OpenLLM-France/wikimedia huggingface dataset:
# William Mineard Bennett

William Mineard Bennet (1778–1858), was an English miniature-painter, singer and composer.

## Life

Bennett was born at Exeter in 1778. While apprenticed to the engraver Abraham Ezekiel in the city, he learned Hebrew and became enthusiastic about music. Following the expiration of his apprenticeship he moved to London and set himself up as miniature painter. He studied under Sir Thomas Lawrence, and gained a considerable reputation as a painter of portraits and miniatures. He mixed with many of the most distinguished literary men of that day, among whom his wit and talents made him a great favourite. In 1806, however, he moved to Bath, to study with the singing teacher Rauzzini. In December of that year he made his first public appearance as a singer at a concert in Bath, at which he performed an air composed by Rauzzini. According to an article in the Monthly Review, "his reception was most flattering; the song was loudly encored, and, in one of Handel's songs, he was equally successful. After this, he continued to sing at the concerts, during the season, and also at the catch club, held at York-house".
The Monthly Review continued:
   Mr. Bennett had long determined to make trial of the stage ; and, towards the end of the season, made his debut in the character of Prince Orlando, in the comic opera of The Cabinet. His reception here was more flattering than at the concerts, and he made an engagement with the managers to play a few nights ; which he did, in the following characters: Don Carlos, in the Duenna; Young Meadows, in Love in a Village; Don Alphonso, in The Castle of Andalusia; Lord William, in the Haunted Tower; Paul, in Paul and Virginia; and Patrick, in The Poor Soldier—in all of which he gave much satisfaction.
   Just before the opening of the Hay-market theatre, in the same season, he received an offer to play six nights there, which he accepted; but to get up an opera was deemed impracticable, and he played the six nights in musical after-pieces. His first appearance before a London audience was in the character of Paul, in Paul and Virginia, it being only his seventh appearance on any stage, and his reception was extremely favourable to so young a performer."
He remained in Bath for some time, continuing to work as a miniature painter while studying music, and published a few compositions including a glee called "The Stars of the night arise", a duet for two voices, entitled, "Sweet warbling bird with dulcet note", and a song called "The Victory off Trafalgar".
Several of his works were exhibited at the Royal Academy between 1812 and 1816, and again in 1834 and 1835. He spent some years in Paris, where his talents won him the patronage and friendship of the Duc de Berri; but in 1844 he returned to Exeter, where, painting only as an amusement, he lived until his death, on 17 October 1858.
# William Paterson (trade unionist)

William Paterson (3 January 1843 – 17 December 1906) was a Scottish trade unionist and fire officer.
Born in Elgin, Paterson followed his father in becoming a joiner. He completed an apprenticeship, and then moved to Edinburgh to find work. He joined the Associated Carpenters and Joiners of Scotland union, and was soon elected as branch secretary.
In 1867, Paterson was elected as general secretary of the union. He adopted a militant approach, and this led to increased wages and reduced hours for members of the union. As a result, the union's membership increased, and it survived a recession in the late 1870s.
Paterson was active in the campaign for universal male enfranchisement; he was the main organiser of a demonstration in Edinburgh in 1866, and was secretary of the city's branch of the Reform League for the following year. He stood for Edinburgh Town Council's Canongate ward in 1870, as a Liberal-Labour candidate, coming only fifty votes behind his opponent. He moved to Glasgow in 1875, when the headquarters of the union were transferred there. From 1881 to 1883, he also served on the Parliamentary Committee of the Trades Union Congress.
In 1883, Paterson stood down as leader of the union to become the first working-class factory inspector in Scotland. However, he had long held an interest in fire safety and, at the end of 1884, he instead became superintendent of the Glasgow Fire Brigade. The brigade expanded significantly under his leadership, with six new fire stations, about ninety additional staff, and much new equipment. The Glasgow Herald state that: "Among the men under his charge he was very popular. He was a strict disciplinarian, insisted on sedulous attention to duty, but he did everything in his power to provide for the comfort of the staff, nor did he neglect to consider the necessity for facilities for healthful exercise, relaxation and amusement in the laying out of the stations which he had erected". In 1903, he was a founder of the Association of Professional Fire Brigade Officers of the British Empire, and he served as its president for the first two years.
Paterson's health declined during 1906, but he appeared to recover following an operation in July. In December, he attended a fire in person, but he caught a cold and died less than two weeks later.
# William Henry Hyett

