title: Sodium sulfate

text: With US pricing at $30 per tonne in 1970, up to $90 per tonne for salt cake quality, and $130 for better grades, sodium sulphate is a very cheap material. The largest use is as filler in powdered home laundry detergents, consuming approximately 50% of world production. This use is waning as domestic consumers are increasingly switching to compact or liquid detergents that do not include sodium sulfate.


title: Sodium sulfate

text: Another formerly major use for sodium sulfate, notably in the US and Canada, is in the Kraft process for the manufacture of wood pulp. Organics present in the "black liquor" from this process are burnt to produce heat, needed to drive the reduction of sodium sulfate to sodium sulfide. However, due to advances in the thermal efficiency of the Kraft recovery process in the early 1960s, more efficient sulfur recovery was achieved and the need for sodium sulfate makeup was drastically reduced. Hence, the use of sodium sulfate in the US and Canadian pulp industry declined from 1,400,000 tonnes per year in 1970 to only approx. 150,000 tonnes in 2006.


title: Sodium sulfate

text: The glass industry provides another significant application for sodium sulfate, as second largest application in Europe. Sodium sulfate is used as a fining agent, to help remove small air bubbles from molten glass. It fluxes the glass, and prevents scum formation of the glass melt during refining. The glass industry in Europe has been consuming from 1970 to 2006 a stable 110,000 tonnes annually.


title: Sodium sulfate

text: Sodium sulfate is important in the manufacture of textiles, particularly in Japan, where it is the largest application. Sodium sulfate is added to increase the ionic strength of the solution and so helps in "levelling", reducing negative electrical charges on textile fibres so that dyes can penetrate evenly (see the theory of the diffuse double layer (DDL) elaborated by Gouy and Chapman). Unlike the alternative sodium chloride, it does not corrode the stainless steel vessels used in dyeing. This application in Japan and US consumed in 2006 approximately 100,000 tonnes.


title: Sodium sulfate

text: The high heat storage capacity in the phase change from solid to liquid, and the advantageous phase change temperature of 32 °C (90 °F) makes this material especially appropriate for storing low grade solar heat for later release in space heating applications. In some applications the material is incorporated into thermal tiles that are placed in an attic space while in other applications the salt is incorporated into cells surrounded by solar–heated water. The phase change allows a substantial reduction in the mass of the material required for effective heat storage (the heat of fusion of sodium sulfate decahydrate is 82 kJ/mol or 252 kJ/kg), with the further advantage of a consistency of temperature as long as sufficient material in the appropriate phase is available.


title: Sodium sulfate

text: For cooling applications, a mixture with common sodium chloride salt (NaCl) lowers the melting point to 18 °C (64 °F). The heat of fusion of NaCl·NaSO·10HO, is actually "increased" slightly to 286 kJ/kg.


title: Sodium sulfate

text: In the laboratory, anhydrous sodium sulfate is widely used as an inert drying agent, for removing traces of water from organic solutions. It is more efficient, but slower-acting, than the similar agent magnesium sulfate. It is only effective below about 30 °C, but it can be used with a variety of materials since it is chemically fairly inert. Sodium sulfate is added to the solution until the crystals no longer clump together; the two video clips (see above) demonstrate how the crystals clump when still wet, but some crystals flow freely once a sample is dry.


title: Sodium sulfate

text: Glauber's salt, the decahydrate, is used as a laxative. It is effective for the removal of certain drugs such as paracetamol (acetaminophen) from the body, for example, after an overdose.


title: Sodium sulfate

text: In 1953, sodium sulfate was proposed for heat storage in passive solar heating systems. This takes advantage of its unusual solubility properties, and the high heat of crystallisation (78.2 kJ/mol).


title: Sodium sulfate

text: Other uses for sodium sulfate include de-frosting windows, starch manufacture, as an additive in carpet fresheners, and as an additive to cattle feed.


title: Sodium sulfate

text: At least one company, Thermaltake, makes a laptop computer chill mat (iXoft Notebook Cooler) using sodium sulfate decahydrate inside a quilted plastic pad. The material slowly turns to liquid and recirculates, equalizing laptop temperature and acting as an insulation.


title: Sodium sulfate

text: Although sodium sulfate is generally regarded as non-toxic, it should be handled with care. The dust can cause temporary asthma or eye irritation; this risk can be prevented by using eye protection and a paper mask. Transport is not limited, and no Risk Phrase or Safety Phrase applies.


title: Kanban (development)

text: Kanban (Japanese: , meaning signboard or billboard) is a lean method to manage and improve work across human systems. This approach aims to manage work by balancing demands with available capacity, and by improving the handling of system-level bottlenecks.


title: Kanban (development)

text: Work items are visualized to give participants a view of progress and process, from start to finish—usually via a kanban board. Work is pulled as capacity permits, rather than work being pushed into the process when requested.


title: Kanban (development)

text: In knowledge work and in software development, the aim is to provide a visual process management system which aids decision-making about what, when, and how much to produce. The underlying kanban method originated in lean manufacturing, which was inspired by the Toyota Production System. It has its origin in the late 1940s when the Toyota automotive company implemented a production system called just-in-time; which had the objective of producing according to customer demand and identifying possible material shortages within the production line. But it was Microsoft engineer David J. Anderson who realized how this method devised by Toyota could become a process applicable to any type of organizational process. Kanban is commonly used in software development in combination with other methods and frameworks such as Scrum.


title: Kanban (development)

text: David Anderson's 2010 book, "Kanban", describes an evolution of the approach from a 2004 project at Microsoft using a theory-of-constraints approach and incorporating a drum-buffer-rope (comparable to the kanban pull system), to a 2006–2007 project at Corbis in which the kanban method was identified. In 2009, Don Reinertsen published a book on second-generation lean product-development which describes the adoption of the kanban system and the use of data collection and an economic model for management decision-making. Another early contribution came from Corey Ladas, whose 2008 book "Scrumban" suggested that kanban could improve scrum for software development. Ladas saw scrumban as the transition from scrum to kanban. Jim Benson and Tonianne DeMaria Barry published "Personal Kanban", applying kanban to individuals and small teams, in 2011. In "Kanban from the Inside" (2014), Mike Burrows explained kanban's principles, practices and underlying values and related them to earlier theories and models. In "Agile Project Management with Kanban" (2015), Eric Brechner provides an overview of kanban in practice at Microsoft and Xbox. "Kanban Change Leadership" (2015), by Klaus Leopold and Siegfried Kaltenecker, explained the method from the perspective of change management and provided guidance to change-initiatives. In 2016 Lean Kanban University Press published a condensed guide to the method, incorporating improvements and extensions from the early kanban projects.


title: Kanban (development)

text: Kanban boards, designed for the context in which they are used, vary considerably and may show work item types ("features" and "user stories" here), columns delineating workflow activities, explicit policies, and swimlanes (rows crossing several columns, used for grouping user stories by feature here). The aim is to make the general workflow and the progress of individual items clear to participants and stakeholders.


title: Kanban (development)

text: As described in books on kanban for software development, the two primary practices of kanban are to visualize work and limit work in progress (WIP). Four additional general practices of kanban listed in "Essential Kanban Condensed" are to make policies explicit, manage flow, implement feedback loops, and improve collaboratively.


title: Kanban (development)

text: Kanban manages workflow directly on the kanban board. The WIP limits for development steps provide development teams immediate feedback on common workflow issues.


title: Kanban (development)

text: For example, on the kanban board shown above, the "deployment" step has a WIP limit of five and there are currently five epics shown in that step. No more work items can move into deployment until one or more epics complete that step (moving to "delivered"). This prevents the "deployment" step from being overwhelmed. Team members working on "feature acceptance" (the previous step) might get stuck because they can't deploy new epics. They can see why immediately on the board and help with the current epic deployments.


title: Kanban (development)

text: Once the five epics in the "deployment" step are delivered, the two epics from the "ready" sub-column of "feature acceptance" (the previous step) can be moved to the "deployment" column. When those two epics are delivered, no other epics can be deployed (assuming no new epics are ready). Now, team members working on deployment are stuck. They can see why immediately and help with feature acceptance.


title: Kanban (development)

text: This workflow control works similarly for every step. Problems are visual and evident immediately, and re-planning can be done continuously. The work management is made possible by limiting work in progress in a way team members can see and track at all times.


title: Kanban (development)

text: Team velocity defines how many tasks a team can deliver in a given period of time, for example a week or iteration. Velocity is calculated periodically and to help with accuracy of the calculated velocity, teams aim to create tasks that are similar in size. Knowing team velocity helps better predict when a project is going to end.


title: Kanban (development)

text: Lead and cycle time defines the average time it takes to complete a task. Lead time is calculated since the team gets a request from the client and cycle time is calculated since the team starts working on a task. Lead time is used to understand how long a client has to wait for their product and cycle time is used to understand how fast the team produces a product.


title: Kanban (development)

text: Actionable agile metrics use cycle time to better predict when each project item is going to be finished. Created by Daniel S. Vacanti in 2015, actionable Agile metrics measure how much time it took to finish 50%, 85% and 95% of the tasks. This information can be used to help the team better predict and control task delivery dates.


title: Human reproduction

text: Human reproduction is sexual reproduction that results in human fertilization to produce a human offspring. It typically involves sexual intercourse between a sexually mature human male and female. During sexual intercourse, the interaction between the male and female reproductive systems results in fertilization of the ovum by the sperm to form a zygote. These specialized reproductive cells are called gametes, which are created in a process called gametogenesis. While normal cells contain 46 chromosomes (23 pairs), gamete cells only contain 23 single chromosomes, and it is when these two cells merge into one zygote cell that genetic recombination occurs and the new zygote contains 23 chromosomes from each parent, giving it 46 chromosomes (23 pairs). The zygote then undergoes a defined development process that is known as human embryogenesis, and this starts the typical 9-month gestation period that is followed by childbirth. The fertilization of the ovum may be achieved by artificial insemination methods, which do not involve sexual intercourse. Assisted reproductive technology also exists.


