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The History Channel - Encyclopedia Category: History and Culture > History Date & country: 02/12/2007, UK Words: 25833

Spellman, Francis (Joseph)
(1889-1967) US Catholic prelate. In 1939, he was made archbishop of New York and military vicar of US armed forces, becoming a cardinal in 1946. A strong administrator and influential leader, with close ties...

Spence, Basil Urwin
(1907-1976) Scottish architect. For nearly 20 years his work comprised houses, factories, theatres, and the Scottish Pavilion at the Empire Exhibition in 1938. In 1951 he won the competition for Coventry...

Spence, Jonathan D(ermot)
(1936) English-born US historian and educator who came to the USA in 1959, earning a PhD at Yale and joining its faculty in 1966. He freshly illuminated Chinese history, particularly of the 16th and 17th...

Spence, Michael A(ndrew)
(1943) US economist. He taught at Stanford University, California, (1973-76) and Harvard, Massachusetts, (1971-73, 1976-90) before returning to Stanford as dean of the business school (1990). His...

Spencer-Churchill
Family name of the dukes of Marlborough, whose seat is Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, England. ...

Spencer, Charles Edward Maurice
(1966) 9th Earl Spencer, British aristocrat, brother of Diana, Princess of Wales and a godson of Queen Elizabeth II. He inherited the family's Althorpe estate in Northamptonshire when his father died in...

Spencer, Elizabeth
(1921) US writer of novels and short stories. Her early novels are based in the rural South, and several others are set in Italy, where she lived 1953-58, as in The Light in the Piazza (1960), but...

Spencer, George Alfred
(1873-1957) British miners' leader and Labour politician. He became president of the Nottinghamshire Miners Association in 1912 and was Labour member of Parliament for Broxtowe 1918-29. He was opposed to the...

Spencer, Herbert
(1820-1903) English philosopher. He wrote Social Statics (1851), expounding his laissez-faire views on social and political problems. In 1862 he began his ten-volume System of Synt ...

Spender, Stephen (Harold)
(1909-1995) English poet and critic. His early poetry has a left-wing political content. With Cyril Connolly he founded the magazine Horizon (of which he was...

Spengler, Oswald
(1880-1936) German philosopher whose Decline of the West (1918) argued that civilizations go through natural cycles of growth and decay. He was admired by the Nazis. ...

Spenser, Edmund
(c. 1552-1599) English poet. His major work is the allegorical epic The Faerie Queene, of which six books survive (three published in 1590 and three in 1596). Other books include The Shepheard's Calendar (1579),...

Sperry, Willard Learoyd
(1882-1954) US Protestant clergyman and theologian. He held the deanship of Harvard Divinity School 1925-53. A tolerant dean (he admitted Nazarenes, Adventists, and others), he developed an austere theology...

Sphinx
Mythological creature, depicted in Egyptian, Assyrian, and Greek art as a lion with a human head. The Greek Sphinx of Thebes was winged with a woman's breasts, and was adopted as an emblem of...

Spicheren, Battle of
During the Franco-Prussian War, Prussian victory over the French 6 August 1870 at Spicheren, a French village 3 km/2 mi from Saarbrücken. Prussian attack At the start of the Franco-Prussian...

Spiderman
Comic-strip character created by US cartoonist Stan Lee 1952. Bitten by a radioactive spider, Spiderman finds himself able to climb walls, dangle from ceil ...

Spiegel, Henrik Laurensz
(1549-1612) Dutch poet and humanist. His work includes Hertspiegel 1614. His Christian ideals and Platonic philosophy underlie his spiritual views. ...

Spiegelman, Art
(1948) US cartoonist. He won a Pulitzer Prize in 1992 for Maus: A Survivor's Tale I: My Father Bleeds History (1986) and Maus: A Survivor's Tale II: And Here My Troubles Began (1991), graphic novels...

Spielhagen, Friedrich
(1829-1911) German novelist. His novels are topical and deal mainly with social questions. They include Problematische Naturen/Problematic Characters 1861 and its sequel Durch Nacht zum Licht/Through Night to...

Spillane, Mickey Frank Morrison
(1918-2006) US crime novelist. He began by writing for pulp magazines and became an internationally best-selling author with books featuring private investigator Mike Hammer, a violent vigilante who wages an...

Spinelli, Altiero
(1907-1989) Italian journalist, politician, and proponent of European federalism. An early anti-Fascist activist, he was co-author of the Ventonene manifesto in 1941, the clarion call of the European...

Spinello, Aretino
(died c. 1410) Florentine artist, working in the tradition of Giotto, who executed several fresco series in Tuscany. These include those illustrating the life of St Nicholas in the church of S Niccolò, Arezzo,...

