benson (1682 – 2 February 1754) was a talented amateur architect and Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1715 to 1719. In 1718, he arranged to displace the aged Sir Christopher Wren as Surveyor of the King's Works, but his short time in that post was not a success. Life Benson was the eldest son of Sir William Benson, Sheriff of London in 1706–07, and his wife Martha Austin, daughter of John Austin, jeweller of London. He made a Grand Tour as a young man, which was extended to a prolonged visit in 1704–1706 to Hanover, the seat of the Elector, who was next in line to the British throne. He paid assiduous court and ingratiated himself with the Elector and his mother the Electress Sophia, pressing unwanted gifts upon the Electress. He also went to Stockholm, far from the usual beaten track. In London he published a Whig tract that offered a warning against Jacobitism, and a polemic against Divine Right of kingship in a ''Letter to Sir J cobB nkes' ad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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