title: Human reproduction

text: In order for human reproduction to be achieved, an individual must have undergone puberty first, requiring ovulation in females and the spermarche in males to have occurred prior to engaging in sexual intercourse or achieving pregnancy through non-penetrative means. Before puberty, humans are infertile, as their genitals lack reproductive function (only being able to discharge urine).


title: Human reproduction

text: Legal factors also play a vital role in the achievement of human reproduction: a minor under the age of consent cannot give legal consent to sexual intercourse or artificial alternatives to reproduction, the former case of which is liable to have the older party charged with statutory rape, depending on jurisdictions. Even for minors above the age of consent, comprehensive sex education advises both consenting parties to use contraception to avoid both sexually transmitted diseases and early, unplanned/unwanted pregnancies. Pregnancy in girls under the age of 15 is especially discouraged due to their reproductive systems having yet to reach full maturity.


title: Human reproduction

text: The male reproductive system contains two main divisions: the testes where sperm are produced, and the penis which discharges the sperm as semen (this is known as an ejaculation). In humans, both of these organs are outside the abdominal cavity. Having the testes outside the abdomen facilitates temperature regulation of the sperm, which require specific temperatures to survive about 2-3 °C less than the normal body temperature i.e. 37 °C. In particular, the extraperitoneal location of the testes may result in a 2-fold reduction in the heat-induced contribution to the spontaneous mutation rate in male germinal tissues compared to tissues at 37 °C. If the testicles remain too close to the body, it is likely that the increase in temperature will harm the spermatozoa formation, making conception more difficult. This is why the testes are carried in an external scrotum rather than within the abdomen; they normally remain slightly cooler than body temperature, facilitating sperm production.


title: Human reproduction

text: The female reproductive system likewise contains two main divisions: the external genitalia and the internal genitalia.


title: Human reproduction

text: The ovum meets with the sperm cell: a sperm may penetrate and merge with the egg, fertilizing it with the help of certain hydrolytic enzymes present in the acrosome. The fertilization usually occurs in the oviducts, but can happen in the uterus itself. The zygote then becomes implanted in the lining of the uterus, where it begins the processes of embryogenesis and morphogenesis. When the fetus is developed enough to survive outside of the uterus, the cervix dilates and contractions of the uterus propel it through the birth canal, which is the vagina, and thereby gives external life to the newborn infant. This process is called childbirth.


title: Human reproduction

text: The ova, which are the female sex cells, are much larger than the spermatozoon and are normally formed within the ovaries of the female fetus before birth. They are mostly fixed in location within the ovary until their transit to the uterus, and contain nutrients for the later zygote and embryo. Over a regular interval known as the menstrual cycle, in response to hormonal signals, a process of oogenesis matures one ovum which is released and sent down the Fallopian tube. If not fertilized, this egg is flushed out of the system through menstruation.


title: Human reproduction

text: Human reproduction normally begins with copulation, though it may be achieved through artificial insemination, and is followed by nine months of pregnancy before childbirth. Pregnancy can be avoided with the use of contraceptives such as condoms and intrauterine devices.


title: Human reproduction

text: Human reproduction naturally takes place as internal fertilization by sexual intercourse. During this process, the man inserts his erect penis into the woman's vagina and then either partner initiates rhythmic pelvic thrusts until the male ejaculates semen, which contains sperm, into the vaginal canal. The sperm and the ovum are known as the gametes (each containing half the genetic information of the parent, created through meiosis). The sperm (being one of approximately 250 million sperm in a typical ejaculation) travels through the vagina and cervix into the uterus or Fallopian tubes. Only 1 in 14 million of the ejaculated sperm will reach the Fallopian tube. The egg simultaneously moves through the Fallopian tube away from the ovary. One of the sperm encounters, penetrates and fertilizes the ovum, creating a zygote. Upon fertilization and implantation, gestation of the fetus then occurs within the uterus.


title: Human reproduction

text: Pregnancy rates for sexual intercourse are highest during the menstrual cycle time from some 5 days before until 1 to 2 days after ovulation. For optimal pregnancy chance, there are recommendations of sexual intercourse every 1 or 2 days, or every 2 or 3 days. Studies have shown no significant difference between different sex positions and pregnancy rate, as long as it results in ejaculation into the vagina.


title: Human reproduction

text: As an alternative to natural sexual intercourse, there exists artificial insemination, where sperm is introduced into the female reproductive system without the insertion of the penis. There are also many methods of assisted reproductive technology, such as in vitro fertilization, where one or more egg cells are retrieved from a woman's ovaries and co-incubated with sperm outside the body. The resulting embryo can then be reinserted into the womb of the woman.


title: Human reproduction

text: Pregnancy is the period of time during which the fetus develops, dividing via mitosis inside the uterus. During this time, the fetus receives all of its nutrition and oxygenated blood from the mother, filtered through the placenta, which is attached to the fetus' abdomenvia an umbilical cord. This drain of nutrients can be quite taxing on the mother, who is required to ingest slightly higher levels of calories. In addition, certain vitamins and other nutrients are required in greater quantities than normal, often creating abnormal eating habits. Gestation period is about 266 days in humans. While in the uterus, the baby first endures a very brief zygote stage, then the embryonic stage, which is marked by the development of major organs and lasts for approximately eight weeks, then the fetal stage, which revolves around the development of bone cells while the fetus continues to grow in size. It is estimated that about 3-5% of couples are infertile and the fecunditity of couples is around 30% for each menstrual cycle.


title: Human reproduction

text: Labor is separated into 4 stages. The first stage involves latent phase and active phase separated by the dilation of the cervix for 6 to 10 cm. The second stage is the pushing stage. The third stage involves the delivery of the placenta. And the last stage is the contraction of the uterus. Once the fetus is sufficiently developed, chemical signals begin the process of birth, which begins with the fetus being pushed out of the birthing canal. The newborn, which is called an infant in humans, should typically begin respiration on its own shortly after birth. Not long after, the placenta eventually falls off on its own. The person assisting the birth may also sever the umbilical cord.


title: Human reproduction

text: While most ancient human societies believed that sexual intercourse was necessary for reproduction, the reasons some sex did not result in children, and the mechanism by which mating produced children were not understood. The theory of preformationism was popular in Ancient Greece and Christendom for centuries. Because they are too small to see with the naked eye, it was only after his invention of the microscope that Antonie van Leeuwenhoek discovered spermatozoa in 1677. Mitosis and meiosis were not discovered until the late 1800s.


title: A-side and B-side

text: The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company intends to be the initial focus of promotional efforts and radio airplay and hopefully become a hit record. The B-side (or "flip-side") is a secondary recording that typically receives less attention, although some B-sides have been as successful as, or more so than, their A-sides.


title: A-side and B-side

text: Use of this language has largely declined in the 21st century as the music industry has transitioned away from analog recordings towards digital formats without physical sides, such as CDs, downloads and streaming. Nevertheless, some artists and labels continue to employ the terms "A-side" and "B-side" metaphorically to describe the type of content a particular release features, with "B-side" sometimes representing a "bonus" track or other material. The term B-side carries a more expansive definition in the K-pop industry, referring to all tracks on an album that are not marketed as title tracks.


title: A-side and B-side

text: Conventions shifted in the early 1960s, at which point record companies started assigning the song they wanted radio stations to play to side A, as 45 rpm single records ("45s") dominated most markets in terms of cash sales in comparison to albums, which did not fare as well financially. Throughout the decade the industry would slowly shift to an album-driven paradigm for releasing new music; it was not until 1968 that the total production of albums on a unit basis finally surpassed that of singles in the United Kingdom.


title: A-side and B-side

text: A "double A-side", "AA-side", or "Dual single" is a single where both sides are designated the A-side, with no designated B-side; that is, both sides are prospective hit songs and neither side will be promoted over the other. In 1949, Savoy Records promoted a new single by one of its artists, Paul Williams' "House Rocker" and "He Knows How to Hucklebuck", as "The New Double Side Hit – Both Sides "A" Sides". In 1965, "Billboard" reported that due to a disagreement between EMI and John Lennon about which side of the Beatles' "We Can Work It Out" and "Day Tripper" single should be considered the A-side and receive the plugging, "EMI settled for a double-side promotion campaign—unique in Britain."


title: A-side and B-side

text: In the UK, before the advent of digital downloads, both A-sides were accredited with the same chart position, for the singles chart was compiled entirely from physical sales. In the UK, the biggest-selling non-charity single of all time was a double A-side, Wings' 1977 release "Mull of Kintyre"/"Girls' School", which sold over two million copies. It was also the UK Christmas No. 1 that year, one of only four occasions on which a double A-side has topped that chart, the others being Queen's 1991 re-release of "Bohemian Rhapsody" with "These Are the Days of Our Lives", Westlife's 1999 release "I Have a Dream"/"Seasons in the Sun", and The Beatles' aforementioned "Day Tripper"/"We Can Work It Out" in 1965. Nirvana released "All Apologies" and "Rape Me" as a double A-side in 1993, and both songs are accredited as a hit on both the UK Singles Chart, and the Irish Singles Chart.


title: A-side and B-side

text: Artists having the most US double-sided singles on which each side reached the Billboard Top 40, according to "Billboard":


title: A-side and B-side

text: The term "b/w", an abbreviation of "backed with", is often used in listings to indicate the B-side of a record. The term "c/w", for "coupled with", is used similarly.


title: Official Secrets (film)

text: Official Secrets is a 2019 British drama film based on the case of whistleblower Katharine Gun, who leaked a memo exposing an illegal spying operation by American and British intelligence services to gauge sentiment of and potentially blackmail United Nations diplomats tasked to vote on a resolution regarding the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The film is directed by Gavin Hood, and Gun is portrayed by Keira Knightley. The film also stars Matt Smith, Matthew Goode, Adam Bakri, Indira Varma and Ralph Fiennes.


title: Official Secrets (film)

text: The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on 28 January 2019 and was released in the United States on 30 August 2019, by IFC Films, and in the United Kingdom on 18 October 2019, by Entertainment One.