Spingarn, Joel (Elias)
(1875-1939) US literary critic, writer, social reformer, and horticulturist. A scholar of international repute, he published literary studies and his own poetry. He also helped to found the National Association...

Spink, J(ohn) G(eorge) Taylor
(1888-1962) US publisher and editor. In 1914 he succeeded his father as the autocratic editor and publisher of the weekly tabloid-style periodical Sporting News, positions he held until his death. It was...

spinning
Art of drawing out and twisting fibres (originally wool or linen) into a long thread, or yarn, by hand or machine. Synthetic fibres are spun when the liquid is forced through the holes of a...

spinning jenny
Machine invented in Britain by James Hargreaves about 1764 which allowed several threads to be spun simultaneously. At first the machine, patented in 1770, could operate 16 spindles at the same...

Spinoza, Benedict (or Baruch)
(1632-1677) Dutch philosopher. He believed in a rationalistic pantheism that owed much to RenéDescartes's mat ...

Spion Kop, Battle of
During the South African War, Boer victory over the British 24 January 1900 at Spion Kop, a small hill a few miles southwest of Ladysmith, Natal. British troops attempting to relieve Ladysmith under...

spire
In architecture, an elongated pyramidal structure erected on the top of a tower. Though commonly regarded as an ornamental feature, it was originally a normal pyramidal roof (as at Southwell...

spirit
Another word for soul; a ghost; in some faiths, a member of a superhuman order of beings unlimited by space and time. Good spirits are called angels; evil spirits are called demons. Spirits, whether...

spiritual healing
Transmission of energy from or through a healer, who may practise hand healing or absent healing through prayer or meditation. In religions worldwide, from shamanism to latter-day charismatic...

spiritualism
Belief in the survival of the human personality and in communication between the living and those who have died. The spiritualist movement originated in the USA in 1848. Adherents practise...

Spiro, Melford Elliot
(1920) US cultural anthropologist. He taught at Washington University (St Louis), the University of Connecticut, and Chicago before becoming chairman of the anthropology department at the University of...

Spitfire
British aircraft legendary for being used in World War II. This single engine, eight-gun monoplane was designed by R J Mitchell in 1936 and went into service with...

Spithead Mutiny
During the French Revolutionary Wars, mutiny of the Channel and North Sea fleets April 1797 over the appalling conditions on ships. The mutineers won improved conditions and better pay and a royal...

Spitteler, Carl Friedrich Georg
(1845-1924) Swiss poet and writer. The epic Der Olympischer Frühling/Olympian Spring (1900) depicts the heroism and mortality of the Greek gods. His mature epic Prometheus der Dulder/Prometheus the Martyr...

Spode, Josiah
(1754-1827) English potter. Around 1800, he developed bone porcelain (made from bone ash, china stone, and china clay), which was produced at all English factories in the 19th century. He became potter to King...

Spofford, Ainsworth Rand
(1825-1908) US librarian. During his tenure as Librarian of Congress 1865-97, he initiated legislation and transformed the Library of Congress from the library of the legislature to the national library. He...

spoils system
In the USA, the granting of offices and favours among the supporters of a party in office. The spoils system, a type of patronage, was used by President Jackson in the 1830s in particular, and by...

Sponde, Jean de
(1557-1595) French poet and humanist. His poetry includes `Les Amours`, `Stances`, and `Sonnets de la mort`. He also wrote the prose Méditations sur les Psaumes (1588). ...

Spooner, John Coit
(1843-1919) US Republican senator. A Civil War veteran and lawyer, he won fame for the railroad litigation cases he successfully argued before the US Supreme Court. Elected to the US Senate for Wisconsin;...

Sposalizio, Lo
Painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Raphael Sanzio, painted 1504 for the Franciscan monks of Città di Castello (Brera, Milan). An early work, it shows the influence of Raphael's teacher...

Spotswood, Alexander
(1676-1740) Moroccan-born American colonial official. He was the lieutenant governor of Virginia 1710-22. Identified with frontier expansion, he led several expeditions to the Blue Ridge Mountains area. He...

Spotsylvania, Battle of
During the American Civil War, indecisive engagement 8-19 May 1864 at Spotsylvania Court House about 80 km/50 mi northwest of Richmond, Virginia. After the Battle of the Wilderness, the...

Spotted Tail
(born Sinte Gleska) (c. 1833-c. 181) American Indian Brûlé Sioux leader. A signatory of the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 - in which the US government accepted the territorial claims of the Sioux in exchange for peace - he...

Spottiswoode, John
(1565-1639) Scottish archbishop. On the death of Archbishop James Beaton, he was appointed to the see of Glasgow. He was moderator of the General Assembly (1610, 1616, and 1617) and of the Perth Assembly...

SPQR
Abbreviation for Senatus Populusque Romanus, Latin `the Senate and the Roman People`. ...

