Betsy Ross managed her husband’s upholstery business after his death in 1776, and became a maker of United States flags. According to legend, a committee headed by George Washington asked Ross to design and make the first American flag in 1776.
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Star-Spangled Banner

Star-Spangled Banner, national anthem of the United States, approved by act of Congress on March 3, 1931. The text was written by the American lawyer and poet Francis Scott Key on board a British frigate during the British bombardment of Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1814. Key had boarded the ship under a flag of truce to arrange for the release of a prisoner held by the British during the War of 1812 and had been temporarily detained during the attack. The sight of the flag still flying on the following morning inspired Key to write the poem. First printed in a handbill and then in a Baltimore newspaper, it soon became a popular song, sung to the tune of the drinking song “To Anacreon in Heaven,” which was attributed to the British composer John Stafford Smith.

Lyra

Lyra (Latin, “lyre”), constellation of the northern sky, situated between Cygnus and Hercules. It contains the first-magnitude white star Vega, one of the brightest stars in the sky. With the aid of a telescope, one can see several of the multiple stars of the constellation, such as the double star Beta and the quadruple star Epsilon Lyrae.

Star-of-Bethlehem

Star-of-Bethlehem, common name for a bulbous-rooted herb of the lily family. The erect linear leaves of the plant grow in a clump from an onionlike bulb, reaching a height of about 30 cm (about 12 in). These are followed in spring by an attractive cluster of white, lilylike flowers. Star-of-Bethlehem was introduced from the Mediterranean region as a garden perennial but has become naturalized in grasslands throughout the eastern and central United States. The bulbs, which may be brought to the surface by plowing or by frost heaving, contain poisons that, when eaten, produce symptoms of depression, salivation, and bloat and may eventually cause death.

STAR GRASS

Star Grass, small herbaceous perennial that has grasslike leaves. Also called common goldstar, star grass produces six-pointed, starlike, yellow flowers that bloom in groups of one to six. A native of meadows and open woods from Kansas northward to Canada and eastward to the Atlantic Ocean, star grass can be grown in any rock garden or wild garden that is moist and partly shaded.

FUSHOULU

Fushoulu, three beneficent star gods in Chinese religion. Shou Xing, Fu Xing, and Lu Xing are respectively the gods of longevity, happiness, and salaries and employees, and normally appear as a threesome. The most recognizable of the three is Shou Xing, who is portrayed as a bearded old man with bushy white eyebrows and a large bald head. He stands with a knotted cane, holding a peach symbolizing longevity in his hand and accompanied by two long-lived animals, the stork and the tortoise. Long life is regarded as an honor in China, and although Shou Xing has no particular cult or temple, he is highly respected. Shou Xing, who determines the age at which individuals die, carries a tablet inscribed with that information. Ages on the tablet can be altered—for example, from 18 to 81—with a proper offering to Shou Xing. The god of happiness, Fu Xing, is a deified official of the 6th century, and is often shown with his symbol, the bat. Lu Xing, the god of salaries and employees, was an official who served the founder of the Chinese Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 220); he is often portrayed mounted on a deer.

STAR APPLE

Star Apple, tropical American tree, member of the sapodilla family. The star apple is widely cultivated in warm regions, both ornamentally and for its edible fruit. It is an evergreen tree reaching a height of 15 m (50 ft). The tree has oblong leaves, shiny above and covered beneath with a silky, golden brown down. It bears purplish white flowers. The smooth, globular, purple or light green fruit grows as big as 10 cm (4 in) in diameter and has 3 to 8 shiny seeds. In cross section, the core of the fruit makes a star-shaped figure against the translucent white pulp.

STARS

STARS, motion picture about a German Soldier who falls in love with a Greek Jew doomed to deportation to the Nazi death camps. Released in 1959, this East German and Bulgarian joint production won a jury prize at the Cannes Film Festival and was co-directed by Konrad Wolf, a former Red Army officer. When soldier Walter attempts to save his newfound love, Ruth, from the concentration camps, he discovers some unpleasant truths about his homeland. The stars in the film’s title refer to the identification badges Jews were required to wear, and the celestial canopy above the two lovers during their night together.
Alternate Titles

Sterne
Directors

BRIAN BORU

Brian Bórú (941?-1014), king of Ireland. In 978 he became king of Cashel, capital of the ancient kingdom of Munster. By 984 he controlled all of Munster, and in 1001 he was acknowledged the chief king of Ireland. From his youth, Brian had been fighting the Vikings, who had occupied part of the country. In the Battle of Clontarf (April 23, 1014), his sons led an Irish army to a decisive victory over the Vikings, thereby permanently destroying their power in Ireland. Brian, too aged to fight, was awaiting news of the battle when he was slain in his tent by a Viking intruder. Brian is one of the great heroes of the Irish, but fact and legend have become so intertwined in the accounts of his life that an accurate biography cannot be given.