title: Official Secrets (film)

text: In early 2003, GCHQ analyst Katharine Gun obtains a memo detailing a joint United States and British operation to spy on diplomats from several non–permanent United Nations Security Council member states Cameroon, Chile, Bulgaria and Guinea in order to "dig dirt" on them and influence the Security Council into passing a resolution supporting an invasion of Iraq. Angered that the United Kingdom is being led into a war on false pretences, Katharine leaks the memo to a friend involved in the anti-war movement, who passes it to anti-war activist Yvonne Ridley, who in turn passes it to "The Observer" journalist Martin Bright.


title: Official Secrets (film)

text: "The Observer" foreign editor Peter Beaumont allows Martin to investigate the story in the interest of journalism. To verify the authenticity of the leaked memo, Martin enlists the help of the Observer's Washington, DC correspondent Ed Vulliamy in contacting the memo's author Frank Koza, the Chief of Staff at the "regional targets" section of the National Security Agency. Despite the "Observer" pro-war stance, Peter convinces the newspaper’s editor Roger Alton that the leaked memo is worth publishing.


title: Official Secrets (film)

text: The publication of the leaked memo in March 2003 generates considerable public and media interest. The Drudge Report attempts to discredit the document as a fake after a young staffer named Nicole Mowbray inadvertently changed the text from American to British English using spell check. However, Martin is able to produce the original memo, confirming its authenticity. Katharine's actions prompt GCHQ to launch an internal investigation. Seeking to prevent the US and UK invasion of Iraq, and to protect her fellow GCHQ colleagues from prolonged suspicion, Katharine confesses to leaking the memo. She is arrested and detained for a night before being released on remand.


title: Official Secrets (film)

text: Following the outbreak of the Iraq War, Katharine seeks the services of the Liberty lawyers Ben Emmerson and Shami Chakrabarti. The British Government decides to charge her with violating the Official Secrets Act, tasking Director of Public Prosecutions Ken Macdonald with leading the prosecution. To exert pressure on her, the British authorities attempt to deport her husband Yasar Gun, a Turkish Kurd. However, Katharine is able to halt the deportation by presenting a marriage certificate proving the authenticity of her relationship.


title: Official Secrets (film)

text: Ben comes up with the defence strategy that Katharine was acting out of loyalty to her country by seeking to prevent the UK from being led into an unlawful war in Iraq. With the help of Martin, Ed, and former Foreign Office deputy legal adviser Elizabeth Wilmshurst, Ben discovers that the Attorney General Peter Goldsmith changed his position on the legality of the Iraq War after meeting with several lawyers from the Bush Administration. Despite the odds stacked against them, Katharine refuses to plead guilty in exchange for a reduced charge.


title: Official Secrets (film)

text: On the day of the trial, the Crown prosecutor drops all charges against Katharine. Ben suggests to the court that this is because prosecuting her would have shown that the Blair government led the UK into war on false pretences. The film then mentions the human toll of the Iraq War and that Lord Goldsmith's advice on the illegality of the Iraq War was made public in 2010. The film ends with footage of Katharine addressing the media following the dismissal of her case and Ben shunning Ken for putting Katharine through the ordeal "to make an example of her".


title: Official Secrets (film)

text: Sara and Gregory Bernstein had written a script already in 2008. Eventually it found itself on The Black List, a list of "most liked" screenplays that have not yet been produced, where director Debs Paterson saw it. Still, nothing came of it until January 2016, when a filming start in May was announced, with Harrison Ford, Anthony Hopkins, Paul Bettany, Natalie Dormer and Martin Freeman cast. Tahar Rahim and Gillian Anderson were cast during the 2016 Berlin International Film Festival. However by June 2017, filming had yet to begin, and cast member Anderson stated she had not heard anything about the project since being cast.


title: Official Secrets (film)

text: By January 2018, the project was redeveloped once more, with Gavin Hood now set to direct in place of Justin Chadwick, and Keira Knightley and Matt Smith cast in February, replacing the previous cast. In March, Ralph Fiennes and Matthew Goode joined the cast, with filming beginning on 12 March 2018 in Yorkshire. Filming took place in the village of Boston Spa on 14 March. Indira Varma, Conleth Hill and Tamsin Greig joined the cast the next day. Filming had moved to Manchester by 19 March, serving as a stand-in for London. Filming was undertaken in April 2018 in Liverpool's St George's Hall.


title: Official Secrets (film)

text: The beach scenes for the character played by Ralph Fiennes is at Thurstaston beach on the Dee Estuary of Wirral peninsula and prominently shows the cottage known locally as Sally's Cottage.


title: Official Secrets (film)

text: The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on 28 January 2019. Shortly after, IFC Films acquired US distribution rights to the film. It was released in the United States on 30 August 2019. It was previously scheduled to be released on 23 August 2019. and in the United Kingdom on 18 October 2019.


title: Official Secrets (film)

text: On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The website's critics consensus reads, ""Official Secrets" has a familiar structure and an obvious if worthy message, but rises on the strength of Keira Knightley's powerful performance." On Metacritic, the film holds 63 out of a 100 based on 28 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".


title: Official Secrets (film)

text: In an article about the film and Katharine Gun, Sam Husseini wrote that "having followed this story from the start, I find this film to be, by Hollywood standards, a remarkably accurate account of what has happened to date—'to date' because the wider story still isn’t really over".


title: Gigli

text: Gigli ( ) is a 2003 American romantic comedy crime film written and directed by Martin Brest and starring Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez, Justin Bartha, Al Pacino, Christopher Walken, and Lainie Kazan.


title: Gigli

text: Despite popular media giving attention and interest to the film during production (primarily because stars Affleck and Lopez were romantically involved at the time), "Gigli" was heavily panned, and, in the years since release, it has been considered one of the worst films of all time. It was also one of the most expensive box-office bombs in history, grossing $7.2 million against a $75.6 million budget. To date, it is the most recent film Brest directed.


title: Gigli

text: Larry Gigli is a low-ranking Los Angeles mobster who is not nearly as tough as he likes to act. Louis, a higher-ranking member of Gigli's organization, commands him to kidnap the mentally challenged younger brother of a powerful federal prosecutor to use as a bargaining chip to save New York-based mob boss Starkman from prison.


title: Gigli

text: Gigli successfully convinces the young man, Brian, to go off with him by promising to take him "to the Baywatch", apparently a reference to the television show of that name, which seems to be Brian's singular obsession. Louis does not trust Gigli to get the job done right, so he hires a woman calling herself Ricki to take charge.


title: Gigli

text: Gigli is attracted to Ricki, but he resents both Louis' lack of faith in him and having to take orders from a woman. He is also frustrated by Brian's insistence on going to "the Baywatch" and by the fact that Ricki is a lesbian. A suspicious detective comes to the apartment to question Gigli in reference to Brian's disappearance. He is further annoyed when his mother immediately bonds with Ricki and they team up to needle him.


title: Gigli

text: Events take a darker turn when Gigli and Ricki receive orders to cut off Brian's thumb, something neither wants to do. Worse, her ex-girlfriend, Robin, shows up at the apartment, accusing Ricki of changing sexual orientation. Robin attempts suicide by self-mutilation and is rushed to the hospital, where she survives. There, Gigli sneaks into the morgue and cuts off a corpse's thumb, which he sends to the prosecutor as Brian's. Gigli and Ricki go back to his apartment, where he confesses his love and they sleep together.


title: Gigli

text: They are summoned to meet with the mob boss. Starkman reveals that he did not approve of the plan to kidnap a federal prosecutor's brother or cut off Brian's thumb. He nevertheless rages at them because it didn't match Brian's fingerprint, and therefore not only failed to increase pressure on the prosecutor but even undermined their credibility.


title: Gigli

text: Starkman then kills Louis, in retaliation for the kidnapping and associated scrutiny by law enforcement. He is about to kill Ricki and Gigli, but she talks him out of it. She points out that only they know where Brian is and only they can silence and prevent him from revealing Starkman's organization's involvement in the kidnapping.


title: Gigli

text: They leave Starkman's, decide to leave the mob, and discuss taking Brian back to where they found him. On the way, they discover a "Baywatch"-like music video filming on the beach. Brian begs to be let off there and finally, they consent.


title: Gigli

text: Gigli convinces Ricki to take his car to escape to parts unknown; but at the last minute, she returns to pick him up, and they leave town together.


title: Gigli

text: Halle Berry was invited as the female lead before dropping due to scheduling conflicts with "X2", being replaced with Jennifer Lopez, who signed in late 2001 for a reported $12 million.


title: Gigli

text: Gigli began shooting in Los Angeles on December 10, 2001. The original ending featured Gigli being killed, but after negative response to a test screening, the ending was re-shot and re-edited.


title: Gigli

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, "Gigli" has an approval rating of 6% based on 187 reviews with an average rating of 3.10/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Bizarre and clumsily plotted, "Gigli" is a mess. As for its stars, Affleck and Lopez lack chemistry." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 18 out of 100 based on 37 critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "D−" on an A+ to F scale.


title: Gigli

text: On "Ebert and Roeper", critics Roger Ebert and Richard Roeper both gave the film thumbs down, although Ebert showed some sympathy towards the film, stating it had "clever dialogue", but was "...too disorganized for me to recommend it". Roeper called the film "a disaster" and "one of the worst movies I've ever seen". He then included "Gigli" on his 100 worst films of the decade at #7.


title: Gigli

text: Ebert and James Berardinelli were two of the very few major critics to not write it off completely. Ebert gave the film two and a half stars out of four and made the balanced observation that "the movie tries to do something different, thoughtful, and a little daring with their relationship, and although it doesn’t quite work, maybe the movie is worth seeing for some scenes that are really very good." He also considered Lopez and Affleck "appealing in their performances" and that they "have chemistry" together. Berardinelli gave it two stars, saying, "This isn't a good film, but, when set alongside the likes of "" and "", Jen & Ben offer less pain."