William Henry Hyett (2 September 1795 – 10 March 1877) was a British Whig Member of Parliament representing Stroud who was elected to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom on 13 December 1832.
Originally William Henry Adams, he was the son of the Rev. Henry Cay Adams and his wife Frances Marston. He changed his surname in 1813, after being left the estates of Benjamin Hyett. He resided at Painswick House, in Gloucestershire. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society on 29 February 1844.
He was instrumental in the founding of Gloucester's first Mental Asylum at Horton Road in Gloucester and subsequently the transfer of the private section of this hospital to Barnwood, establishing Barnwood House Hospital there in 1860. He was its first chairman (1858-1862).
# William Robert Renshaw

William Robert Renshaw (1845 – 1923) was an English industrialist and foundryman.
Renshaw was born to an agricultural family in Handforth in the county of Cheshire, England. He began his career as an apprentice button-maker at the Union Foundry of Barker and Cope in Kidsgrove, Staffordshire.
In 1880 he was in business with his own foundry, the Victoria Works in Tunstall, Staffordshire, where he produced equipment for collieries, forges and mills, before returning to Kidsgrove to acquire the Union Foundry as a member of a partnership known as Renshaw, King and Company.
He later moved to the Phoenix Works at Cliffe Vale, where electrical and railway equipment was manufactured and where specialist railway carriages and wagons were built for use by the Barnum & Bailey Circus, (see Phineas Taylor Barnum) during its tour of Britain and Europe which began in 1886.
Among other children and grandchildren he had two grandsons worthy of note, namely George and John Starr, both of whom were members of the Special Operations Executive organisation during World War II.

## Industrial sites

* Coleham Pumping Station Shrewsbury
# William Robert Robins

William Robert Robins OBE (1886 – 28 September 1959) was a British trade unionist and politician.
Born at Osmaston, Derby, Robins was the son of John Robins, a railway wagon builder originally from Yeovil who moved his family to Swindon about 1893. He was brought up as a Primitive Methodist. He found work as a railway clerk. In 1908, he joined the Railway Clerks' Association (RCA). Three years later, the RCA had enough members in the town to form a branch, and he became its first organising secretary, serving until 1919. From 1918 until 1921, he also served as the secretary of Swindon Trades Council, and in 1919, he was elected as a Labour Party member of the town council. From 1918 until 1925, he was the chairman of the RCA's Western Divisional Council, then from 1925 until 1931 he served on the union's executive committee.
Robins stood in Cirencester and Tewkesbury at the 1922 and 1923 United Kingdom general elections, with the sponsorship of his union. On each occasion, he took second place, with about one third of the vote. He became increasingly prominent in local politics. In 1928, he was elected as an alderman, then served as Mayor of Swindon for 1932/33. At the national level, he was unsuccessful in Chippenham at the 1929, 1931, and 1935 United Kingdom general elections, and although he was selected as Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Exeter in 1939, no election took place until 1945, by which time he had been replaced. In October 1939, Robins was registered under the National Registration Act 1939 as a railway clerk.
In the 1948 Birthday Honours, he was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, while in 1951, he was awarded the Freedom of Swindon. He served as the first chairman of the committee which produced the Wiltshire Victoria County History, resigning shortly before his death in 1959.
Robins died on 28 September 1959 at St Margaret’s Hospital, Stratton St Margaret, leaving a widow, Daisy, of 318 Cricklade Road, Swindon.
# William Paul King

William Paul King is an American mechanical engineer, currently the Ralph A. Andersen Endowed Chair at the University of Illinois.
# William Pollard

William Pollard may refer to:
* William Pollard (Quaker) (1828–1893), English Quaker writer and minister
* William G. Pollard (1911–1989), American physicist and Episcopal priest
* William L. Pollard, American university president
* William B. Pollard III (born 1947), judge of the United States Court of Military Commission Review.
* William Pollard (priest), dean of Bangor, 1410
# William Pollexfen Radcliffe

General Sir William Pollexfen Radcliffe KCB (22 December 1822 – 23 March 1897) was a British Army officer who became General Officer Commanding Eastern District.