Sprague, Clifton (Albert Furlow)
(1896-1955) US naval officer. He fought a remarkable naval action against the Centre Force of the Japanese fleet in 1944. His escort carrier group sustained heavy losses but performed the vital service of...

Spranger, Bartholomeus
(1546-1611) Flemish painter, sculptor, and engraver. His compatriot Giambologna introduced Spranger to the court of Maximilian II in 1575; he remained at the imperial court for the rest...

Sprat, Thomas
(1635-1713) English cleric, poet, and scientist. He became bishop of Rochester 1684 and was one of the first fellows of the Royal Society, of which he published a history 1667. He also wrote a life of his...

spray paint
Type of fabric paint used to decorate and colour fabric. Paint or dye is applied to fabric using a diffuser or airbrush. Spraying produces subtle variations and gradations in colour, which leads...

spraycan art
Creative development of graffiti (drawings on public surfaces). Spraycan art developed in the subways of New York, USA, in the 1970s and 1980s. Large murals are `painted` reflecting inner-city...

Spring, Dick
(1950) Irish Labour Party leader 1982-97 and foreign minister 1993-97. He entered into a coalition with Garret ...

Spring, Howard
(1889-1965) Welsh novelist. His realistic novels include O Absalom 1938 (republished as My Son, My Son 1957), Fame is the Spur 1940, and There is No Armour 1948. He also published three autobiographical works. ...

Springer, (Gerald Norman) Jerry
(1944) US chat show host. His controversial and salacious daytime series, The Jerry Springer Show, became popular internationally during the 1990s. The Jerry Springer Show, originally a news based...

Springer, Axel
(1912-1985) German publisher. His publishing group controlled a number of West German newspapers and periodicals during the Cold War period. The Springer group publishes books, magazines, and such newspapers as...

Springfield rifle
US Army service rifle, adopted in 1903 and retained in service until the 1940s. Of 0.30 in calibre, it used a Mauser bolt mechanism and five-shot magazine. The name came from the Springfield,...

Spruance, Raymond Amos
(1886-1969) US admiral in World War II. Born in Baltimore, Spruance was trained at the US Naval Academy, Annapolis. During the decisive Battle of Midway in June 1942, Spruance took over command when Admiral...

Spry, Constance
(1886-1960) English flower arranger and cookery writer. Working with flowers from the 1920s, she opened flower shops, and became chairman of the Constance Spry Flower School. She became joint principal of the...

Spuhler, James N(orman)
(1917) US physical anthropologist. He related genetics to human evolution in studies of inbreeding in Japan and the human biology of the Navajo. He taught at several universities before joining the...

Spurs, Battle of the
Alternative name for the Battle of Courtrai. ...

Spycatcher
Controversial memoirs (published in 1987) of former UK intelligence officer Peter Wright. The Law Lords unanimously rejected the UK government's attempt to prevent allegations of MI5 misconduct...

Spyri, Johanna
(1827-1901) Swiss writer. She wrote many children's stories set in the Swiss mountains, notably Heidi 1881. ...

Squanto
(c. 1580-1622) Pawtuxet American Indian ally of the Plymouth colonists. Kidnapped by the English and taken to England 1605, he returned to New England 1619 as a guide for Captain John Slaine. His own tribe having...

Squarcione, Francesco
(1394-1474) Paduan painter. He is more important as the master of a large workshop and collector of Greek and Roman antiquities than as an artist. His collection, which he used in his teaching, strongly...

Squier, Ephraim George
(1821-1888) US diplomat and archaeologist. His report on Ohio Indian mounds remained the standard work on Mound Builders for 50 years and helped establish the field of American archaeology. His diplomatic...

squint
In architecture, a slanting aperture cut through the walls of the chancel in certain medieval churches, so as to make the elevation of the Host visible from a side chapel. It is...

Squire, J(ohn) C(ollings)
(1884-1958) English poet and critic. He became literary editor of the New Statesman in 1913 and edited the London Mercury (1919-34), to which he contributed under the name of Solomon Eagle. His verse includes...

Sraffa, Piero
(1898-1983) Italian-born economist, in the UK from 1927, a critic of neoclassical economics. In 1926 he suggested that, contrary to orthodox theory, firms could influence the price of a product even if there...

Sri Lanka
Island in the Indian Ocean, off the southeast coast of India. Government Sri Lanka is a multiparty democracy, with a president and prime minister `dual executive`, similar to that in France....

sruti
Hindu scriptures `that have been heard`. The sruti have been `heard` directly from God, and have been passed on by word of mouth before being written down in Sanskrit, the classical language...

SS
Nazi elite corps established 1925. Under Himmler its 500,000 membership included the full-time Waffen-SS (armed SS), which fought in World War II, and spare-time members. The SS performed...

