Star Wars, space opera storytelling universe (created by George Lucas) that is one of the most successful and influential multimedia franchises in entertainment history. Begun in the 1970s and ’80s and resuscitated at the turn of the 21st century, Star Wars continually advanced the field of

Star Wars, film score by American composer John Williams for George Lucas’s Star Wars (1977), which launched the film series of the same name. At a time when many scores were largely compilations of popular music from the film’s period, Williams crafted a grand orchestral score in the tradition of

Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), proposed U.S. strategic defensive system against potential nuclear attacks—as originally conceived, from the Soviet Union. The SDI was first proposed by President Ronald Reagan in a nationwide television address on March 23, 1983. Because parts of the defensive

George Lucas: The growth of Lucasfilm: …anticipated releases of the decade, Star Wars: Episode I—The Phantom Menace (1999), the first installment in a prequel trilogy about the young Jedi Anakin Skywalker. For that film, which received mixed reviews but reaped enormous profits, Lucas returned to the director’s chair for the first time in more than 20…

George Lucas: The growth of Lucasfilm: Lucas followed with Star Wars: Episode II—Attack of the Clones (2002) and Star Wars: Episode III—Revenge of the Sith (2005), both of which he also directed, before returning to an executive production role on the fourth Indiana Jones film, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull…

George Lucas: The growth of Lucasfilm: …of the Clones (2002) and Star Wars: Episode III—Revenge of the Sith (2005), both of which he also directed, before returning to an executive production role on the fourth Indiana Jones film, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008), which Spielberg directed. Lucas created two animated television…

Darth Vader: …IV—A New Hope (originally titled Star Wars), the towering, black-clad Darth Vader is a menacing villain. His head is covered by a signature black helmet, and the sound of his breathing is an eerie, mechanical hiss. Star Wars creator George Lucas conceived Vader’s character, while designer Ralph McQuarrie contributed some…

Jodie Comer: Movies: Abrams’s blockbuster Star Wars: Episode IX—The Rise of Skywalker (2019); she portrayed the mysterious mother of the main character, Rey, a rising Jedi. In 2021 Comer starred with Matt Damon and Adam Driver in Ridley Scott’s The Last Duel, a 14th-century drama in which a medieval knight’s…

Irvin Kershner: Star Wars, James Bond, and RoboCop: …his at USC, to helm The Empire Strikes Back (1980), the second installment in the original series. With Lucas relegating his contribution to the basic plot, Kershner made arguably the best of the series’s original three films. He then turned to the blockbuster James Bond franchise with Never Say Never…

George Lucas: The growth of Lucasfilm: …Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Star Wars: Episode VI—Return of the Jedi (1983).

J.J. Abrams: …sci-fi franchise with the film Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), which he cowrote and directed. Set several decades after the 1983 Star Wars film Return of the Jedi, it was billed as the seventh episode in the series and featured both new and old characters. While he stated that…

Michaela Coel: Acting roles in the 2010s: …Black Mirror, and the film Star Wars: Episode VIII–The Last Jedi (2017). In 2018 she landed the lead role in the thriller series Black Earth Rising alongside John Goodman and starred in the film Been So Long, which was written by Walker.

Star Wars: The prequel trilogy (1999–2005): …animated feature film and series Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008–2020)—which depicted Anakin Skywalker and his apprentice Ahsoka Tano during the period of war between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith—and numerous successful video game lines created by another of Lucas’s companies, LucasArts. By the time the…

George Lucas: The growth of Lucasfilm: …Wars: Clone Wars (2003–05) and Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008–20). He was then executive producer of Red Tails (2012), an action-packed account of the Tuskegee Airmen and his first film in nearly two decades that was not affiliated with either the Star Wars or Indiana Jones franchises.

J.J. Abrams: …sci-fi franchise with the film Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), which he cowrote and directed. Set several decades after the 1983 Star Wars film Return of the Jedi, it was billed as the seventh episode in the series and featured both new and old characters. While he stated that…

Michaela Coel: Acting roles in the 2010s: …Black Mirror, and the film Star Wars: Episode VIII–The Last Jedi (2017). In 2018 she landed the lead role in the thriller series Black Earth Rising alongside John Goodman and starred in the film Been So Long, which was written by Walker.

