title: Avro Manchester

text: Avro had already started work on a corresponding design prior to having received a formal invitation to tender. The company was in competition with Boulton Paul, Bristol, Fairey, Handley Page and Shorts. Vickers also had its Warwick, which had Napier Sabre engines, but eventually chose against tendering it. In early 1937, both the Avro design and the rival Handley Page HP.56 were accepted and prototypes of both ordered; but in mid-1937, the Air Ministry exercised their rights to order the types "off the drawing board". This skipping of the usual process was necessary due to the initiation of a wider expansion of the RAF in expectation of large scale war in Europe. From 1939, it was expected that the P.13/36 would begin replacing the RAF's existing medium bombers, such as the Armstrong Whitworth Whitley, Handley Page Hampden and Vickers Wellington.


title: Avro Manchester

text: The Avro design used the Rolls-Royce Vulture 24-cylinder X-block engine, which was two Rolls-Royce Peregrine Vee cylinder blocks mounted one on top of the other, the bottom one inverted to give the "X" shape. When developed in 1935, the Vulture engine had promise — it was rated at 1,760 hp (1,310 kW) but it proved woefully unreliable and had to be derated to 1,480–1,500 hp (1,100–1,120 kW). Avro's prototype Manchester "L7246", was assembled by their experimental department at Manchester's Ringway Airport and first flew from there on 25 July 1939, with the second aircraft following on 26 May 1940. The Vulture engine was chosen by Avro and not stipulated by the Air Ministry as is sometimes claimed; other engine layouts considered included the use of two Bristol Hercules or Bristol Centaurus radial engines. The Handley Page HP.56, always intended as the backup to the Avro, was redesigned to take four engines on the orders of the Air Ministry in 1937, when the Vulture was already showing problems.


title: Avro Manchester

text: While the Manchester was designed with a twin tail, the first production aircraft, designated the Mk I, had a central fin added and twenty aircraft like this were built. They were succeeded by the Mk IA which reverted to the twin-fin system but used enlarged, taller fin and rudders mounted on a new tailplane, with span increased from 22 ft (6.71 m) to 33 ft (10.06 m). This configuration was carried over to the Lancaster, except for the first prototype, which also used a central fin and was a converted, unfinished Manchester. Avro constructed 177 Manchesters while Metropolitan-Vickers completed 32 aircraft. Plans for Armstrong Whitworth and Fairey Aviation at Stockport/Ringway to build the Manchester were abandoned. Fairey's order for 150 Manchesters was replaced by orders for the Halifax.


title: Avro Manchester

text: The Avro Manchester was designed with great consideration for ease of manufacture and repair. The fuselage of the aircraft comprised longitudinal stringers or longerons throughout, over which an external skin of aluminium alloy was flush-riveted for a smooth external surface. The wings were of a two-spar construction, the internal ribs being made of aluminium alloys; fuel was contained with several self-sealing fuel tanks within the wings. The tail shared a similar construction to the wing, featuring a twin fin-and-rudder configuration that provided good vision for the dorsal gunner.


title: Avro Manchester

text: The cockpit housed the pilot and fighting controller's position underneath the canopy, and these two crew members were provided with all-round vision. The navigator was seated aft of the fighting controller and the position included an astrodome for use of a sextant. The bomb aimer's station was housed inside the aircraft's nose, beneath the forward turret and bomb aiming was conducted using optical sights housed in this compartment. For crew comfort on lengthy missions, a rest area was situated just to the rear of the main cabin.


title: Avro Manchester

text: The aircraft's undercarriage was entirely retractable via hydraulic systems, or in an emergency, a backup air system. The doors to the bomb bay were also operated by these systems, an additional safety measure was installed to ensure that the bombs could not be dropped if the doors were shut. The bombs were housed on bomb racks inside the internal bomb bay, and other armaments such as torpedoes could also be fitted. All fuel tankage was located in the wings in order to keep the fuselage free to accommodate more armaments in the bomb bay which covered nearly two-thirds of the underside of the fuselage.


title: Avro Manchester

text: Vulnerable parts of the aircraft were armoured; the pilot had additional armour and bulletproof glass and an armoured bulkhead was to the rear of the navigator's position. The Manchester featured three hydraulically-operated turrets, located in the nose, rear and mid-upper fuselage; the addition of a ventral turret directly behind the bomb bay had been considered and tested on the second prototype, but did not feature on production aircraft. Access to all crew stations was provided by a walkway and crew positions had nearby escape hatches.


title: Avro Manchester

text: The Manchester was powered by a pair of Vulture engines; in service these proved to be extremely unreliable. Aviation author Jon Lake stated of the Vulture: "The engine made the Manchester mainly notable for its unreliability, poor performance, and general inadequacy to the task at hand" and attributed the aircraft's poor service record to the engine troubles.


title: Avro Manchester

text: I was one of the six original pilots to have flown with the first Manchester squadron. That was a disaster. The aircraft itself, the airframe, had many shortcomings in equipment in the beginning, but as we found out Avro were excellent in doing modifications and re-equipping the aeroplane. The engines never were and never did become reliable. They did not give enough power for the aeroplane, so we ended up with two extremely unreliable 1,750 hp engines having to haul a 50,000-pound aircraft. We should really have had 2,500 hp engines. You felt that if you'd lost one, that was it, you weren't coming home. It didn't matter if you feathered the propeller or not. There was only one way you went and that was down. I have seen an aircraft doing a run up on the ground and have two pistons come right out through the side of the engine. The original bearings were made without any silver as an economy measure, so they weren't hard enough. The bearings would collapse the connecting rod and the piston would fling out through the side of the engine and bang! Your engine just destroyed itself.


title: Avro Manchester

text: On 5 August 1940, the first production Avro Manchester, "L7276", was delivered to RAF Boscombe Down in advance of service acceptance trials. In November 1940, the Manchester officially entered service with the newly reformed No. 207 Squadron of RAF Bomber Command. The type passed all acceptance tests by 21 December 1940, and 207 Squadron had at least 80 Manchesters on strength by the end of 1940. The Manchester's first operational mission was conducted on 24–25 February 1941 in a raid on the French port of Brest. On 13 March 1941, "L7319" became the first Manchester to be shot down by enemy fire.


title: Avro Manchester

text: On 13 April 1941, all Manchesters were temporarily grounded due to a higher than expected number of engine bearing failures; on 16 June 1941, a second grounding of the type was ordered due to more engine troubles. The unserviceability of the Vulture engine forced squadrons to make use of obsolete bombers such as the Hampden in its place. Upon the restart of operations in August 1941, additional failings were encountered; excessive tail flutter, hydraulic failures and faulty propeller feathering controls. Production of the Manchester was halted in November 1941, by which point a total of 202 aircraft had been constructed. A total of eight bomber squadrons were equipped with the type, it also served in two further squadrons and also saw use by RAF Coastal Command.