## Military career

Radcliffe was commissioned as an ensign in the 20th Regiment of Foot on 12 March 1841. After serving in Bermuda and Canada, he fought at the Battle of Alma in September 1854, the Battle of Balaclava in October 1854 and the Battle of Inkerman in November 1854 as well as the Siege of Sevastopol during the Crimean War. He went on to be Inspector-General of Musketry of Hythe in January 1873 and General Officer Commanding Eastern District in October 1878. He was promoted full general on 1 April 1887.
He was also Colonel of the Royal Berkshire Regiment from 1891 to 1894, when he transferred to be Colonel of the Lancashire Fusiliers until his death.
# William Pollin

Dr. William Pollin (May 13, 1922 - January 25, 2008) was a psychiatrist who served as the second director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse and as a staff member of the National Institute of Mental Health. He is best remembered as the person who "declared cigarette smoking was more addictive than alcohol or heroin."

## Early life

Pollin was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and served as a merchant marine during World War II. Following the war, he attended and graduated from the City College of New York before attending Columbia University. He graduated from Columbia's medical school in 1952.

## Career

NIDA Director Nora Volkow summarized Dr. Pollin's contributions to psychiatry and to drug control policy as follows:
   At NIMH he contributed to early studies which examined pairs of twins to determine the connection between development of schizophrenia and obstetrical complications and various other neurological abnormalities. At NIDA he was one of the key researchers who changed the medical view of tobacco smoking from an unhealthy habit to a diagnosable drug addiction—after which cigarette makers nicknamed him "Doctor Death" to the tobacco industry. Dr. Pollin emphasized supporting family-oriented drug prevention programs and during this time the rate of cannabis abuse in high school children declined.

## Personal life

Pollin married his first wife, Marilyn, in 1951. She died in 1990. He remarried in 1993.

## Death

Pollin died of a heart attack at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland. He was survived by his wife of 15 years, Teresa Pollin, as well as his two children from his first marriage; his stepson; and seven grandchildren.
# William More (academic)

William More was an Oxford college head in the 16th-century.
More was born in Devon and educated at Exeter College, Oxford, graduating B.A. in 1538 and M.A. in 1541. He was appointed a Fellow of Exeter in 1537. More was Principal of Hart Hall from 1544 to 1545; and Rector of Exeter College from 1546 to 1553. A priest, he held the living at Stoke Rivers.
* History
* Education
* England
* Christianity
# William Quee

Robert William Quee (2 September 1877 – 25 February 1920) was a New Zealand cricketer who played first-class cricket for Wellington from 1899 to 1904.
William "Billy" Quee was a batsman who played for Midland in the Wellington competition. He was selected to play for Wellington in December 1899 after consistent batting and safe fielding in club cricket. On his first-class debut against Canterbury he scored 31 and 51, top-scoring in Wellington's second innings when he played "very forcibly", but Canterbury won by one wicket.
He was unable to maintain this form, and although he was a regular member of the Wellington team for the next five years, he seldom again reached double-figures. He remained prominent in Wellington club cricket. In 1901-02 he made the highest score in the Wellington senior club season, 174. In one club match he scored 11 runs off one hit: eight run by the batsmen and three overthrows.
Excessive drinking led Quee into trouble with the law in Wellington in 1915. He later moved to the Ōrongorongo region and then to Hāwera, where he worked as a signwriter. He died at his home in Hāwera of pneumonia at the age of 42.
# Wills Wing U2

The Wills Wing U2 is an American high-wing, single-place, hang glider, designed and produced by Wills Wing of Orange, California since 2003. The aircraft is supplied complete and ready-to-fly.

## Design and development

The U2 was conceived as a recreational intermediate glider with performance nearing that of competition gliders, like the Wills Wing T2. The U2 is made from 7075 aluminium alloy tubing, with the 84% double-surface wing covered in Dacron sailcloth. The U2 includes a variable geometry (VG) system that tensions the sail for higher glide performance.
The two models available are each named for their wing area in square feet.
The glider is also sold by Tecma Sport of France as the Techma Sport U2.