Jodie Comer: Movies: Abrams’s blockbuster Star Wars: Episode IX—The Rise of Skywalker (2019); she portrayed the mysterious mother of the main character, Rey, a rising Jedi. In 2021 Comer starred with Matt Damon and Adam Driver in Ridley Scott’s The Last Duel, a 14th-century drama in which a medieval knight’s…

nature worship: Stars and constellations: …of astronomy—was the origin of astral religions and myths that affected religions all over the world. Though the view is controversial, Mesopotamian astral worship and influence may have reached as far as Central and Andean America (by way of China or Polynesia). Sumerian, Elamite, and Hurrian contemplation of the stars…

Robert Wise: Films of the 1960s of Robert Wise: …return to the big-budget musical, Star! (1968), in which Andrews portrayed stage star Gertrude Lawrence, was a tremendous box-office failure.

France: Culture and art: When John II formed the Order of the Star (1351), an institution imitated by the great lords for their clientages, chivalry stood incorporated as the most distinguished of religious confraternities. The dream of the Crusade remained strong, notably among princes of the fleur-de-lis, who dominated the public life of Valois…

Derek Walcott: In Sea Grapes (1976) and The Star-Apple Kingdom (1979), Walcott uses a tenser, more economical style to examine the deep cultural divisions of language and race in the Caribbean. The Fortunate Traveller (1981) and Midsummer (1984) explore his own situation as a black writer in America who has become increasingly…

George Crumb: … (1970), for electric string quartet; Star-Child (1977), a huge choral and orchestral composition that required the use of four conductors; Celestial Mechanics, Makrokosmos IV (1978); and Apparition (1980). Crumb taught at the University of Colorado (1959–64) before joining (1965) the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania, where he became the…

10 Animals With Evolutionary Traits Plucked Straight Out of a Nightmare: Star-Nosed Mole: We’ll finish this unnerving list with what might be the most underrated nightmare-dwelling animal alive. The star-nosed mole (Condylura cristata) can be found in wet low areas, typically in eastern Canada and the northeastern United States. Its main claim to fame is its…

Ornithogalum: Star-of-Bethlehem (Ornithogalum umbellatum) and Arabian starflower (O. arabicum) are common garden ornamentals grown for their attractive star-shaped flowers.

national flag consisting of white stars (50 since July 4, 1960) on a blue canton with a field of 13 alternating stripes, 7 red and 6 white. The 50 stars stand for the 50 states of the union, and the 13 stripes stand for the original 13 states. The flag’s width-to-length ratio is 10 to 19.After the

The Star-Spangled Banner, national anthem of the United States, with music adapted from the anthem of a singing club and words by Francis Scott Key. After a century of general use, the four-stanza song was officially adopted as the national anthem by an act of Congress in 1931. Long assumed to have

George Marshall: Films of the 1940s: …year was the musical comedy Star Spangled Rhythm, featuring an all-star cast that included Hope, Bing Crosby, Veronica Lake, Ray Milland, and Dorothy Lamour. True to Life (1943) was a comedy in which a radio writer (Dick Powell) moves in with the family of a waitress (Mary Martin) to get…

Balkan Mountains, chief range of the Balkan Peninsula and Bulgaria and an extension of the Alpine-Carpathian folds. The range extends from the Timok River valley near the Yugoslav (Serbian) border, spreading out eastward for about 330 miles (530 km) into several spurs, rising to 7,795 feet (2,376

Stara Zagora, town, central Bulgaria. It lies in the southern foothills of the Sredna Mountains and on the fringe of the fertile Stara Zagora plain. The town has varied industries producing cotton, textiles, chemicals, fertilizers, agricultural implements, machine tools, and cigarettes as well as

Starachowice, city, Świętokrzyskie województwo (province), southeastern Poland. Historically, it lies along the Kamienna River, a tributary of the Vistula River. Starachowice was an industrial centre located in the Staropolskie Zagłębie Przemysłowe (Old Poland Industrial Basin) on the rail line

Staraya Russa, river port and capital of the Staraya Russa raion (sector), Novgorod oblast (region), northwestern Russia, on the Polist River. It is one of the oldest settlements by Lake Ilmen, having been mentioned in documents as early as 1167. Its mineral springs made it an important spa town in

Staraya Russa, river port and capital of the Staraya Russa raion (sector), Novgorod oblast (region), northwestern Russia, on the Polist River. It is one of the oldest settlements by Lake Ilmen, having been mentioned in documents as early as 1167. Its mineral springs made it an important spa town in

Marijampolė, administrative centre of a rayon (sector), Lithuania. Marijampolė lies along both banks of the Šešupė River. The settlement developed as a monastic centre in the 18th century, when it was known as Starapolė, and achieved urban status in 1758. After World War II it developed as an

Staraya Russa, river port and capital of the Staraya Russa raion (sector), Novgorod oblast (region), northwestern Russia, on the Polist River. It is one of the oldest settlements by Lake Ilmen, having been mentioned in documents as early as 1167. Its mineral springs made it an important spa town in

Ben Okri: …postcolonial Nigeria; In Arcadia (2002); Starbook (2007); The Age of Magic (2014); and The Freedom Artist (2019).