title: Avro Manchester

text: While modifications were made by Avro to address some of the technical issues experienced, unit strength suffered and Bomber Command was frequently unable to raise significant numbers of aircraft to participate in large bombing missions; on 7 November 1941, all of the RAFs serviceable bombers had been dispatched to bomb Berlin, out of a force of over 400 bombers, only 15 were Manchesters. On 3 March 1942, out of a force of nearly 200 bombers sent against a Renault factory near Paris, 25 were Manchesters; while during the first 1,000 bomber raid on Cologne on 30 May 1942, 35 Manchesters were amongst the 1,047 bombers sent to attack the city. Flying Officer Leslie Manser was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions while piloting Manchester "L7301" of 50 Squadron during the Cologne bombing mission.


title: Avro Manchester

text: The Mk III Manchester (serial number "BT308") which first flew on 9 January 1941, was essentially the first Lancaster, featuring a longer wing fitted with four Rolls-Royce Merlins in new unitized, power-egg nacelles – originally developed by Rolls-Royce for the Merlin-powered Beaufighter II – although initially retaining the three fins and twin outboard rudders (the central fin had no movable control surface) of the Manchester I. "BT308" received the "Lancaster" name immediately after its first flight. The second prototype Lancaster "DG595" featured the twin, enlarged fins and rudders of the Manchester IA. Manchester production continued until November of that year but some aircraft that were still in production were instead completed as Lancasters.


title: Avro Manchester

text: The 193 operational Manchesters flew 1,269 sorties with Bomber Command, dropping 1,826 tons (1,657 tonnes) of bombs and lost 78 aircraft in action, flying its last operation against Bremen on 25 June 1942. A further 45 were non-operational losses of which 30 involved engine failure. The Manchester was withdrawn from operations in mid-1942 in favour of more capable aircraft. Its final role in RAF service was as instructional trainers for converting crews to the RAF's new Lancaster bombers; the Manchester and Lancaster shared nearly identical crew positions and fuselages. The type persisted in use for training purposes into 1943 before being completely retired.


title: Avro Manchester

text: In total two prototypes and 200 production aircraft were built before the production lines changed to building the four-engine Lancaster.


title: Infest the Rats' Nest

text: Infest the Rats' Nest is the fifteenth studio album by Australian psychedelic rock band King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard. It was released on 16 August 2019 by the band's record label, Flightless, and ATO Records. The album sees the band using a heavy metal and thrash metal style, which they had only briefly touched upon on previous albums. Its lyrics address environmental themes such as climate change and ecological disaster through a cli-fi narrative involving space colonisation. It is the band's final studio album to feature band member Eric Moore before his departure a year later.


title: Infest the Rats' Nest

text: The album received generally positive reviews, with critics highlighting the performances and themes. It was nominated for the ARIA Award for Best Hard Rock or Heavy Metal Album in 2019, but lost to Northlane's "Alien".


title: Infest the Rats' Nest

text: Australian rock band King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard are known for their prolific discography, having released five albums in 2017.


title: Infest the Rats' Nest

text: "Infest the Rats' Nest"s first single, "Planet B", was given a surprise release on 8 April 2019, before the release of the band's fourteenth studio album "Fishing for Fishies", along with an accompanying music video. The song's exclusion from "Fishing for Fishies", as well as its distinct contrast to the sounds on that album, led to speculation that the band might release a second album in 2019.


title: Infest the Rats' Nest

text: During a Reddit AMA on 30 April, the band confirmed the next album was in the works and would include "Planet B", but they had not decided if it would be released in 2019. The album was initially believed to be named "Auto-Cremate" due to the band's use of the name as their username in the AMA, but was later confirmed to be titled "Infest the Rats' Nest".


title: Infest the Rats' Nest

text: On 29 May, the band released the album's second single "Self-Immolate" with another accompanying music video a week after a teaser on social media. On 18 June, the band posted another teaser on social media which confirmed the album's title. The album was officially announced three days later with a release date of 16 August. On 25 June, the band released a third single, "Organ Farmer", along with a music video that included fans as extras.


title: Infest the Rats' Nest

text: "Infest the Rats' Nest" was composed and recorded primarily with only three of the band's usual seven-man lineup. Stu Mackenzie and Joey Walker recorded all guitar and bass parts, with Michael Cavanagh playing the drums. The abum showcases influences derived from heavy metal, mixing the band's signature garage rock guitar tones and psychedelic rock sounds with thrash metal. The group had experimented with heavy music in previous releases such as "Nonagon Infinity", but "Infest the Rats' Nest" marked their first extensive use of the style.


title: Infest the Rats' Nest

text: Mackenzie cited groups such as Motörhead, Metallica, Slayer, Exodus, Overkill, Sodom, Rammstein and Kreator as influences. On creating "Infest the Rats' Nest", he said the band intended to "be more extreme and more intense – just to see how it would take shape". Mackenzie's acquisition of a Gibson Explorer was also said to have inspired the heavier sound, and was used on every song on the album. Heavy metal guitar techniques are used throughout, such as shredding and chugging, in addition to the wah-wah and delay effects more typical of the band's style. As with other releases, unusual time signatures are used throughout, in particular 7/4. The album makes consistent use of double kick drumming and harsh vocal delivery.


title: Infest the Rats' Nest

text: On the album's lyrical themes, frontman Stu Mackenzie explained that the A-side is about contemporary issues such as ecological disaster and climate change and is set in the near future, and the B-side follows a group of rebels attempting to colonise Venus after being forced to leave Earth. In this "cli-fi" narrative, the group eventually die and enter Hell. Mackenzie said on the lyrics: "We've got a lot of things to fear... I spend a lot of time thinking about the future of humanity and the future of Planet Earth".


title: Infest the Rats' Nest

text: "Planet B" opens the album, featuring the refrain "there is no Planet B". "Mars for the Rich" criticises inequality in the context of climate change, with the wealthy exploiting Mars, while the poor survive on a degraded Earth. Organ Farmer" addresses intensive farming. "Superbug" has been described as a more downtempo stoner rock or sludge metal song than the rest of the track listing, and has been compared to the work of Sleep or Melvins. Its lyrics discuss a disease outbreak that causes a mass extinction. "Perihelion", "Venusian 1" and "Venusian 2" begins the science fiction narrative, addressing ozone depletion. "Perihelion" has been described as a power metal song. "Self-Immolate" uses self-immolation as a metaphor for the self-destruction of the human race, with "Hell" closing the album and its narrative.