title: Gigli

text: Joel Siegel of "Good Morning America" awarded the film with a "D" rating and stated in his review "To qualify as a historic failure, a film needs a measure of pretension and all "Gigli" ever wanted to be was a romantic comedy. What it is is a dreadful romantic comedy."


title: Gigli

text: "Entertainment Weekly"s Owen Gleiberman gave the film a "C+", stating "A watchable bad movie, but it's far from your typical cookie-cutter blockbuster. There are no shoot-outs or car chases, and there isn't much romantic suspense, either."


title: Gigli

text: One of the few positive reviews came from Amy Dawes of "Variety", who wrote that the story was ludicrous and that the film would tank, but that on balance she found it a fun film with several good performances.


title: Gigli

text: In recent years, the movie has increasingly been re-evaluated by critics. For example, Jason Bailey in a piece for the "Guardian", notes that "in the 21st century, the mixed review has become an endangered species – most readers look for the Rotten Tomatoes rating and pull-quote, and little beyond that. Everything is the absolute holy-shit best or the godawful worst of all time, and there’s nothing in between. Gigli is in between."


title: Gigli

text: "Gigli" grossed $3,753,518 in its opening weekend from 2,215 theaters averaging $1,694 per theater and ranking #8 at the box office. The negative response led the studio to pull the advertisement for the film and replace them with another of their releases, "Bad Boys II". The film set a record to date (2003) for the biggest second-weekend drop in box office gross of any film in wide release since that statistic was kept; it dropped by 81.9% in its second weekend compared to its first, grossing $678,640. By its third weekend in release, only 73 US theaters were showing it, a 97% drop from its first weekend. The film ultimately earned $6,087,542 domestically and $1,178,667 internationally for a total of $7,266,209 on a $75.6 million production budget.


title: Gigli

text: After its third week it was withdrawn, one of the shortest circulation times for a big-budget film. In the United Kingdom, the film was dropped by virtually every cinema after critics panned it. "Gigli" was stated to be a major part in Sony Pictures losing $42 million in the quarter of its release, even though the studio had the successful "Bad Boys II" and "S.W.A.T." during the same period. The worldwide gross of $7.7 million against a $75.6 million budget made "Gigli" one of the most expensive box office flops of all time.


title: Gigli

text: Its title was named by the Global Language Monitor as one of the top words from Hollywood having an impact on the English language in 2003. Late night talk show hosts in particular lampooned the film in their monologues; Conan O'Brien said "The Mets are doing so badly that they will be renamed 'The New York Gigli.'"


title: Gigli

text: Yahoo! Movies rates "Gigli" number one on their "Bottom Rated Movies of All Time", with a critics' rating of D−. "The Onion", a satirical newspaper, ran an article about the film, titled ""Gigli" focus groups demand new ending in which Affleck and Lopez die."


title: Gigli

text: "Weird Al" Yankovic's song "Virus Alert" from the album "Straight Outta Lynwood" includes the line "make your TV record "Gigli"" as one of the negative effects of the titular virus.


title: Gigli

text: In May 2015, "The Hollywood Reporter" named "Gigli" #25 on its list of "50 Worst Movie Titles of All Time".


title: Gigli

text: In a 2013 episode of "Saturday Night Live", Fred Armisen plays Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad performing as Affleck in a movie parodying the creation of "Argo" while Affleck is a member of the filming crew. When asked why he would appear in this film, he responded "I wanted to make a film worse than Gigli".


title: Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia

text: Elizabeth Stuart (19 August 159613 February 1662) was Electress of the Palatinate and briefly Queen of Bohemia as the wife of Frederick V of the Palatinate. Since her husband's reign in Bohemia lasted for just one winter, she is called the Winter Queen.


title: Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia

text: Elizabeth was the second child and eldest daughter of James VI and I, King of Scotland, England, and Ireland, and his wife, Anne of Denmark. With the demise of Anne, Queen of Great Britain, the last Stuart monarch in 1714, Elizabeth's grandson by her daughter Sophia of Hanover succeeded to the British throne as George I, initiating the House of Hanover.


title: Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia

text: Elizabeth was born at Dunfermline Palace, Fife, on 19 August 1596 at 2 o'clock in the morning. King James rode to the bedside from Callendar, where he was attending the wedding of the Earl of Orkney. At the time of her birth, her father was King of Scotland, but not yet King of England. Named in honour of Elizabeth I of England, her godmother, the young Elizabeth was christened on 28 November 1596 in the Chapel Royal at Holyroodhouse, and was then proclaimed by the heralds as "Lady Elizabeth". During her early life in Scotland, Elizabeth was brought up at Linlithgow Palace, where she was placed in the care of Lord Livingstone and his wife, Eleanor Hay. A couple of years later the king's second daughter, Margaret, was placed in their care as well. Elizabeth "did not pay particular attention to this younger sister", as even at this young age her affections were with her brother, Henry.


title: Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia

text: When Queen Elizabeth I of England died in 1603, Elizabeth Stuart's father, James, succeeded as King of England and Ireland. The Countess of Kildare was appointed the princess's governess. Along with her elder brother, Henry, Elizabeth made the journey southward to England with her mother "in a triumphal progress of perpetual entertainment". On her father's birthday, 19 June, Elizabeth danced at Worksop Manor with Robert Cecil's son.


title: Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia

text: Elizabeth remained at court for a few weeks, but "there is no evidence that she was present at her parents' coronation" on 25 July 1603. It seems likely that by this time the royal children already had been removed to Oatlands, an old Tudor hunting lodge near Weybridge. There was plague in London, and Prince Henry and Princess Elizabeth were moved to Winchester. Anne of Denmark produced a masque to welcome them. On 19 October 1603 "an order was issued under the privy seal announcing that the King had thought fit to commit the keeping and education of the Lady Elizabeth to the Lord Harrington and his wife".


title: Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia

text: Under the care of Lord and Lady Harington at Coombe Abbey, Elizabeth met Anne Dudley, with whom she was to strike up a lifelong friendship. On 3 April 1604 Princess Elizabeth and her ladies rode from Coombe Abbey to Coventry. The Mayor and Aldermen met her at "Jabet's Ash on Stoke-green". She heard a sermon in St Michael's Church and dined in St Mary's Hall.


title: Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia

text: Part of the intent of the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 was to assassinate Elizabeth's father King James and the Protestant aristocracy, kidnap the nine-year-old Elizabeth from Coombe Abbey, and place her on the throne of England – and presumably the thrones of Ireland and Scotland – as a Catholic monarch. The conspirators chose Elizabeth after considering the other available options. Prince Henry, it was believed, would perish alongside his father. Charles was seen as too feeble (having only just learnt to walk) and Mary too young. Elizabeth, on the other hand, had already attended formal functions, and the conspirators knew that "she could fulfil a ceremonial role despite her comparative youth".


title: Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia

text: The conspirators aimed to cause an uprising in the Midlands to coincide with the explosion in London and at this point secure Elizabeth's accession as a puppet queen. She would then be brought up as a Catholic and later married to a Catholic bridegroom. The plot failed when the conspirators were betrayed, and Guy Fawkes was caught by the King's soldiers before he was able to ignite the powder.


title: Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia

text: Elizabeth was given a comprehensive education for a princess at that time. This education included instruction in natural history, geography, theology, languages, writing, music, and dancing. She was denied instruction in the classics as her father believed that "Latin had the unfortunate effect of making women more cunning". By the age of 12, Elizabeth was fluent in several languages, including French, "which she spoke with ease and grace" and would later use to converse with her husband. She also was an excellent rider, had a thorough understanding of the Protestant religion, and had an aptitude for writing letters that "sounded sincere and never stilted". She also was extremely literary, and "several mementoes of her early love of books exist".


title: Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia

text: As the daughter of a reigning monarch, the hand of the young Elizabeth was seen as a very desirable prize. Suitors came from across the continent and were many and varied. They included:


title: Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia

text: Each suitor brought to the proposed marriage the prospect of power and greatness for the young Elizabeth.


title: Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia

text: Marriage would cost Elizabeth her father and her father's kingdom. When James had succeeded to the English throne in 1603, England had acquired a new role in European affairs. Unlike the childless Elizabeth I, James, by simply "having children, could play an important role in dynastic politics". The selection of Elizabeth's spouse, therefore, had little to do with her personal preference and a great deal to do with the benefits the match could bring.


title: Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia

text: Most of her suitors were rejected quickly for a variety of reasons. Some simply were not of high enough birth, had no real prospects to offer, or in the case of Gustavus Adolphus, who on all other grounds seemed like a perfect match, because "his country was at war with Queen Anne's native Denmark". Furthermore, England could not face another religious revolution, and therefore the religious pre-requisite was paramount.


title: Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia

text: The man chosen was Frederick (Friedrich) V, Count Palatine of the Rhine. Frederick was of undeniably high lineage. His ancestors included the kings of Aragon and Sicily, the landgraves of Hesse, the dukes of Brabant and Saxony, and the counts of Nassau and Leuven. He and Elizabeth also shared a common ancestor in Henry II of England. He was "a senior Prince of the Empire" and a staunch defender of the Protestant faith.


title: Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia

text: Frederick arrived in England on 16 October 1612, and the match seemed to please them both from the beginning. Their contemporaries noted how Frederick seemed to "delight in nothing but her company and conversation". Frederick also struck up a friendship with Elizabeth's elder brother, Prince Henry, which delighted his prospective bride immensely. King James did not take into consideration the couple's happiness, but saw the match as "one step in a larger process of achieving domestic and European concord". The only person seemingly unhappy with the match was Queen Anne. As the daughter of a king, the sister of a king, the wife of a king, and the mother of a future king, she also desired to be the mother of a queen. She is said to have been somewhat fond of Frederick's mild manner and generous nature but simply felt that he was of low stock.