## Variants
### U2 145

    Small-sized model for lighter pilots. Its 31.3 ft (9.5 m) span wing is cable-braced from a single king post. The nose angle is 125–128° depending on VG setting, wing area is 145 sq ft (13.5 m$^2$) and the aspect ratio is 6.8:1. The glider empty weight is 63 lb (29 kg) and the pilot hook-in weight range is 140 to 220 lb (64 to 100 kg). The glider model was HGMA certified in 2003.

### U2 160

    Large-sized model for heavier pilots. Its 33.1 ft (10.1 m) span wing is cable braced from a single kingpost. The nose angle is 125–128° depending on VG setting, wing area is 160 sq ft (15 m$^2$) and the aspect ratio is 6.8:1. The glider empty weight is 68 lb (31 kg) and the pilot hook-in weight range is 160 to 260 lb (73 to 118 kg). The glider model was HGMA certified in 2003.

## Specifications (U2 145)

Data from Bertrand and manufacturer
General characteristics
* Crew: one
* Wingspan: 31 ft 4 in (9.55 m)
* Wing area: 145 sq ft (13.5 m$^2$)
* Aspect ratio: 6.8:1
* Empty weight: 63 lb (29 kg)
Performance
* Never exceed speed: 53 mph (85 km/h, 46 kn)
# William Waller (disambiguation)

William Waller may refer to:
* Sir William Waller (c. 1597–1668), English Parliamentary general during the English Civil War
* Sir William Waller (informer) (died 1699), Middlesex justice and politician
* William Waller (cricketer) (1923-1998), Trinidadian cricketer
* William Waller (footballer) (1898–?), English footballer
* W. H. Waller, mayor of Ottawa in 1877
* Bill Waller (1926–2011), American politician, governor of Mississippi, 1972–1976
* Bill Waller (American football) (1911–2007), head football coach for the Southern Illinois Salukis
* Bill Waller Jr. (born 1952), former chief justice of the Supreme Court of Mississippi and candidate for governor in 2019
# William Sloper

William Sloper may refer to:
* William Sloper (died 1743) (c.1658–1743), deputy paymaster general and MP for several boroughs
* William Sloper (1709–1789), son of the above, MP for Great Bedwyn
* William Charles Sloper (aft. 1728 – aft. 1813), son of the above, MP for St Albans
* William Thomson Sloper (1883–1955), American stockbroker and survivor of the sinking of the RMS Titanic
# William Smaldone

William "Bill" Smaldone (born 1958) is the E. J. Whipple Professor of European history at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, United States.

## Education and career

Bill Smaldone received his Bachelor of Science (1980) and Master of Arts (1983) degrees from the State University of New York at Brockport.
He received his Ph.D. in Modern European History from Binghamton University. From 1989-1991, following the completion of his Ph.D., Smaldone took up an academic post as a visiting professor at Rampo College in New Jersey. In 1991, he moved to Salem, Oregon and joined the history department faculty at Willamette University.

## Public service

In the mid-1990s, he initially became active in Oregon's local politics as a member of the Socialist Party of Oregon and in 1998 was elected to the Salem City Council where he served on the Budget Committee and numerous commissions. In 2001, Smaldone served as Council President until his re-election bid loss to Jim Randall in 2002. Smaldone attributes the defeat to old-fashioned "red-baiting" tactics reminiscent of Cold War America by stating, "Jim Randall and his allies knew that anti-socialist rhetoric still resonated with a large part of the populace. Using that theme, they succeeded in mobilizing their supporters more effectively than we did ours."

## Published works
### Academic books

* Smaldone, William (2008). Confronting Hitler: German Social Democrats in Defense of the Weimar Republic, 1929-1933. Lexington Books. December 2008. ISBN 0-7391-2843-4
* Smaldone, William (1998). Rudolf Hilferding: The Tragedy of a German Social Democrat. Northern Illinois University Press. July 1998. ISBN 0-87580-236-2

### Academic articles

* (2010) Smaldone, William. "Rise of the Left Party: Germany's Election and Beyond." Against the Current, January/February, No. 144.
* (2007) Smaldone, William. "Socialist Paths in a Capitalist Conundrum: Reconsidering the German Catastrophe of 1933." Journal of World History 18.3: 297-323. Print.
* (2007) Smaldone, William. "German Social Democracy in the Great Coalition." Against the Current, May/June, No. 128.
* (2004) Smaldone, William. "German Social Democracy in Crisis." Against the Current, September/October, No. 112.
* (2002) Smaldone, William. "Friedrich Stampfer and the Fall of the Weimar Republic." The Historian 64.3/4: 687-703. Web.
* (2000) Smaldone, William. "Facing Fascism in Europe." Against the Current, January/February, No. 84. Print.
# William Sloman

