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William Payne (mathematician)
William Payne (unknown – c. 1779) was an English mathematicianCourtney, ''A bibliography'', p. 74. and the author of books about mathematics, draughts, and whist. Payne was the brother of prominent London bookseller Thomas Payne, who sold his works and published some of them.Boswell, p. 192. Payne's first book, ''An Introduction to the Game of Draughts'', was published in 1756.Hanley, p. 181. The dedication and preface were written by Samuel Johnson. Payne's second book, ''An Introduction to Geometry: Containing the Most Useful Propositions in Euclid, & Other Authors'', was published in 1767. The book ''Maxims for Playing the Game of Whist; With All Necessary Calculations, and Laws of the Game'' was published anonymously in 1773; published by his brother Thomas, it is believed to have been written by William Payne.Courtney, ''English whist'', p. 360. References Sources * Courtney, William Prideaux (1894). ''English whist and English whist players.'' Richard Bentley and S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Draughts
Checkers (American English), also known as draughts (; British English), is a group of strategy board games for two players which involve diagonal moves of uniform game pieces and mandatory captures by jumping over opponent pieces. Checkers is developed from alquerque. The term "checkers" derives from the checkered board which the game is played on, whereas "draughts" derives from the verb "to draw" or "to move". The most popular forms of checkers in Anglophone countries are American checkers (also called English draughts), which is played on an 8×8 checkerboard; Russian draughts, Turkish draughts both on an 8x8 board, and International draughts, played on a 10×10 board – the latter is widely played in many countries worldwide. There are many other variants played on 8×8 boards. Canadian checkers and Singaporean/Malaysian checkers (also locally known as ''dum'') are played on a 12×12 board. American checkers was weakly solved in 2007 by a team of Canadian computer s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Whist
Whist is a classic English trick-taking card game which was widely played in the 18th and 19th centuries. Although the rules are simple, there is scope for strategic play. History Whist is a descendant of the 16th-century game of ''trump'' or ''ruff''. Whist replaced the popular variant of ''trump'' known as ruff and honours. The game takes its name from the 17th-century ''whist'' (or ''wist'') meaning ''quiet'', ''silent'', ''attentive'', which is the root of the modern ''wistful''. According to Daines Barrington, whist was first played on scientific principles by a party of gentlemen who frequented the Crown Coffee House in Bedford Row, London, around 1728. Edmond Hoyle, suspected to be a member of this group, began to tutor wealthy young gentlemen in the game and published ''A Short Treatise on the Game of Whist'' in 1742. It became the standard text and rules for the game for the next hundred years. In 1862, Henry Jones, writing under the pseudonym "Cavendish", publis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thomas Payne
Thomas Payne (c. 1718 – 1799) was an important bookseller and publisher in 18th-century London. Life Payne was born in Brackley, Northamptonshire. From 1750 he ran a shop at Mews Gate in Castle Street near Leicester Fields (the site is now occupied by the National Gallery). The premises were notoriously small, but popular with the literati of that period. Referred to as the "Literary Coffee House", the shop became a sort of club during the day for discussions on all subjects. Patrons included George Steevens, Thomas Crofts, John Hoole and Thomas Tyrwhitt. Payne issued sale catalogues on a regular basis, as did many of his contemporaries, and these are now good sources of information about prices, popular books, bookbinding, and other aspects of 18th-century book history. Payne's daughter Sarah married James Burney, a naval officer and brother of novelist Frances Burney, some of whose work Payne had published. He retired to Finchley in 1790 leaving the business in the hands ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson (18 September 1709 – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer. The ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' calls him "arguably the most distinguished man of letters in English history". Born in Lichfield, Staffordshire, he attended Pembroke College, Oxford until lack of funds forced him to leave. After working as a teacher, he moved to London and began writing for ''The Gentleman's Magazine''. Early works include ''Life of Mr Richard Savage'', the poems ''London'' and ''The Vanity of Human Wishes'' and the play ''Irene''. After nine years' effort, Johnson's '' A Dictionary of the English Language'' appeared in 1755, and was acclaimed as "one of the greatest single achievements of scholarship". Later work included essays, an annotated ''The Plays of William Shakespeare'', and the apologue ''The History of R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Prideaux Courtney
William Prideaux Courtney (1845–1913) was a British biographer and civil servant. Writing as W. P. C., he was a contributor to the first edition of the '' Dictionary of National Biography''. He was the brother of Leonard Courtney, 1st Baron Courtney of Penwith (1832-1918) and John Mortimer Courtney (1838–1920). As an administrator he worked for the Ecclesiastical Commissioners The Ecclesiastical Commissioners were, in England and Wales, a body corporate, whose full title was Ecclesiastical and Church Estates Commissioners for England. The commissioners were authorized to determine the distribution of revenues of the Chu .... Works * * * * Courtney, William Prideaux (1894). ''English whist and English whist players.'' Richard Bentley and Son. * Courtney, William Prideaux; Smith, David Nichol (ed.) (1915). ''A bibliography of Samuel Johnson.'' Clarendon Press. * * References External links English biographers 1845 births 1913 deaths People from Penzance 21s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Life Of Samuel Johnson
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the most frequently used word in the English language; studies and analyses of texts have found it to account for seven percent of all printed English-language words. It is derived from gendered articles in Old English which combined in Middle English and now has a single form used with pronouns of any gender. The word can be used with both singular and plural nouns, and with a noun that starts with any letter. This is different from many other languages, which have different forms of the definite article for different genders or numbers. Pronunciation In most dialects, "the" is pronounced as (with the voiced dental fricative followed by a schwa) when followed by a consonant sound, and as (homophone of pronoun ''thee'') when followed by a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1779 Deaths
Events January–March * January 11 – British troops surrender to the Marathas in Wadgaon, India, and are forced to return all territories acquired since 1773. * January 11 – Ching-Thang Khomba is crowned King of Manipur. * January 22 – American Revolutionary War – Claudius Smith is hanged at Goshen, Orange County, New York for supposed acts of terrorism upon the people of the surrounding communities. * January 29 – After a second petition for partition from its residents, the North Carolina General Assembly abolishes Bute County, North Carolina (established 1764) by dividing it and naming the northern portion Warren County (for Revolutionary War hero Joseph Warren), the southern portion Franklin County (for Benjamin Franklin). The General Assembly also establishes Warrenton (also named for Joseph Warren) to be the seat of Warren County, and Louisburg (named for Louis XVI of France) to be the seat of Franklin County. * Februar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
18th-century English Mathematicians
The 18th century lasted from January 1, 1701 ( MDCCI) to December 31, 1800 ( MDCCC). During the 18th century, elements of Enlightenment thinking culminated in the American, French, and Haitian Revolutions. During the century, slave trading and human trafficking expanded across the shores of the Atlantic, while declining in Russia, China, and Korea. Revolutions began to challenge the legitimacy of monarchical and aristocratic power structures, including the structures and beliefs that supported slavery. The Industrial Revolution began during mid-century, leading to radical changes in human society and the environment. Western historians have occasionally defined the 18th century otherwise for the purposes of their work. For example, the "short" 18th century may be defined as 1715–1789, denoting the period of time between the death of Louis XIV of France and the start of the French Revolution, with an emphasis on directly interconnected events. To historians who expan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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