Wellington

Wellington
   , WELLINGTON BOOTS,
   Arthur Wellesly (1769-1852) was the first Duke of Wellington and one of Britain's most renowned generals. The duke's military experience is a tale of a successful strategist, from India to Waterloo, culminating in the crushing of Napoleon in 1815. After his military conquests, the duke became prime minister and was given the honorarium of commanderinchief of the British forces for life.
   Wellington, known as the Iron Duke, was honored in many ways. His name was given to a tree of the Sequoia family (the Wellingtonia), to the capital of New Zealand, and to a term in the card game NAP (a game devised in honor of Napoleon, in which a call of Wellington so that the caller is obliged to take all five tricks and wins or loses double). His name was bestowed even on articles of clothing, such as the high boots worn by men of fashion, boots that had been required wear in the army. Although the boots carne up above the knee, they were held down by a strap under the instep and were covered by the trousers. The boot was an elegant version of the military boot, with the top cut out at the back of the knee to allow freedom of action. "No gentleman," it was commonly said, "could wear anything but Wellington boots in the daytime." And then there were half-Wellingtons, which look somewhat like a pair of galoshes, also worn under the trousers. These boots, which came halfway up the calf of the leg, were made of patent leather and had a top of softer material.
   A well-known story during that time was that Queen Victoria asked the duke for the name of the boots he was wearing. "The people call them Wellingtons," he replied, to which she remarked, "Impossible. I should like to know where you could find two Wellingtons."

Dictionary of eponyms. . 2013.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Wellington — Wellington …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Wellington — Wellington, MO U.S. city in Missouri Population (2000): 784 Housing Units (2000): 361 Land area (2000): 1.098102 sq. miles (2.844072 sq. km) Water area (2000): 0.026560 sq. miles (0.068790 sq. km) Total area (2000): 1.124662 sq. miles (2.912862… …   StarDict's U.S. Gazetteer Places

  • Wellington — puede referirse a: Geografía Chile El Archipiélago Wellington. El archipiélago más grande de la patagonia chilena. Isla Wellington. Una isla de Chile. Nueva Zelanda Wellington, la capital de Nueva Zelanda Personajes Arthur Wellesley, primer duque …   Wikipedia Español

  • Wellington — es el nombre de la capital de Nueva Zelanda y también de la región de Wellington, al sur de la North Island (isla Norte), en la que Wellington es la ciudad principal. Está ubicada a lado de un puerto, en colinas pendulentes y verdes; hay poca… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Wellington — (Мадрид,Испания) Категория отеля: 5 звездочный отель Адрес: Velazquez, 8, Саламанка, 28001 …   Каталог отелей

  • Wellington — the capital city of New Zealand, on the ↑North Island, the country s second largest city and an important port Wellington 2 Wellington, Duke of →↑Duke of Wellington, the …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • wellington — UK [ˈwelɪŋtən] / US or wellington boot UK / US noun [countable] Word forms wellington : singular wellington plural wellingtons British a wellie …   English dictionary

  • Wellington (yu-gi-oh! gx) — Dans le monde fictif de Yu Gi Oh!, Wellington (version originale : Napoléon) est le vice directeur de la duel académie. Il a un deck jouet soldat et déteste les slifers et a voulu plusieurs fois prendre la place de Crowler. Ils se disputent… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Wellington [2] — Wellington, Sir Arthur Wellesley, Herzog von W., Fürst von Waterloo, brit. Feldherr und Staatsmann, geb. 29. April 1769 in Dublin als dritter Sohn des Grafen von Mornington (s. Wellesley), gest. 14. Sept. 1852, erzogen in Eton und in der… …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Wellington, CO — U.S. town in Colorado Population (2000): 2672 Housing Units (2000): 963 Land area (2000): 1.769864 sq. miles (4.583926 sq. km) Water area (2000): 0.000000 sq. miles (0.000000 sq. km) Total area (2000): 1.769864 sq. miles (4.583926 sq. km) FIPS… …   StarDict's U.S. Gazetteer Places

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”