William Hickling Prescott (May 4, 1796 - January 29, 1859) was a historian. May 4 is the 124th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (125th in leap years). ... 1796 was a leap year starting on Friday. ... January 29 is the 29th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1859 is a common year starting on Saturday. ... A historian is a person who studies history. ...

William H. Prescott was born in Salem, Massachusetts to William Prescott, Jr., who was a lawyer, and his wife, née Catherine Greene Hickling. His grandfather William Prescott served as a Colonel during the American Revolutionary War. Salem Maritime National Historic Site Salem is a city located in Essex County, Massachusetts. ... William Prescott (1726-1795) was an American Colonel in the Revolutionary War who commanded the rebel forces in the Battle of Bunker Hill. ... The American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), also known as the American War of Independence, was a war fought primarily between Great Britain and revolutionaries within thirteen of her North American colonies. ...

Prescott suffered from failing eyesight after a thrown crust of bread was temporarily lodged in his eye. This occurred while he was attending Harvard University, where he graduated in 1814. He made an extended tour in Europe, and on his return to America he married, and abandoning the idea of a legal career, resolved to devote himself to literature. After ten years of study, he published in 1837 his History of Ferdinand and Isabella, which at once gained for him a high place among historians. It was followed in 1843 by the History of the Conquest of Mexico, and in 1847 by the Conquest of Peru. His last work was the History of Philip II., of which the third vol. appeared in 1858, and which was left unfinished. In that year he had an apoplectic shock, and another in 1859 was the cause of his death. In all his works he displayed great research, impartiality, and an admirable narrative power. The great disadvantage at which, owing to his very imperfect vision, he worked, makes the first of these qualities specially remarkable, for his authorities in a foreign tongue were read to him, while he had to write on a frame for the blind. Prescott was a man of amiable and benevolent character, and enjoyed the friendship of many of the most distinguished men in Europe as well as in America. Residents of North America and Europe often eat pre-sliced white bread. ... Diagram of a human eye. ... Harvard University is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA and a member of the Ivy League. ... 1814 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... World map showing location of Europe A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is geologically and geographically a peninsula, forming the westernmost part of Eurasia. ... The United States of America — also referred to as the United States, the U.S.A., the U.S., America, the States, or (archaically) Columbia—is a federal republic of 50 states located primarily in central North America (with the exception of two states: Alaska and Hawaii). ... Literature is literally an acquaintance with letters as in the first sense given in the Oxford English Dictionary (from the Latin littera meaning an individual written character (letter)). The term has generally come to identify a collection of texts. ... 1837 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... A historian is a person who studies history. ... 1843 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... 1847 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... 1858 is a common year starting on Friday. ... Apoplexy is an old-fashioned medical term, generally used interchangeably with cerebrovascular accident (CVA or stroke) but having other meanings as well. ... 1859 is a common year starting on Saturday. ...

Much of Prescott's work was based on his researches with unpublished documents in archives in Spain.

• The History of Ferdinand and Isabella
• Spain's Conquest of the Moors
• The Conquest of Mexico
• The Conquest of Peru
• The History of Philip II

W. H. Prescott died of a stroke in Boston, Massachusetts. A stroke or cerebrovascular accident (CVA) occurs when the blood supply to a part of the brain is suddenly interrupted by occlusion (an ischemic stroke- approximately 90%of strokes) or by hemorrhage (a hemorrhagic stroke - approximately 10% of strokes). ... Boston is the capital of and the largest city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. ...

See also

• Spanish conquest of Peru

Background By the 16th century, the Inca Empire had seen many years of strong leadership. ...

External links

• Biography in 1911 Encyclopedia (http://55.1911encyclopedia.org/P/PR/PRESCOTT_WILLIAM_HICKLING.htm)
• Columbia Encyclopedia article (http://www.bartleby.com/65/pr/PrscttWH.html)
• Project Gutenberg e-texts of works by William Hickling Prescott (http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/gutbook/author?name=Prescott%2c%20William%20Hickling)
• Biography in A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin (http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/3/2/4/13240/13240-h/13240-h.htm)