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

Frederick William II
(1744-1797) King of Prussia from 1786. He was a nephew of Frederick II but had little of his relative's military skill. He was unsuccessful in waging war on the French 1792-95 and lost all Prussia...

Frederick William III
(1770-1840) King of Prussia from 1797. He was defeated by Napoleon in 1806, but contributed to his final overthrow 1813-15 and profited by being allotted territory at the Congress of Vienna. ...

Frederick William IV
(1795-1861) King of Prussia from 1840. He upheld the principle of the divine right of kings, but was forced to grant a constitution in 1850 after the Prussian revolution of 1848. He suffered two strokes in 1857...

Frederick, Pauline
(1906-1990) US journalist. An award-winning broadcast news correspondent, notably as United Nations correspondent for the National Broadcasting Company (1953-74), she was noted for her coverage of...

Fredericksburg, Battle of
In the American Civil War, Confederate victory 11-15 December 1862 over Union forces on the Rapahannock River close to Fredericksburg, Virginia. Although the Confederates halted the Union march on...

Fredro, Aleksander
(1793-1876) Poland's greatest comic dramatist. His comedies abound in verbal humour and intrigue, and introduce a rich gallery of characters. These include Maz i zona/Husband and Wife 1820, Åšluby...

free blacks
The African-American population of the USA during the legal institution of slavery who were not...

Free Church
Protestant denominations of England and Wales that became members of the Free Church Federal Council from 1940. They include the Methodist Church, Baptist Union, United Reformed Church, Society of...

Free Church of Scotland
Body of Scottish Presbyterians who seceded from the Established Church of Scotland in the Disruption of 1843. In 1900 all but a small section that retains the old name (known as the Wee Frees)...

free companies
In the Hundred Years' War, mercenary bodies of mixed nationality under professional captains who were employed by both the French and English. Their captains often became quite powerful and could...

free enterprise
Economic system where private capital is used in business with profits going to private companies and individuals. The government plays a relatively small role in providing goods and services, but...

Free French
In World War II, movement formed by Gen Charles de Gaulle in...

free market
Another term for capitalism. ...

Free Soil Party
US political party that opposed the extension of slavery into the western territories, formed in 1848. The members were mainly abolitionists, who were formerly identified with the more radical...

free thought
Post-Reformation movement opposed to Christian dogma. It was represented in Britain in the 17th and 18th century by free trade
Economic system where governments do not interfere in the movement of goods between countries; there are thus no taxes on imports. In the modern economy, free trade tends to hold within economic...

free verse
Poetry without metrical form. At the beginning of the 20th century, many poets believed that the 19th century had accomplished most of what could be done with regular metre, and rejected it, in much...

free will
The doctrine that human beings are free to control their own actions, and that these actions are not fixed in advance by God or fate. Some Jewish and Christian theologians assert that God gave...

Free, John
(c. 1430-1465) English humanist author. In 1456 he went to Ferrara, Italy, to study with the humanist scholar Battista Guarino. He then travelled to Padua where he met John Tiptoft, future constable of England, to...

Freed, Alan
(1922-1965) US disc jockey. He worked for radio stations in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York where he stirred controversy by playing black American rhythm-and-blues records for white audiences and by...

freedom
Personal liberty to act according to the individual will and without any physical or other form of restraint. The absence of restraint is known in philosophical terms as negative freedom; a concrete...

freedom of information
Political principle that members of the public should have access to information held by the state. Restrictions are often placed upon the types of information. Even democratic governments will...

freedom of the city (or borough)
Honour bestowed on distinguished people by a city or borough in the UK and other countries. Historically, those granted freedom of a city (called `freemen`) had the right of participating in the...

freedom of the press
Absence of censorship in the press or other media; see press, freedom of. ...

freehold
In England and Wales, ownership of land for an indefinite period. It is contrasted with a leasehold, which is always for a fixed period. In practical effect, a freehold is absolute ownership. ...

freeman
One who enjoys the freedom of a borough. Since the early Middle Ages, a freeman has been allowed to carry out his or her craft or trade within the jurisdiction of the borough and to participate in...

Freeman, Douglas Southall
(1886-1953) US editor and historian. He was a long-time editor of the Richmond News Leader (1915-49) and wrote two Pulitzer prize-winning works, a four-volume biography of Robert E Lee (1934-35) and a...

Freeman, John
(1880-1929) English poet. His earliest books of verse were Twenty Poems 1909, Fifty Poems 1911, and Stone Trees 1916. His Poems New and Old won the Hawthornden Prize 1920. After several more books of verse his...