title: Infest the Rats' Nest

text: "Infest the Rats' Nest" was well-received by music critics upon its release. On the review aggregator website Metacritic, the album has a score of 77 out of 100 based on 14 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". In his review for AllMusic, writer Tim Sendra concluded that "King Gizzard aren't sugarcoating anything, either musically or thematically, and that makes for their most timely and political album yet. It's also one of their most musically compelling and impressive, too, and that's saying a lot." A review in "Pitchfork" commended the album as the band's "most succinct and single-minded statement to date" and its themes and heavy metal performances, but also said that it was "lacking both the unpredictable detours of their biggest rock-outs and the insidious melodies of their more pop-focused work." In "Consequence", William Ruben Helms praised the musical performances and dark lyrical themes, and concluded that "while it feels like a minor misstep in comparison to much of their catalog, it finds the band crafting forceful and ferocious, mosh pit-friendly rippers that are politically and socially relevant."


title: Infest the Rats' Nest

text: At the ARIA Music Awards of 2019, the album was nominated for ARIA Award for Best Hard Rock or Heavy Metal Album, losing to Northlane for "Alien". AllMusic also listed "Infest the Rats' Nest" as one of the "favorite metal albums" of 2019.


title: Flag of New England

text: New England has no official flag. However, there have been many historical or modern banners used to represent the region in its history. While there are some variations, common designs include a plain colored field (usually red) with a pine tree in the canton. The eastern white pine ("Pinus strobus") is the most common and prominent symbol of New England and is featured on many of the region's flags.


title: Flag of New England

text: The flag of New England has two prominent symbols: a pine tree and red color. Other features, like the St. George's Cross, are not always displayed on the flag, but the pine almost always is. There is a blue ensign and a red ensign variant. In each, St. George's cross is in the canton, whose top left corner is defaced with an image of a pine. Sometimes the blue ensign is defaced with six stars in a circle symbolizing the six states of New England. Another variant has a red ensign with an image of a pine tree over a white field in the canton, and contains no cross; which is commonly used by the New England Revolution Major League Soccer team. The red ensign was a common banner for other American colonies as well, but the addition of a pine tree distinguished the New England colonies from their neighbors.


title: Flag of New England

text: The origin of the New England flag lay with the Red Ensign of the Royal Navy. The red ensign was first used in 1625, with merchant vessels being granted its usage by 1663. Although it was an official flag of Great Britain there was no official or standardized design of the banner. What was consistent was all the flags featured the Cross of St. George. These designs sometimes greatly varied by location, the type of vessel flying the flag, the rank of the commanding officer of the vessel, or the position of the vessel within the royal fleet.


title: Flag of New England

text: The lack of uniformity of the red ensign existed with land forces of the British Empire as well. In North America, the colonists relied for a large part on their own militias for security and defense. The same issues with naval flags were also found here. The designs of the flags changed by location. This included style, color of the ensigns’ field, and any defacements. As with the military on the British Isles, the colonists' military banners corresponded more to an individual commander rather than an emblem of a national force. Colonial militias were relatively limited in size compared to the larger forces in Britain and so these changes never exceeded the defacements found on company sized regiments. Defacements could include circles, flames, or any distinguishing mark. Each regiment also had a particular color associated with it. A company with a green ensign could be referred to as the “green regiment”, a blue ensign referred to as the “blue regiment”, and so on. These differences are evident in colonial flags in the New England Colonies. Greens ensigns are associated with Newburyport and red ensigns were flown in the Massachusetts Bay Colony and Saybrook Colony for some units.


title: Flag of New England

text: Puritan influence can be seen on some company and settlement banners as well. Influenced by the Commonwealth of England and the parliamentary forces of the English Civil War, some flags in New England bore similar motifs and symbols. One of the Newburyport green ensigns depicted mailed hands arranged in a circle, which is a symbol of the divine in Puritan iconography. As Puritan militias grew in size, more units necessitated additional banners. Around 1652 new cavalry regiments were created. Examples of such flags are the “Three County Troop” flag or the militia flag, known today as the Bedford Flag. These banners depicted an armored arm reaching from the heavens holding a sword. This was a symbol also seen in the English Civil War and was supposed to symbolize divine justice being carried out in defense of true believers. Other Puritan and religious symbols such as anchors, grapevines, oak trees were also flown. Grapevines were prominent in the Connecticut and Saybrook colonies, and remain on the current state of Connecticut's flag and state seal. The anchor, a symbol of hope and providence, was common in Rhode Island and is still a symbol of the state today. Other symbols that can be seen as derived from Oliver Cromwell’s New Model Army are hearts (Worcester, Massachusetts), and the motif of an armored divine arm still exists in Massachusetts today as a component of the state's official seal as the crest, and well as the symbol of the Massachusetts National Guard (the Massachusetts National Guard contains the oldest units in the United States Army and is a direct successor/continuation of these early militias).


title: Flag of New England

text: The use of the red ensign with the flag of England in the canton was controversial in the region. The cross of St. George was seen by many Puritans as a symbol of the Papacy and a symbol of religious heresy. Reverend William Hubbard was an early opponent of the use of the cross on New England banners. Roger Williams, a prominent religious leader then based in Salem declared the symbol counter to the Reformation and a vestige of papal authority over the king. John Endicott who was inspired by Williams and then a member of the Council of Assistants ordered that the cross be cut out from flags in the colony. Richard Davenport of Watertown, the bearer of the flag was to be the one to remove it. A freeman of the colony named Richard Browne was disturbed by this and feared it could signal to authorities in England that the colonists were rebelling. Browne brought the matter before the Great and General Court of Massachusetts Bay. The Council of Assistants reviewed the matter and the case was dismissed against Endicott and Davenport. The General Court did rule however that the defaced flag was not to be used in any official capacity. The controversy remained, and some units refused to train for militia duty under a flag bearing St George's Cross.


title: Flag of New England

text: In 1636 the General Court made another ruling concerning banners in the colony. It ordered that commissioners be made to standardize military banners. The commissioners ordered that the cross-less banners be used. An exception to the cross-less flags would be on Castle Island. The fort, which was Boston's main defense naval fort, would be seen by all ships entering Boston harbor and therefore it was considered necessary for an English flag to be flown there. For a time, a version of the red ensign with the Royal Standard of Charles I in place of the cross of St. George was used, but this practice ended following the outbreak of the Civil War in 1642 and the eventual abolition of the monarchy in 1649. In 1651, the Commonwealth of England's Puritan parliament officially revived the standard red ensign, emphasizing the need for the flag to be used in Boston. To not fly the colors in such a manner could be seen as rebellious. Governor John Winthrop therefore ordered that the red ensign containing the cross be kept on Castle Island for this reason.


