Roentgen Vroent-gonV Abraham (b. 1711, Miihlheim, Cologne—d. 1793, Neuwied?, Trier) German furniture designer and cabinetmaker. In 1750 he established a shop in Neuwied, near Cologne. The Rococo-style furniture he produced there was of outstanding quality and was often decorated with inlay work of ivory and other semiprecious materials. Much of his work was created for various German courts. His son David Roentgen (1743-1807), who succeeded him as head of the firm in 1772, was appointed cabinetmaker to Marie-Antoinette of France. The Roent¬ gens’ shop was perhaps the most successful firm of furniture production in the 18th century.
Roentgen, Wilhelm Conrad See Wilhelm Conrad Rontgen
Roethke \'ret-ke\, Theodore (b. May 25, 1908, Saginaw, Mich., U.S.—d. Aug. 1, 1963, Bainbridge Island, Wash.) U.S. poet. He was edu¬ cated at the University of Michigan and Harvard University. He later taught at several colleges and universities, notably the University of Wash¬ ington (1947-63). His verse, characterized by introspection and intense lyricism, is collected in volumes such as Open House (1941), The Wak¬ ing (1953, Pulitzer Prize), Words for the Wind (1957, Bollingen Prize, National Book Award), and The Far Field (1964, National Book Award). His later career was interrupted by hospitalizations for manic depression.
Roger I known as Roger Guiscard \ges-'kar\ (b. 1031, Normandy, France—d. June 22, 1101, Mileto, Calabria) Count of Sicily (1072-1101). A Norman knight, he went to Italy (1057) to help his brother Robert Guis¬ card take Calabria from the Byzantines (1060). They launched a campaign to conquer Sicily from the Muslims (1061). When they captured Palermo (1072), Roger was granted a limited right to govern Sicily and Calabria. After Robert’s death, he gained full right to govern and created an effi¬ cient centralized government.
Roger II (b. Dec. 22, 1095—d. Feb. 26, 1154, Palermo) Grand count of Sicily (1105-30) and king of Sicily (1130-54). The son of Roger I, he was a capable and energetic ruler who incorporated the mainland territories of Calabria (1122) and Apulia (1127). He was crowned king by the antipope Anacletus II, and he forced Innocent II to confirm him in 1139. He built a powerful navy but refused to join the Second Crusade, preferring as the ruler of a largely Arab population to show tolerance toward Muslims. He promulgated a law code (1140), and his court was an intellectual center for both Arab and Western scholars.
Rogers, Carl R(ansom) (b. Jan. 8, 1902, Oak Park, Ill., U.S.—d. Feb. 4, 1987, La Jolla, Calif.) U.S. psychologist. He trained at Teachers Col¬ lege, Columbia University (Ph.D., 1931), and directed a children’s agency in New York before taking teaching positions at various universities. In 1963 he helped found an institute for the study of the person in La Jolla, Calif. He is known as the originator of client-centred, or nondirective, psy¬ chotherapy, and he helped establish humanistic psychology. His writings include Counseling and Psychotherapy (1942), Client-Centered Therapy (1951), Psychotherapy and Personality Change (1954), and On Becom¬ ing a Person (1961).
Rogers, Fred (McFeely) known as Mr. Rogers (b. March 20, 1928, La Trobe, Pa., U.S.—d. Feb. 27, 2003, Pittsburgh, Pa.) U.S. television host and producer. He produced the local public-television show The Children’s Corner (1954-61) and later created a similar program. Mister Rogers, for Canadian television (1963-64). In 1968 he developed it into Mister Rogers ’ Neighborhood. Known for his gentleness and his desire to educate, Rogers, who was ordained a Presbyterian minister in 1962, used puppets, music, and guests to teach his viewers about various sub¬ jects and emotions. His show, the longest-running U.S. children’s televi¬ sion program, garnered many honours. In 2002 he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest U.S. civilian honour.
Rogers, Ginger orig. Virginia Katherine McMath (b. July 16, 1911, Independence, Mo., U.S.—d. April 25, 1995, Rancho Mirage, Calif.) U.S. film actress. She began her career as a dancer in vaudeville and made her Broadway debut in 1929. After starring in Girl Crazy ( 1930- 31), she moved to Hollywood. Her first performance with Fred Astaire, in Flying Down to Rio (1933), was so popular that they continued the part¬ nership in nine more movies, including The Gay Divorcee (1934), Top Hat (1935), and Swing Time (1936). She also acted in the drama Kitty Foyle (1940, Academy Award) and in light comedies such as Tom, Dick, and Harry (1941) and The Major and the Minor (1942). Rogers returned to the Broadway stage in 1965, taking the lead in Hello Dolly!, and she followed that in 1969 with a star performance as Marne in London.
Rogers, Robert (b. Nov. 7, 1731, Methuen, Mass.—d. May 18, 1795, London, Eng.) American frontier soldier. He raised and commanded a militia called Rogers’s Rangers, which earned fame in the French and Indian War and in Pontiac’s War. He led the first English exploration of the upper Mississippi River and Great Lakes region (1766) but failed to reach the Pacific Ocean, his intended goal. In the American Revolution he was regarded as a loyalist spy; imprisoned by George Washington, he escaped to organize the Queen’s Rangers, which he led in operations around New York. Defeated in 1780, he fled to England.
Rogers, Roy orig. Leonard Franklin Slye Rogers (b. Nov.
5, 1911/12, Cincinnati, Ohio,
U.S.—d. July 6, 1998, Apple Valley,
Calif.) U.S. actor and singer. During his childhood Rogers took up sing¬ ing, guitar playing, and square-dance calling. He made radio and personal appearances with a succession of groups before helping form the sing¬ ing group Sons of the Pioneers. He acted in westerns with Gene Autry, whom he replaced as “King of the Cowboys” when Autry went to war.
His films include Tumbling Tum¬ bleweeds (1935), Red River Valley (1941), and Yellow Rose of Texas (1944). He acted in several with his wife, Dale Evans, usually riding his famous horse, Trigger. He also starred on radio in The Roy Rogers Show (1944-55) as well as on tele¬ vision in a series of the same name
(1951-57).
Rogers, Will(iam Penn Adair) (b. Nov. 4, 1879, Indian Ter¬ ritory, U.S. [near present-day Clare- more, Okla.]—d. Aug. 15, 1935,
Will Rogers.
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1634 I Roget ► Rolle
near Point Barrow, Alaska) U.S. humorist and actor. Raised in Indian Ter¬ ritory, he demonstrated his rope-twirling skills in Wild West shows and vaudeville and gradually wove bits of homespun wit into his act. He was popular in New York City from 1905 and starred in Florenz Ziegfeld’s Midnight Frolic (1915). Noted for his good-natured but sharp criticism of current affairs, he wrote a newspaper column in the New York Times (from 1922) as well as several books. He performed on radio and in movies such as State Fair (1933) and Steamboat Round the Bend (1935). His death in a plane crash in Alaska with the aviator Wiley Post (1899-1935) was widely mourned.
Roget \ro-'zha\ A Peter Mark (b. Jan. 18,1779, London, Eng.—d. Sept. 12, 1869, West Malvern, Worcestershire) English physician and philolo¬ gist. In 1814 he invented a slide rule for calculating the roots and powers of numbers. He was instrumental in founding the University of London (1828). He is best known for his Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases (1852), a comprehensive classification of synonyms or verbal equivalents which he assembled during his retirement. He was a fellow (from 1815) and secretary (from 1827) of the Royal Society.