Freeman, Mary E(leanor)
(1852-1930) US novelist, short-story writer and dramatist. Born in Randolph, Massachusetts, she became known in particular for fiction that depicts the everyday life of rural New England, her writing noted...

Freeman, Morgan
(1937) US stage and screen actor. He made his Broadway debut in 1967 in an all-black production of Hello, Dolly. He has received Academy Award nom ...

Freeman, Richard Austin
(1862-1943) English writer. In 1907 he published his first detective story, The Red Thumb Mark, and his detective, Dr Thorndyke, became one of the most famous of fictitious investiga ...

freemasonry
Beliefs and practices of a group of linked national organizations open to men over the age of 21, united by a common code of morals and certain traditional `secrets`. Modern freemasonry began in...

Frei (Montalva), Eduardo
(1911-1982) Chilean president 1964-70. Elected as the only effective anti-Marxist candidate, he pursued a moderate programme of `Chileanization` of US-owned copper interests. His regime, characterized...

Freiligrath, Ferdinand
(1810-1876) German poet. His best poems include `Die Auswanderer`, `Prinz Eugen`, `Moosthee`, `Die Blumenrache/Revenge of the Flowers`, and others, written before 1840. The charm of his poetry...

Frelimo
Nationalist group aimed at gaining independence for Mozambique from the occupying Portuguese. It began operating from southern Tanzania in 1962 and continued until victory in 1975. ...

Frelinghuysen, Theodorus Jacobus
(1691-1748) German-born Protestant clergyman, who, working as a missionary from 1719 in North America, established several churches in the Raritan Valley of New Jersey. He received a classical education and...

Frémont, John Charles
(1813-1890) US explorer and politician who travelled extensively throughout the western USA. He surveyed much of the territory between the Mississippi River and the coast of California with the aim of...

Frénaud, André
(1907-1993) French poet. His works include Les rois mages (1943), Soleil irréductible (1946), Poèmes de Brandebourg (1948), Source entière (1952), and Il n'y a pas de paradis (1962). ...

French
People who are native to or inhabitants of France, as well as their descendents, culture, or primary language, which is one of the Romance languages. There are also some sociolinguistic minorities...

French and Indian War
War over colonial possessions in North America 1756-63 between France and Britain, and the last in a series of conflicts in the late 17th and 18th century. It was named the French and Indian War...

French architecture
The architecture of France. For architecture in France before the Christian era, see Roman Architecture: France. Early Christian The influence of France's rich collection of Roman buildings (ranging...

French art
Painting, sculpture, and decorative arts of France. As the birthplace of the Gothic style, France was a centre for sculpture and manuscript illumination in the Middle Ages, and of tapestry from the...

French Community
Former association consisting of France and those overseas territories joined with it by the constitution of the Fifth Republic, following the 1958 referendum. Many of the constituent states...

French East India Company
Trading company set up by France in 1664 to compete with the British and Dutch East India companies. It established trading ports at Chandernagore in West Bengal and...

French Equatorial Africa
Federation of French territories in West Africa. Founded in 1910, it consisted of Gabon, Middle Congo, Chad, and Ubangi-Shari (now the Central African Republic), and was ruled from Brazzaville....

French India
Former French possessions in India: Pondicherry, Chandernagore, Karaikal, Mahé, and Yanam (Yanaon). They were all transferred to India by 1954. ...

French literature
The literature of France. The Middle Ages The Chanson de Roland (c. 1080) is one of the early chansons de geste (epic poems about deeds of chivalry), which were superseded by the Arthurian romances...

French Revolution
The period 1789-1799 that saw the end of the monarchy in France. The revolution began as an attempt to create a constitutional monarchy, where the powers of the king would be limited by a...

French revolutionary calendar
The French Revolution in 1789 was initially known as the 1st Year of Liberty. When the monarchy was abolished on 21 September 1792, the 4th year became 1st Year of the Republic. This calendar was...

French-Canadian literature
F-X Garneau's Histoire du Canada (1845-48) inspired a school of patriotic verse led by Octave Crémazie (1827-79) and continued by Louis Fréchette (1838-1908). A new movement began after...

French, Daniel Chester
(1850-1931) US sculptor. He produced mainly public monuments. His most famous works include The Minute Man 1875 in Concord, Massachusetts, John Harvard 1884 at Harvard College, Alma Mater at Columbia...

French, John Denton Pinkstone
(1852-1925) British field marshal. In the second South African War 1899-1902, he relieved Kimberley and took Bloemfontein; in World War I he was commander-in-chief of the British Expeditionary Force in...