title: Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia

text: On 6 November 1612 Henry, Prince of Wales, died. His death took an emotional toll on Elizabeth, and her new position as second in line to the throne made her an even more desirable match. Queen Anne and those like-minded who had "always considered the Palsgrave to be an unworthy match for her, were emboldened in their opposition". Elizabeth stood by Frederick, whom her brother had approved, and whom she found to have the sentiments of a fine gentleman. Above all, he was "regarded as the future head of the Protestant interest in Germany".


title: Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia

text: The wedding took place on 14 February 1613 at the royal chapel at the Palace of Whitehall and was a grand occasion that saw more royalty than ever visit the court of England. The marriage was an enormously popular match and was the occasion for an outpouring of public affection with the ceremony described as "a wonder of ceremonial and magnificence even for that extravagant age".


title: Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia

text: It was celebrated with lavish and sophisticated festivities both in London and Heidelberg, including mass feasts and lavish furnishings that cost nearly £50,000, and nearly bankrupted King James. Among many celebratory writings of the events was John Donne's "Epithalamion, Or Marriage Song on the Lady Elizabeth, and Count Palatine being married on St Valentine's Day". A contemporary author viewed the whole marriage as a prestigious event that saw England "lend her rarest gem, to enrich the Rhine".


title: Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia

text: After almost a two-month stay in London for continued celebrations, the couple began their journey to join the Electoral court in Heidelberg. The journey was filled with meeting people, sampling foods and wines, and being entertained by a wide variety of performers and companies. At each place the young couple stopped, Elizabeth was expected to distribute presents. The cash to allow her to do so was not readily available, so she had to use one of her own jewels as collateral so that the goldsmith Abraham Harderet would "provide her with suitable presents on credit".


title: Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia

text: Her arrival in Heidelberg was seen as "the crowning achievement of a policy which tried to give the Palatinate a central place in international politics" and was long anticipated and welcomed. Elizabeth's new husband transformed his seat at Heidelberg Castle, creating between 1610 and 1613 the "Englischer Bau" (i.e., English Building) for her, a monkey-house, a menagerie, and the beginnings of a new garden in the Italian Renaissance garden style popular in England at the time. The garden, the "Hortus Palatinus", was constructed by Elizabeth's former tutor, Salomon de Caus. It was dubbed the "Eighth Wonder of the World" by contemporaries.


title: Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia

text: Although Elizabeth and Frederick were considered to be genuinely in love and remained a romantic couple throughout the course of their marriage, problems already had begun to arise. Before the couple had left England, King James had made Frederick promise that Elizabeth "would take precedence over his mother ... and always be treated as if she were a Queen". This at times made life in the Palatinate uncomfortable for Elizabeth, as Frederick's mother Louise Juliana had "not expected to be demoted in favour of her young daughter-in-law" and, as such, their relationship was never more than cordial.


title: Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia

text: Elizabeth gave birth to three children in Heidelberg: Frederick Henry, Hereditary Prince of the Palatinate (sometimes called Henry Frederick) was born in 1614, Charles in 1617, and Elisabeth in 1619.


title: Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia

text: The Kingdom of Bohemia was "an aristocratic republic in all but name", whose nobles elected the monarch. It was one of the few successful pluralist states. The country had enjoyed a long period of religious freedom, but in March 1619, on the death of Emperor Matthias, this seemed about to change. The Habsburg heir, Archduke Ferdinand, crowned King of Bohemia in 1617, was a fervent Catholic who brutally persecuted Protestants in his Duchy of Styria. The Bohemian nobles had to choose between "either accepting Ferdinand as their king after all or taking the ultimate step of deposing him". They decided on deposition, and, when others declined because of the risks involved, the Bohemians "pandered to the elector's royalist pretensions" and extended the invitation to Elizabeth's husband.


title: Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia

text: Frederick, although doubtful, was persuaded to accept. Elizabeth "appealed to his honour as a prince and a cavalier, and to his humanity as a Christian", aligning herself with him completely. The family moved to Prague, where "the new King was received with genuine joy". Frederick was crowned officially in the St. Vitus Cathedral at the Prague Castle on 4 November 1619. The coronation of Elizabeth as Queen of Bohemia followed three days later.


title: Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia

text: The royal couple's third son, Prince Rupert, was born in Prague one month after the coronation. There was great popular rejoicing. Thus, Frederick's reign in Bohemia had begun well, but only lasted one year. The Bohemian crown "had always been a corner-stone of Habsburg policy" and the heir, Ferdinand, now Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II, would not yield. Frederick's reign ended with the defeat of Bohemian Protestant armies at the Battle of White Mountain (which ended the first phase of the Thirty Years' War) on 8 November 1620.


title: Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia

text: Elizabeth is remembered as the "Winter Queen", and Frederick as the "Winter King", in reference to the brevity of their reign, and to the season of the battle.


title: Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia

text: Fearing the worst, by the time of the defeat at the Battle of White Mountain, Elizabeth already had left Prague and was awaiting the birth of her fifth child at the Castle of Custrin, about from Berlin. It was there on 6 January 1621 that she "in an easy labour lasting little more than an hour" was delivered of a healthy son, Maurice.


title: Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia

text: The military defeat removed the prospect of returning to Prague, and the entire family was forced to flee. They could no longer return to the Palatinate as it was occupied by the Catholic league and a Spanish contingent. So, after an invitation from the Prince of Orange, they moved to The Hague.


title: Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia

text: Elizabeth arrived in The Hague in spring 1621 with only a small court. Elizabeth's sense of duty to assist her husband out of the political mess in which they had found themselves meant that "she became much more an equal, if not the stronger, partner in the marriage". Her lady-in-waiting, Amalia van Solms, soon became involved with Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange and married him in 1625. The two women became rivals at the court of The Hague.


title: Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia

text: While in exile Elizabeth produced eight more children, four boys and four girls. The last, Gustavus, was born on 2 January 1632 and baptised in the Cloister Church where two of his siblings who had died young, Louis and Charlotte, were buried. Later that same month, Frederick said farewell to Elizabeth and set out on a journey to join the king of Sweden on the battlefield. After declining conditions set out by King Gustavus Adolphus that would have seen the Swedish king assist in his restoration, the pair parted with Frederick heading back toward The Hague. He had been ill with an infection since the beginning of October 1632, and died on the morning of 29 November before reaching The Hague.


title: Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia

text: When Elizabeth received the news of Frederick's death, she became senseless with grief and for three days did not eat, drink, or sleep. When Charles I heard of Elizabeth's state, he invited her to return to England, but she refused. The rights of her son and Frederick's heir Charles Louis "remained to be fought for". Elizabeth then fought for her son's rights, but she remained in The Hague even after he regained the Electorate of the Palatinate in 1648. She became a patron of the arts, and commissioned a larger family portrait to honour herself and her husband, to complement the impressive large seascape of her 1613 joyous entry to the Netherlands. Her memorial family portrait of 1636 was outdone by Amalia van Solms, who commissioned the Oranjezaal after the death of her husband Frederick Henry in 1648–1651.


title: Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia

text: Elizabeth filled her time with copious letter writing and making marriage matches for her children. Between Frederick's death in 1632 and her own 30 years later, she witnessed the deaths of four more of her ten surviving children: Gustavus in 1641, Philip in 1650, Henriette Marie in 1651, and Maurice in 1652. Her brother Charles I, King of England was executed in early 1649, and the surviving Stuart family was exiled during the years of the Commonwealth. The relationships with her remaining living children also became somewhat estranged, although she did spend time with her growing number of grandchildren. She began to pay the price for having been "a distant mother to most of her own children", and the idea of going to England now was uppermost in her thoughts.


title: Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia

text: In 1660, the Stuarts were restored to the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland in the person of Elizabeth's nephew Charles II. Elizabeth arrived in England on 26 May 1661. By July, she was no longer planning on returning to The Hague and made plans for the remainder of her furniture, clothing, and other property to be sent to her. She then proceeded to move to Drury House, where she established a small, but impressive and welcoming, household. On 29 January 1662 she made another move, to Leicester House, Westminster, but by this time she was quite ill. Elizabeth caught pneumonia, bled from her lungs on 10 February 1662 and died soon after midnight on 13 February.


title: Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia

text: Her death caused little public stir as by then her "chief, if not only, claim to fame was as the mother of Rupert of the Rhine, the legendary Cavalier general". On the evening of 17 February, when her coffin (into which her remains had been placed the previous day) left Somerset House, Rupert was the only one of her sons to follow the funeral procession to Westminster Abbey. There in the chapel of Henry VII, "a survivor of an earlier age, isolated and without a country she could really call her own", she was laid to rest among her ancestors and close to her beloved elder brother, Henry, Prince of Wales.


title: Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia

text: Under the English Act of Settlement 1701, the succession to the English and Scottish crowns (later British crown) was settled on Elizabeth's youngest daughter Sophia of Hanover and her issue. In August 1714, Sophia's son (Elizabeth's grandson) George I ascended to the throne, with the future Royal family all his descendants and hence, also descendants of Elizabeth.


title: Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia

text: The Elizabeth River in colonial Southeastern Virginia was named in honour of the princess, as was Cape Elizabeth, a peninsula, and today a town in the United States in the state of Maine. John Smith explored and mapped New England and gave names to places mainly based on the names used by Native Americans. When Smith presented his map to Charles I, he suggested that the king should feel free to change the "barbarous names" for "English" ones. The king made many such changes, but only four survive today, one of which is Cape Elizabeth.


title: Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia

text: According to legend, William Craven, 1st Earl of Craven, built Ashdown House in Berkshire, England, in honour of Elizabeth, although she died before the house was completed.


title: Little Witch Academia

text: "Little Witch Academia" takes place at , a prestigious school for young girls training to become witches. Having been inspired by a witch named Shiny Chariot, a girl named Atsuko "Akko" Kagari enrolls at Luna Nova Magical Academy to become a witch, but struggles due to her non-magical background. This all changes when she discovers the Shiny Rod, a powerful magic relic left behind by Chariot.


