Gourlay, Robert Fleming, 1778-1863, Scottish writer and agitator, b. Fifeshire. He emigrated to Upper Canada (Ontario) in 1817 and at Kingston attempted to establish himself as a land agent, but he quickly discovered that land grants were largely controlled by the powerful clique known as the Family Compact. At his instigation a convention of pioneer farmers from all over Upper Canada met (1818) at York to discuss their grievances. Alarmed at this threat to their power, the Family Compact contrived to have Gourlay arrested and imprisoned. His trial led to his banishment (1819) as a seditious alien, a sentence nullified in 1842. He returned to Canada in 1856, but after he failed to gain a seat in the Legislative Assembly in 1860, he went back to Scotland. During the years of his banishment, which he spent in the United States and Scotland, he wrote a Statistical Account of Upper Canada (1822) and the autobiographical Banished Briton and Neptunian (pub. in 38 parts, 1843-46).

Fleming, Walter Lynwood, 1874-1932, American historian, b. near Brundidge, Ala. He taught at West Virginia Univ. (1904-7) and at Louisiana State Univ. (1907-17) before becoming professor of history at Vanderbilt. From 1923 to his retirement in 1928 because of ill health, Fleming was dean of the college of arts and sciences and director of the graduate school at Vanderbilt. His scholarly reputation is based chiefly upon his studies of the Reconstruction period. He edited Documents Relating to Reconstruction (1904) and wrote Civil War and Reconstruction in Alabama (1905), Documentary History of Reconstruction (2 vol., 1906-7), The Sequel of Appomattox ("Chronicles of America" series, 1919), and The Freedmen's Savings Bank (1927). From 1914 to 1922 he was a member of the board of editors of the Mississippi Valley Historical Review and was also an editor of the series "The South in the Building of the Nation."

Fleming, Sir Sandford: see standard time.

Fleming, Sir John Ambrose, 1849-1945, English electrical engineer. He was a leader in the development of electric lighting, the telephone, and wireless telegraphy in England and the inventor of a thermionic valve (the first electron tube). Fleming was a professor at the Univ. of London and at University College and was knighted in 1929. Among his many publications are Fifty Years of Electricity (1921) and The Propagation of Electric Currents in Telephone and Telegraph Conductors (1911).

Fleming, Sir Alexander, 1881-1955, Scottish bacteriologist, discoverer of penicillin (1928) and lysozyme (1922), an antibacterial substance found in saliva and other body secretions. Educated at St. Mary's Hospital Medical School, Univ. of London, where he later became professor of bacteriology, he published many articles on bacteriology, immunology, and chemotherapy. He shared the 1945 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Ernst B. Chain and Sir Howard W. Florey for work on penicillin. Fleming was knighted in 1944.

Fleming, Renée, 1959-, American soprano, b. Indiana, Pa. She studied at the State Univ. of New York, Potsdam (grad. 1981), Eastman School of Music, and Julliard's American Opera Center (1983-87). In 1986 she made her professional debut in Salzburg, Austria, in Mozart's Abduction from the Seraglio, and has since performed at Covent Garden, the Metropolitan Opera, and La Scala. With her velvety warm and rich voice, exquisite phrasing, interpretive power, broad repertoire, and classic beauty, Fleming has become one of America's most popular operatic singers.

Fleming, Peggy, 1948-, American ice skater, b. San Jose, Calif. She began skating at age 9, and after distinguished accomplishments as a juvenile and novice skater, she was U.S. Ladies Champion from 1964 to 1968, Olympic champion in 1968, and World Champion in 1966, 1967, and 1968. In 1968 she became a professional ice skater; she retired in 1976. Her style was marked not only by superb technical control but also by an exceptional sense of music and dance. Since retiring from figure skating, she has worked as a skating commentator on televsion.

Fleming, Ian Lancaster, 1908-64, English spy novelist, b. London. Son of a Conservative member of Parliament, Fleming was educated at Eton, Sandhurst, and Munich and Geneva universities and worked as Reuters' Moscow correspondent (1929-33), a stockbroker (1935-39), a British naval intelligence official during World War II, and foreign manager for the London Sunday Times (1945-59). The knowledge and worldliness these experiences brought were tapped in his creation of James Bond, the most famous fictional spy. His novels featuring the handsome, wily, and sexy Agent 007 include Dr. No (1958; film, 1963), Goldfinger (1959; film, 1964), and You Only Live Twice (1964; film, 1967). Fleming also wrote nonfiction and the children's book Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang (1964; film, 1968).

(born Aug. 6, 1881, Lochfield, Ayr, Scot.—died March 11, 1955, London, Eng.) Scottish bacteriologist. While serving in the Royal Army Medical Corps in World War I, he conducted research on antibacterial substances that would be nontoxic to humans. In 1928 he inadvertently discovered penicillin when he noticed that a mold contaminating a bacterial culture was inhibiting the bacteria's growth. He shared a 1945 Nobel Prize with Ernst Boris Chain and Howard Walter Florey, who both carried Fleming's basic discovery further in isolating, purifying, testing, and producing penicillin in quantity.

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(born July 27, 1948, San Jose, Calif., U.S.) U.S. figure skater. She won the first of five consecutive U.S. women's championships when she was 15. She finished first in the world championship three consecutive years (1966–68) and won a gold medal at the 1968 Olympics in Grenoble, France. She was celebrated for her exceptional grace and artistic expression.

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(born July 27, 1948, San Jose, Calif., U.S.) U.S. figure skater. She won the first of five consecutive U.S. women's championships when she was 15. She finished first in the world championship three consecutive years (1966–68) and won a gold medal at the 1968 Olympics in Grenoble, France. She was celebrated for her exceptional grace and artistic expression.

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(born Aug. 6, 1881, Lochfield, Ayr, Scot.—died March 11, 1955, London, Eng.) Scottish bacteriologist. While serving in the Royal Army Medical Corps in World War I, he conducted research on antibacterial substances that would be nontoxic to humans. In 1928 he inadvertently discovered penicillin when he noticed that a mold contaminating a bacterial culture was inhibiting the bacteria's growth. He shared a 1945 Nobel Prize with Ernst Boris Chain and Howard Walter Florey, who both carried Fleming's basic discovery further in isolating, purifying, testing, and producing penicillin in quantity.

Learn more about Fleming, Sir Alexander with a free trial on Britannica.com.