French, Marilyn
(1929) US feminist writer. Her first novel, The Women's Room (1977), the story of a generation of 1950s housewives who transform themselves into independent women in the 1970s, sold 4 million copies, and...

Freneau, Philip Morin
(1752-1832) US poet. His A Political Litany 1775 was a mock prayer for deliverance from British tyranny. His other works include The British Prison-Ship 1781, about his experiences as a British prisoner. He...

frequency seriation
In archaeology, a relative dating technique that is based primarily on changes in the proportional abundance or frequency of particular finds, such as tool types or ceramic fabrics. ...

Frere, Henry Bartle Edward
(1815-1884) British administrator. During the Indian Mutiny of 1857-58 he assisted with the relief of the Punjab. In 1877 he was made governor of Cape Colony and first high commissioner of South Africa. The...

Frere, John
(1740-1807) English antiquary. A pioneering discoverer of the Palaeolithic era (Old Stone Age), he found flint weapons in association with large extinct animals 3.5 m/12 ft below ground in a brick pit at Hoxne,...

fresco
Mural painting technique using water-based paint on wet plaster that has been freshly applied to the wall. The technique is ancient and widespread; some of the earliest...

Freud, Clement Raphael
(1924) British journalist, television personality, and until 1987 Liberal member of Parliament; a grandson of the pioneer of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud. ...

Freud, Lucian
(1922) German-born British painter. One of the greatest contemporary figurative artists, he combines meticulous accuracy with a disquieting intensity, painting from unusual angles and emphasizing the...

Freund, Ernst
(1864-1932) US-born, German-raised legal scholar. He taught at Columbia University (1892-94) and the University of Chicago (1894-1932). Born while his parents were visiting New York City, he was raised...

Freund, Paul Abraham
(1908-1992) US lawyer and legal scholar, recognized as an authority on constitutional law. After serving as a clerk to Justice Louis Brandeis (1932-33), he held a series of legal positions with the US...

Frey
In Scandinavian mythology, the god of peace and fruitfulness, son of Njord and brother of Freya. Frey was one of the Vanir, the family of fertility...

Frey, Viola
(1933) US ceramist. Her large assemblages of cast ceramic objects and massive figures explore issues relating to fantasy, kitsch, and stereotype. She earned widespread recognition for a solo exhibition at...

Freya
In Norse mythology, goddess of married love and the hearth. She was also the goddess of death, Odin's punishment after her dalliance with four dwarfs to gain the necklace Brisingamen. In this...

Freyberg, Bernard Cyril
(1889-1963) English-born New Zealand soldier and administrator, governor general 1946-52. During World War II he commanded the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force...

Freyre, Gilberto de Mello
(1900-1987) Brazilian writer and social anthropologist. He wrote a study of the development of Brazilian civilization in Casa-Grande e Senzala (1933), an outstanding contribution to the sociology of Latin...

Freysinnet, (Marie) Eugène (Léon)
(1879-1962) French engineer. He revealed the full structural potential of reinforced concrete with his technically innovative designs, and later pioneered the use of prestressed concrete. His huge airship...

Freytag, Gustav
(1816-1895) German novelist and dramatist. He wrote several successful plays, notably Die Journalisten/The Journalists 1854, one of the finest German comedies of the 19th century. His masterpiece is Soll und...

friar
A monk of any order, but originally the title of members of the mendicant (begging) orders, the chief of which were the Franciscans or Minors (Grey...

Frick, Ford (Christopher)
(1894-1978) US baseball executive and journalist. A sports reporter for many years, he wrote for the New York American (1922-34) and also broadcast on the radio (1930-34). He served as National League...

Frick, Mario
(1965) Liechtenstein politician and civil servant, prime minister 1993-2001. He was 28 when he was elected prime minister by parliament, becoming Europe's youngest premier. Prime Minister Frick's ruling...

Frick, Wilhelm
(1877-1946) German Nazi politician and governor of part of Czechoslovakia in World War II. As minister of the interior 1933-43 he was responsible for many of the laws and decrees that kept the Nazi party...

Friday, Nancy
(1937) US writer and popular psychologist. A graduate of Wellesley College, Massachusetts, she became a journalist and freelance writer, publishing several books based on her research into popular...

Frideswide, St (or St Fredeswitha)
(died c. 735) Anglo-Saxon patron saint of the city of Oxford, England. She founded and was abbess of the nunnery of St Mary's, on the site of Christ Church College. She was canonized in 1481; her feast day is...

Fried, Alfred H(ermann)
(1864-1921) Austrian bookseller, publisher, and literary pacifist, Fried believed that the establishment of international legal and political organizations to promote peace would combat international anarchy....