The Weeknd: Breakthrough and albums: The Weeknd’s success continued with Starboy (2016), which featured collaborations with Kendrick Lamar, Lana Del Rey, and Daft Punk. It was a commercial hit and earned a Grammy for best urban contemporary album. His next release, My Dear Melancholy (2018), recalled the moody, atmospheric sounds of his earlier music. The…

submarine: Attack submarines: Beginning in 1971, the SS-N-7 Starbright cruise missile, which could be launched underwater and could strike ships 35 nautical miles (65 km) away, was deployed in Soviet Charlie-class submarines. The SS-N-7 began a series of dive-launched antiship cruise missiles of increasing range, culminating in the SS-N-19 Shipwreck, a supersonic…

Starbuck, fictional character, the scrupulous and steadfast first mate of the Pequod in the novel Moby Dick (1851) by Herman

Starbuck Island, coral atoll in the Central and Southern Line Islands, part of Kiribati, southwestern Pacific Ocean. It lies 2,000 miles (3,200 km) south of Hawaii. A barren formation rising only to 26 feet (8 metres), it has a land area of 8 square miles (21 square km) and a lagoon 5.5 miles by 2

Starbucks is an American company that operates the largest coffeehouse chain and one of the most recognizable brands in the world. Headquartered in Seattle, Washington, the company operates more than 35,000 stores across 80 countries (as of 2022). Although Starbucks was not the first major

Croatia: Croatian national revival: …Party of Right, led by Ante Starčević, which emphasized the idea of Croatian “state rights” and aspired to the creation of an independent Great Croatia. The necessity of relying on the other South Slavs in opposition to the Habsburgs and Hungarians also kept alive the Illyrian idea, revived in the…

starch, a white, granular, organic chemical that is produced by all green plants. Starch is a soft, white, tasteless powder that is insoluble in cold water, alcohol, or other solvents. The basic chemical formula of the starch molecule is (C6H10O5)n. Starch is a polysaccharide comprising glucose

baking: Staling: Starch retrogradation, the cause of ordinary texture staling of the crumb, can be slowed by the addition of certain compounds to the dough. Most of the effective chemicals are starch-complexing agents. Monoglycerides of fatty acids have been widely used as dough additives to retard staling…

amylase, any member of a class of enzymes that catalyze the hydrolysis (splitting of a compound by addition of a water molecule) of starch into smaller carbohydrate molecules such as maltose (a molecule composed of two glucose molecules). Three categories of amylases, denoted alpha, beta, and

jack-in-the-pulpit, (species Arisaema triphyllum), a North American plant of the arum family (Araceae), noted for the unusual shape of its flower. The plant is native to wet woodlands and thickets from Nova Scotia to Minnesota and southward to Florida and Texas. It is a stoutish perennial, 1 to 2.5

human nutrition: Starchy roots: Starchy roots consumed in large quantities include potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams, taro, and cassava. Their nutritive value in general resembles that of cereals. The potato, however, provides some protein (2 percent) and also contains vitamin C. The

Philippe Starck is a French designer known for his wide range of designs, including everything from interior design to household objects to boats to watches. He also worked as an architect. Most likely influenced by his father, who worked as an aircraft engineer, Starck studied at the École Nissim

StarCraft, electronic game published by Blizzard Entertainment (now a division of Activision Blizzard). Released in March 1998, it went on to become one of the most successful real-time strategy (RTS) games of all time. StarCraft incorporated many of the features that were regarded as standard for

StarCraft: After years of anticipation, StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty debuted in July 2010. It retained the core elements of StarCraft and continued the single-player story where the original had left off. It also featured vastly improved graphics and customizable game elements, similar to those found in role-playing games, that…

Stardew Valley, independent farming simulation and role-playing video game created by American developer Eric Barone (screen name: ConcernedApe), released on February 26, 2016. Designed as a digital replication of agricultural life, it is a role-playing game, a genre in which players assume the

Hoagy Carmichael: …version of his song “Stardust” in 1927; the song, an instrumental until fitted with lyrics by Mitchell Parrish in 1929, attracted little notice at first. In 1930 Isham Jones and his Orchestra had a hit with the song, and it went on to become one of the most renowned…

Willie Nelson: Outlaw country movement and mainstream success: …popular songwriters made up his Stardust (1978), which eventually sold more than five million copies in the United States. Nelson found further crossover success with the album Always on My Mind (1982) and the single “To All the Girls I’ve Loved Before” (1984), a duet with Julio Iglesias.