title: Little Witch Academia

text: One of the main themes in the franchise is Akko trying to live up to Shiny Chariot's ideals by showing the world that magic is still a wonderful thing, while Luna Nova struggles for its continual existence because the general public regards wizardry as outdated. In the TV series, this background element is expanded into a plotline in which magic is waning across the world. The secret to restoring the flow of magic lies within the forbidden Arcturus Forest, sealed inside a magical locale named the Grand Triskellion erected by the Nine Olde Witches, the legendary founders of the academy.


title: Little Witch Academia

text: The key to undoing the seal lies in a sequence of seven magical words and the Shiny Rod, an artifact which reacts only to the wielder's genuine desire to spread joy and happiness. When Akko gains possession of the Rod, Chariot (secretly one of her Luna Nova teachers and the Rod's previous wielder) tries to guide her on the path to restoring the power of magic to the world. However, Croix, Chariot's former best friend, had also coveted – and was denied – the power sealed within the Grand Triskellion due to her selfish ambitions. As a result, she schemes to unlock the Grand Triskellion by force with use of artifacts powered by negative emotions she developed with her technomagical abilities and try to deter both Akko and her rival along the way.


title: Little Witch Academia

text: A one-shot manga based on the anime, drawn by Terio Teri, was published in Shueisha's "Ultra Jump" magazine on August 19, 2013. Another manga by Teri, featuring an original story, was serialized in "Ultra Jump" between August 19, 2015 and November 20, 2015, and was compiled in a single "tankōbon" volume released on January 19, 2016.


title: Little Witch Academia

text: Another series illustrated by Yuka Fujiwara, , began serialization in Shueisha's "Ribon" magazine from September 3 to December 28, 2015. Shueisha released a compiled "tankobon" volume on February 25, 2016.


title: Little Witch Academia

text: "Little Witch Academia" was produced by Trigger as part of the Young Animator Training Project's Anime Mirai 2013 project, which funds young animators, alongside other short films by Madhouse, Zexcs and Gonzo. The short was created and directed by Yoh Yoshinari and written by Masahiko Otsuka with music by Michiru Ōshima. The short, along with the other Anime Mirai shorts, opened in 14 Japanese theatres on March 2, 2013. Trigger later released the short on Niconico and with English subtitles on YouTube and Crunchyroll on April 19, 2013. The YouTube version received over 850,000 views up until it was taken down in August 2013 to promote the Blu-ray release. The short was later released on region-free Blu-ray Disc on October 24, 2013.


title: Little Witch Academia

text: On July 5, 2013, Trigger announced at Anime Expo that a second short film, titled "Little Witch Academia: The Enchanted Parade", would be developed in response to the reception the first short received. The project began production in 2014 following the airing of "Kill la Kill". Whilst initially having the funds for a twenty-minute episode, Trigger launched a Kickstarter campaign to extend its runtime to fifty minutes. The Kickstarter was launched on July 9, 2013 and met its $150,000 USD goal within five hours, finishing with a total of $625,518. The short premiered at Anime Expo 2015, and was made available for Kickstarter backers on July 3, 2015 before it was subsequently released in Japanese theaters on October 9 of that year. Both films were later released on Netflix with an English-language dub on December 15, 2015. However, both films were removed from Netflix on October 9, 2019.


title: Little Witch Academia

text: An anime television series of "Little Witch Academia" was announced on June 24, 2016 following the final episode of "Space Patrol Luluco". The series aired in Japan between January 9, 2017 and June 26, 2017. For the first cour, the opening theme is "Shiny Ray" by YURiKA while the ending theme is by Yuiko Ōhara. For the second cour, the opening theme is "Mind Conductor" by YURiKA while the ending theme is by Ōhara. The series ran for 25 episodes released across nine BD/DVD volumes. Netflix began streaming the first 13 episodes with an English dub as of June 30, 2017. The remaining 12 episodes began streaming as of August 15; but they were labeled as the show's second season.


title: Little Witch Academia

text: During interviews, Yoshinari said he wishes to create a second season that explores the history of characters like Diana Cavendish and Amanda O'Neill. The director also wants to create an anime spin-off series focused on the witch Shiny Chariot. He even suggested that the "Night Fall" (or "Naito Foru") books in the anime might work as a standalone anime series. During an interview, Yoh Yoshinari stated that he and Trigger had been planning a second season for a year, with them ultimately falling through, leading to Yoshinari directing "".


title: Little Witch Academia

text: A video game developed by A+ Games and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment, titled , was released on PlayStation 4 on November 30, 2017 in Japan, followed by a PS4 and Steam release in North America in early 2018. A bonus game, , is available in Japan as a pre-order bonus.


title: Little Witch Academia

text: Another video game, this time in form of VR game titled Little Witch Academia: VR Broom Racing by UNIVRS and funded by Kickstarter was announced in Jun 20, 2019. The game was originally planned to be released in June 2020, but ultimately postponed to October 13, 2020 in the light of COVID-19.


title: Little Witch Academia

text: A crossover short featuring characters from both "Little Witch Academia" and "Inferno Cop" premiered at AnimeNEXT 2015 on June 13, 2015 and was also shown at Anime Expo 2015 on July 2, 2015. Both Akko (in episode 13) and Sucy (episode 8) make guest appearances in Trigger's 2016 anime series "Space Patrol Luluco".


title: Little Witch Academia

text: More recently, the series appeared in the mobile game "Super Robot Wars X-Ω" as a limited-time event. The story features Akko and her friends hunting fairies in a forest when they are transported to another world. There, they join the characters of "Aura Battler Dunbine" and "Gurren Lagann" in their respective stories while finding their way back to Luna Nova.


title: Little Witch Academia

text: In 2019, Crunchyroll listed "Little Witch Academia" in their "Top 100 best anime of the 2010s", describing it as a "charming coming-of-age story". IGN also listed "Little Witch Academia" among the best anime series of the 2010s. Emily Ashby of Common Sense Media described the series as having strong messages about "self-confidence and perseverance", but warned about scary creatures. Even so, she praised the show's portrayal of "loyalty and craftiness" as positive character traits, and said that the series would "appeal to viewers with a soft spot for underdogs."


title: Shared universe

text: A shared universe or shared world is a fictional universe from a set of creative works where more than one writer (or other artist) independently contributes a work that can stand alone but fits into the joint development of the storyline, characters, or world of the overall project. It is common in genres like science fiction. It differs from collaborative writing in which multiple artists are working together on the same work and from crossovers where the works and characters are independent except for a single meeting.


title: Shared universe

text: The term "shared universe" is also used within comics to reflect the overall milieu created by the comic book publisher in which characters, events, and premises from one product line appear in other product lines in a media franchise. A specific kind of shared universe that is published across a variety of media (such as novels and films), each of them contributing to the growth, history, and status of the setting is called an "imaginary entertainment environment."


title: Shared universe

text: The term has also been used in a wider, non-literary sense to convey interdisciplinary or social commonality, often in the context of a "shared universe of discourse".


title: Shared universe

text: Fiction in some media, such as most television programs and many comic book titles, is understood by viewers or readers to require the contribution of multiple authors and does not by itself create a shared universe and is considered a collaborative art form. Incidental appearances, such as that of d'Artagnan in "Cyrano de Bergerac", are considered literary cameo appearances. More substantial interaction between characters from different sources is often marketed as a crossover. While crossovers occur in a shared universe, not all crossovers are intended to merge their settings' back-stories and are instead used for marketing, parody, or to explore "what-if" scenarios, often being one-offs.


title: Shared universe

text: It can become difficult for writers contributing to a shared universe to maintain consistency and avoid contradicting details in earlier works, especially when a shared universe grows to be very large. The version deemed "official" by the author or company controlling the setting is known as canon. Not all shared universes have a controlling entity capable of or interested in determining canonicity, and not all fans agree with these determinations when they occur. A fanon may instead find some degree of consensus within the setting's fandom.


title: Shared universe

text: Some writers, in an effort to ensure that a canon can be established and to keep details of the setting believable, employ tools to correct contradictions and errors that result from multiple contributors working over a long period of time. One such tool is retconning, short for "retroactive continuity", which resolves errors in continuity that came about through previously-written conflicting material.


title: Shared universe

text: Readers may also object when a story or series is integrated into a shared universe, feeling it "requir[es] one hero's fans to buy other heroes' titles".


title: Shared universe

text: Comics historian Don Markstein first defined the term in a 1970 article in "CAPA-alpha". He laid out the following criteria:


title: Shared universe

text: The expansion of existing material into a shared universe is not restricted to settings licensed from movies and television. For example, Larry Niven opened his Known Space setting to other writers initially because he considered his lack of military experience prevented him from adequately describing the wars between mankind and the Kzinti. The degree to which he has made the setting available for other writers became a topic of controversy, when Elf Sternberg created an erotic short story set in Known Space following an author's note from Niven indicating that "[i]f you want more Known Space stories, you'll have to write them yourself". Niven has since clarified that his setting is still to be used only "under restricted circumstances and with permission", which Niven granted to the several authors of the Man-Kzin Wars series. By contrast, author Eric Flint has edited and published collaborations with fan fiction writers directly, expanding his 1632 series.


title: Shared universe

text: A setting may also be expanded in a similar manner after the death of its creator, although this posthumous expansion does not meet some strict definitions of a shared universe. One such example is August Derleth's development of the Cthulhu Mythos from the writings of H. P. Lovecraft, an approach whose result is considered by some to be "completely dissimilar" to Lovecraft's own works. Less controversial posthumous expansions include Ruth Plumly Thompson's and later authors' sequels to L. Frank Baum's "Oz" stories and the further development of Isaac Asimov's "Foundation" universe by Greg Bear, Gregory Benford, and David Brin.


title: Shared universe

text: Many other published works of this nature take the form of a series of short-story anthologies with occasional standalone novels. Examples include Robert Lynn Asprin's Thieves' World, C. J. Cherryh's "Merovingen Nights" and Janet Morris' "Heroes in Hell".


title: Shared universe

text: Within comics, the term "shared universe" has been used to reflect the overall milieu created by the comic book publisher in which characters, events, and premises from one product line appear in other product lines in a media franchise.


