title: Royal Bank of Canada

text: On January 15, 2007, CBC Radio reported RBC was "refusing" to open US dollar accounts for people of certain nationalities. Canadian citizens with dual citizenship in Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Myanmar, North Korea or Sudan (mostly countries with US sanctions) were affected. The US Treasury Department restricts certain foreign nationals from using the US dollar payment system to limit terrorism and money laundering after the September 11, 2001, attacks. RBC replied that compliance with such laws does not represent an endorsement by the bank and on January 17, clarified its position on the application of the US laws, specifying that "with some exceptions" it does open accounts for dual citizens of the sanctioned countries. There have also been reports that the bank had closed the accounts of some Iranian-Canadian citizens.


title: Royal Bank of Canada

text: Environmental groups criticized RBC's financing of oil sands bitumen extraction and expansion, cumulatively issuing "more than $2.3 billion in loans and financing more than $6.9 billion in [corporate] debt between 2003 and 2007 for 13 companies including: Encana, Husky Energy, OPTI Canada, Delphi Energy, Canadian Oil Sands Trust, Northwest Upgrading, Suncor, TotalEnergies, Connacher Oil and Gas, InterPipeline and Enbridge". This opposition was due to the detrimental effect Oil Sands extraction has on the environment and human health.


title: Royal Bank of Canada

text: A 2020 report on fossil fuel finance by the Sierra Club and Rainforest Action Network found that RBC was the fifth largest funder of fossil fuels in the world, and largest in Canada, investing over US$160 billion on fossil fuel projects since the Paris Agreement in 2015. This sparked criticism from environmental groups and climate activists.


title: Royal Bank of Canada

text: RBC invested in SCO Group during the series of court cases seeking to collect royalties from the users of Linux.


title: Royal Bank of Canada

text: In 2014, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission fined RBC $35,000,000 for engaging in more than 1,000 wash sales, fictitious sales, and other non-competitive practices over a three year period.


title: Royal Bank of Canada

text: In 2007, the Royal Bank of Canada fired several traders in its corporate bond business, after another trader accused them of mismarking bonds the bank held by overpricing them, and marked down the values of the bonds and recognized $13 million of trading losses relating to the bonds. The bank said it investigated the accusations, and took remedial action. "The Globe and Mail" noted: "traders might have an incentive to boost [the bonds'] prices because it could have an impact on their bonuses."


title: Royal Bank of Canada

text: In April 2013, the CBC reported that the Royal Bank of Canada was indirectly hiring temporary foreign workers to replace 45 Canadian information technology workers.


title: Royal Bank of Canada

text: The CBC reported on May 7, 2013, that during Question Period in Parliament the NDP leveled accusations against the government and then Prime Minister Stephen Harper, to which he responded that the government has been working on problems with the Temporary Foreign Worker Program for more than a year.


title: Royal Bank of Canada

text: RBC is a member of the Canadian Bankers Association and is a registered member with the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation, a federal agency insuring deposits at all of Canada's chartered banks.


title: Lene Nystrøm

text: Lene Grawford Nystrøm (born 2 October 1973) is a Norwegian musician and singer-songwriter who is the female lead vocalist of the Danish-Norwegian Eurodance group Aqua.


title: Lene Nystrøm

text: Nystrøm was born in Tønsberg, Norway. When she was a teenager, she became interested in performing. She began modeling and also worked as a bartender. From 1990 to 1993, she appeared on the Norwegian game show "Casino" which aired on TVNorge.


title: Lene Nystrøm

text: In 1994, Nystrøm was working as a singer on the Norwegian cruise ship MS "Peter Wessel" and was spotted by musician René Dif. He recruited her as lead singer for the music group Joyspeed, later renamed Aqua. The group consisted of vocalists Nystrøm, Dif along with Søren Rasted and Claus Norreen. In 2001, the band split up.


title: Lene Nystrøm

text: After the breakup of Aqua, Nystrøm continued as a soloist. In 2003, she released her first album "Play with Me". It marked a change in her musical style, from the bubblegum sound of Aqua to a more R&B-influenced style. It reached number 30 on Denmark's Hitlisten chart and 74 on Norway's VG-lista chart. The album single "Virgin Superstar" was given some radio airplay, but did not chart and was not released. Her debut single "It's Your Duty" was released on 8 September. It peaked at number 3 on Denmark's Hitlisten chart and number 9 on Norway's VG-lista chart.


title: Lene Nystrøm

text: In 2004, she released the second single "Pretty Young Thing", a cover of Stella Soleil, which did not chart. She released a third and fourth single as limited vinyl promos of a cover version of "Here We Go", which was originally performed by Moonbaby, and "Scream" to DJs and radio stations. The song "We Wanna Party", which Nystrøm recorded and co-wrote with Xenomania, appeared on Girls Aloud's 2008 album "Out of Control". Nystrøm and Xenomania co-wrote two more Girls Aloud songs, the tracks "No Good Advice" and "You Freak Me Out", which appeared on the Girls Aloud debut album "Sound of the Underground". "No Good Advice" became a breakout hit for the group. In 2005, Nystrøm provided guest vocals on the LazyB single "I Love N.Y." and as part of charity project Giv Til Asien on the single Hvor små vi er, which peaked at number 1 at Danish single charts.


title: Lene Nystrøm

text: On 26 October 2007, Nystrøm reunited with the other members of Aqua, and solicited opportunities for a single summer concert tour. After fielding offers by record companies in Denmark, Canada, United States, and United Kingdom, they settled with an eight concert tour in Denmark as part of the 2008 Grøn Koncert festival. After the big success of the summer concert, Nystrøm continued with work with Aqua and released a new track, "Back to the 80's", on 25 May 2009. They released their greatest hits album on 15 June, which featured the track, along with sixteen remastered tracks and three other new songs, "My Mamma Said", "Spin Me a Christmas" and "Live Fast, Die Young". From May to August, they toured Scandinavia and performed at several gigs in Germany, the UK, and France.


title: Lene Nystrøm

text: The greatest hits CD was released in North America and many European countries on 22 September, and in the UK on 29 September. In 2009, Nystrøm had a major role in the 2009 film "Deliver Us from Evil" under Danish director Ole Bornedal. On 14 March 2011, Aqua released the single "How R U Doin?". They released the album "Megalomania", on 3 October. She is one of the judges for "Voice – Danmarks største stemme" (Denmark's version of "The Voice") which aired from November 2011 to February 2012 and also a judge in The Voice of Norway. Nystrøm acted in the movie "Varg Veum" – Cold Hearts (2012 film) as Varg Veum's girlfriend, whose profession was that of a social worker.


title: Lene Nystrøm

text: Nystrøm was in a relationship with fellow Aqua band member René Dif, who invited her to join the band in 1994. They were in a relationship for three years, before they broke up.


title: Lene Nystrøm

text: On 25 August 2001, Nystrøm married fellow Aqua band member Søren Rasted, with the ceremony being held in Las Vegas. In 2004 the couple moved to Denmark from London. Together, they have a daughter, India, and a son Billy. The couple divorced on 27 April 2017 after fifteen years of marriage.


title: Royal Navy officer rank insignia

text: These are the official Royal Navy Officer ranks ordered by rank. These ranks are part of the NATO/United Kingdom ranks, including modern and past. Past insignia is in "italic".


title: Royal Navy officer rank insignia

text: Uniforms for naval officers were not authorised until 1748. At first the cut and style of the uniform differed considerably between ranks, and specific rank insignia were only sporadically used. By the 1790s, the Royal Navy's first established uniform regulations had been published.


title: Royal Navy officer rank insignia

text: Ranks could be indicated by embroidery on the cuffs, by arrangement of buttons or, after 1795, on epaulettes. However, there was no consistent system and insignia might differ between uniforms, and were altered several times. Sometimes there was no specific indication of rank at all.


title: Royal Navy officer rank insignia

text: The modern system of gold rings on the cuffs originated on 11 April 1856. For the first time these were consistently applied to all blue uniforms.


title: Royal Navy officer rank insignia

text: On 16 April 1861, mates were commissioned as sub-lieutenants and lieutenants were divided into those of over eight years seniority and those under. As a result, on 5 September 1861 the lower ranks' rings were changed:


title: Royal Navy officer rank insignia

text: On 30 October 1877, a lieutenant of eight years'/ seniority got an additional half-ring of in, increased to in in 1891, and in 1914 became the new rank of lieutenant commander.


title: Royal Navy officer rank insignia

text: In 1919, the admiral's narrow stripe was reduced to in, but as King George V had not approved the change, the Royal Family continued to wear the wider ring.


title: Royal Navy officer rank insignia

text: The curl was introduced in 1856, but initially only the military (or executive) and navigating (masters) branches wore it.


title: Royal Navy officer rank insignia

text: Other (civil) branches had plain rings, from 1863 with coloured distinction cloth between or below them. Until 1891 officers of the 'civil' branches had single-breasted coats with different arrangements of buttons.


title: Royal Navy officer rank insignia

text: Engineer officers received the curl in 1915 and all other officers in 1918. At the same time they also received other things such as oak leaves on the peaked cap that had formerly been the prerogative of the military branch.


title: Royal Navy officer rank insignia

text: In 1955 it was announced that the distinction cloth worn between the stripes of officers of the non-executive branches of the Royal Navy was to be abolished, except for those who must be clearly recognisable as non-combatant under the Geneva Convention.


title: Royal Navy officer rank insignia

text: From 1955 to 1993 there was a rank of acting sub-lieutenant, with the same rank insignia as a sub-lieutenant.


title: Royal Navy officer rank insignia

text: Naval pilots in the Fleet Air Arm (and earlier the Royal Naval Air Service) have wings above the curl on the left hand sleeve. Other Fleet Air Arm officers had a letter 'A' inside the curl.


title: Royal Navy officer rank insignia

text: From 1795 rank badges could also be shown on epaulettes. The system changed several times, but after 1864 was as follows:


title: Royal Navy officer rank insignia

text: Sub-lieutenants and commissioned warrant officers wore scales (epaulettes without fringes, officially termed "shoulder straps") and the same device as a lieutenant.