WORLD CRICKET

World cricket is governed by the International Cricket Council (ICC), which represents the national cricket bodies of more than 70 countries. The ICC coordinates tours between member countries, qualifies umpires, maintains a code of conduct, and promotes the game on a worldwide basis. The ICC is also responsible for organizing the World Cricket Cup, cricket’s world championship, held every four years since 1975. In 2002 the organization launched the ICC Test Championship (ICCTC), awarded annually to the country that has the best record in test matches (two-innings matches played between national teams).
Women’s cricket is governed by the International Women’s Cricket Council (IWCC). Since 1973 the women’s world cricket championship has also been held every four years

SIRIMOWO

Sirimavo Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike (1916-2000), prime minister of Sri Lanka (1960-1965, 1970-1977, 1994-2000), the first woman in the history of the world to hold the office of prime minister. She was born in Balangoda, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), and attended convent schools. In 1940 she married Solomon Bandaranaike, who in 1956 became prime minister. After his assassination in 1959, she assumed the leadership of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) that Bandaranaike had formed. When the SLFP won the elections of 1960, she became prime minister. She pursued the pro-Buddhist, pro-Sinhalese socialist policies that her husband had begun, but she gradually lost support and was defeated at the polls in 1965. Returning to power in 1970, she nationalized certain industries and made the country a republic under the name of Sri Lanka. However, her government was plagued with ethnic dissension and economic deterioration. The SLFP was decisively defeated in the elections of 1977, and although she retained her seat in the National Assembly, Bandaranaike was forced to step down as prime minister. Charged with abuse of power while prime minister, she was expelled from the National Assembly and barred from politics in 1980. Her right to engage in politics was reinstated in 1986.
In November 1994 Bandaranaike's daughter, Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, was elected president as the candidate of the People's Alliance, a coalition party that included the Sri Lanka Freedom Party headed by Bandaranaike. After her election, she appointed her mother prime minister of the new government.

ARTHUR C CLARK

Sir Arthur C. ClarkeArthur C. Clarke, born in 1917, British science-fiction writer, best known for writing the story on which the 1968 motion picture 2001: A Space Odyssey was based. His novels and stories often focus on space travel and other ways in which technology will shape the future. His works are noted for their scientific accuracy.
Arthur Charles Clarke was born in Minehead, Somerset, England. His interest in science emerged early in life; as a child he mapped the moon using a homemade telescope. In 1936 Clarke moved to London, where he joined the British Interplanetary Society and worked as a civil servant. After serving as a radar instructor in the Royal Air Force from 1941 to 1946, he studied physics and mathematics at King’s College, London, and graduated with first-class honors in 1948. In a 1945 article, Clarke introduced the idea of satellite communication.
Clarke’s first science-fiction story, “Rescue Party,” appeared in 1946 in the periodical Astounding Science. Several novels followed, including Childhood’s End (1953), The City and the Stars (1956), Rendezvous with Rama (1973), and The Fountains of Paradise (1979). These books typically take an optimistic view of technological progress. Clarke’s short-story collection Expedition to Earth (1953) contained “The Sentinel,” which Clarke later adapted for the motion picture 2001: A Space Odyssey in conjunction with American director Stanley Kubrick. The adaptation earned Clarke an Academy Award nomination for best screenplay. He wrote three sequels to the tale, the novels 2010: Odyssey Two (1982), 2061: Odyssey Three (1988), and 3001: The Final Odyssey (1997).
Clarke also wrote many nonfiction works that discuss space travel, undersea exploration, and the future. In Profiles of the Future (1962) he stated his “three laws,” which include the maxim, “When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.” An interest in undersea exploration took Clarke to Sri Lanka, where he settled in the 1950s. He was made Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), an honorary induction into a British order of knighthood, in 1989.

GANDI

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, also known as Mahatma Gandhi, was born in Porbandar in the present state of Gujarāt on October 2, 1869, and educated in law at University College, London. In 1891, after having been admitted to the British bar, Gandhi returned to India and attempted to establish a law practice in Bombay (now Mumbai), with little success. Two years later an Indian firm with interests in South Africa retained him as legal adviser in its office in Durban. Arriving in Durban, Gandhi found himself treated as a member of an inferior race. He was appalled at the widespread denial of civil liberties and political rights to Indian immigrants to South Africa. He threw himself into the struggle for elementary rights for Indians.