E Wedekind Vva-do-.kintX, Frank orig. Benjamin Franklin
Wedekind (b. July 24, 1864, Hannover, Hanover—d. March 9, 1918, Munich, Ger.) German actor and playwright. He lived in Switzerland (1872-84) and then in Munich, where he worked at various jobs, including journalist and cabaret performer. He wrote plays from 1891, when his trag¬ edy The Awakening of Spring created a scandal with its theme of awakening adolescent sexuality. In his “Lulu” cycle, Earth Spirit (1895) and Pando¬ ra ’s Box ( 1904), he extended the theme of sex to the underworld of society and introduced the amoral Lulu. His plays used episodic scenes, frag¬
mented dialogue, distortion, and caricature, prefiguring the Theatre of the Absurd and forming a transition from realism to Expressionism.
Wedemeyer Vwe-do-.ml-aU, Albert C(oady) (b. July 9, 1897, Omaha, Neb., U.S.—d. Dec. 17, 1989, Ft. Belvoir, Va.) U.S. army officer. He graduated from West Point and served in China, the Philippines, and Europe until World War II. As a staff officer in the war-plans division of the U.S. War Department (1941-43), he was the principal author of the 1941 Victory Program for U.S. entry into the war and helped plan strat¬ egies such as the Normandy Campaign. He became chief of staff to Gen. Chiang Kai-shek and commander of U.S. forces in China (1944-46). He retired in 1951 and was promoted to general in 1954.
wedge In mechanics, a device that tapers to a thin edge, usually made of metal or wood, and used for splitting, lifting, or tightening, such as to secure a hammer head onto its handle. The wedge is considered one of the five simple machines. Wedges have been used since prehistoric times to split logs and rocks; for rocks, wooden wedges, caused to swell by wetting, have been used. In terms of its mechanical function, the screw may be thought of as a wedge wrapped around a cylinder.
Wedgwood, Josiah (baptized July 12, 1730, Burslem, Staffordshire, Eng.—d. Jan. 3, 1795, Etruria, Staffordshire) British pottery designer and manufacturer. His family had been potters since the 17th century. After an apprenticeship with his elder brother, he formed a partnership with another potter and finally went into business for himself. He took a sci¬ entific approach to pottery-making and was so successful that the makers of even Meissen and Sevres porcelain found their trade affected. His many innovations include development of a green glaze still popular today, the perfection of creamware, and the invention of the pyrometer. His daughter Susannah was the mother of Charles Darwin. See also Wedgwood ware; Wood family.
Wedgwood ware English stoneware made by Staffordshire factories originally established by Josiah Wedgwood. Creamware appealed to the middle class because of its high quality, durability, and affordability.
Black basaltes (from 1768), unglazed stoneware of fine texture that was ideal for imitating antique and Renaissance objects, appealed to antiquarians. Also in the Neoclassi¬ cal tradition was jasperware (from 1775), a white, matte, unglazed stoneware that could be stained.
White ornaments were applied to the coloured body, achieving the look of an antique cameo. With the help of such artists as John Flaxman, Wedg¬ wood copied many antique designs.
Production of fine Wedgwood ware continues to the present day.
weed Any plant growing where it is not wanted. On land under culti¬ vation, weeds compete with crops for water, light, and nutrients. On rangelands and in pastures, weeds are those plants that grazing animals dislike or that are poisonous. Many weeds are hosts of plant disease organisms or of insect pests. Some originally unwanted plants later were found to have virtues and came under cultivation, while some culti¬ vated plants, when transplanted to new climates, escaped cultivation and became weeds in the new habi¬ tat.
Weed, Thurlow (b. Nov. 15,
1797, Cairo, N.Y., U.S.—d. Nov. 22,
1882, New York, N.Y.) U.S. journalist and politician. He worked on vari¬ ous newspapers in upstate New York and was a leader in the Anti-Masonic movement. He was the founding editor of the Albany Evening Journal (1830-63). He helped form the Whig Party in New York and was instru-
Daniel Webster, daguerreotype by A.S. Southworth and JJ. Hawes
COURTESY OF THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, NEW VORK CITY, GIF OF I.N. PHELPS STOKES, EDWARD S. HAWES, AUCE MARY HAWES, MARION AUGUSTA HAWES,
1937
Wedgwood jasperware vase, Stafford¬ shire, England, c. 1785; in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London
COURTESY OF THE VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM, LONDON; PHOTOGRAPH, WILFRID WALTER-EB INC.
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Weelkes ► Weill I 2041
mental in William Seward’s election as governor (1838) and in the presi¬ dential election of William H. Harrison (1840). He later became active in the Republican Party and was a staunch supporter of Pres. Abraham Lin¬ coln. In 1861 he was sent to England to seek support for the Union.
Weelkes Vwelks\, Thomas (baptized Oct. 25, 1576, Elsted, Sussex?, Eng.—d. Nov. 30, 1623, London) British composer and organist. He pub¬ lished his first book of madrigals in 1597 and was appointed organist at Winchester College the following year. His next two books of madrigals, his greatest, were soon published (1598, 1600), and a final volume was published in 1608. Weelkes is noted for his word painting, lively rhythms, and highly developed sense of form and structure.
weevil or snout beetle Any of about 40,000 beetle species in the largest family of beetles, Curculionidae, which is also the largest family in the animal kingdom. Most weevils have long, elbowed antennae that may fold into special grooves on the prominent snout. Many species are wingless. Most species are less than 0.25 in. (6 mm) long, are plainly coloured and marked, and feed exclusively on plants. Some species are more than 3 in. (80 mm) long. The larvae may feed on only a certain part of a plant or a single plant species; adults are less specialized. The fam¬ ily includes many destructive pests, including the boll weevil.
Wegener Wa-ga-nar\, Alfred (Lothar) (b. Nov. 1, 1880, Berlin, Ger.—d. Nov. 1930, Greenland) German meteorologist and geophysicist. After earning a Ph.D. in astronomy (1905), he became interested in pale- oclimatology and traveled to Greenland to research polar air circulation. He formulated the first complete statement of the continental drift hypoth¬ esis, which he presented in The Origin of Continents and Oceans (1915). His theory won some adherents, but by 1930 most geologists had rejected it because of the implausibility of his postulations for the driving force behind the continents’ movement. It was resurrected in the 1960s as part of the theory of plate tectonics. Wegener died during his fourth expedition to Greenland.
Wei Chung-hsien See Wei Zhongxian
Wei \'wa\ River River, north-central China. It rises in the mountains of southeastern Gansu province and flows east through Shaanxi province to join the Huang He (Yellow River). It is 537 mi (864 km) long. Its valley was the earliest centre of Chinese civilization and until the 10th century ad was the site of a succession of capital cities. In the 3rd century bc the area around the junction of the Ching and Wei rivers was the site of the first ambitious irrigation works in China.
Wei Zhongxian or Wei Chung-hsien Vwa-'jurj-she-'onN (b. 1568, Suning, Heibei province, China—d. 1627, Anhui province) Eunuch who dominated the Chinese government in 1624-27. As a close companion to the nurse of the future Tianqi emperor (r. 1620-27), Wei captured the young prince’s trust. Once on the throne, the weak and indecisive emperor let Wei become the actual ruler. Wei levied crushing taxes on the prov¬ inces, ruthlessly exploited the population, hounded his enemies, terror¬ ized the official class, and filled the government with sycophants and opportunists. He fell from power when the emperor died and hanged him¬ self to avoid trial. He is considered the most powerful eunuch in Chinese history.