title: Royal Navy officer rank insignia

text: Epaulettes of the military branch were gold throughout with silver devices, while those of the civil branches had a silver edging and gold devices. Instead of the baton and sword or foul anchor, civil branch epaulettes substituted a star. Navigating branch epaulettes were the same as the military branch, but with crossed plain anchors in place of the foul anchor. The epaulette stars had eight points, quite unlike the Order of the Bath stars worn by army officers.


title: Royal Navy officer rank insignia

text: In 1891 the admiral of the fleet changed to a crown above two crossed batons within a wreath, similar to the badge of a field marshal.


title: Royal Navy officer rank insignia

text: Also in 1891 shoulder-straps were introduced for use on white uniforms and on the greatcoat, and more recently in "shirt sleeve order". For these commodores first class and above used the same badge as on their epaulettes, and commodores second class and below used their rank rings.


title: Royal Navy officer rank insignia

text: Warrant officers first received their uniforms in 1787. The navigators, surgeons and pursers were commissioned in 1843 and their insignia are described above.


title: Royal Navy officer rank insignia

text: In 1865 chief (later commissioned) gunners, boatswains, and carpenters were given a single in ring, with the curl, though the carpenters lost the curl in 1879.


title: Royal Navy officer rank insignia

text: In 1891 ordinary warrant officers of 10 years' standing were given a half-ring of in, with or without curl as above.


title: Royal Navy officer rank insignia

text: In 1949 WOs and CWOs became "commissioned branch officers" and "senior commissioned branch officers" and were admitted to the wardroom, but their insignia remained the same.


title: Royal Navy officer rank insignia

text: In 1956 they were integrated into the line officers as sub-lieutenants and lieutenants, and class distinctions finally disappeared from the uniform.


title: Royal Navy officer rank insignia

text: From 1863 officers were commissioned in the Royal Naval Reserve this was for serving merchant navy officers only. They had rings each formed from two inch wavy lines intersecting each other. The curl was formed into a six-pointed star. The lieutenant commander's half-ring was straight, but only inch wide. The commodore had a broad straight ring, but the same star for a curl. Midshipmen had a blue collar patch.


title: Royal Navy officer rank insignia

text: Officers of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (formed 1903) for civilians, had single wavy rings inch wide, with the curl a squarish shape. The lieutenant commander's narrow ring was originally straight, but after 1942 was waved also. This system of rank insignia is still worn today by officers in the Sea Cadets. Midshipmen in the RNVR had a maroon collar patch.


title: Royal Navy officer rank insignia

text: In 1951 both reserves lost their distinctive insignia and got normal straight stripes like the regulars, but with a letter 'R' inside the curl. The two organisations were merged in 1958. In 2007 officers of the Royal Naval Reserve had the 'R' distinction from badges of rank removed. Honorary officers in the RNR however continue to wear the 'R' inside the curl.


title: Royal Navy officer rank insignia

text: Officers in the Women's Royal Naval Service had straight rings in light blue, with a diamond shape instead of the curl. The Women's Royal Naval Service was abolished in 1994 and female officers now have the same gold rings as male officers.


title: Royal Navy officer rank insignia

text: Part of the RN as the Senior Service, the Royal Marines uses the same rank structure and insignia that the British Army has, save for the field marshal rank, and the RM initials for second lieutenants to lieutenant colonels to distinguish them from the Army itself. The major general rank since 1996 is the highest rank of the officer corps, but in the past, generals and lieutenant generals headed the Corps, and from 1857 to 1957 the Corps also had the unique ranks of colonel second commandant and colonel commandant. Rank insignia are on brown or dark blue shoulder boards in all dresses save for the combat and barracks duty dress uniforms. From 1911 to 1957 the officer corps even included warrant officers and commissioned warrant officers in the same way as the RN. Although the Royal Marines does not officially use the rank of field marshal, the Captain General Royal Marines, the ceremonial head of the corps, wears a field marshal's rank insignia.


title: Nikkie de Jager

text: Nikkie de Jager-Drossaers (; born 2 March 1994), better known by her YouTube channel name NikkieTutorials, is a Dutch makeup artist and beauty vlogger. She gained online popularity in 2015 after her YouTube video "The Power of Makeup" became popular and inspired many other videos of people showing their faces with and without makeup. her YouTube channel has 14 million subscribers and over 1.5 billion video views.


title: Nikkie de Jager

text: De Jager first began uploading videos to YouTube in 2008, at the age of 14, after watching MTV's "The Hills" while sick and being inspired by Lauren Conrad's makeup. She then began searching YouTube for tutorials to recreate the look, and was inspired to begin creating her own. After uploading videos for about two years, she enrolled in makeup coursework at B Academy in Amsterdam. She then signed to Colourfool Agency in 2011, and began working as a professional makeup artist.


title: Nikkie de Jager

text: In the autumn of 2013, she became the head makeup artist for the RTL 5 show "I Can Make You a Supermodel" with Paul Fisher. De Jager left Colourfool Agency at the beginning of 2014 to work as a freelance hair and makeup artist.


title: Nikkie de Jager

text: "Forbes" magazine named De Jager one of the top ten beauty "influencers" in 2017. In 2017, she also won the award for "YouTube Guru" at the Shorty Awards and the award for "Choice Fashion/Beauty Web Star" at the Teen Choice Awards.


title: Nikkie de Jager

text: In 2017, De Jager uploaded a video reviewing a foundation produced by a Prague-based cosmetics brand and spoke about the company using her image, specifically a screenshot from her "The Power of Makeup" video, to sell their products on social media without her permission. She expressed disappointment in the company's actions, feeling they had lied to their followers as she was not wearing any of their products in the photo of her they had used to promote their company.


title: Nikkie de Jager

text: In January 2019, it was announced that De Jager would serve as the Global Beauty Adviser for Marc Jacobs Beauty. The brand stated in a press release that "in this newly created role, Nikkie will be integrated into the brand’s product development process, as well as share her incredible talent and expertise to expand unique content and artistry around the world on both Marc Jacobs Beauty and her own channels."


title: Nikkie de Jager

text: On 12 June 2020, it was announced that De Jager would become a goodwill ambassador at the United Nations.


title: Nikkie de Jager

text: On 23 September 2021, De Jager launched her cosmetic brand, Nimya, after having developed it for three years. The brand featured three products upon launch: Moisturizer/Primer Hybrid, Setting Spray, and Cooling Ice Stick & Glow Serum, as well as a minifan to go with the products.


title: Nikkie de Jager

text: De Jager has collaborated with beauty brands like OFRA Cosmetics and Maybelline. Her line with OFRA Cosmetics in 2017 included liquid lipsticks and a highlighter palette. In December 2019, she collaborated with Lady Gaga, promoting her makeup brand Haus Laboratories.


title: Nikkie de Jager

text: In August 2020, De Jager launched her own eyeshadow palette in collaboration with the brand Beauty Bay.


title: Nikkie de Jager

text: On 13 January 2020, De Jager uploaded a video to her YouTube channel, titled "I'm Coming Out", in which she came out as transgender and that she had been blackmailed by an unnamed person who threatened to make her assigned sex at birth public. She underwent her transition as a teenager.


title: Nikkie de Jager

text: On 8 August 2020, De Jager and her fiancé were robbed at gunpoint in their house in Uden. The Dutch police reported one other resident suffering superficial injuries. The police launched an investigation shortly after, and later stated that arrests were made during the long investigation.


title: Nikkie de Jager

text: In September 2017, De Jager was a participant in the Dutch game show "The Big Escape". In January 2019, she participated in the nineteenth season of the popular Dutch reality game show "Wie is de Mol?". She was eliminated from the competition in the third episode. In 2019, De Jager also appeared as a guest judge on BBC Three's version of "". In September 2020, she returned to "Wie is de Mol?" for a special 20th anniversary season. She went on to become the winner of this season.


title: Nikkie de Jager

text: After her coming-out video became popular in January 2020, De Jager was a guest on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show", where she talked about her experience coming out as transgender. She later spoke out about her experience on the show while being interviewed on "De Wereld Draait Door", stating that she was treated differently from other guests, and that the show's host, Ellen DeGeneres, was "cold and distant".


title: Nikkie de Jager

text: In September 2020, Wiwibloggs reported that she would be a guest judge on the "Drag Race Holland", the Dutch version of "RuPaul's Drag Race".


title: Nikkie de Jager

text: On 10 February 2020, it was announced that De Jager would be the online host of the Eurovision Song Contest 2020, which was planned to be held in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The event was later cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. De Jager later appeared as a co-host in the replacement show "", broadcast on 16 May 2020, where she reported the show's online content live to the public. On 18 September 2020, she was confirmed to return as a co-host of the , having been promoted to regular host from the previous year's role of online host. She was the first transgender person to host the contest.


title: Visual novel

text: A , often abbreviated as VN, is a form of digital semi-interactive fiction. Visual novels are often associated with and used in the medium of video games, but are not always labeled as such themselves. They combine a textual narrative with static or animated illustrations and a varying degree of interactivity. The format is more rarely referred to as novel game, a retranscription of the "wasei-eigo" term , which is more often used in Japanese.


title: Visual novel

text: Visual novels originated in and are especially prevalent in Japan, where they made up nearly 70% of the PC game titles released in 2006. In Japanese, a distinction is often made between visual novels (NVL, from "novel"), which consist primarily of narration and have very few interactive elements, and adventure games (AVG or ADV, from "adventure"), which incorporate problem-solving and other types of gameplay. This distinction is normally lost outside Japan, as both visual novels and adventure games are commonly referred to as "visual novels" by international fans.


title: Visual novel

text: Visual novels are rarely produced exclusively for dedicated video game consoles, but the more popular games have occasionally been ported from PC (or a hardware equivalent) to systems such as the Sega Saturn, Dreamcast, PlayStation Portable, or Xbox 360. The more famous visual novels are also often adapted into light novels, manga or anime and are sometimes succeeded or complimented by actual video games, such as RPGs or action games set in the same universe. The market for visual novels outside of East Asia is small, though a number of anime based on visual novels are popular among anime fans in the Western world; examples include "Clannad", "Steins;Gate", and "Fate/stay night".