title: Shared universe

text: By 1961, Marvel Comics writer and editor Stan Lee, working with artists Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, merged the bulk of the publisher's comics characters into the Marvel Universe. Marvel sets its stories in an increasing number of alternate realities, each with an assigned number in a greater "multiverse". DC Comics and Marvel have also periodically co-published series in which their respective characters meet and interact. These intercompany crossovers have typically been written as self-limiting events that avoid implying that the DC Universe and Marvel Universe co-exist. Exceptions include the twenty-four comics released under the metafictional imprint Amalgam Comics in 1996, depicting a shared universe populated by hybridizations of the two companies' characters. Marvel has since referred to this as part of its setting's greater multiverse by labeling it Earth-692.


title: Shared universe

text: Although DC and Marvel's shared universe approaches to comics have set them apart from competitors in the industry, other companies have attempted similar models. Valiant Comics and Crossgen both produced titles primarily set from their inception in a single, publisher-wide shared universe, known respectively as Unity and the Sigilverse.


title: Shared universe

text: Universes in films (or television) mostly consist of a franchise featuring an umbrella of multiple franchises (film or television) set within the same continuity, each franchise within telling its own stand-alone story focusing on a different character (or group of characters), as well as featuring its own cast, directors, and writers, while also being a part of a coherent, non-contradictory continuity shared with the other works. Fictional universes with major presence in films are referred to as cinematic universes, while fictional universes with major presence in television are referred to as television universes. Universes with major presence in both films and television are also generally called cinematic universes. Some film and television universes are accompanied by video games, and print works such as novels or comics, telling additional canonical stories set within the same continuity.


title: Shared universe

text: An early universe in cinema history was the "Universal Monsters" series of "Dracula", "Frankenstein", "The Invisible Man" and "The Wolf Man", which ran from 1931 to 1951 and featured recurring cast and characters. In 2017, Universal announced plans to formally integrate new movies featuring these characters in a shared universe named the Dark Universe, branded with original theme music and a consistent logo to accompany each film. Based on modest box office performance of the first Dark Universe movies, Universal ended plans for a shared universe.


title: Shared universe

text: Some universes in film have originated as film adaptations of novels, such as the "James Bond" film series based on the spy novels by Ian Fleming. The films adapt some elements from the novels; however, they are not direct adaptations, additionally they were not adapted in the same order as the books released. The first film in the series is "Dr. No" (1962), and has produced 24 sequels, with the most recent one being "No Time to Die" (2021). Due to the series spanning more than 50 years, James Bond has been portrayed by six actors, all the other frequent cast of characters has also gone through replacements, additionally after all Fleming's novels were adapted the series shifted towards original scripts. However, all films are set within a single, coherent fictional continuity, even if the writers, directors and cast change between films. Aspects of the fictional universe are retained between films.


title: Shared universe

text: The "Planet of the Apes" film series also originated as a film adaptation of the novel of the same name, taking many creative liberties. The original film titled "Planet of the Apes" (1968) focused on present-day astronaut George Taylor landing on a mysterious planet ruled by apes, which is revealed to be a future planet Earth at the end of the film. The sequel "Beneath" focused on Brent, an astronaut sent on a rescue mission to save Taylor. The third film "Escape" introduced time travel and shifted the focus towards the apes Zira and Cornelius, who appeared as supporting characters in the previous films, as they travel to the past in Taylor's spaceship. The fourth and fifth films, "Conquest" and "Battle", focus on Zira and Cornelius' son Cesar leading the uprising against the humans and to the future depicted in the original film. A television series and an animated series are also considered part of the story. The origin of the "Planet of the Apes" in the original timeline before the time travel occurred was explained in a prequel-reboot film series with the ape Cesar becoming the main protagonist again, with the story focused on his life from childhood to an old ape, and how the conflict between the apes and the humans started.


title: Shared universe

text: The "Star Wars" film series was created by George Lucas, produced by his self-funded production company Lucasfilm. It originated with the film "Star Wars" (1977), followed by two sequels "The Empire Strikes Back" (1980) and "Return of the Jedi" (1983); together, those three films are known as the original trilogy and focuses on Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Princess Leia. The prequel trilogy composed of "" (1999), "" (2002), and "" (2005) expanded the series into a Saga, and focused on Luke Skywalker's father Anakin Skywalker, new cast members portrayed younger versions of characters from the original trilogy, while other actors returned to their original trilogy roles.


title: Shared universe

text: On television, the lore was expanded through animation, the animated film titled "" (2008) served as the pilot of an (2008–2014, 2020). Lucas was deeply creatively involved in the previously mentioned works, but he ceased creative involvement with the "Star Wars" franchise in 2014. Lucasfilm announced that from April 2014, only such previously mentioned works would be considered canonical, along with all of the fictional works released after such date. The animated series "Star Wars Rebels" (2014–2018), was the first work released after. A sequel trilogy formed by "" (2015), "" (2017) and "" (2019) featured many returning cast members along with newcomers. The films’ main saga is conformed of the original, prequel, and sequel trilogies. A concurrent spin-off film series, known as the anthology films, expands the stories of plot points and characters from the main series.


title: Shared universe

text: Additionally the Star Wars series expanded into video games, comics, novels, short stories, animated series, and RPG adventures, telling original stories based on the franchise, classifying it as an imaginary entertainment environment, where the films share the same continuity as all the other media formats, regardless of the different media formats. Lucasfilm's early teams under Carol Wakarska (later Titleman), Lucy Wilson, Allan Kausch, Sue Rostoni, and later, Leland Chee and Pablo Hidalgo, coordinated a cohesive story-telling and ensured consistency and synergy by avoiding plot holes between all the film and non-film works. The "Star Wars Legends" brand is now used to brand all the re-prints of these Expanded Universe works (television films, animated series, video-games, comics, and novels) of the franchise which were produced and/or ceased production before April 2014. Lucas praised these expansions of his work in the introduction to the reprinted "Splinter of the Mind's Eye", and included a few elements within his works, such as characters and places. Storytellers after Lucas have also incorporated "Legends" elements in their stories.


title: Shared universe

text: As for comic book-based films, there are two cinematic universes based on Marvel Comics characters, both set within a different continuity. The "X-Men" film series, which originated in 2000, was the longest-running superhero film franchise to be set within the same continuity. The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has the most films, as well as multiple TV shows and a separate run of tie-in comics that co-exist and share the same continuity, making the MCU an imaginary entertainment environment. The DC Extended Universe (DCEU) is a movie franchise that encompasses different movie series based on the DC Comics characters, all of them sharing a continuity, while the Vought Cinematic Universe (VCU) is a television franchise that encompasses different television series based on the DC Comics/Dynamite Entertainment characters.


title: Shared universe

text: Writer/director Kevin Smith created a fictional universe used in several of his films, as well as comics and a television series: the View Askewniverse, which is named for Smith's production company, View Askew Productions. The characters Jay and Silent Bob (played by Smith) appear in almost all the View Askewniverse media, and characters from one story often reappear or are referred to in others. Recurring characters, settings, and motifs of the View Askewniverse first appeared in Smith's debut film, "Clerks", in 1994.


title: Shared universe

text: A cinematic universe consisting of films whose titles are the names of songs by Simon and Garfunkel was proposed and publicly discussed by movie creators in 2017. Filmmaker Edgar Wright wrote that the Simon and Garfunkel cinematic universe could begin with his movie "Baby Driver" and Marc Webb's "The Only Living Boy in New York", and Wright suggested creation of a film named "So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright". Subsequently, other writers, directors, and actors expressed their interest in making films within the universe, such as Rian Johnson: "Keep the Customer Satisfied"; Lin-Manuel Miranda: "Cecilia"; Marc Webb and Dwayne Johnson: "I Am a Rock".


title: Shared universe

text: This refers to universes that are based on television shows without any films. Television series may lead to a spin-off series set in the same universe, often focusing on a single character from the original. The American sitcom "Cheers" led to two spin-off series, "Frasier" and "The Tortellis".


title: Shared universe

text: An example of shared universes among television shows is the Tommy Westphall Universe Hypothesis, which suggests that hundreds of American television series take place in the same universe. It builds from the assumption that when an actor playing a character from one series guest-stars in a second series, in character, both of those series must take place in the same universe. The theory takes its name from a character in the final episode of "St. Elsewhere", where the common interpretation of the events of that finale is that the entire "St. Elsewhere" universe – including all connected series – exist only within Westphall's imagination.


title: Shared universe

text: The spin-off media from "Doctor Who", known as the "Whoniverse", has relatively little consistency given its division into audio plays produced by Big Finish and the BBC, the New Adventures universe novel, or a universe based on comics published in "Doctor Who Magazine" and other publications.


title: Shared universe

text: Television network The CW broadcasts the Arrowverse, a shared universe of television shows based on characters from DC Comics. The CW also houses The Vampire Diaries Universe, a shared universe of various interconnected television series; The Vampire Diaries, The Originals, and Legacies.


title: Shared universe

text: The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has had multiple interconnected universes through shows produced by Marvel Television, such as Marvel's ABC television series, Marvel's Netflix television series, Marvel's young adult television series, and the planned "Adventure into Fear" franchise. After Marvel Television was folded into Marvel Studios in December 2019, streaming television shows set in the MCU were developed for Disney+, beginning with "WandaVision" (2021).


title: Shared universe

text: The concept of "universes" has also occasionally been discussed in the context of reality television franchises (which, though documenting real-life individuals and situations, typically involve a significant amount of producer guidance). TLC reality series "90 Day Fiancé" has had a large number of spinoffs, which have aired both on TLC and on sibling streaming service Discovery+; these have occasionally been referred to, by both parent company Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) and others, as a "universe". In a 2022 investor presentation, WBD executives referenced the ""90 Day Fiancé" Universe" as being a core franchise for the company, on par with "Game of Thrones" and the DC Comics superheroes.