title: Flag of New England

text: The issue of the cross-less flag remained unresolved in 1665. Royal Commissioners arrived in the colony and delivered a royal edict demanding the standard ensign be flown. Their demands were not met and the red ensign with the blank canton continued to be used in the colony. Some leading moderates in the colony sought to restore the use of the standard ensign. According to the moderates, the symbol was not a religious one but a political one. Though the cross had idolatrous origins, the Reformation, they claimed, stripped these issues away. By the 1680s the moderates won out and the standard ensign containing the cross was restored. Some New Englanders were still not wholly comfortable with its presence. Judge Samuel Sewall, who ordered the royal ensign be restored wrote in his diary, “I was and am in great exercise about the Cross to be put into the Colours, and afraid if I should have a hand in ’t whether it may not hinder my Entrance into the Holy Land.”


title: Flag of New England

text: The most enduring symbol of New England iconography is the Pine tree. New Englanders wished to further distinguish themselves from other parts of the Empire and so made an addition to the flag. This new design would use the cross of St George but would also contain the image of a tree in the top left corner of the flag. The first recorded sighting of the flag came from Jack Graydon in 1686 and was featured in his book "Insignia Navalia by Lt. Graydon, 1686", where the ensign is referred to as “The Red Flag of New England”. Other sources such as John Beaumont's "The Present State of the Universe" from 1701 also portrays an English flag defaced with a tree. Along with some French and Dutch sources, it appears towards the end of the 17th century this design was growing more popular for New England ships. Some accounts say there is an Oak rather than a pine (Oak trees were seen on other New England flags such as the “Moulton Flag”), and others describe a globe or armillary sphere. It is not clear what exactly is the case however since some of these accounts may have been from poor sourcing or a misinterpretation of an illustration.


title: Flag of New England

text: Queen Anne in 1708 ordered that all British vessels use the British Ensign. This new version would have the flag of the Kingdom of Great Britain in its canton rather than the English one. Despite this, many New England vessels continued to fly the older version with the pine tree defacement. A version of the New England flag that aims to fit these new specifications seems to have also existed. In 1768 an illustration featuring a colonist holding a banner showed this design. The colonist, dressed in hunting clothes and wearing a phrygian cap, holds a flag which is an ensign of the Kingdom of Great Britain with a pine tree on a white background in the top left corner. This period in New England's history also marked a shift in political feeling. With the Massachusetts Bay Colony and the Plymouth Colony, the distinction New Englanders felt from Great Britain was chiefly a religious one. They saw themselves as a separate nation founded on Puritan religious teaching that was attempting to establish a pure society. As the New England settlements grew, Puritan based separatism waned with a want for greater political and commercial autonomy taking its place. One chief reason for the reorganization of the Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay colonies into the Dominion of New England and the Province of Massachusetts Bay was the inhabitants of New England were not abiding by the crown's trade policy and political mandates. The New England colonies were largely autonomous with an emphasis on direct democracy and localized authority. These attitudes can be seen as a driving force for New Englanders to create a flag of their own and as a symbol of their independent attitudes. Despite the attempts by Great Britain to further standardize the usage of the ensign of Great Britain, New England pine flags were still flown at the time. One such example is a New England pine flag with a gold or a buff field which was flown in the Connecticut Colony.


title: Flag of New England

text: By the time of the American Revolution the pine flags gained more prominence. Pine flags were seen on Patriot New Englander naval vessels off the coast of Nova Scotia and on the Charles River. There are varying designs for these flags. These flags were red ensigns and featured an image of a pine, sometimes having the cross of St. George and sometimes without it. The banners without the cross were reminiscent of the blank ensign of the Massachusetts Bay Colony however the blank field was now defaced with a green pine.


title: Flag of New England

text: Some controversy exists concerning which flag flew at the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775 at the onset of the American Revolutionary War. An officer of the Royal Marines reported that no flags were used by the Americans, but John Trumbull placed a red flag with a pine tree in his 1786 painting "The Death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunker's Hill, June 17, 1775". However, he later painted another version of this painting for the family of the fallen general which depicts a blue flag. Another variation commonly used to represent the battle has a blue field with a white canton, the canton quartered with St. George's Cross and a tree.


title: Flag of New England

text: According to author Boleslaw Mastai, the blue field was due to an error in a wood engraving which caused confusion among painters. The printing error might have been caused by incorrect "hatching", whereby parallel lines represent heraldic tinctures or colors; horizontal lines represent blue and vertical ones represent red. However, Benson John Lossing writes in Field Book of the Revolution that he interviewed the daughter of a Bunker Hill veteran who told her that he hoisted a blue flag on Breed's Hill prior to the battle. Regardless of its authenticity, the blue variation has become a symbol of the Battle of Bunker Hill and also of Charlestown, Boston, the neighborhood encompassing Bunker and Breed's hills. It was also featured on a 1968 US Postage Stamp.


title: Flag of New England

text: There were other pine flags flown in the region as well. One of the most well known examples is the Pine Tree Flag, sometimes known as the “Appeal to Heaven” flag. This flag was the ensign of the Massachusetts Bay Navy and the early colonial patriot naval force. This flag was not used outside of New England as it was not deemed suitable to represent the entire United Colonies, with the pine being so strongly associated with New England and Massachusetts Bay in particular.


title: Flag of New England

text: The exact origin of the pine tree as a symbol of New England is unclear. Some point to the use of the pine as a symbol in the region before European colonization. The Five Nations Confederacy used such a symbol. Referred to as the “Tree of Peace” it symbolized the bringing together of different tribes into the confederacy. A common symbol of the confederacy was a tall thin pine with an eagle mounted on the top. Though the Iroquois were largely concentrated outside of New England they exerted influence on neighboring tribes. The Pennacook tribe (Pennacook meaning “Children of the Pine Tree”) was located in what is now northern Massachusetts and New Hampshire. This tribe had an influence on the early New England settlers, the Massachusetts Bay Colony even featuring a Pennacook tribe member on their seal (This seal also features a pine and oak tree). The oak tree which had been seen as a symbol for England for centuries was also used as a symbol in Connecticut. The use of the pine could be theorized to be an extension of the tree motif this time for New England. Another theory refers more to the love of the New England settlers to their new homeland, a homeland they viewed as bestowed by divine providence. This new world was to be a holy land, and provided the inhabitants with many forests of pine and other natural bounty. The pine could then be seen as a simple motif, in keeping with Puritan tradition of the New Englanders religious ideals. Other researchers have pointed to the use of the pine in the ship building of the region, and suggested the importance of the symbol may be due to New England's maritime culture. Regardless of origin, the pine had become in the 17th century a symbol for New England. Another usage was Pine tree shilling which began being minted in 1652 under John Hull. Pine trees were also featured on the New Hampshire colonial seal, and today feature prominently on the state flags and seals of Maine and Vermont. The reverse of the flag of Massachusetts featured a pine tree from 1908 to 1971.


title: Flag of New England

text: A flag designed by William Cork was presented to Le Congres Mondial Acadien in Nova Scotia in 2004. Cork's flag was presented on behalf of the Acadian New Englanders who were attending the congress. The New England Acadian flag features a redesigned Flag of Acadia tricolor with blue and white vertical stripes becoming sideways triangles. The flag features the traditional “Star of the Sea” in the blue stripe, and in the white stripe a traditional New England pine.