title: Visual novel

text: Visual novels are distinguished from other game types by their generally minimal gameplay. Typically the majority of player interaction is limited to clicking to keep the text, graphics and sound moving as if they were turning a page (many recent games offer "play" or "fast-forward" toggles that make this unnecessary), while making narrative choices along the way. Another main characteristic of visual novels is their strong emphasis on the prose, as the narration in visual novels is delivered through text. This characteristic makes playing visual novels similar to reading a book.


title: Visual novel

text: Most visual novels have multiple storylines and more than one ending; the mechanic in these cases typically consists of intermittent multiple-choice decision points, where the player selects a direction in which to take the game. For example, in a dating simulator-themed visual novel, the player is prompted to pick different characters to date which, in turn, leads to a different ending. This style of gameplay is similar to story-driven interactive fiction, or the shorter and less detailed real-life gamebook books. Many fans of visual novels hold them up as exceptions to the relatively weak storytelling in video games overall.


title: Visual novel

text: Some visual novels do not limit themselves into merely interactive fictions, but also incorporate other elements into them. An example of this approach is "Symphonic Rain", where the player is required to play a musical instrument of some sort, and attain a good score in order to advance. Usually such an element is related as a plot device in the game.


title: Visual novel

text: Fan-created novel games are reasonably popular; there are a number of free game engines and construction kits aimed at making them easy to construct, most notably NScripter, KiriKiri and Ren'Py.


title: Visual novel

text: Many visual novels use voice actors to provide voices for the non-player characters in the game. Often, the protagonist (that is, the player character) is left unvoiced, even when the rest of the characters are fully voiced. This choice is meant to aid the player in identifying with the protagonist and to avoid having to record large amounts of dialogue, as the main character typically has the most speaking lines due to the branching nature of visual novels.


title: Visual novel

text: Non-linear branching storylines are a common trend in visual novels, which frequently use multiple branching storylines to achieve multiple different endings, allowing non-linear freedom of choice along the way, similar to a choose-your-own-adventure novel. Decision points within a visual novel often present players with the option of altering the course of events during the game, leading to many different possible outcomes. An acclaimed example is "", where nearly every action and dialogue choice can lead to entirely new branching paths and endings. Each path only reveals certain aspects of the overall storyline and it is only after uncovering all the possible different paths and outcomes, through multiple playthroughs, that every component comes together to form a coherent, well-written story.


title: Visual novel

text: The digital medium in visual novels allow for significant improvements, such as being able to fully explore multiple aspects and perspectives of a story. Another improvement is having hidden decision points that are automatically determined based on the player's past decisions. In "Fate/stay night", for example, the way the player character behaved towards non-player characters during the course of the game affects the way they react to the player character in later scenes, such as whether or not they choose to help in life-or-death situations. This would be far more difficult to track with physical books. More importantly, visual novels do not face the same length restrictions as a physical book. For example, the total word count of the English fan translation of "Fate/stay night", taking all the branching paths into account, exceeds that of "The Lord of the Rings" by almost 80%. This significant increase in length allows visual novels to tell stories as long and complex as those often found in traditional novels, while still maintaining a branching path structure, and allowing them to focus on complex stories with mature themes and consistent plots in a way which "Choose Your Own Adventure" books were unable to do due to their physical limitations.


title: Visual novel

text: Many visual novels often revolve almost entirely around character interactions and dialogue choices usually featuring complex branching dialogues and often presenting the player's possible responses word-for-word as the player character would say them. Such titles revolving around relationship-building, including visual novels as well as dating simulations, such as "Tokimeki Memorial", and some role-playing video games, such as "Persona", often give choices that have a different number of associated "mood points" that influence a player character's relationship and future conversations with a non-player character. These games often feature a day-night cycle with a time scheduling system that provides context and relevance to character interactions, allowing players to choose when and if to interact with certain characters, which in turn influences their responses during later conversations.


title: Visual novel

text: It is not uncommon for visual novels to have morality systems. A well-known example is the 2005 title "School Days", an animated visual novel that Kotaku describes as going well beyond the usual "black and white choice systems" (referring to video games such as "Mass Effect", "Fallout 3" and "BioShock") where you "pick a side and stick with it" while leaving "the expansive middle area between unexplored". "School Days" instead encourages players to explore the grey, neutral middle-ground in order to view the more interesting, "bad" endings, i. e. an ending where a character dies or the main protagonist does not advance towards the flow of the story.


title: Visual novel

text: Visual novels with non-branching plots, similar to a conventional novel or a graphic novel in multimedia form. "Higurashi When They Cry", "Muv-Luv Alternative", and "" are known as kinetic novels. The term was first used by the publisher Key for their title "".


title: Visual novel

text: There are role-playing video games that feature visual novel-style elements. A well-known example in the West is Mistwalker's "Lost Odyssey", an RPG that features a series of visual novel-style flashback sequences called "A Thousand Years of Dreams". These sequences were penned by an award-winning Japanese short story writer, Kiyoshi Shigematsu. Another title is the Arc System Works fighting game series "BlazBlue", which plays off of a complex fantasy setting where a one-hundred-year period is reset indefinitely with many variables. The many branching storylines in Story Mode can serve as stand-alone stories, but players must consider them together along with Arcade Mode stories to be able to fully understand the universe.


title: Visual novel

text: Another successful example is Sega's "Sakura Wars" series, which combined tactical role-playing game combat with visual novel elements, introducing a real-time branching choice system where, during an event or conversation, the player must choose an action or dialogue choice within a time limit, or to not respond at all within that time. The player's choice, or lack thereof, affects the player character's relationship with other characters and in turn the characters' performance in battle, the direction of the storyline, and the ending. Later games in the series added several variations, including an action gauge that can be raised up or down depending on the situation, and a gauge that the player can manipulate using the analog stick depending on the situation. The success of "Sakura Wars" led to a wave of games that combine role-playing and visual novel elements, including "Thousand Arms", "", and "Luminous Arc".


title: Visual novel

text: Despite using the narrative style of literature, visual novels have evolved a style somewhat different from print novels. In general, visual novels are more likely to be narrated in the first person than the third, and typically present events from the point of view of only one character.


title: Visual novel

text: In the typical visual novel, the graphics comprise a set of generic backgrounds (normally just one for each location in the game), with character superimposed onto these; the perspective is usually first-person, with the protagonist remaining unseen. At certain key moments in the plot, special "event CG" computer graphics are displayed instead; these are more detailed images, drawn specially for that scene rather than being composed from predefined elements, which often use more cinematic camera angles and include the protagonist. These event CGs can usually be viewed at any time once they have been "unlocked" by finding them in-game; this provides a motivation to replay the game and try making different decisions, as it is normally impossible to view all special events on a single play-through.


title: Visual novel

text: Up until the 1990s, the majority of visual novels utilized pixel art. This was particularly common on the NEC PC-9801 format, which showcased what is considered to be some of the best pixel art in the history of video games, with a popular example being "Policenauts" in 1994. There have also been visual novels that use live-action stills or video footage, such as several "Sound Novel" games by Chunsoft. The most successful example is "Machi", one of the most celebrated games in Japan, where it was voted No. 5 in a 2006 "Famitsu" reader poll of top 100 games of all time. The game resembled a live-action television drama, but allowing players to explore multiple character perspectives and affect the outcomes. Another successful example is "", which received a perfect score of 40 out of 40 from "Famitsu" magazine.


title: Visual novel

text: The history of visual novels dates back to "Portopia Serial Murder Case" (1983). It featured non-linear elements, which include traveling between different areas in a generally open world, a branching dialogue conversation system where the story develops through entering commands and receiving responses from other characters, and making choices that determine the dialogues and order of events as well as alternate outcomes, though there is only one true culprit while the others are red herrings. It also features a phone that could be used to dial any number to contact several non-player characters. The game was well received in Japan for its well-told storyline and surprising twist ending, and for allowing multiple ways to achieve objectives. Shortly after, in 1988, Snatcher appeared, developed by Hideo Kojima and released for the PC-8801 and MSX2 in 1988, in which a cyberpunk detective hunts down a serial killer. Another more non-linear early example was "Mirrors", released by Soft Studio Wing for the PC-8801 and FM Towns computers in 1990; it featured a branching narrative, multiple endings, and audio CD music.


title: Visual novel

text: A common feature used in visual novels is having multiple protagonists giving different perspectives on the story. "EVE Burst Error" (1995), developed by Hiroyuki Kanno and C's Ware, introduced a unique twist to the system by allowing the player to switch between both protagonists at any time during the game, instead of finishing one protagonist's scenario before playing the other. "EVE Burst Error" often requires the player to have both protagonists co-operate with each other at various points during the game, with choices in one scenario affecting the other.


title: Visual novel

text: An important milestone in the history of visual novels was "" (1996), which was developed by Hiroyuki Kanno and is ELF's most famous visual novel. It featured non-linear storytelling, with a science fiction plot revolving around time travel and parallel universes. The player travels between parallel worlds using a Reflector device, which employs a limited number of stones to mark a certain position as a returning location, so that if the player decides to retrace their steps, they can go to an alternate universe to the time they have used a Reflector stone. The game also implemented an original system called Automatic Diverge Mapping System (ADMS), which displays a screen that the player can check at any time to see the direction in which they are heading along the branching plot lines. It also featured an early Isekai story arc.


title: Visual novel

text: "YU-NO" revolutionized the visual novel industry, particularly with its ADMS system. Audiences soon began demanding large-scope plotlines and musical scores of similar quality and ambition to that of "YU-NO", and that responded by hiring talent. According to Gamasutra: "The genre became an all-new arena for young artists and musicians once again, with companies willing to take chances on fresh blood; the market thrived with the excitement and the risks that were being taken, and became a hotbed of creativity". The branching timeline system was influential, opening "the door for visual novels to become more elaborate and have a greater range of narrative arcs, without requiring the player to replay the game over and over again". According to "Nintendo Life", "the modern visual novel genre would simply not exist without" "YU-NO". Branching timeline systems similar to "YU-NO" also later appeared in role-playing video games such as "Radiant Historia" (2010) and the PSP version of "Tactics Ogre" (2010).


title: Visual novel

text: Chunsoft sound novels such as "Machi" (1998) and "" (2008) developed the multiple-perspective concept further. They allow the player to alternate between the perspectives of several or more different characters, making choices with one character that have consequences for other characters. "428" in particular features up to 85 different possible endings. Another popular visual novel featuring multiple perspectives is "Fate/stay night" (2004).


