born Aug. 3, 1753, London, Eng. died Dec. 15, 1816, Chevening, Kent English politician and inventor. A member of the House of Commons (1780-86), where he was known as Lord Mahon until inheriting his father's title, he became chairman of the Revolution Society and favoured parliamentary reform. He sympathized with the French republicans and opposed Britain's war with Revolutionary France. He was also an experimental scientist and invented calculating machines, a printing press and a microscope lens named for him, a stereotyping machine, and a steam carriage
born 1673, Paris, France died Feb. 5, 1721, London, Eng. English soldier and statesman. He began a military career in 1691 and rose rapidly to become commander in chief of the English army in Spain in 1708 in the War of the Spanish Succession. He was defeated and captured by the French (1710), then returned to England (1712) and regained his seat in the House of Commons (1701-21). He served in the Whig government as secretary of state and negotiated the Quadruple Alliance against Spain (1718). Stanhope served as first lord of the treasury (1717-18), but his ministry was discredited by the South Sea Bubble scandal