title: Flag of New England

text: On June 8, 1998, K. Albert Ebinger of Ipswich, Massachusetts made a presentation to the New England Governor's Conference (NEGC) promoting a new design as the official flag of the NEGC. It is the blue "Bunker Hill Flag" defaced with six five-pointed stars in a circle in the fly to represent the six New England states. Ebinger had copyrighted this design in 1965, which the NEGC was unaware of when they adopted it. The New England Vexillological Association sent a letter of concern to the NEGC, which responded:


title: Flag of New England

text: In 1998, Mr. Ebinger appeared before the New England Governors' Conference, in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada during the annual Conference of New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers and suggested [that] the promotion of New England tourism would benefit from the use of a common symbol, such as his "New England Flag". At that meeting, the governors approved a motion to adopt the flag as the "official emblem of the New England Conference". They did not make any claims as to its legitimacy as an official or authentic flag of the six-state region, nor did they adopt it as the official flag of the region.


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: Singaporean Mandarin () is a variety of Mandarin Chinese spoken natively in Singapore. It is one of the four official languages of Singapore along with English, Malay and Tamil.


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: Singaporean Mandarin can be classified into two distinct Mandarin dialects: Standard Singaporean Mandarin and Colloquial Singaporean Mandarin (Singdarin). These two dialects are easily distinguishable to a person proficient in Mandarin. The standard is the register of Mandarin used in more formal occasions in Singapore and can be heard on television and radio. It is also the form taught in all Singapore government schools, while the colloquial is the form used by the general populace in informal situations. Singaporean Mandarin has many unique loanwords from other Chinese dialects (such as Hokkien) as well as Singapore's other official languages of English, Malay and Tamil.


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: Singaporean Mandarin became widely spoken by the Chinese community in Singapore after the Speak Mandarin Campaign by the government in 1979. It is today considered to be the second most commonly spoken language in Singapore, after English. Due to its widespread usage, Singaporean Mandarin has replaced Singaporean Hokkien as the lingua franca of the Chinese community today. Following the economic rise of China in the 21st century, Mandarin proficiency has been viewed with greater importance and has risen in terms of prominence in Singapore. In 2010, there was an increase in the number of Singaporean population who know two or more languages.


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: With increasing influx of mainland Chinese from mainland China to Singapore since the beginning of the 21st century, Singaporean Mandarin has gradually inclined itself towards Standard Chinese, although there are unique differences that has been retained. Currently, Singaporean Mandarin continues to develop itself with major influences coming from Standard Chinese, Taiwanese Mandarin and English. Since the 2010s, the percentage of Singaporean Chinese speaking Mandarin at home has begun to decrease recently, in favour of Singaporean English.


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: The official standard of Mandarin of Republic of Singapore, known in Singapore as (), is based on the phonology of the Beijing dialect and the grammar of Vernacular Chinese, is almost identical to the standard of Mandarin used in the People's Republic of China (known there as ) and the Republic of China (Taiwan) (known there as ). Standard Singaporean Mandarin, which is usually heard on Singaporean Mandarin-language TV and radio news broadcast, is generally more similar to Guoyu in terms of phonology, vocabulary and grammar than Putonghua. Small differences only appear in the form of lexicon.


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: In terms of colloquial spoken Mandarin, Singaporean Mandarin is subjected to influence from the local historical, cultural and social influences of Singapore. As such, there are remarkable differences between colloquial Singaporean Mandarin (Singdarin) and Standard Chinese, and a non-Singaporean Chinese speaking individual may find it difficult to understand Singdarin.


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: Singaporean Mandarin has preserved the vocabulary and certain other features from Classical Chinese and early Vernacular Chinese (早期白話; "zǎoqī báihuà"), dating back from the early 20th century. Since Singapore's Chinese medium schools adopted Chinese teaching materials from Republic of China in the early 20th century, Singapore's early Mandarin pronunciations was based on the Zhuyin in the "Dictionary of National Pronunciation" () and "Vocabulary of National Pronunciation for Everyday Use" (). As such, it had preserved many older forms of pronunciations. In addition, during its initial development, Singaporean Mandarin was also influenced by the other Chinese varieties of Singapore such as Hokkien, Teochew, Cantonese etc.


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: From 1949 to 1979, due to lack of contact between Singapore and People's Republic of China, Putonghua did not exert any form of influence on Singaporean Mandarin. On the contrary, the majority of Mandarin Chinese entertainment media, Chinese literature, books and reading materials in Singapore came mainly from Taiwan. Consequently, Singaporean Mandarin has been influenced by Taiwanese Mandarin to a certain degree. After the 1980s, along with China's Open Door Policy, there was increasing contact between Singapore and mainland China, thus increasing Putonghua's gradual influence on Singaporean Mandarin. These influences included the adoption of pinyin and the shift from usage of Traditional Chinese characters to Simplified Chinese characters. Much of the lexicon from Putonghua had also found its way into Singaporean Mandarin although not to a huge extent.


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: Historical sources indicated that before 1819 when Sir Stamford Raffles came to Singapore, there were already Chinese settlers in Singapore. After 1819 when Sir Stamford Raffles set foot on Singapore, many Peranakan from Malayan and European merchants began to come to Singapore. Because they required large number of labourers, coolies were brought in from China to Singapore.


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: Large number of Chinese labourers came to Singapore after the Opium War. Chinese settlers who came to Singapore from China during the 19th and second half of the 20th century were known as ""sinkeh"" (). Amongst them were many contract labourers, including those who worked at the docks. Most of them came to Singapore to escape from poverty and to search for a better life, while others came to Singapore to escape from wars taking place in China during the first half of the 20th century. Most of them came from Southern Chinese provinces such as Fujian, Guangdong and Hainan.


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: Amongst these Sinkeh, there were many Hoklo (Hokkien), Teochew, Cantonese and Hainanese. They brought their own different native Chinese varieties to Singapore, including Hokkien, Teochew, Cantonese, Hakka and Hainanese. Because these varieties were mutually unintelligible, Chinese clans association were established based on their own ancestral home and dialect groups to help take care of their own people who speak the same dialect.


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: The use of Mandarin to serve as a lingua franca amongst the Chinese only began with the founding of Republic of China, which established Mandarin as the official tongue.


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: Before the 20th century, old-style private Chinese schools, known as "sīshú" () in Singapore, generally used Chinese dialects (such as Hokkien, Teochew, Cantonese, etc.) as their medium of instruction to teach the Chinese classics and Classical Chinese. Singapore's first Mandarin-medium classes appeared around 1898, but Chinese dialect schools continued to exist up to 1909.