title: Visual novel

text: Many visual novels are centered on drama, particularly themes involving romance or family, but visual novels centered on science fiction, fantasy fiction, and horror fiction are not uncommon.


title: Visual novel

text: Dōjinshi (同人誌, often transliterated as "doujinshi") is the Japanese term for self-published (fan-made) works. This includes (but is not limited to) "dōjin games (同人ゲーム)", also sometimes called "dōjin soft (同人ソフト)". These visual novel-style games are created as fan-made works based on pre-existing "fandoms" (usually anime and manga, but also for TV shows or even other pre-existing games and visual novels). Dōjinshi games are often based on romance (or "shipping") between two characters, known as an "otome game (乙女ゲーム)" or "dating sim"; sometimes becoming sexual (or "hentai"), known as an "eroge (エロゲ, a portmanteau of erotic game: (エロチックゲーム))".


title: Visual novel

text: Many visual novels also qualify as eroge, an abbreviation of 'erotic game'. These games feature sexually explicit imagery that is accessed by completing certain routes in the game, most often depicting the game's protagonist having sex with one of the game's other characters. Like other pornographic media in Japan, scenes depicting genitalia are censored in their original Japanese releases, only becoming uncensored if the game is licensed outside Japan with all art assets intact. Certain eroge titles receive re-releases which exclude explicit content in order to be sold to a younger audience, such as ports to consoles or handheld systems where sexually explicit content is not allowed, and storylines referring to aforementioned sex scenes are often omitted from adaptations into other media, unless that media is also pornographic in nature, such as a hentai anime.


title: Visual novel

text: Traditionally, PC-based visual novels have contained risque scenes even if the overall focus is not erotic (similar to the "obligatory sex scene" in Hollywood action films). However, the vast majority of console ports do not contain adult material, and a number of recent PC games have also been targeted at the all-age market; for example, all of Key's titles come in censored versions, although the content might still not be appropriate for children, and three have never contained erotic content at all. Also, all of KID's titles are made with general audiences in mind.


title: Visual novel

text: However, some of these games are later re-released with the addition of erotic scenes, or have a sequel with such. For example, "Little Busters!" was first released as an all-ages visual novel, but a version with erotic scenes titled "Little Busters! Ecstasy" came out later, and though "Clannad" is also all-ages, its spinoff "" is not.


title: Visual novel

text: Often, the beginning of the eroge will be dedicated to introducing the characters and developing the protagonist's relationship with them, before the protagonist sexually interacts with other characters, for example, Lump of Sugar games such as "" and "Everlasting Summer" do this. The effect it has on the reader is the H-scenes (sex scenes) will have a stronger emotional impact for the two (or possibly more) characters.


title: Visual novel

text: Some of Japan's earliest adventure games were erotic bishōjo games developed by Koei. In 1982, they released "Night Life", the first commercial erotic computer game. It was a graphic adventure, with sexually explicit images. That same year, they released another erotic title, "Danchi Tsuma no Yūwaku" ("Seduction of the Condominium Wife"), which was an early adventure game with colour graphics, owing to the eight-color palette of the NEC PC-8001 computer. It became a hit, helping Koei become a major software company. Other now-famous companies such as Enix, Square and Nihon Falcom also produced similar erotic games in the early 1980s before they became famous for their role-playing video games. While some early erotic games integrate the erotic content into a thoughtful and nuanced storylines, others often used it as a simplistic vehicle for fetishism, pleasure, an aid of the lightheaded themes that encourage stress relief or to portray nuances of sexuality. The Japanese game Pai Touch! involves the protagonist gaining the ability to change the size of girls' breasts, and the adventures that ensue in trying to choose which girl to use the power on the most.


title: Visual novel

text: Another subgenre is called , in which sexual gratification of the player is the main focus of the game.


title: Visual novel

text: In 1986, Square released the science fiction adventure game "Suishō no Dragon" for the NES console. The game featured several innovations, including the use of animation in many of the scenes rather than still images, and an interface resembling that of a point-and-click interface for a console, like "Portopia Serial Murder Case", but making use of visual icons rather than text-based ones to represent various actions. Like the NES version of "Portopia Serial Murder Case", it featured a cursor that could be moved around the screen using the D-pad to examine the scenery, though the cursor in "Suishō no Dragon" was also used to click on the action icons.


title: Visual novel

text: Hideo Kojima (of "Metal Gear" fame) was inspired by "Portopia Serial Murder Case" to enter the video game industry, and later produced his own adventure games. After completing the stealth game "Metal Gear", his first graphic adventure was released by Konami the following year: "Snatcher" (1988), an ambitious cyberpunk detective novel, graphic adventure, that was highly regarded at the time for pushing the boundaries of video game storytelling, cinematic cut scenes, and mature content. It also featured a post-apocalyptic science fiction setting, an amnesiac protagonist, and some light gun shooter segments. It was praised for its graphics, soundtrack, high quality writing comparable to a novel, voice acting comparable to a film or radio drama, and in-game computer database with optional documents that flesh out the game world. The Sega CD version of "Snatcher" was for a long time the only major visual novel game to be released in America, where it, despite low sales, gained a cult following.


title: Visual novel

text: Following "", Kojima produced his next graphic adventure, "Policenauts" (1994), a point-and-click adventure notable for being an early example of extensive voice recording in video games. It also featured a hard science fiction setting, a theme revolving around space exploration, a plot inspired by the ancient Japanese tale of "Urashima Taro", and some occasional full-motion video cut scenes. The gameplay was largely similar to "Snatcher", but with the addition of a point-and-click interface and some first-person shooter segments. "Policenauts" also introduced summary screens, which act to refresh the player's memory of the plot upon reloading a saved game (save), an element Kojima would later use in "Metal Gear Solid". The PlayStation version of "Policenauts" could also read the memory card and give some easter egg dialogues if a save file of Konami's dating sim "Tokimeki Memorial" is present, a technique Kojima would also later use in "Metal Gear Solid". From 1997 to 1999, Kojima developed the three "Tokimeki Memorial Drama Series" titles, which were adaptations of "Tokimeki Memorial" in a visual novel adventure game format. Other acclaimed examples of science fiction visual novels include ELF's "" (1996) and 5pb.'s "Chaos;Head" (2008) and "Steins;Gate" (2009).


title: Visual novel

text: Popular subgenres of visual novels include the , which still usually has a happy ending, and the , which may not. The genres are somewhat fluid and were largely pioneered in parallel during the late 1990s through the early 2000s by the works of Key co-founder, scenario writer, lyricist, and composer Jun Maeda; and through the works of through his affiliated company Âge, particularly Kimi ga Nozomu Eien and its successors, notably Muv-Luv. The ultimate goal of nakige and utsuge are emotional connection with the characters, through exploration of their personalities and evolving interrelationships through the drama of the game's storyline, and to emotionally resonate with the player; repeated playthroughs across a rich cast of characters offers a multi-layered narrative. Games from publisher Key often follow a similar formula: a comedic first half, with a heart-warming romantic middle, followed by a tragic separation, and finally (though not always) an emotional reunion. This formula was influenced primarily by Hiroyuki Kanno's "" (1996) and Leaf's "To Heart" (1997), and was further developed in "" (1998) by Tactics. After "One" was complete, the development team quit Tactics to form Key where they developed their first title "Kanon", also based upon this formula. According to Satoshi Todome in his book, "A History of Adult Games", "Kanon" was "heavily hyped [and] had gamers impatient until its release. It was only one game released by Key so far, and yet [it] had already sent major shockwaves around the industry. And yet another game ["Air"], two years later, sent even more shockwaves. "Air" was equally hyped and well received."


title: Visual novel

text: Key's "crying game" formula used successfully in "One" and "Kanon" was later adopted by other visual novel companies to create their own "crying games". Examples of this include: "" (1999) by Digital Object, the "Memories Off" series (1999 onwards) by KID, "" (2002) by Circus, "" (2002) by Minori, and "Snow" (2003) by Studio Mebius (under Visual Art's).


title: Visual novel

text: One of the most acclaimed visual novels of this subgenre was Key's "Clannad", written by Jun Maeda, Yūichi Suzumoto, and Kai and Tōya Okano. Released in 2004, its story revolved around the central theme of the value of having a family. It was voted the best bishōjo game of all time in a poll held by "Dengeki G's Magazine". It served as the basis for a media franchise, with successful adaptations into a light novel, manga, animated film, and acclaimed anime series.


title: Visual novel

text: In 2008, several of Key's visual novels were voted in the "Dengeki" poll of the ten most tear-inducing games of all time, including "Clannad" at No. 2, "Kanon" at No. 4, "Air" at No. 7, and "Little Busters!" at No. 10. In 2011, several visual novels were also voted in "Famitsu"'s poll of 20 most tear-inducing games of all time, with "Clannad" at No. 4, "Steins;Gate" at No. 6, "Air" at No. 7, "Little Busters!" at No. 10, and "" at No. 14.


title: Visual novel

text: After developing The Portopia Serial Murder Case, Chunsoft released Otogiriso in 1992.Koichi Nakamura conceived the title after showing his work on the "Dragon Quest" role-playing video games to a girl he was dating. On finding she did not enjoy them, he was encouraged to make a video game that he described as "for people who haven't played games before." Influenced by the early survival horror game "Sweet Home", he developed it into a horror-themed interactive story. Chunsoft's next release, Kamaitachi no Yoru was also a best seller and would prove to be highly influential.


title: Visual novel

text: "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni" ("When They Cry") was a 2002 horror-themed visual novel by 07th Expansion, influenced by the "crying game" subgenre. Ryukishi07 of 07th Expansion mentioned in 2004 how he was influenced by Key's works and "Tsukihime" during the planning of "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni". He played their games, as well as other visual novels, as a reference and analyzed them to try to determine why they were so popular. He decided that the secret was that the stories would start with ordinary, enjoyable days, but then a sudden event would occur leading the player to cry from shock. He used a similar model as the basis for "Higurashi" but instead of leading the player to cry, Ryukishi07 wanted to scare the player with the addition of horror elements. Other examples of horror-themed visual novels include: "", "Higanbana no Saku Yoru ni", "Umineko no Naku Koro ni", "Ookami Kakushi", "Imabikisou, Saya no Uta", "Doki Doki Literature Club!", and "Corpse Party".