Henry Cavill: The Tudors and films of the early 2010s: …films as the adventure fantasy Stardust (2007) and the Woody Allen comedy Whatever Works (2009). After The Tudors Cavill proved his skill as an action star, playing Greek hero Theseus in Immortals (2011) and the son of a CIA agent (played by Bruce Willis) in The Cold Light of

Woody Allen: The 1980s: Stardust Memories (1980), in which Allen plays a filmmaker who is becoming increasingly contemptuous of his fans and his work, was apparently his attempt to wed the storytelling style of Federico Fellini (another of his idols) to his own particular vision. However, some critics found…

Stardust/NExT: …most significant instrument was the Stardust Sample Collection Apparatus, two arrays of aerogel mounted on opposite sides of a common plate. Aerogel is an inert silica-based substance that has an extremely low density (2 mg per cubic cm [0.001 ounce per cubic inch]). It is designed to capture particles by…

Stardust/NExT, a U.S. space probe that captured and returned dust grains from interplanetary space and from a comet. Stardust was launched on February 7, 1999. It flew past the asteroid Annefrank on November 2, 2002, and the comet Wild 2 on January 2, 2004. A sample capsule containing the dust

comet: Spacecraft exploration of comets: Stardust/NExT (New Exploration of Tempel 1) flew past Tempel 1 on February 14, 2011, and it imaged the spot where the Deep Impact daughter spacecraft had struck the nucleus. Some scientists believed that they saw evidence of a crater about 150 metres (500 feet) in…

Warsaw: Foundation and early development: …have confirmed the existence of Stare Bródno, a small trading settlement of the 10th and early 11th centuries ce. Its functions were taken over successively by Kamion (c. 1065) and Jazdow (first recorded in 1262). About the end of the 13th century, Jazdow was moved about two miles to the…

stare decisis, (Latin: “let the decision stand”), in Anglo-American law, principle that a question once considered by a court and answered must elicit the same response each time the same issue is brought before the courts. The principle is observed more strictly in England than in the United

Prague: Medieval growth: …opposite Hradčany, developed into the Old Town (Staré město), particularly after the construction of the first stone bridge, the Judith Bridge, over the river in 1170. By 1230 the Old Town had been given borough status and was defended by a system of walls and fortifications. On the opposite bank,…

Warsaw: City layout: In the Old Town, which was designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage site in 1980, the Gothic St. John’s Cathedral and the red-brick fortifications known as the Barbican remain from the medieval period. The houses of the Old Town Market Square have been rebuilt in the…

starets, (Slavic translation of Greek gerōn, “elder”), plural Startsy, in Eastern Orthodoxy, a monastic spiritual leader. Eastern Christian monasticism understood itself as a way of life that aimed at a real experience of the future kingdom of God; the starets, as one who had already achieved this

animation: Animation in Europe: …Russia and later in France, Wladyslaw Starewicz (also billed as Ladislas Starevitch), a Polish art student and amateur entomologist, created stop-motion animation with bugs and dolls; among his most celebrated films are The Cameraman’s Revenge (1912), in which a camera-wielding grasshopper uses the tools of his trade to humiliate his…

animation: Animation in Europe: …Russia and later in France, Wladyslaw Starewicz (also billed as Ladislas Starevitch), a Polish art student and amateur entomologist, created stop-motion animation with bugs and dolls; among his most celebrated films are The Cameraman’s Revenge (1912), in which a camera-wielding grasshopper uses the tools of his trade to humiliate his…

F-104, jet day fighter aircraft built by Lockheed Aircraft Corporation for the U.S. Air Force but adopted by a total of 15 NATO and other countries. It was widely adapted for use as a fighter-bomber. The F-104 had a wingspan of 21 feet 11 inches (6.68 m) and a length of 54 feet 9 inches (16.7 m).

sea star, any marine invertebrate of the class Asteroidea (phylum Echinodermata) having rays, or arms, surrounding an indistinct central disk. Despite their older common name, they are not fishes. The roughly 1,600 living species of sea stars occur in all oceans; the northern Pacific has the

