From The Modern Encyclopedia, published in the early 1930s:
Sir Christopher Wren. English architect. Born at East Knoyle, Wilts., Oct. 20, 1632. In 1657 he became professor of astronomy at Gresham College, and in 1660 Savilian professor of astronomy at Oxford. The chapel of Pembroke Collage, Cambridge, was his first building, 1663. His first design for St. Paul’s, 1673, was rejected, but in 1675 an amended version was approved. He was knighted in 1672, and in 1685 he became M.P. for Plympton. He died Feb. 25, 1723, and was buried in St. Paul’s Cathedral. Wren designed the Ashmolean and the Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford; the west towers of Westminster Abbey; and parts of the palace at Greenwich. He restored Salisbury and Chichester cathedrals. His greatest work was to rebuild the churches and other London buildings destroyed in the Great Fire. Apart from St. Paul’s, he designed 50 churches, including St. Bride’s and St. Clement Danes, the halls of 36 City companies, and the Monument.