title: Visual novel

text: Prior to the year 2000, few Japanese visual novels were translated into other languages. As with the visual novel genre in general, a majority of titles released for the PC have been eroge, with Hirameki's now-discontinued AnimePlay series a notable exception. As of 2014, JAST USA and MangaGamer are the two most prolific publishers of translated visual novels for the PC; both primarily release eroge, but have begun to diversify into the all-ages market in recent years, with titles such as "Steins;Gate" and "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni" respectively. In addition to official commercial translations, a vibrant fan translation scene exists, which has translated many free visual novels (such as "Narcissu" and "True Remembrance") and a few commercial works (such as "Umineko no Naku Koro ni" and "Policenauts") into English. Fan translations of Japanese visual novels into languages other than English such as Chinese, French, German and Russian are commonplace as well.


title: Visual novel

text: English translations of Japanese visual novels on video game consoles were rare until the release of the Nintendo DS, though some games with visual novel elements had been published in the Western world before then, such as Hideo Kojima's "Snatcher". Following the success of mystery titles for the Nintendo DS such as Capcom's "Ace Attorney" series (which began on the Game Boy Advance in 2001), Cing's "" series (beginning in 2006), and Level-5's "Professor Layton" series (beginning in 2007), Japanese visual novels have been published in other countries more frequently. The success of these games has sparked a resurgence in the adventure game genre outside Japan.


title: Visual novel

text: GameSpot has credited "" in particular for revitalizing the adventure game genre. The success of the "Ace Attorney" series was followed soon after by the even greater success of Level-5's "Professor Layton" in 2007. Both have since become some of the best selling adventure game franchises, with "Ace Attorney" selling over 3.9 million units worldwide and "Professor Layton" selling over 9.5 million units worldwide by 2010. Their success has led to an increase in Japanese visual novels being localized for release outside Japan, including: KID's "" (2002), Cing's "Another Code" series (2005 onwards), Marvelous Entertainment's "Lux-Pain" (2008), Chunsoft's "" (2010), and Capcom's "" (2010). In more recent years, several modern Western narrative adventure games have drawn comparisons to visual novels, including Telltale Games titles such as "The Walking Dead" (2012), and Dontnod Entertainment's "Life Is Strange" (2015); the latter's creative director cited visual novels such as "Danganronpa" (2010) as an influence.


title: Visual novel

text: Additionally, there have been some visual novels developed mainly in English, and intended for an English-speaking audience; one of the earliest commercially-available examples on a mainstream platform is 2004's "Sprung", and in more recent times, the availability of the genre has increased, with notable examples being "Doki Doki Literature Club!" and "VA-11 HALL-A". Other languages have been the focus in visual novels, including Spanish, French, Russian and Mandarin, which have seen increased success due to the popularity of the genre.


title: Visual novel

text: Sales data for visual novels is frequently unavailable; the sales listed below can be significantly outdated as some of the sources are over a decade old, and series qualified for an entry could be missing. These lists should be referenced carefully.


title: Visual novel

text: Free visual novels do not appear in these lists due to the unreliability of download numbers and for consistency with other best-selling lists.


title: Not safe for work

text: Not safe for work (NSFW) is Internet slang or shorthand used to mark links to content, videos, or website pages the viewer may not wish to be seen looking at in a public, formal or controlled environment. The marked content may contain nudity, pornography, political incorrectness, profanity, slurs, graphic violence or other potentially disturbing subject matter. Environments that may be problematic include workplaces, schools, and family settings. NSFW has particular relevance for people trying to make personal use of the Internet at workplaces or schools which have policies prohibiting access to sexual and graphic subject matter. Conversely, safe for work (SFW) is used for links that do not contain such material, but where the title might otherwise lead people to think that content is NSFW.


title: Not safe for work

text: The similar expression not safe for life (NSFL) is also used, referring to content which is so nauseating or disturbing that it might be emotionally scarring to view. Links marked NSFL may contain fetish pornography, gore or murder. Additionally, there is a distinction made to distinguish the content. Not safe for work violence (NSFWV) or Not safe for life violence (NSFLV) for violence to murder encompassing content, respectively Not safe for work eroticism (NSFWE) or Not safe for life eroticism (NSFLE), referring to fetishism and pornography; their usage is uncommon.


title: Not safe for work

text: Some websites, such as Reddit and OnlyFans give users the option to designate their content as NSFW in order to warn others of its inappropriate nature.


title: Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends

text: Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends (also known as Foster's Home, or simply Foster's for short) is an American animated television series created by Craig McCracken for Cartoon Network. It was produced by Cartoon Network Studios as the network's first show animated primarily with Adobe Flash, which was done in Ireland by Boulder Media. Set in a world in which imaginary friends coexist with humans, it centers on a boy named Mac who is pressured by his mother to abandon his imaginary friend Bloo. After the duo discover an orphanage dedicated to housing abandoned imaginary friends, Bloo moves into the home and is kept from adoption as long as Mac visits him daily at exactly 3:00 PM. The episodes revolve around Mac and Bloo as they interact with other imaginary friends and house staff and live out their day-to-day adventures, often getting caught up in various predicaments.


title: Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends

text: McCracken conceived the series after adopting two dogs from an animal shelter and applying the concept to imaginary friends. The series first premiered on Cartoon Network on August 13, 2004, as a 90-minute television film. On August 20, it began its normal run of 20-30-minute episodes on "Fridays". The series finished its run on May 3, 2009, with a total of 6 seasons and 79 episodes. McCracken left Cartoon Network shortly after the series ended.


title: Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends

text: "Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends" became one of Cartoon Network's most successful original series and received critical acclaim and industry accolades, including 5 Annie Awards and 7 Emmy Awards, winning a total of 12 awards out of 35 nominations. It has since been named by "Entertainment Weekly" as one of the best Cartoon Network shows and by IGN in their list of best animated series at number 85.


title: Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends

text: A reboot series was announced on July 18, 2022, produced by Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe with Craig McCracken returning as the creator. The reboot, aimed at a preschool audience, will feature a new cast of imaginary friends.


title: Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends

text: "Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends" is set in a universe in which childhood imaginary friends take physical form and become real as soon as children imagine them. Once children outgrow them, friends are relocated to the titular orphanage, where they stay until other children adopt them. The home is run by the elderly Madame Foster, its lovable, kind founder; her rabbit imaginary friend Mr. Herriman, the strict rule-abider and business manager; and her granddaughter Frankie, who handles day-to-day operations.


title: Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends

text: Because his mother believes he is too old for imaginary friends, eight-year-old Mac is pressured by her to abandon his imaginary friend, Bloo. When Mac takes Bloo to Foster's after seeing a television advertisement, they discover that if Bloo were to live there, he would be available to be adopted by another child. Mac then bargains with Frankie, Herriman, and Madame Foster until they agree to guard Bloo from adoption so long as Mac continues to visit the center daily. Mac continues to visit the home every day after school to experience the escapades of the mischievous Bloo and the array of eccentric, colorful characters inhabiting Foster's and the obstacles with which they are challenged.


title: Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends

text: Other recurring characters include Terrence (voiced by Tara Strong), Mac's older brother who constantly bullies him; Duchess (voiced by Grey DeLisle), a friend with a Cubist-looking face and a pompous, narcissistic personality; Cheese (voiced by Candi Milo), a dim-witted and childish yellow friend who first appeared in season two; and Goo (voiced by Grey DeLisle), a talkative young girl who is highly imaginative and constantly creates new friends, first appearing in season three.


title: Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends

text: The series was created by Craig McCracken, who had also created "The Powerpuff Girls" for Cartoon Network. McCracken developed the idea for the series after adopting two dogs from an animal shelter with his then-fiancée Lauren Faust and Mike Moon; he adapted the concept of pet adoption to that of imaginary friends. The show has an art style which is meant to evoke, according to McCracken, "that period of late 60's psychedelia when Victorian stylings were coming into trippy poster designs". McCracken wanted "Foster's" to be similar to "The Muppet Show", which he believed was a "fun, character driven show that the whole family could enjoy".


title: Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends

text: Animation for the show was done using a process involving Adobe software Illustrator, Flash and After Effects. McCracken directed, executive produced and story edited the series. Most of the episodes were produced at the Cartoon Network Studios in Burbank, California, while the rest were produced at Boulder Media Limited in Dublin, Ireland. The theme song was composed by James L. Venable, who had originally collaborated with McCracken on "The Powerpuff Girls". Craig described the music as "psychedelic ragtime". Additional music was composed by Venable and Jennifer Kes Remington.


title: Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends

text: Collette Sunderman was the casting and recording director for the show. Sean Marquette was cast as Mac, and Keith Ferguson was cast as Bloo. "The Powerpuff Girls" voice actors Tom Kane, Tom Kenny and Tara Strong were cast in "Foster's" as Mr. Herriman, Eduardo and Terrence, respectively. Grey DeLisle was cast as Frankie Foster, Phil LaMarr was cast as Wilt, and Candi Milo was cast as Coco and Madame Foster. From season two onwards, Milo also lent her voice to Cheese. DeLisle also voiced Goo after the character's debut in season three.


title: Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends

text: "Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends" premiered on August 13, 2004, as a 90-minute special titled "House of Bloo's". The series' run began on August 20 on its normal timeslot of Fridays at 7:00 PM. The special was Cartoon Network's highest rated premiere at the time. 18 shorts were produced from 2006 to 2007. In addition to the premiere episode, two other specials were produced: "Good Wilt Hunting", which premiered on November 23, 2006, and "", which premiered on November 27, 2008. The final episode, titled "Goodbye to Bloo", aired on May 3, 2009, preceded by a 6-hour marathon of other episodes from the series. McCracken expressed a certain sadness at the series' end, but stated that he was "crazy proud of the work" that he and the production team had done "on Foster's and the fact that it worked just the way [they] wanted it to". During its original run, "Foster's" was one of Cartoon Network's highest rated shows. The show proved to be popular among both younger and older audiences.