Stargard Szczeciński, city, Zachodniopomorskie województwo (province), northwestern Poland, on the Ina River. The city was chronicled from the 12th century, although it existed earlier. It was badly damaged in the 17th century during the Thirty Years’ War and fell to Brandenburg in 1648. Heavy

Stargard Szczeciński, city, Zachodniopomorskie województwo (province), northwestern Poland, on the Ina River. The city was chronicled from the 12th century, although it existed earlier. It was badly damaged in the 17th century during the Thirty Years’ War and fell to Brandenburg in 1648. Heavy

macular degeneration: Other forms of macular degeneration: Stargardt macular dystrophy, which is the most common genetic form of macular degeneration, is the only form inherited in an autosomal recessive manner (disease occurs only when mutations are inherited from both parents). It is caused by mutations in a gene called ABCA4 (ATP-binding cassette,…

Kurt Russell: After appearing in the sci-fi Stargate (1994), Russell reprised his role as Snake Plissken in Carpenter’s Escape from L.A. (1996), though the film failed to connect with moviegoers.

stargazer, fish of two related families, Uranoscopidae (electric stargazers) and Dactyloscopidae (sand stargazers), both of the order Perciformes. Stargazers habitually bury themselves in the bottom. They have tapered bodies and big, heavy, flat heads. Their mouths slant vertically, their lips are

Willie Stargell was an American professional baseball player who led the Pittsburgh Pirates to World Series championships in 1971 and 1979. Stargell attended high school in California, where he attracted the attention of Pirates scouts and was signed to a minor league contract. He made his major

Willie Stargell was an American professional baseball player who led the Pittsburgh Pirates to World Series championships in 1971 and 1979. Stargell attended high school in California, where he attracted the attention of Pirates scouts and was signed to a minor league contract. He made his major

Willie Stargell was an American professional baseball player who led the Pittsburgh Pirates to World Series championships in 1971 and 1979. Stargell attended high school in California, where he attracted the attention of Pirates scouts and was signed to a minor league contract. He made his major

Wesselényi Conspiracy: …assembled his forces and arrested Count Rüdiger von Starhemberg, the imperial commander in the northern Hungarian city of Tokay. The Turks’ chief interpreter, however, had revealed the plot to Habsburg officials in Vienna. Imperial troops rescued Starhemberg and easily dispersed the rebels. Several leaders were tried for high treason by…

Ernst Rüdiger, prince von (prince of) Starhemberg was a politician, leader of the Austrian Heimwehr (a paramilitary defense force), and in 1934–36 the head of the government-sponsored right-wing coalition of parties called the Fatherland Front (Vaterländische Front). Although he was a participant

lone star tick: Southern tick-associated rash illness (STARI): …star tick bites can cause Southern tick-associated rash illness (STARI) in humans. STARI causes a round lesion or rash, sometimes with a bull’s-eye appearance much like the characteristic rash of Lyme disease, that appears within a week of the bite. Though the rash is sometimes the only symptom, other symptoms…

Bar: Stari Bar was first mentioned in the 9th century, when it came under the control of the Byzantine Empire. Known among Mediterranean powers as Antivari, the city was frequently autonomous from the 11th to the 15th century. During the 14th century its archbishop acquired the…

Hvar: Stari Grad Plain, a natural area containing the ruins of stone structures and evidence of the agricultural style of the ancient Greeks, was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2008.

Stari Most, stone arch bridge spanning the Neretva River in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina. In a way, the bridge encapsulates the history of the country in a single architectural masterpiece. The original Stari Most was commissioned to replace a swaying wooden suspension bridge by the Ottoman

Stary Oskol, city, Belgorod oblast (region), western Russia. It lies along the Oskol River. It was founded as a fortress called Oskol in 1593 for the defense against Crimean Tatars and was named Stary (“Old”) Oskol in 1655. Machinery and food industries reflect the city’s mineral and agricultural

Stark effect, the splitting of spectral lines observed when the radiating atoms, ions, or molecules are subjected to a strong electric field. The electric analogue of the Zeeman effect (i.e., the magnetic splitting of spectral lines), it was discovered by a German physicist, Johannes Stark (

Arthur Conan Doyle: …Firm of Girdlestone (1890) and The Stark Munro Letters (1895), and in the collection of medical short stories Round the Red Lamp (1894). (See also Sherlock Holmes: Pioneer in Forensic Science.) Conan Doyle’s creation of the logical, cold, calculating Holmes, the “world’s first and only consulting detective,” sharply contrasted with…

spectroscopy: Laser magnetic resonance and Stark spectroscopies: An analogous method, called Stark spectroscopy, involves the use of a strong variable electric field to split and vary the spacing of the energy levels of molecules that possess a permanent electric dipole moment. The general principle is embodied in Figure 11, with the substitution of an electric field…

Freya Stark was a British travel writer who is noted for two dozen highly personal books in which she describes local history and culture as well as everyday life. Many of her trips were to remote areas in Turkey and the Middle East where few Europeans, particularly women, had traveled before.

