Stamford City (pop., 2000: 117,083), southwestern Connecticut, U.S. Stamford lies at the mouth of the Rippowam River on Long Island Sound. Founded in 1641, it was a farming community until the railroad reached it in the 1840s. It was essentially a residential suburb of New York City until the early 1970s, when several major corporations moved their head¬ quarters there, revitalizing the city’s economic life. Its decaying down¬ town was razed and rebuilt with modern skyscrapers; today Stamford has one of the largest concentrations of corporate headquarters in the U.S.
Stamitz Vshta-mits\, Johann (Wenzel Anton) (b. June 19, 1717, Deutschbrod, Bohemia—d. March 27, 1757, Mannheim, Palatinate) Bohemian-bom German composer and violinist. He joined the elector’s court in Mannheim c. 1741, and he soon became director of its orches¬ tra, which he built into the finest in Europe. He wrote some 75 sympho¬ nies, in which he helped establish the four-movement form as the standard and introduced the orchestral crescendo to Germany from Italian music. He and his students (including his sons) made up what is called the “Mann¬ heim School.” His son Carl (1745-1801), also a composer and violinist, played in Mannheim, toured widely as a soloist, and wrote more than 50 symphonies.
stammering See stuttering
Stamp Act (1765) British parliamentary measure to tax the American colonies. To pay for costs resulting from the French and Indian War, the British sought to raise revenue through a stamp tax on printed mat¬ ter. A common revenue device in England, the tax was vigorously opposed by the colonists, whose rep¬ resentatives had not been consulted.
Colonists refused to use the stamps, and mobs intimidated stamp agents.
The Stamp Act Congress, with repre¬ sentatives from nine colonies, met to petition Parliament to repeal the act.
Faced with additional protests from British merchants whose exports had been reduced by colonial boycotts.
Parliament repealed the act (1766), then passed the Declaratory Act.
stamp collecting See philately
Standard Generalized
Markup Language See SGML
standard model In physics, the combination of two theories of par¬ ticle physics into a single framework to describe all interactions of sub¬ atomic particles except those due to gravity (see gravitation). The two theories, the electroweak theory and the theory of quantum chromodynam¬ ics, describe the interactions between particles in terms of the exchange of intermediary particles. The model has proved highly accurate in pre¬ dicting certain interactions, but it does not explain all aspects of subatomic particles. For example, it cannot say how many particles there should be or what their masses are. The search goes on for a more complete theory, and in particular a unified field theory describing the strong, weak, and elec¬ tromagnetic forces.
standard of living Level of material comfort that an individual or group aspires to or may achieve. This includes not only privately pur¬ chased goods and services but collectively consumed goods and services such as those provided by public utilities and governments. A standard of
"An Emblem of the Effects of the STAMP," a warning against the Stamp Act published in the Pennsylvania Jour¬ nal, October 1765; in the New York Public Library.
RARE BOOKS AND MANUSCRIPTS DIVISION, THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY, ASTOR, LENOX AND TILDEN FOUNDATIONS
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Standard Oil Company and Trust ► Stanisiaw I 1811
living determined for a group such as a country must be examined criti¬ cally in terms of its constituent values. If the mean value increases over time, but at the same time the rich become richer and the poor poorer, the group may not be collectively better off. Various quantitative indicators can be used as measuring rods, including life expectancy, access to nutri¬ tious food and a safe water supply, and availability of medical care.
Standard Oil Company and Trust U.S. company and corporate trust that held a near monopoly over the U.S. oil industry from 1870 to 1911. The company originated in 1863, when John D. Rockefeller started a Cleveland, Ohio, refining firm, which, with other facilities, was incor¬ porated as the Standard Oil Company in 1870. By 1880, through elimi¬ nation of competitors, mergers, and use of favourable railroad rebates, it controlled the refining of 90-95% of all oil produced in the U.S. In 1882 Standard Oil and affiliated oil companies were combined in the Standard Oil Trust, which eventually included some 40 corporations. In 1892 the Ohio Supreme Court ordered the trust dissolved, but it continued to oper¬ ate from headquarters in New York and later New Jersey. Its monopolis¬ tic practices were exposed in Ida Tarbell’s History of the Standard Oil Company (1904), and after a lengthy antitrust suit by the U.S. govern¬ ment (see antitrust law), the Standard Oil empire was broken up in 1911. Although eight companies retained “Standard Oil” in their names after 1911, by the late 20th century the name had all but disappeared, even though former Standard Oil divisions continued to dominate the U.S. petroleum business. In 1931 Standard Oil Company of New York merged with Vacuum Oil Company (another trust company) to form Socony- Vacuum, which in 1966 became Mobil Oil Corp. Standard Oil (Indiana) absorbed Standard Oil of Nebraska in 1939 and Standard Oil of Kansas in 1948 and was renamed Amoco Corp. in 1985. Standard Oil of Cali¬ fornia acquired Standard Oil of Kentucky in 1961 and was renamed Chev¬ ron Corp. in 1984. Standard Oil Company (New Jersey) changed its name to Exxon Corp. in 1972. In 1987 British Petroleum Company PLC (BP) completed the purchase of Standard Oil Company (Ohio). Further con¬ solidation occurred in 1998, when BP merged with Amoco, and in 2002, when Exxon merged with Mobil.
standard time Official local time of a region or country. Local mean solar time depends on longitude; it advances by four minutes per degree eastward. The Earth can thus be divided into 24 standard time zones, each approximately 15° in longitude. The actual boundaries of each time zone are determined by local authorities and in many places deviate consider¬ ably from 15°. The times in different zones usually differ by an integral number of hours; minutes and seconds are the same. See also Greenwich Mean Time.
Standardbred Breed of light horse developed in the U.S., primarily for harness racing. The foundation sire was an English Thoroughbred imported in 1788; his progeny were bred with other breeds, especially the Morgan, to produce speedy trotters and pacers. The Standardbred’s height is 15-16 hands (60-64 in. [152-163 cm]); its weight is 900-1,000 lb (410-450 kg). Colour varies, but the most common is bay. “Standard” refers to a requirement imposed in 1871 that, to be registered, a horse must meet certain standards of speed (e.g., trotting a mile in 2.5 minutes).
standardization In industry, the development and application of stan¬ dards that make it possible to manufacture a large volume of interchange¬ able parts. Standardization may focus on engineering standards, such as properties of materials, fits and tolerances, and drafting practices; or on product standards, which detail the attributes of manufactured items and are embodied in formulas, descriptions, drawings, or models. Adoption of standards makes it easier for firms to communicate with their suppliers. Standards are also used within industries to prevent conflict and duplica¬ tion of effort. Governmental departments, trade associations, and techni¬ cal associations help to set standards within industries; these are coordinated and promoted by organizations such as the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the International Organization for Stan¬ dardization (ISO).
Standards and Technology, National Institute of See Bureau of Standards
standing In law, the status of being qualified to bring a legal matter before a court because one has a sufficient and protectable interest in its outcome. The courts have ruled that a plaintiff who has suffered or is threatened with actual injury (physical, economic, or other) clearly has standing. A plaintiff who cannot demonstrate such injury will lack stand¬ ing and therefore be unable to bring a case.