title: Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends

text: Anita Gates of "The New York Times" praised the series' premiere -hour episode and stated that the series would promise to be an "admirable tale of loyalty and adventure-based learning with a contagious sense of fun". Mike Pinsky, in a review on "DVD Verdict", praised the art design and the characterizations, particularly singling out Cheese as possibly "the quintessence of Foster's surreal charm" in his Season 2 review. David Cornelius of "DVD Talk" called the series "one of the best shows of any kind [then] on television, a winner for viewers of any age" and "a wildly inventive mix of creative wonder, comic genius, and well-crafted chaos". In a Season 2 review, also on "DVD Talk", Cornelius called the show "flat-out perfect". Joly Herman of Common Sense Media, an advocacy group focused on appropriate technology and media for children, was less enthusiastic about the show, rating it 2 stars out of 5. Herman praised the creativity and diversity of the characters and the show's premise, but criticized the storyline and writing, which presented "confusing messages" for young children.


title: Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends

text: The series was named the 85th best animated series of all time in a list of the top 100 animated series by IGN, which called it very funny and endearing. "Entertainment Weekly" named the show the sixth best Cartoon Network show in their top 10 list, praising its "catchy magical-realist setting" and the characters "you genuinely learned to care about".


title: Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends

text: "Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends" received many industry accolades. The series received 12 awards out of a total of 35 nominations. At the Annie Awards, the show received a total of 20 nominations from 2004 to 2009, and won 5, including Best Animated Television Production in 2007. At the Emmy Awards, the show received nine nominations, and won seven awards, including five Outstanding Individual Achievements in Animation and one Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming One Hour or More) award. At the 2005 Pulcinella Awards, "Foster's" received the award for Best TV Series for All Audiences and Bloo was named "Best Character of the Year." At the 22nd TCA Awards, the show received a nomination for Outstanding Achievement in Children's Programming. At the 2007 Ottawa International Animation Festival, the series won Best Television Animation for Children.


title: Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends

text: There are 2 video games based on "Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends". The first has the same name as the show and was developed by Crave Entertainment for the Game Boy Advance. It was released on October 17, 2006. In the game, players control Mac or Bloo while collecting items to complete objectives. Jack Devries of IGN rated it a 5 1/2 out of 10, stating that it "falls short" and is "skippable". The second game, titled "Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends: Imagination Invaders", was released on November 12, 2007, for the Nintendo DS by Midway. In the game, the player controls Bloo, who performs tasks and completes quests while fighting against "Space Nut Boogies". Devries rated it 4 out of 10, calling it "terrible to play" and "completely worthless". Characters from the show also appear on the games "" and "FusionFall".


title: Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends

text: On May 15, 2006, Cartoon Network introduced an online game, "Big Fat Awesome House Party", which allowed players to create an online friend to join Bloo and the others in a one-year game online, earning points that would give them gifts, cards and other online "merchandise" for their albums. A player's friend, made from one of over 900,000 possible characters, could wind up in a future episode of "Foster's". Over 13 million users were registered to play the game after its launch in May 2006. Because of its success and popularity, Cartoon Network announced in May 2007 that the game would continue for six more months, into November of that year.


title: Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends

text: From 2006 to 2008, Cartoon Network made a "Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends" float as part of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. The float was fashioned as a replica of the home. On Thanksgiving Day, 2006, characters from the show performed the Beatles' "With a Little Help from My Friends". In 2007, the characters' performance of "You're My Best Friend" by Queen. In 2008, the characters' performance of Harry Nilsson's theme song to "The Courtship of Eddie's Father" later reused for "Rob & Big" was interrupted by Rick Astley singing "Never Gonna Give You Up", reproducing the Internet phenomenon of Rickrolling. In 2006, the network promoted the show with billboards that read "I pooted" and "I'm a hot toe picker" (as said by Cheese and Bloo, respectively) in about 25 cities within the United States, one being placed next to Interstate 40/85 through Greensboro, North Carolina. Some time later, one of the "I pooted" billboards (along U.S. Route 29) was taken down due to concerns by the North Carolina A&T State University. An associate of the entity, who claimed the advertisement did not represent their purpose and mission, said that "some people didn't understand if this was something in connection with the university." Both parts came to an agreement, and the billboard was then replaced with one that read "Shiny, shiny. Pretty, pretty", a line from the program "My Gym Partner's a Monkey".


title: Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends

text: In March 2006, toys of characters from the show were featured in Burger King's Kids Meals. In December 2007, Cartoon Network and Hot Topic retail stores in the United States set up a boutique for a product line based on the series, with over 693 locations featuring products such as clothing, accessories and DVD releases by Warner Home Video. The episodes from the series are available for digital purchase on iTunes and Amazon Video, with the exception of the Christmas special. The show's second season was available on Netflix until March 2015. All 6 seasons were added to Hulu in May 2015 until its removal from the service on October 1, 2022. The show is now available to watch on HBO Max as of May 2020.


title: Military junta

text: A military junta () is a government led by a committee of military leaders. The term "junta" means "meeting" or "committee" and originated in the national and local junta organized by the Spanish resistance to Napoleon's invasion of Spain in 1808. The term is now used to refer to an authoritarian form of government characterized by oligarchic military dictatorship, as distinguished from other categories of authoritarian rule, specifically strongman (autocratic military dictatorships); machine (oligarchic party dictatorships); and bossism (autocratic party dictatorships).


title: Military junta

text: A junta often comes to power as a result of a coup d'état. The junta may either formally take power as the nation's governing body, with the power to rule by decree, or may wield power by exercising binding (but informal) control over a nominally civilian government. These two forms of junta rule are sometimes called "open rule" and "disguised rule". Disguised rule may take the form of either "civilianization" or "indirect rule". Civilianization occurs when a junta publicly ends its obviously military features, but continues its dominance. For example, the junta may terminate martial law, forgo military uniforms in favor of civilian attire, "colonize" government with former military officers, and make use of political parties or mass organizations. "Indirect rule" involves the junta's exertion of concealed, behind-the-scenes control over a civilian puppet. Indirect rule by the military can include either broad control over the government or control over a narrower set of policy areas, such as military or national security matters.


title: Military junta

text: Since the 1920s, military juntas have been frequently seen in Latin America, typically in the form of an "institutionalized, highly corporate/professional junta" headed by the commanding officers of the different military branches (army, navy, and air force), and sometimes joined by the head of the national police or other key bodies. Political scientist Samuel Finer, writing in 1988, noted that juntas in Latin America tended to be smaller than juntas elsewhere; the median junta had 11 members, while Latin American juntas typically had three or four. "Corporate" military coups have been distinguished from "factional" military coups. The former are carried out by the armed forces as an institution, led by senior commanders at the top of the military hierarchy, while the latter are carried out by a segment of the armed forces and are often led by mid-ranking officers.


title: Military junta

text: A 2014 study published in the "Annual Review of Political Science" journal found that military regimes behaved differently from both civilian dictatorships and autocratic military strongmen. The study found that (1) "strongmen and military regimes are more likely to commit human rights abuses and become embroiled in civil wars than are civilian dictatorships"; (2) "military strongmen start more international wars than either military regimes or civilian dictators, perhaps because they have more reason to fear postouster exile, prison, or assassination" and (3) military regimes and civilian dictatorships are more likely to end in democratization, in contrast to the rule of military strongmen, which more often ends by insurgency, popular uprising, or invasion.


title: Bay City Rollers

text: The Bay City Rollers are a Scottish pop rock band known for their worldwide teen idol popularity in the 1970s. They have been called the "tartan teen sensations from Edinburgh" and one of many acts heralded as the "biggest group since the Beatles.


title: Bay City Rollers

text: The group's line up had many changes over the years, but the classic roster during its peak in popularity included guitarists Eric Faulkner and Stuart Wood, singer Les McKeown, bassist Alan Longmuir, and drummer Derek Longmuir. The current line-up (since 2018) includes original guitarist Stuart "Woody" Wood, singer Ian Thomson, bassist Marcus Cordock, and drummer Jamie McGrory.


title: Bay City Rollers

text: The Bay City Rollers have sold 120 million records worldwide, making them one of the best-selling artists of all time.


title: Bay City Rollers

text: In 1964, a trio called the Ambassadors was formed in Edinburgh, Scotland by 16-year-old Alan Longmuir on acoustic guitar, his younger brother Derek Longmuir on drums, and their older cousin Neil Porteous on acoustic guitar. The group never performed publicly under this name, just a family wedding where they covered "Wake Up Little Susie". They changed their name to the Saxons, and Derek invited a friend from school, Gordon "Nobby" Clark, to be the lead singer. Porteous moved from acoustic to electric guitar, and Alan Longmuir followed suit by changing to electric bass. The Saxons played occasional dance hall concerts while the band members completed their schooling or worked during the day (Alan apprenticed as a plumber). Porteous left the band in July 1965, with new guitarist Dave Pettigrew filling the spot after answering an advertisement placed by the band in an Edinburgh newspaper. Pettigrew was more advanced musically than the others, and pushed the band to improve. Their repertoire included American R&B/pop songs such as "Please Mr. Postman" and "Heat Wave". They played at least one gig at the Gonk Club as the Deadbeats, but they discovered a conflict: Another band was playing locally as Rock Bottom and the Deadbeats.


title: Bay City Rollers

text: While taking a technical class at Napier College, Alan met fellow plumbing student Gregory Ellison, who joined the Saxons on electric guitar, with Pettigrew shifting to keyboards. Gregory's older brother Mike joined as a second lead singer, allowing more complex harmonies, especially useful for the Motown songs they liked to perform. The band convinced Tam Paton, a former big band leader and influential local band and club manager, to audition them at the Longmuirs' house. Paton booked them for a Thursday night at his club, the Palais, then assigned them to open for the Hipple People at Top Storey. More gigs followed.


title: Bay City Rollers

text: More successful now, the Saxons moved out of the Longmuirs' back room to practise in Hermiston at a church. They played a couple of contemporary Kinks numbers but favoured American songs, including a new one: "C.C. Rider" by Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels. Desiring a better name for the band, they settled on "Rollers", but needed a more powerful American-sounding term in front of that. Derek Longmuir threw a dart at a map of the United States, landing first on Arkansas. This did not meet anyone's approval, so a second dart was thrown. It landed near Bay City, Michigan. The band agreed on the name, the Bay City Rollers. Short-term members from this period included bassist David Paton (from 1969 to 1970) and keyboardist Billy Lyall (1969–71), who went on to be founding members of another Edinburgh band Pilot.