St Albans, Battle of
First battle in the English Wars of the Roses, on 22 May 1455 at St Albans, Hertfordshire; a victory for the house of York. ...

St Bartholomew the Great
Church in Smithfield, London, relic of the priory of Augustinian canons founded by Rahere in 1123. The church was not fully completed until the early 13th century. At the Dissolution of the...

St Bartholomew's Day Massacre
Slaughter of Huguenots (Protestants) in Paris, 24 August-17 September 1572, and until 3 October in the provinces. About 25,000 people are believed to have been killed. When Catherine de' Medici's...

St Bride's
Church in London, England, on the south side of Fleet Street. The dedication is a corruption of St Bridget, a 6th-century Irish saint. The present structure, one of Christopher Wren's...

St Clair, Arthur
(1738-1818) Scottish-born American soldier and public official. He served with the Continental forces at Trenton and Princeton; his withdrawal from Fort Ticonderoga without a battle in 1777 drew heavy...

St Clement Danes
Parish and church of London, England. The body of the church was built on the site of an older church in 1680-82, under the supervision of Edward Pierce (1630-95) from...

St Clothilda
See Clothilde, queen of the Franks. ...

St Dunstan's
British organization for those blinded in war service, founded in 1915 by newspaper proprietor Arthur Pearson (1866-1921), who had himself become blind in 1910. ...

St Germain-en-Laye, Treaty of
1919 treaty condemning the war between Austria and the Allies, signed at St Germain-en-Laye, a town 21 km/13 mi west of Paris. Representatives of the USA signed it, but because the US Senate...

St Ives School
Ill-defined group of English artists, working in a wide range of styles, who lived in the fishing port of St Ives, Cornwall, after the outbreak of World War II. The group included Ben Nicholson...

St James's Palace
Palace in London, England. It was commissioned by Henry VIII in 1530 on the site of a hospital for leprous women founded at about the time of the Norman Conquest. Of Henry's palace only the imposing...

St John, Hector
Pseudonym of US writer Michel de Crèvecoeur. ...

St John, Order of
Oldest order of Christian chivalry, named after the hospital at Jerusalem founded about 1048 by merchants of Amalfi for pilgrims, whose travel routes the knights defended from the Muslims. Today...

St Kitts and Nevis
Country in the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea, part of the Leeward Islands. Government The islands of St Kitts (St Christopher) and Nevis form a federal state within the Commonwealth. The...

St Lucia
Country in the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea, one of the Windward Islands. Government The constitution dates from independence in 1979. The governor general is the formal head of state,...

St Michael and St George
British orders of knighthood. ...

St Mihiel salient
In World War I, triangular protrusion of the German front line, with its tip at St Mihiel on the River Meuse and its base stretching 48 km/30 mi from Fresnes...

St Patrick's College, Maynooth
The largest Catholic seminary in Ireland, founded by an act of the Irish parliament in 1795. Its foundation was a Protestant effort to win Catholic support in a time of increasing political and...

St Patrick's Day
National holiday to honour St Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, celebrated in Ireland and all over the world, especially in the USA. St Patrick's Day (March 17th) is one of America's earliest...

St Paul's Cathedral
Cathedral church of the City of London, the largest Protestant church in England, and a national mausoleum second only to Westminster Abbey. An earlier Norman building, which had replaced the...

St Peter's Cathedral
Roman Catholic cathedral church of the Vatican City State, Rome, built 1506-1626. It is the creation of the vision of Pope Julius II and the greatest architects of the Italian Renaissance,...

St Quentin, Battle of
In World War I, alternative name for the Battle of Guise 29-30 August 1914. ...

St Quentin, Battle of
During the Franco-Prussian War, French defeat by the Prussian army 19 January 1871, 150 km/95 mi northwest of Paris. The defeat effectively ended the citizen Army of the North under General Louis...

St Quentin, Battle of
In the war between Henry II of France and Philip II of Spain, a Spanish victory over the French 10 August 1557 at St Quentin, a French town 150 km/95 mi northwest of Paris. A Spanish force,...

St Valentine's Day Massacre
The murder in Chicago, USA, of seven unarmed members of the `Bugs` Moran gang on 14 February 1929 by members of Al Capone's gang disguised as police. The killings testified to the intensity of...

St Vincent and the Grenadines
Country in the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea, part of the Windward Islands. Government The constitution dates from independence in 1979. The head of state is a resident governor general...

Staaken
German heavy bombing aircraft of World War I made by the Zeppelin Werke Staaken. The largest aircraft used in the war, these four-engined biplanes had a wingspan of 42.2 m/138.5 ft and weighed...

Staats, Elmer B(oyd)
(1914) US government official and foundation executive. He ended his tenure 1939-53 and 1958-66 at the US Bureau of the Budget as deputy director. As US Comptroller General 1966-81, he introduced...