title: Shared universe

text: The Mickey Mouse universe dates back to the 1930s when the animated cartoon was expanded into a newspaper strip. Although the characters occasionally portray other roles and with other names, the writers address this discrepancy by thinking of the characters as being "employed" by Disney as actors. Walt Disney, when asked whether or not Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse were married, replied that the mice were indeed married in their "private li[ves]", but that they sometimes appeared as boyfriend and girlfriend for "screen purposes." The Mickey Mouse universe also includes the Donald Duck universe as a subset.


title: Shared universe

text: The Pixar universe is an elaborate fan theory suggesting that all Pixar animated movies take place in the same universe. At the 2015 D23 Expo, during the "Pixar Secrets Revealed" panel, director Mark Andrews rejected the theory, with "Inside Out" co-director Ronnie del Carmen adding "Do you know what kinds of meetings we'd have to have to make sure all our movies line up?!"


title: Shared universe

text: The influence of the Internet on collaborative and interactive fiction has also resulted in a large number of amateur shared universe settings. Amateur authors have created shared universes by contributing to mailing lists, story archives and Usenet. One of the earliest of these settings, SFStory, saw its spin-off setting Superguy cited as illustrative of the potential of the Internet. Another example is the furry-themed Tales from the Blind Pig created at the Transformation Story Archive with some limited publication. Other early examples include the Dargon Project and Devilbunnies.


title: Shared universe

text: The 2000 musical "Seussical" presented several works of Dr. Seuss as taking place in the same fictional world.


title: Shared universe

text: Hasbro toy products including G.I. Joe and Transformers are considered by their manufacturer to exist fictionally within the Hasbro Universe.


title: Shared universe

text: In the music industry, all kinds of works by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, such as her songs, albums, music videos, films, tours, promotional activities, as well as the narratives surrounding her, have been collectively referred to as a musical or cinematic universe by several journalists and media outlets.


title: United Kingdom Special Forces

text: The United Kingdom Special Forces (UKSF) is a directorate comprising the Special Air Service, the Special Boat Service, the Special Reconnaissance Regiment, the Special Forces Support Group, 18 (UKSF) Signal Regiment and the Joint Special Forces Aviation Wing, as well as the supporting No. 47 Squadron. In British freedom of information law, "special forces" has been defined as "those units of the armed forces of the Crown and the maintenance of whose capabilities is the responsibility of the Director of Special Forces or which are for the time being subject to the operational command of that Director". The Royal Marine Commandos and the Ranger Regiment (United Kingdom) are special operations–capable forces, however they do not form part of the UKSF.


title: United Kingdom Special Forces

text: The government and Ministry of Defence (MOD) have a policy of not commenting on the UKSF, in contrast to other countries including the United States, Canada and Australia. In 1996, the UKSF introduced a requirement that serving members sign a confidentiality contract preventing them from disclosing information for life, without the prior approval of the MOD, following the publication of several books written by ex-service members.


title: United Kingdom Special Forces

text: In 1987, the post of Director SAS became Director Special Forces. From that time, the director has had control of both the Army's Special Air Service and the Navy's Special Boat Squadron, which was renamed the Special Boat Service during the formation. The directorate has since been expanded by the creation of the Joint Special Forces Aviation Wing, the Special Reconnaissance Regiment, 18 (UKSF) Signal Regiment and the Special Forces Support Group.


title: United Kingdom Special Forces

text: In 2015, the Royal Marines reported that approximately 40% of all UK Special Forces personnel are recruited from the Royal Marines.


title: United Kingdom Special Forces

text: On 1 September 2014, the two Army Reserve SAS regiments, the 21 (Artists) Special Air Service Regiment (Reserve) and the 23 Special Air Service Regiment (Reserve) were removed from the UKSF and placed in 1st Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Brigade (1 ISR Bde) under the command of Force Troops Command. Their role as part of 1 ISR Bde was to conduct Human, Environment, Reconnaissance and Analysis (HERA) patrols. By April 2019, the two reserve regiments had returned to the UKSF.


title: United Kingdom Special Forces

text: The Armed Forces have raised special operations–capable forces that will conduct special operations to train, advise and accompany UK partner countries' forces in high threat environments. The special operations–capable forces will not form part of the UKSF.


title: United Kingdom Special Forces

text: The Army formed the Ranger Regiment on 1 December 2021 within a new brigade, the Army Special Operations Brigade, established on 31 August 2021, that will take on some tasks traditionally done by special forces and work with partner forces. The Ranger Regiment's battalions are to be restructured by April 2023. The Chief of the Defence Staff has said that the Ranger Regiment will be similar to the United States Army Special Forces, known as the "Green Berets". Two of the four Ranger Regiment battalions will be deployed to Africa, the third will focus on Eastern Europe and the fourth will be deployed to the Middle East.


title: United Kingdom Special Forces

text: The Royal Navy is transforming the Royal Marines through the Future Commando Force concept, changing its role of amphibious infantry held at readiness to a versatile special operations–capable force. The Marines will often be permanently deployed in two new Littoral Response Groups, with one in Northern Europe and the other in the Indian Ocean.


title: Ray Chase (voice actor)

text: Ray Chase (born Raymond Chaifetz; May 20) is an American voice actor who has voiced in anime, animations, video games and audiobooks. His best known roles are Noctis Lucis Caelum, the main character in "Final Fantasy XV", Keith in "B: The Beginning", Puri-Puri Prisoner/Dr. Genus in "One Punch Man", Atsumu "Yukiatsu" Matsuyuki in "", Tobikichi Usahara in "Life Lessons with Uramichi Oniisan", Ryoumen Sukuna in "Jujutsu Kaisen," Bruno Bucciarati in "," Mithrax in "Destiny 2", and Tengen Uzui in "". He is also known for his voice performances as Eve in "", Nier in "NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139…", L in "Xenoblade Chronicles X", Donquixote Rosinante in "One Piece", Artorius Collbrande from "Tales of Berseria", Alphen in "Tales of Arise", Rhys in "Borderlands 3", Freelancer in "Anthem", Roy from " Fire Emblem", Yu Otosaka from "Charlotte", The Master of Masters in "Kingdom Hearts", Roswaal L. Mathers in "", and Weisz Steiner in "Edens Zero".


title: Horace

text: Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 – 27 November 8 BC), known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). The rhetorician Quintilian regarded his "Odes" as just about the only Latin lyrics worth reading: "He can be lofty sometimes, yet he is also full of charm and grace, versatile in his figures, and felicitously daring in his choice of words."


title: Horace

text: Horace also crafted elegant hexameter verses ("Satires" and "Epistles") and caustic iambic poetry ("Epodes"). The hexameters are amusing yet serious works, friendly in tone, leading the ancient satirist Persius to comment: "as his friend laughs, Horace slyly puts his finger on his every fault; once let in, he plays about the heartstrings".


title: Horace

text: His career coincided with Rome's momentous change from a republic to an empire. An officer in the republican army defeated at the Battle of Philippi in 42 BC, he was befriended by Octavian's right-hand man in civil affairs, Maecenas, and became a spokesman for the new regime. For some commentators, his association with the regime was a delicate balance in which he maintained a strong measure of independence (he was "a master of the graceful sidestep") but for others he was, in John Dryden's phrase, "a well-mannered court slave".


title: Horace

text: Horace can be regarded as the world's first autobiographer. In his writings, he tells us far more about himself, his character, his development, and his way of life, than any other great poet of antiquity. Some of the biographical material contained in his work can be supplemented from the short but valuable "Life of Horace" by Suetonius (in his "Lives of the Poets").


title: Horace

text: He was born on 8 December 65 BC in the Samnite south of Italy. His home town, Venusia, lay on a trade route in the border region between Apulia and Lucania (Basilicata). Various Italic dialects were spoken in the area and this perhaps enriched his feeling for language. He could have been familiar with Greek words even as a young boy and later he poked fun at the jargon of mixed Greek and Oscan spoken in neighbouring Canusium. One of the works he probably studied in school was the "Odyssia" of Livius Andronicus, taught by teachers like the 'Orbilius' mentioned in one of his poems. Army veterans could have been settled there at the expense of local families uprooted by Rome as punishment for their part in the Social War (91–88 BC). Such state-sponsored migration must have added still more linguistic variety to the area. According to a local tradition reported by Horace, a colony of Romans or Latins had been installed in Venusia after the Samnites had been driven out early in the third century. In that case, young Horace could have felt himself to be a Roman though there are also indications that he regarded himself as a Samnite or Sabellus by birth. Italians in modern and ancient times have always been devoted to their home towns, even after success in the wider world, and Horace was no different. Images of his childhood setting and references to it are found throughout his poems.


title: Horace

text: Horace's father was probably a Venutian taken captive by Romans in the Social War, or possibly he was descended from a Sabine captured in the Samnite Wars. Either way, he was a slave for at least part of his life. He was evidently a man of strong abilities however and managed to gain his freedom and improve his social position. Thus Horace claimed to be the free-born son of a prosperous 'coactor'. The term 'coactor' could denote various roles, such as tax collector, but its use by Horace was explained by scholia as a reference to 'coactor argentareus' i.e. an auctioneer with some of the functions of a banker, paying the seller out of his own funds and later recovering the sum with interest from the buyer.


title: Horace

text: The father spent a small fortune on his son's education, eventually accompanying him to Rome to oversee his schooling and moral development. The poet later paid tribute to him in a poem that one modern scholar considers the best memorial by any son to his father. The poem includes this passage:


title: Horace

text: If my character is flawed by a few minor faults, but is otherwise decent and moral, if you can point out only a few scattered blemishes on an otherwise immaculate surface, if no one can accuse me of greed, or of prurience, or of profligacy, if I live a virtuous life, free of defilement (pardon, for a moment, my self-praise), and if I am to my friends a good friend, my father deserves all the credit... As it is now, he deserves from me unstinting gratitude and praise. I could never be ashamed of such a father, nor do I feel any need, as many people do, to apologize for being a freedman's son. "Satires 1.6.65–92"


title: Horace

text: He never mentioned his mother in his verses and he might not have known much about her. Perhaps she also had been a slave.