title: Bay City Rollers

text: After signing with Bell Records, the band's first hit was "Keep on Dancing" (UK No. 9, 1971), a cover of a 1965 hit by the Gentrys. Upon this release's success, they made appearances on BBC One's "Top of the Pops".


title: Bay City Rollers

text: Several non-charting singles were released over the following two years. This period saw the addition of long-term member guitarist Eric Faulkner. In mid-1973, they narrowly missed the UK Singles Chart with their fourth single, "Saturday Night". By the end of 1973, Clark had become disillusioned with the band's musical direction and decided to leave just when his recording of "Remember (Sha-La-La-La)" climbed the charts to No. 6. He was replaced as lead singer by Les McKeown. A couple of months later, in early 1974, what became known as the classic line-up was completed; guitarist John Devine was replaced by Stuart "Woody" Wood.


title: Bay City Rollers

text: In late 1973, McKeown recorded lead vocals on "Remember (Sha-La-La-La)", and a lead-in to a series of UK chart hits. 16-year-old Stuart Wood completed the "classic five" line-up in February 1974, a week after the band had debuted the "Remember" single on "Top of the Pops." (John Devine had mimed the piano part). By early 1975, the band was well on the way to achieving global success. The "classic five" line-up consisted of: Alan Longmuir, Derek Longmuir, Stuart "Woody" Wood, Eric Faulkner and Les McKeown.


title: Bay City Rollers

text: Beginning with "Remember" (UK No. 6), the Rollers' popularity exploded, and they released a string of hits on the UK chart. Following in succession were "Shang-a-Lang" (UK No. 2), "Summerlove Sensation" (UK No. 3), and "All of Me Loves All of You" (UK No. 4).


title: Bay City Rollers

text: By early 1975, they were one of the biggest-selling acts in the UK. The successful 1975 UK tour prompted newspaper headlines about the rise of "Rollermania" (a take-off on Beatlemania a decade before). The Rollers were the subject of a 20-week UK television series, "Shang-a-Lang".


title: Bay City Rollers

text: A cover of the Four Seasons' "Bye, Bye, Baby" stayed at No. 1 in the UK for six weeks in March and April 1975, selling nearly a million copies and becoming the biggest seller of the year. The subsequent single, "Give a Little Love" topped the charts in July 1975, achieving their second No. 1 hit. Two full-length LPs were produced during this period: "Once Upon a Star" (1975) and "Wouldn't You Like It?" (1975). Faulkner and Wood undertook the majority of the songwriting duties.


title: Bay City Rollers

text: By this time, Bay City Rollers fans had a completely distinctive style of dress, featuring calf-length tartan trousers and tartan scarves.


title: Bay City Rollers

text: English singer-songwriter Nick Lowe wrote a "jaundiced" (in Lowe's words) paean to the band titled "Bay City Rollers We Love You". The track was "carefully sculpted" to be poor enough to get Lowe out of a recording contract with United Artists. The strategy backfired. UA issued the record as by the Tartan Horde, which was the name given to Rollers fans in England, and it became a substantial hit in Japan. Lowe was obliged to record a follow-up song called "Rollers Show", which did not meet with the same commercial success. This follow-up song was included on the U.S. release of Lowe's first album "Pure Pop for Now People".


title: Bay City Rollers

text: As the group's popularity swelled to superstardom in the UK, a concerted effort was made by Arista Records (the record company that evolved from Bell) to launch the Rollers in North America. New Arista head, Clive Davis, was instrumental in grooming and overseeing the project. His work paid off, as in late 1975, the Rollers reached No. 1 on the US "Billboard" Hot 100 with "Saturday Night". "Saturday Night" had missed the UK chart completely two years earlier. The Rollers gave the track their American debut, via a satellite-link performance on "Saturday Night Live, with Howard Cosell". In Canada, it fared equally well, hitting No. 1 on the "RPM" national singles chart on 10 January 1976. The "Bay City Rollers" (1975) album (North American release only) hit No. 1 in the same chart on 7 February.


title: Bay City Rollers

text: A second North American hit came with "Money Honey", written by Faulkner and Wood, which hit No. 9 in the US. In Canada, it fared better, following its predecessor to the top, giving them their second No. 1 in the "RPM" national singles chart on 13 March 1976.


title: Bay City Rollers

text: The North America/Japan release album "Rock n' Roll Love Letter" (1976) jumped from No. 25, to the top position in a single week in Canada. This deposed their own "Bay City Rollers" (1975) at No. 1 on the national chart, on 27 March 1976, However, it only managed to achieve the No. 31 spot on the U.S. "Billboard" chart.


title: Bay City Rollers

text: They were also extremely popular in Australia. One example of their popularity, was put into the book about "Countdown" – the Australian TV music show which ran from 1974–1987. Their "Countdown" appearance in October 1976 coincided with a total eclipse of the sun. Director Ted Emery recalled:


title: Bay City Rollers

text: Alan Longmuir had left the group by early 1976, due to both the pressures of the band's success and feeling discomfort at being a member of a teen band whilst in his late twenties. He was replaced for seven months by 17-year-old Ian Mitchell from Northern Ireland; he was the first band member born outside Edinburgh. With Mitchell, the group released an album titled "Dedication" (1976), and hit the charts with a cover version of the Dusty Springfield song "I Only Want to Be with You. " The song reached US No. 12, as well as "Yesterday's Hero" (featuring live material from a 1976 personal appearance in Toronto's Nathan Phillips Square), and "Dedication".


title: Bay City Rollers

text: As the Rollers' popularity waned, the shuffling of personnel continued; Mitchell quit the band. He was replaced by guitarist Pat McGlynn. Further struggles involved the direction of their sound, as the members wished to pursue more sophisticated styles. They settled on David Bowie's producer, Harry Maslin, and in August 1977 released "It's a Game" as a four-piece group, comprising McKeown, Wood, Faulkner and Derek Longmuir. The "It's a Game" tour was recorded in 1977 at Japan's Budokan Hall, and was later released in 2001 as "Rollerworld: Live at the Budokan 1977".


title: Bay City Rollers

text: On the tour, they covered "It's a Game", an unsuccessful 1973 single by String Driven Thing, to give them their final UK Top 20 hit (#16 in May 1977). Oddly enough, this single provided them with their highest-charting German hit, reaching No. 4 in the same year. The follow-up "You Made Me Believe in Magic" madeNo. 34 in July in the UK and No. 10 in the U.S., and this single was their final major success.


title: Bay City Rollers

text: The Bay City Rollers were on "The Krofft Superstar Hour", later named the "Bay City Rollers Show", an hour-long show that aired from September 9, 1978 to January 27, 1979.


title: Bay City Rollers

text: At the end of 1978, the band had split with McKeown, then fired manager Tam Paton shortly after, and decided to continue in a more new wave, rock-oriented sound. Their name was now The Rollers. South African-born Duncan Faure joined the band as new lead vocalist, guitarist and songwriter. With Faure, the line-up produced three albums: "Elevator" (1979), "Voxx" (1980) and "Ricochet" (1981). Following the expiry of the band's Arista contract, none of the releases sold as well as expected, and they stopped touring by late 1981.


title: Bay City Rollers

text: "The A.V. Club" compared "Ricochet" to the pop/new wave style of The Cars and recommended the album be "rescued from obscurity".


title: Bay City Rollers

text: During the 1980s and 1990s, there were a few short tours. Seven past members played Japan in 1982, and again in 1983. A reunion album, "Breakout", was released in Japan and Australia in 1985, and added drummer George Spencer. "Breakout" was written primarily by McKeown and McGlynn with minor contributions from Faulkner, Wood, and Mitchell.


title: Bay City Rollers

text: In the late 1980s, a version of the band called the New Rollers was formed featuring Faulkner on lead vocals, Karen Prosser on vocals, Jason Medvec on guitar, Andy Boakes on bass, and Mark Roberts on drums. The band toured extensively throughout the US and Canada as well as tours of the UK and Australia. This group also released an independent four-song EP titled "Party Harty".


title: Bay City Rollers

text: In 1990, Wood and Alan Longmuir joined with Faulkner to tour under the Bay City Rollers name and issued several CDs of re-recordings of the old Roller tunes.


title: Bay City Rollers

text: In 1996, the classic line-up reunited and performed "Saturday Night" on a Japanese television show to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Rollermania.


title: Bay City Rollers

text: The classic line-up (minus Derek Longmuir) performed a one-off New Year's Eve millennium concert, the last official Bay City Rollers concert (1999–2000) in the shadow of Edinburgh Castle in Scotland. Interest was rekindled in the UK by various television documentaries about the group; and the television-advertised compilation "Very Best of the Bay City Rollers" entered the UK Albums Chart on release in 2004 at No. 11.


title: Bay City Rollers

text: During the late 2000's, Ian Mitchell led his own Bay City Rollers band, which included lead vocalist Kyle Vincent, but this should not be considered an official Bay City Rollers reunion because Mitchell was the only ex-Roller involved.


title: Bay City Rollers

text: On 22 September 2015, the Bay City Rollers, including McKeown, Wood, and Alan Longmuir, announced they were reforming and would play a show at the Glasgow Barrowlands on 20 December. Eric Faulkner was unable to contribute because of health concerns, almost dying in February 2015 after contracting viral encephalitis. The band released one new single, "Boomerang", and discussed plans for a new album. The reunion continued into 2016 before Wood ended the reunited line-up on 9 July 2016 because no shows were being booked for the so-called reunion. After the 2015 Christmas shows Les was booking shows only for himself and his band during 2016 (Except T In The Park) which caused the reunion to end. Plans for a new album and various tours that were hoped to take place in 2017 never materialised. Prior to the reunion and after the end of the tour, McKeown continued to tour as "Les McKeown's Bay City Rollers".