Freya Stark was a British travel writer who is noted for two dozen highly personal books in which she describes local history and culture as well as everyday life. Many of her trips were to remote areas in Turkey and the Middle East where few Europeans, particularly women, had traveled before.

Johannes Stark was a German physicist who won the 1919 Nobel Prize for Physics for his discovery in 1913 that an electric field would cause splitting of the lines in the spectrum of light emitted by a luminous substance; the phenomenon is called the Stark effect. Stark became a lecturer at the

John Stark was a prominent American general during the American Revolution who led attacks that cost the British nearly 1,000 men and contributed to the surrender of the British general John Burgoyne at Saratoga by blocking his retreat line across the Hudson River (1777). From 1754 to 1759, Stark

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus: Star performers: 5 metres] tall) “Marvelous Mabel” Stark (1889–1968), who commanded tigers for some six decades despite receiving many hundreds of stitches as a result of attacks by her animal charges, and Ursula Blütchen (1927–2010), who worked with polar bears.

Willie Stark, fictional character, a central figure in the novel All the King’s Men (1946) by Robert Penn Warren. The life and career of Willie Stark, a flamboyant governor of a Southern U.S. state, were based on those of Huey Long, governor of Louisiana from 1928 to 1931. Like his real-life model,

photochemical equivalence law, fundamental principle relating to chemical reactions induced by light, which states that for every quantum of radiation that is absorbed, one molecule of the substance reacts. A quantum is a unit of electromagnetic radiation with energy equal to the product of a

spectroscopy: Types of microwave spectrometer: In the conventional Stark-modulated spectrometer, the sample is contained in a long (1- to 3-metre, or 3.3- to 9.8-foot) section of a rectangular waveguide, sealed at each end with a microwave transmitting window (e.g., mica or Mylar), and connected to a vacuum line for evacuation and sample introduction.…

Ringo Starr is a British musician, singer, songwriter, and actor who was the drummer for the Beatles, one of the most influential bands in rock history. He also found success in a solo career. Starkey was born in a working-class area of Liverpool. His parents, both bakery workers, divorced when he

Oasis: Later records and breakup: …was replaced by guest drummers Zak Starkey, son of former Beatle Ringo Starr, and then Chris Sharrock. In 2009 the Gallagher brothers had a backstage argument at the Rock En Seine festival in Paris. The show was canceled, and Noel Gallagher issued the following statement that evening: “It’s with some…

Starkville, city, seat (1833) of Oktibbeha county, eastern Mississippi, U.S., 22 miles (35 km) west of Columbus. Founded in 1831, it was originally known as Boardtown for the sawmilling operation there, but it was renamed in 1837 to honour the American Revolution general John Stark. After the

PARC: Early PARC innovations: …a technology developed by PARC’s Gary Starkweather, epitomizes the poor communication between the research laboratory and corporate headquarters that resulted in Xerox’s inability to capitalize on PARC innovations. Starkweather, a researcher at Xerox in the mid-1960s, had an idea to use lasers in Xerox’s copiers. Starkweather realized that short exposures,…

King Crimson: Formation and early success: …Larks’ Tongues in Aspic (1973), Starless and Bible Black (1974), and Red (1974).

James Starley was a British inventor and father of the bicycle industry. In 1855 Starley moved to London, where he was employed in the manufacture of sewing machines, and two years later he moved to Coventry, where he became managing foreman at the Coventry Sewing Machine Company (later the

Joan Armatrading: Award-nominated Into the Blues (2007), Starlight (2013), Not Too Far Away (2018), and Consequences (2021), all of which she produced herself. Armatrading also wrote the music for Phyllida Lloyd’s all-women production of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, staged in London in 2016 and in New York City the following year.

Andrew Lloyd Webber: Stardom: …level of commercial success with Starlight Express (1984; lyrics by Richard Stilgoe), in which performers notoriously donned roller skates to portray anthropomorphic toy trains; the show ran in London for more than 17 years.