Friedeburg, Hans von
(1895-1945) German admiral. Otherwise obscure, he signed the document which surrendered all German forces in northern Europe and ended World War II 7 May 1945. A relatively unknown German naval staff officer,...

Friedland, Battle of
French victory in the Napoleonic Wars over the combined Prussian and Russian armies 14 June 1807 at Friedland (now Pravdinsk, Russia) 42 km/26 mi southeast of Königsberg (now Kaliningrad). Ten days...

Friedman, Esther Pauline
US journalist; see Ann Landers. ...

Friedman, Pauline Esther
US journalist; see Abigail Van Buren. ...

Friedman, Thomas L
(1953) US journalist and writer. Employed by The New York Times from 1981, he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting in 1983 (from Lebanon) and in 1988 (from Israel). His best-selling...

Friedrich, Carl J(oachim)
(1901-1984) German-born US political scientist. A prolific writer on comparative political thought, his analyses of totalitarianism and communism were particularly controversial. His book An Introduction to...

Friedrich, Caspar David
(1774-1840) German Romantic landscape painter. He was active mainly in Dresden. He imbued his subjects - mountain scenes and moonlit seas - with poetic melancholy and was later...

Friel, Brian
(1929) Northern Irish dramatist and short-story writer. Friel's work often addresses social and historical pressures that contribute to the Irish political situation. He distinguishes himself as a...

Friends, Society of
Christian Protestant sect founded by George Fox in England in the 1660s. They were persecuted for their nonviolent activism, and many emigrated to form communities elsewhere; for example, in...

friendship
Mutual attachment between persons, as distinguished from sexual or family affection. The Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle distinguished three levels of friendship: the useful (friendship as a...

Fries, Jakob Friedrich
(1773-1843) German philosopher. In his treatise Die neue oder anthropologische Kritik der Verkunft (1807) he attempted to give a new foundation of psychological analysis to the critical theory of the German...

Fries, John
(1750-1818) US revolutionary insurgent, who gained fame for his participation in the 1794 Whisky Insurrection, when Pennsylvania farmers resisted federal efforts to impose a tax on their whisky production. In...

Frieseke, Frederick (Carl)
(1874-1939) US Impressionist painter, greatly influenced by the works of Pierre-Auguste Renoir. He moved to Paris in 1898 to study at the Academie Julien, and latter settled at Giverny, spending the rest of...

Frietschie (or Fritchie), Barbara
(1766-1862) US heroine who, according to legend, on 6 September 1862, at the age of 95, boldly displayed the Union flag as Confederate soldiers passed by her home in Frederick, Maryland. In tribute to her...

frieze
In architecture and the decorative arts, an ornamental, horizontal band on a building, furniture, pottery, or other decorated work. In architecture, it is usually placed along the top of a wall,...

frigate
Escort warship smaller than a destroyer. Before 1975 the term referred to a warship larger than a destroyer but smaller than a light cruiser. In the 18th and 19th centuries a frigate was a small,...

Frigga
In Norse mythology, queen of the gods; wife of Odin. Her sons were Balder, the beloved god; Bragi, god of poetry and wisdom; and Thor, god of thunder. She was one of the Aesir, the principal warrior...

fringe benefit
Perk given to employees in addition to their pay or salary. Fringe benefits include company cars, health insurance, pensions, subsidized lunches, favourable loan facilities, and slightly more...

fringe theatre
Productions that are anti-establishment or experimental, and performed in converted or informal venues (warehouses, pubs), in contrast to subsidized or mainstream commercial...

Frink, Elisabeth
(1930-1993) English sculptor. She created rugged, naturalistic bronzes, mainly based on human and animal forms; for example, the Alcock Brown Memorial (1962) for Manchester airport, In Memoriam (heads), and...

Frisch, Max Rudolf
(1911-1991) Swiss dramatist. Inspired by Brecht, his early plays such as Als der Krieg zu Ende war/When the War Is Over (1949) are more romantic in tone than his later symbolic dramas, such as Andorra (1962),...

Frisch, Ragnar Anton Kittil
(1895-1973) Norwegian economist. He shared the first Nobel Prize for Economics in 1969 with Jan Tinbergen, a Dutch economist, for pioneering efforts in econometrics (a label coined by Frisch), which is the...

Frisian
Member of a Germanic people of northwestern Europe (Friesland and the Frisian Islands). In Roman times they occupied the coast of Holland and may have taken part in the Anglo-Saxon invasions of...

Frist, Bill
(1952) US Republican politician, Senate majority leader from 2003. After a 20-year career in medicine, he was elected US senator for Tennessee in 1994, defeating a popular three-term incumbent, and was...