title: Bay City Rollers

text: On 27 February 2018, Wood announced that the new Bay City Rollers would be performing in Tokyo, Japan in June of the same year. The band comprises Wood on guitar, Ian Thomson on lead vocals and guitar, Marcus Cordock on bass, and Jamie McGrory on drums.


title: Bay City Rollers

text: Bassist Alan Longmuir died on 2 July 2018 after falling ill while on holiday with his wife in Mexico. His autobiography "I Ran with the Gang: My Life in and Out of The Bay City Rollers" was published posthumously in November 2018; the book was written with Martin Knight. In his book, Alan Longmuir mentioned his hope for McKeown and Wood to put aside their differences and reunite one more time. In 2019, after rumors related to Alan Longmuir's wishes, both McKeown and Wood denied any chance of another reunion and did not want to work with each other, though McKeown did mention his desire to work with Faulkner.


title: Bay City Rollers

text: After both McKeown's and Wood's bands were sidelined by the coronavirus pandemic, McKeown mentioned in August 2020 that he would be willing to reunite with Wood again with more planning.


title: Bay City Rollers

text: In March 2007, six former members of the group (Faure plus the "classic line-up") announced a lawsuit against Arista Records in hopes of claiming what they described as "tens of millions of dollars" of unpaid royalties. Gordon "Nobby" Clark threatened to sue the other band members if their lawsuit was successful, stating that he was the creative force behind the band's success, even though he left the group in 1973, before the bulk of their fame and fortune began.


title: Bay City Rollers

text: In September 2010, Clark, Ian Mitchell and Pat McGlynn filed a complaint in the courts in the United States against the six members (Faure plus the "classic line-up") over being excluded from the case against Arista records. Clark, Mitchell and McGlynn were seeking to have their rights determined and were seeking financial damages against the other Bay City Rollers for alleged breach of contract. In 2013, a judge in the United States Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the three due to the statute of frauds, which establishes that certain agreements must be in writing under certain conditions, and the appellate judge's ruling stated: "A claim for unjust enrichment must be based on the value of plaintiffs' contribution to the joint effort of the band at the time it made the relevant records, not on the income stream resulting from a revival over thirty years later."


title: Bay City Rollers

text: In March 2011, a New York judge determined that the Bay City Rollers could move forward with their four-year-old lawsuit against Arista Records. Arista denied responsibility for the majority of the royalties, citing a New York statute of limitations. The statute limits plaintiffs from recovering damages post six years in contract disputes, which therefore would negate the Rollers' claims for royalties incurred before 2001. However, because Arista had continued to promise the Bay City Rollers their royalties in writing, the judge ruled that the statute was not applicable.


title: Bay City Rollers

text: After almost a decade, the legal battle came to an end with an out-of-court settlement in 2016. Arista Records' parent company Sony Music is believed to have paid $3.5 million, with each band member receiving £70,000.


title: Bay City Rollers

text: In later years, but before McKeown's death, there were usually at least two or three bands featuring one former BCR member touring as The Bay City Rollers or some variation of the name. These were most recently held by Wood and McKeown (before McKeown's death), and Wood's most recent band is still active and currently the only group touring as the Bay City Rollers.


title: British colonization of the Americas

text: The British colonization of the Americas was the history of establishment of control, settlement, and colonization of the continents of the Americas by England, Scotland and, after 1707, Great Britain. Colonization efforts began in the late 16th century with failed attempts by England to establish permanent colonies in the North. The first permanent English colony was established in Jamestown, Virginia in 1607. Approximately 30,000 Algonquian peoples lived in the region at the time. Over the next several centuries more colonies were established in North America, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. Though most British colonies in the Americas eventually gained independence, some colonies have opted to remain under Britain's jurisdiction as British Overseas Territories.


title: British colonization of the Americas

text: The first documented settlement of Europeans in the Americas was established by Norse people led by Leif Erikson around 1000 AD in what is now Newfoundland, called Vinland by the Norse. Later European exploration of North America resumed with Christopher Columbus's 1492 expedition sponsored by Spain. English exploration began almost a century later. Sir Walter Raleigh established the short-lived Roanoke Colony in 1585. The 1607 settlement of the Jamestown colony grew into the Colony of Virginia and "Virgineola" (settled unintentionally by the shipwreck of the Virginia Company's Sea Venture in 1609) quickly renamed "The Somers Isles" (though the older Spanish name of Bermuda has resisted replacement). In 1620, a group of Puritans established a second permanent colony on the coast of Massachusetts. Several other English colonies were established in North America during the 17th and 18th centuries. With the authorization of a royal charter, the Hudson's Bay Company established the territory of Rupert's Land in the Hudson Bay drainage basin. The English also established or conquered several colonies in the Caribbean, including Barbados and Jamaica.


title: British colonization of the Americas

text: England captured the Dutch colony of New Netherland in the Anglo-Dutch Wars of the mid-17th century, leaving North America divided amongst the English, Spanish, and French empires. After decades of warring with France, Britain took control of the French colony of Canada, as well as several Caribbean territories, in 1763. Many of the North American colonies gained independence from Britain through victory in the American Revolutionary War, which ended in 1783. Historians refer to the British Empire after 1783 as the "Second British Empire"; this period saw Britain increasingly focus on Asia and Africa instead of the Americas, and increasingly focus on the expansion of trade rather than territorial possessions. Nonetheless, Britain continued to colonize parts of the Americas in the 19th century, taking control of British Columbia and establishing the colonies of the Falkland Islands and British Honduras. Britain also gained control of several colonies, including Trinidad and British Guiana, following the 1815 defeat of France in the Napoleonic Wars.


title: British colonization of the Americas

text: In the mid-19th century, Britain began the process of granting self-government to its remaining colonies in North America. Most of these colonies joined the Confederation of Canada in the 1860s or 1870s, though Newfoundland would not join Canada until 1949. Canada gained full autonomy following the passage of the Statute of Westminster 1931, though it retained various ties to Britain and still recognizes the British monarch as head of state. Following the onset of the Cold War, most of the remaining British colonies in the Americas gained independence between 1962 and 1983. Many of the former British colonies are part of the Commonwealth of Nations, a political association chiefly consisting of former colonies of the British Empire.


title: British colonization of the Americas

text: Following the first voyage of Christopher Columbus in 1492, Spain and Portugal established colonies in the New World, beginning the European colonization of the Americas. France and England, the two other major powers of 15th-century Western Europe, employed explorers soon after the return of Columbus's first voyage. In 1497, King Henry VII of England dispatched an expedition led by John Cabot to explore the coast of North America, but the lack of precious metals or other riches discouraged both the Spanish and English from permanently settling in North America during the early 17th century.


title: British colonization of the Americas

text: Later explorers such as Martin Frobisher and Henry Hudson sailed to the New World in search of a Northwest Passage between the Atlantic Ocean and Asia, but were unable to find a viable route. Europeans established fisheries in the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, and traded metal, glass, and cloth for food and fur, beginning the North American fur trade. During mid-1585 Bernard Drake launched an expedition to Newfoundland which crippled the Spanish and Portuguese fishing fleets there from which they never recovered. This would have consequences in terms of English colonial expansion and settlement.


title: British colonization of the Americas

text: In the Caribbean Sea, English sailors defied Spanish trade restrictions and preyed on Spanish treasure ships. The English colonization of America had been based on the English colonization of Ireland, specifically the Munster Plantation, England's first colony, using the same tactics as the Plantations of Ireland. Many of the early colonists of North America had their start in colonizing Ireland, including a group known as the West Country Men. When Sir Walter Raleigh landed in Virginia, he compared the Native Americans to the wild Irish. Both Roanoke and Jamestown had been based on the Irish plantation model.


title: British colonization of the Americas

text: In the late sixteenth century, Protestant England became embroiled in a religious war with Catholic Spain. Seeking to weaken Spain's economic and military power, English privateers such as Francis Drake and Humphrey Gilbert harassed Spanish shipping. Gilbert proposed the colonization of North America on the Spanish model, with the goal of creating a profitable English empire that could also serve as a base for the privateers. After Gilbert's death, Walter Raleigh took up the cause of North American colonization, sponsoring an expedition of 500 men to Roanoke Island. In 1584, the colonists established the first permanent English colony in North America, but the colonists were poorly prepared for life in the New World, and by 1590, the colonists had disappeared.


title: British colonization of the Americas

text: There are a variety of theories as to what happened to the colonists there. The most popular theory is that the colonists left in search of a new area to settle in the Chesapeake, leaving stragglers to integrate with local Native American tribes. A separate colonization attempt in Newfoundland also failed. Despite the failure of these early colonies, the English remained interested in the colonization of North America for economic and military reasons.


title: British colonization of the Americas

text: In 1606, King James I of England granted charters to both the Plymouth Company and the London Company for the purpose of establishing permanent settlements in North America. In 1607, the London Company established a permanent colony at Jamestown on the Chesapeake Bay, but the Plymouth Company's Popham Colony proved short-lived. Approximately 30,000 Algonquian peoples lived in the region at the time. The colonists at Jamestown faced extreme adversity, and by 1617 there were only 351 survivors out of the 1700 colonists who had been transported to Jamestown. After the Virginians discovered the profitability of growing tobacco, the settlement's population boomed from 400 settlers in 1617 to 1240 settlers in 1622. The London Company was bankrupted in part due to frequent warring with nearby American Indians, leading the English crown to take direct control of the Colony of Virginia, as Jamestown and its surrounding environs became known.


title: British colonization of the Americas

text: In 1609, the Sea Venture, flagship of the English London Company, better known as the Virginia Company, bearing Admiral Sir George Somers and the new Lieutenant-Governor for Jamestown, Sir Thomas Gates, was deliberately driven onto the reef off the archipelago of Bermuda to prevent its foundering during a hurricane on the 25th of July. The 150 passengers and crew built two new ships, the "Deliverance" and "Patience" and most departed Bermuda again for Jamestown on 11 May 1610. Two men remained behind, and were joined by a third after the Patience returned again, then departed for England (it had been meant to return to Jamestown after gathering more food in Bermuda), ensuring that Bermuda remained settled, and in the possession of England and the London Company from 1609 to 1612, when more settlers and the first Lieutenant-Governor arrived from England following the extension of the Royal Charter of the London Company to officially add Bermuda to the territory of Virginia.