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: After the May Fourth Movement in 1919, under the influence from the New Culture Movement in China, the local Old-style private Chinese school in Singapore began to follow the new education reform as advocated by China's reformist. Thus, the language of medium in school changed from other Chinese dialects to Mandarin Chinese or "Guóyǔ" (國語). This marked the beginning of the development of Singaporean Mandarin.


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: However, at that time, there was no colloquial Standard Mandarin which could be used as a basis for learning Mandarin. In addition, during the early 1900s, most Mandarin teachers in Singapore came from southern parts of China, and had strong southern Chinese accents. Thus, the pronunciations in Singaporean Mandarin were under heavy influence from China's southern Chinese dialects; for instance, there were no erhua (), light tone (), and no sentences had the heavy or light accent () etc.


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: In 1919, a group of scholars in China published the "Dictionary of National Pronunciation". This was one of the earliest dictionaries on modern Mandarin based on the Beijing dialect of Mandarin. However, the dictionary was a mix of northern Chinese sounds and southern Chinese rhymes, which included a 5th tone; the checked tone ("rù shēng" or ). It wasn't until 1932 that a dictionary called the "Vocabulary of National Pronunciation for Everyday Use", which was based truly on the Beijing dialect, was published. This dictionary standardized the form of Mandarin taught in Singapore's Chinese schools. During the 1930s and 1940s, new immigrants from China, known as "xīn kè" () helped to established more Chinese schools in Singapore, increasing the propagation of Mandarin Chinese in Singapore. The name of Mandarin in Singapore was eventually changed from "Guoyu" (, i.e. National Language) to "Huayu" (, i.e. Chinese Language).


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: From the 1950s till 1970, as most of the Chinese books and literature came from Taiwan or Hong Kong, Singaporean Mandarin was subjected to influence from Taiwanese Mandarin. After the 1980s, due to the open door policy of mainland China, Singapore began to have greater contact with mainland China. Consequently, Singapore began to adopt Hanyu Pinyin and changed its writing system from Traditional Chinese characters to Simplified Chinese characters. After the Speak Mandarin Campaign in 1979, the Promote Mandarin Council started research on Mandarin standardization based on case studies in mainland China and Taiwan.


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: After the 1990s, due to greater contacts between Singapore and mainland China, there was a large influx of new Chinese migrants from mainland China. Consequently, much of the lexicon of Putonghua found its way into Singaporean Mandarin. Today's Singaporean Mandarin continues to be influenced from Putonghua, as well as Taiwanese Mandarin and Hong Kong's Cantonese.


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: Major differences between Singaporean Mandarin "Huayu" () and Putonghua lie in the vocabulary used. A lack of contact between Singapore and China from 1949 to 1979 meant that Singaporean Mandarin had to invent new words to fit the local context, as well as borrow words from Taiwanese Mandarin or other Chinese varieties that were spoken in Singapore. As a result, new Mandarin words proprietary to Singapore were invented.


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: The "Dictionary of Contemporary Singaporean Mandarin Vocabulary" () edited by Wang Huidi () listed 1,560 uniquely local Singaporean Mandarin words, which are not used in Mainland China or Taiwan.


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: There are many new terms that are specific to living in Singapore. These words were either translated from Malay and Chinese dialects (or invented) as there were no equivalent words in Putonghua. Some of the words are taken from the Hokkien translation of Malay words. Words translated from Malay into Hokkien include "kampung", "pasar" (, English 'market'). This explains the uniquely Singapore Mandarin words.


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: There are some words used in Singaporean Mandarin that have the same meaning with other words used in Putonghua or Taiwanese Mandarin:


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: There are certain similar words used in both Singaporean Mandarin and Putonghua, but have different meanings and usage.


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: There is quite a number of specific words used in Singaporean Mandarin that originate from other Chinese varieties such as Hokkien, Teochew, Cantonese etc. These languages have also influenced the pronunciation in Singaporean Mandarin.


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: There is quite a number of specific words used in Singaporean Mandarin that originate or are transliterated from English. These words appear in written Singaporean Mandarin.


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: In terms of standard written Mandarin in Singapore, the Singaporean Mandarin grammar is almost similar to that of Putonghua. However, the grammar of colloquial Singaporean Mandarin can differ from that of Putonghua as a result of influence from other varieties of Chinese, classical Chinese and English. Some of the local Singaporean Mandarin writings do exhibit certain local Singaporean features.


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: When speaking of minutes, colloquial Singaporean Mandarin typically uses the word 字 ("zì"), which represents a unit of 5 minutes. When referring to a number of hours (duration), 鐘頭 ("zhōngtóu") is used instead of 小時 ("xiǎoshí"). For instance:


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: The use of "zì" (字) originates from Hokkien ("jī" or "lī"), Cantonese or Classical Chinese. Its origin came from the ancient Chinese units of measuring time. In ancient Chinese time measurement, hours were measured in terms of "shíchén" (時辰), equivalent to 2 hours while minutes were measured in terms of "kè" (刻), equivalent to 15 minutes. Each "kè" was in turn divided into 3 "zì" (equivalent to 5 minutes). For instance, 7:45 pm is:


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: As a result of Hokkien influence, colloquial Singaporean Mandarin typically uses the word "拜-" ("bài") to refer to the days of the week, in lieu of Standard Mandarin "星期-" ("xīngqí-"). For instance:


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: In colloquial Singaporean Mandarin, 万 ("wàn"), referring to a "ten thousand" is often used, but 十千 ("shí qiān"), referring to "ten thousands" is occasionally used too. This usage was influenced by English numbering system and also Chinese Indonesian who frequently uses large Indonesian currency, Rp10000 (0.71 USD) and above.


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: The word "先" ("xiān") is often used at the end of a sentence in colloquial Singaporean Mandarin (instead of after a subject, as in Standard Mandarin), as a result of influence from Cantonese grammar. For example, take the sentence "You walk first":


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: 而已 ("éryǐ") is more common in colloquial Singaporean Mandarin than in Standard Mandarin, which uses 罢了 ("bàle"). While 而已 ("éryǐ") is also used in colloquial Mandarin within Mainland China, but perhaps to a lesser extent as compared to Singapore or Taiwan. For example:


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: When people describe the size of animals, for example, chicken, these are used to mean 'small' 'large'. Putonghua tends to use "肥""瘦" instead. These two words are used to refer to the body frame of a person. "大只" refers to people who appear to be tall, masculine or with a large body build. "小只" is used to describe people with a small built, tiny frame.


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: In colloquial Singaporean Mandarin, the word "啊" is often used in response to a sentence as an affirmative. It is often pronounced as (with a nasal tone) instead of 'ah' or 'a' (in Putonghua). Putonghua tends to use "是(的)/对啊/对呀" ("shì (de)/duì a/duì ya")， "哦" ("ó"), "噢" ("ō"), "嗯" (en/ng) to mean "yes, it is".