William Henry Sloman (2 December 1871 – 10 August 1926) played first-class cricket for Somerset in four matches in 1895 and 1896. He was born in Launceston, Cornwall and died at South Molton, Devon.
A middle-order batsman, Sloman did well in two first-class matches against university sides in 1895. He scored 48 and 19 in the game against Cambridge University. A week later he made 7 and 15 and took one wicket (in two overs of bowling) against Oxford. But when he returned for two County Championship matches in 1896 he was not successful.
Cricketarchive has on its records a scorecard from a minor cricket match in 1894 between teams of licensed victuallers in which Sloman featured and where he was identified as coming from Minehead.
# William Walden Rubey

William Walden Rubey (December 19, 1898 – April 12, 1974) was an American geologist.
He was born in Moberly, Missouri. He attended the University of Missouri, and in 1920 he graduated with an A.B. degree. During the same year he married Susan Elsie Manovill, and joined the U.S. Geological Survey. He performed his graduate studies at Johns Hopkins University and Yale University.
During the Second World War he served as a scientific liaison to the U.S. Army for the Geological Survey. In 1950 he was the president of the Geological Society of America. From 1951 until 1954 he was the chairman of the National Research Council for the National Academy of Sciences. In 1960 he was appointed by the president to serve on the National Science Board for the National Science Foundation. The same year he was also appointed professor of geology and geophysics at UCLA, where he would remain until 1966 and be recalled each year thereafter. He served on the board of trustees for Science Service, now known as Society for Science & the Public, from 1956 to 1964. He also served in many other distinguished posts and positions.
After retiring from the U.S. Geological Survey, he joined the Lunar Science Institute (later renamed the Lunar and Planetary Institute) in 1968, serving as director from 1968 to 1971. He participated in the scientific examination of the Apollo program returned lunar samples until 1971.
He died of cancer in Santa Monica, California. During his career he made multiple contributions to the science of geology, including studies of the hydrology of streams, the geology of western Wyoming, seismic energy, mountain building from overthrust faulting, the growth of continents, the origins of the Earth's atmosphere and oceans, and the evolution of terrestrial planets.

## Awards and honors

* United States National Academy of Sciences member, 1945.
* American Philosophical Society member, 1952.
* American Academy of Arts and Sciences member, 1953.
* National Medal of Science, 1965.
* Penrose Medal of the Geological Society of America, 1963.
* Four honorary degrees, including three doctorates.
* The wrinkle ridge Dorsa Rubey on the Moon is named after him.
# William Solomon

William Solomon may refer to:
* William Solomon (cricketer) (1872–1964), South African cricketer
* William Henry Solomon (1852–1930), judge of appeal and Chief Justice of South Africa
* William T. Solomon, American, former president, CEO and chairman of Austin Industries
* Will Solomon (born 1978), American basketball player
# Willie Stokes (disambiguation)

Willie Stokes was a Chicago drug kingpin.
Willie Stokes may also refer to:
* Willie Stokes (caddie), golf caddie and 2006 Caddie Hall of Fame inductee
* Willie "the Wimp" Stokes Jr., Willie Stokes' murdered son immortalized in the Stevie Ray Vaughan song, "Willie the Wimp"
* Willie T. Stokes, fictional character played by Billy Bob Thornton in the move Bad Santa
# Willy Bretscher

Willy Bretscher (1897, Winterthur – 1992) was a Swiss newspaper writer and editor.
Bretscher began his career as a secretary with the Neues Winterthurer Tagblatt, subsequently having his work taken up by numerous publications. In 1917 he took a position with the Neue Zürcher Zeitung, becoming in 1925 its Berlin correspondent. Bretscher voiced a strong dislike for Socialism, finding it too close to Communism, and in his position was able to witness firsthand the troubles of the Weimar Republic. He was made the Zeitung's editor-in-chief in 1933, holding the post until 1967. Bretscher aided in the early development of Liberal International; he died in 1992.