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	J B Priestley J. B. Priestley (John Boynton Priestley), 1894-1984, English author. An extraordinarily prolific writer, Priestley worked in a variety of genres. He first wrote literary criticism as a student at Cambridge, thereafter producing such celebrated volumes as The English Novel (1927) and Literature... Read more
	Thomas Cooper Thomas Cooper 1759-1839, American scientist, educator, and political philosopher, b. London, educated at Oxford. His important works include Political Essays (1799); the appendixes to the Memoirs of Dr. Joseph Priestley (2 vol., 1806), in which he reviews Priestley's life and works at length; ... Read more
	Birmingham riots Birmingham riots, 1791. A foretaste of the great conservative revulsion against the French Revolution, directed against its sympathizers. Joseph Priestley, a unitarian scientist, had foolishly written of placing gunpowder beneath superstition and error, and was henceforth known as ‘Gunpowder... Read more
	Common Wealth Party Common Wealth Party. Formed in 1942, Common Wealth was a merger of a movement Forward March, formed by the Liberal MP Sir Richard Acland, and the 1941 Committee of the playwright J. B. Priestley. An idealistic, socialist party, its membership was heavily middle class. Its two main themes were... Read more
	Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND). The largest and most politically orthodox organization associated with the two waves of mass agitation against the British nuclear deterrent and US nuclear bases in Britain during the late 1950s and again in the early 1980s. It was formed in 1958 by... Read more
	oxygen oxygen gaseous chemical element; symbol O; at. no. 8; at. wt. 15.9994; m.p. -218.4°C; b.p. -182.962°C; density 1.429 grams per liter at STP; valence -2. The existence and properties of oxygen had been noted by many scientists before the announcement of its isolation by Priestley in 1774.... Read more
	Regency Regency in British history, the period of the last nine years (1811-20) of the reign of George III, when the king's insanity had rendered him unfit to rule and the government was vested in the prince of Wales (later George IV ) as regent. The period witnessed the end (1815) of the Napoleonic Wars... Read more
	Joseph Priestley Joseph Priestley 1733-1804, English theologian and scientist. He prepared for the Presbyterian ministry and served several churches in England as pastor but gradually rejected orthodox Calvinism and adopted Unitarian views. His Essay on Government (1768) suggested the idea of "the greatest... Read more
	phlogiston theory phlogiston theory , hypothesis regarding combustion. The theory, advanced by J. J. Becher late in the 17th cent. and extended and popularized by G. E. Stahl, postulates that in all flammable materials there is present phlogiston, a substance without color, odor, taste, or weight that is given off in... Read more
	Charlie Bird Parker Charlie Bird Parker (Charles Christopher Parker, Jr.), 1920-55, American musician and composer, b. Kansas City, Kans. He began playing alto saxophone in 1933, and after shifting from one band to another he met Dizzy Gillespie in New York City. They formed a quintet, which in 1945 made the first... Read more