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: In Singaporean Mandarin, there is a greater tendency to use the word "cái" "才" (then) in lieu of Standard Mandarin zài "再" (then), which indicates a future action after the completion of a prior action. For instance:


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: In Standard Mandarin, one typical way of turning certain nouns into adjectives, such as 兴趣 ("xìngqù", 'interest'), 营养 ("yíngyǎng", 'nutrition'), 礼貌 ("lǐmào", 'politeness'), is to prefix the word "有" ("yǒu") at the front of these nouns.


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: In Singaporean Mandarin, verbs preceding "一下" may be reduplicated, unlike in Putonghua. This practice is borrowed from the Malay and Indonesian method of pluralizing words. In Putonghua grammar, the use of the word "一下(儿)" ("yīxià(r)") is often put at the back of a verb to indicate that the action (as indicated by the verb) is momentary.


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: Singaporean Colloquial Mandarin tends to use 被 ("bèi") more often than Putonghua, due to influence from English and/or Malay. It is used to express a passive verb.


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: "进步" (improve) is an intransitive verb. But as influenced by the use of English, "I want to improve my Chinese" is sometimes said in Singaporean Mandarin as "我要进步我的华语". The standard Mandarin should be "我要让我的华语进步"


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: The phonology and tones of Singaporean Mandarin are generally similar to that of Standard Mandarin. There are 4 tones similar to those in Standard Mandarin, but Erhua (儿化, "-er" finals) and the neutral tone (轻声, lit. 'light tone') are generally absent in Singaporean Mandarin.


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: The earliest development of Singaporean Mandarin includes the old Beijing phonology (老国音), followed by new Beijing phonology (新国音) and then finally Hanyu Pinyin of mainland China. In its initial development, Singaporean Mandarin was highly influenced by the Ru sheng (入聲, checked tones or "5th tones") from other Chinese varieties. As such, the 5th tone did appear in earlier Singaporean Mandarin. The characteristics of the 5th tone are as follows:


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: However, due to years of putonghua influence, prevalence of the 5th tone in Singaporean Mandarin is declining. This means that the Singaporean Mandarin had inclined itself towards Standard Chinese.


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: Minor differences occur between the phonology (tones) of Standard Singaporean Mandarin and other forms of Standard Mandarin.


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: Just like any languages in Singapore, Singaporean Mandarin is subjected to influences from other languages spoken in Singapore.


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: Singaporean Hokkien is the largest non-Mandarin Chinese variety spoken in Singapore. The natural tendency of Hokkien-speakers to use the Hokkien way to speak Mandarin has influenced to a large degree the colloquial Mandarin spoken in Singapore. The colloquial Hokkien-style Singaporean Mandarin is commonly heard in Singapore, and can differ from Putonghua in terms of vocabulary, phonology and grammar.


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: Besides Singaporean Hokkien, Mandarin is also subjected to influence coming from other Chinese dialects such as Teochew, Cantonese, Hakka, and Hainanese, as well as English and Malay.


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: In Singapore, simplified Chinese characters are the official standard used in all official publications as well as the government-controlled press. While simplified Chinese characters are taught exclusively in schools, the government does not officially discourage the use of Traditional characters. Therefore, many shop signs continue to use Traditional characters.


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: As there is no restriction on the use of traditional characters in the mass media, television programmes, books, magazines and music CDs that have been imported from Hong Kong or Taiwan are widely available, and these almost always use Traditional characters. Most karaoke discs, being imported from Hong Kong or Taiwan, have song lyrics in Traditional characters as well. While all official publications are in simplified characters, the government still allows parents to choose whether to have their child's Chinese name registered in Simplified or Traditional characters though most choose the former.


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: Singapore had undergone three successive rounds of character simplification, eventually arriving at the same set of Simplified characters as the People's Republic of China. Before 1969, Singapore generally used Traditional characters. From 1969 to 1976, the Ministry of education launched its own version of Simplified characters, which differed from that of mainland China. But after 1976, Singapore fully adopted the Simplified characters of mainland China.


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: Before the May Fourth Movement in 1919, Singapore Chinese writings were based on Classical Chinese. After the May Fourth Movement, under the influence from the New Culture Movement in China, the Chinese schools in Singapore began to follow the new education reform as advocated by China's reformist and changed the writing style to Vernacular Chinese.


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: Singapore's Chinese newspaper had witnessed this change from Vernacular Chinese. "Lat Pau" (叻報), one of the earliest Chinese newspaper, was still using Classical Chinese in 1890. By 1917, it continued to use Classical Chinese. But by 1925, it had changed to Vernacular Chinese. After this, all Chinese newspaper in Singapore used Vernacular Chinese.


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: The development of the Singaporean Chinese literature reflected the history of immigrants in Singapore. When many Chinese writers from Southern China arrived in Singapore, they established Chinese schools, newspaper press etc. They contributed a lot to the development of Chinese literature in Singapore. In 1919, the "New National Magazine" 《新國民雜誌》 marked the birth of Singaporean Chinese literature. In those days, the migrant's mindset was still deeply entrenched. Many of the literary works were influenced by New Culture Movement. Most of the literary works that were published originated from the works of writers in China.


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: In 1925, the presence of literary supplements such as ""Southern Wind"" 《南風》, ""Light of Singapore" 《星光》" brought a new dimension to Singaporean Chinese literature. They differed from past magazine that relied on writers from China. It was at this time, that the thoughts of Nanyang began to surface the corner. In January 1927, the "Deserted Island" 《荒島》 published in the ""New National Press"" 《新國民日報》 clearly reflected the features of Nanyang in its literary work. The "localization" literary works mostly described the lifestyle in Nanyang, the people and their feelings in Nayang. The quality of Singaporean Chinese literature had greatly improved.


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: In 1937, the outbreak of Second Sino-Japanese War raised the anti-Japanese sentiment. The literature during these times reflected the missions of national salvation against the Japanese. This brought a halt to the localization movement and in turn re-enacted a sense of Chinese nationalism amongst the migrants in Singapore. From 1941 till 1945, during the Japanese occupation of Singapore, the activities for Chinese literature was halted.


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: After the war, people in Singapore began to have a sense of belonging to this piece of land, and they also had a desire for freedom and democracy. During this times, Singaporean Chinese literature was inclined towards Anti-colonialism. With new arts and thoughts, between 1947 – 1948, there was a debate between "Unique Singaporean Literary Art" and "literary thoughts of migrants". The results from these debated led to a conclusion that the Singaporean Chinese literature was going to develop on its own independently. The "localization" clearly marked the mature development of Singaporean Chinese literature.


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: During the 1950s, writers from Singapore drew their literary works mostly from the local lifestyle and events that reflected the lifestyle from all areas of the society. They also included many Chinese-dialect proverbs in their works. They created unique works of literature. Writers including Miao Xiu (), Yao Zhi (), Zhao Rong (), Shu Shu () etc. represented the writers of "localization" works.


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: From 1960 to 1970, the number of literary works published began to increase. Locally-born and locally bred Singaporean writers became the new writers in the stage of Singaporean Chinese literature. Their works were mainly based on the views of Singaporeans towards issues or context happening in Singapore. They continued the "localization" movement and brought the Singaporean Chinese literature to a new dimension.


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: After the Speak Mandarin Campaign in 1979, all Chinese TV programs using other Chinese varieties were replaced by Mandarin programs. Singapore also started to broadcast Mandopop. The birth of Xinyao during the 1980s injected a new life to the creation of lyrics for Mandopop in Singapore. Singapore radios also began to have Singapore Billboards () for Mandopop. This allowed Singapore to be developed into a major center for Mandopop in South East Asia. There were also many Mandopop artist coming from Singapore such as Stefanie Sun, JJ Lin, Tanya Chua, etc.


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: Language plays an important role in Singapore politics. Up to today, it is still important for politicians in Singapore to be able to speak their mother tongue (and even other dialects) fluently in order to reach out to the multilingual community in Singapore.


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: According to observation, an election candidate who is able to speak fluent Mandarin has a higher chance of winning an election. As such, most election candidates will try to use Mandarin in campaign speeches in order to attract Mandarin-speaking voters.


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: Some Chinese elites in Singapore had criticized that the Mandarin standard of Chinese Singaporean has dropped greatly due to the closure or subsequent conversion of Chinese-medium schools to English-medium schools in the 1980s. Others attributed the drop in standard to the lack of learning Chinese literature in schools.


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: Ever since 1965 when Singapore became independent, bilingual policy has become the pillar of Singapore's education. The first language of Singapore was English, while Mandarin was chosen as the "mother tongue" of Chinese Singaporean. Generally, most Chinese Singaporean can speak Mandarin fluently, but are usually weaker in writing Chinese.


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: In recent years, with the subsequent economic rise of mainland China and a transition from a world factory to a world market, Mandarin has become the 2nd most influential language after English. Besides transmitting Chinese culture values, many people began to realize the economic values of Mandarin, which has raised the interests of local and working professionals in learning Mandarin.


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: The native mother tongue of Chinese Singaporeans are of various non-mandarin Chinese varieties, such as Hokkien, Teochew or Cantonese. This was certainly true when southern Chinese migrants came to Singapore. However, with the Speak Mandarin campaign, Chinese Singaporeans were encouraged to change their home language from these other varieties to Mandarin, and then later from Mandarin to English. Mandarin was designated as the "mother tongue" of all Chinese Singaporeans in Singapore and all other native Chinese varieties were reduced to the "dialect" status, with no official recognition as a proper language.


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: In recent years, however, there has been an increasing awareness of topolect preservation, due to the great decline in the use of other Chinese varieties in Singapore. Most young Chinese Singaporeans were unable to speak these languages effectively and were thus unable to communicate with their grandparents, who are more fluent in them. This has caused a language barrier between generations. As such, there is a minority of Singaporeans working to help preserve or spread these forgotten languages in Singapore.


title: Singaporean Mandarin

text: Under the bilingual policy of Singapore, Chinese Singaporeans had a greater chance to speak and use English especially in school and at work. But this can cause a relative limitation in the use of mother tongue. Generally speaking, most Chinese Singaporeans are able to speak Mandarin, and also read newspapers in it, but only a minority is able to use it at a professional level such as academic research, literary writing etc. In the endeavor to use English, some Chinese Singaporeans even distanced themselves from the mother tongue culture, resulting in the erosion of Chinese culture in Singapore.


title: They Came Together

text: They Came Together is a 2014 American satirical romantic comedy film directed by David Wain and written by Wain and Michael Showalter. It is a parody of romantic comedies infused with Showalter and Wain's absurd approach. The film had its world premiere at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, and was released theatrically (with a simultaneous release on iTunes) on June 27, 2014.


title: They Came Together

text: Joel and Molly have dinner with an unhappy couple, Kyle and Karen, and recount how they first began dating. At the time, Molly owned a small independent candy store, Upper Sweet Side, that was being bought out by Joel's company, a larger candy corporation called CSR. Joel lived with his girlfriend, Tiffany, until he caught her cheating on him with his coworker Trevor.


title: They Came Together

text: On their way to the same Halloween party, Joel and Molly meet. They initially fight, but end up going on a date, where Joel meets Molly's son from a previous relationship. Joel admits that he is not over his relationship with Tiffany, and Molly leaves angrily. Joel apologizes, and the two begin dating. They break up after a trip to Molly's parents' house, who are revealed to be white supremacists. Joel begins dating Tiffany again, and Molly begins dating her banker, Eggbert. Molly and Eggbert become engaged, and Joel realizes that he is still in love with Molly, and races to the wedding. He arrives to find that she has already left Eggbert at the altar, and goes to the Brooklyn Promenade to find her. They agree to get back together, but Molly's ex-husband Spike, who was just released from jail, confronts Joel. Joel wins the fight, and Spike is taken by the police, only to be shot in the head when he tries to escape. Joel and Molly get married, and Joel opens a coffee shop attached to Upper Sweet Side.


title: They Came Together

text: In the present, Joel and Molly reveal that they are getting divorced, as their marriage has since fallen apart due to increasing debts. Because of it Molly got addicted to pills and she started sleeping with Frank again. So, Molly and Joel mutually decided they should be friends. After telling their story to Kyle and Karen, Joel and Molly wonder and then agree giving their marriage another shot.


title: They Came Together

text: The film was written by David Wain and Michael Showalter. Rudd and Poehler participated in a table read of the script at the SF Sketchfest in January 2012.


title: They Came Together

text: The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 24, 2014., the film went on to screen at the Sundance London Film Festival on April 26, 2014., and went on to screen at the Chicago Critics Film Festival, Seattle International Film Festival, BAMcinema Fest., The film was released in the United States on June 27, 2014 in a limited release and through video on demand by Lionsgate.


title: They Came Together

text: On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an approval rating of 70% based on 97 reviews, with an average rating of 6.5/10. The website's critics consensus states: ""They Came Together" is surprisingly messy and perhaps too smart for its own good, but Amy Poehler and Paul Rudd's chemistry is enough to overcome many of the movie's flaws." On Metacritic, it was assigned a weighted average score of 60 out of 100, based on 27 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".


title: Dragon Quest VI

text: Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation, known in Europe as Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Reverie, is a role-playing video game developed by Heartbeat and published by Enix for the Super Famicom as a part of the "Dragon Quest" series and as the last "Dragon Quest" game in the Zenithian Trilogy. It was released in Japan in December 1995, developed by Heartbeat; whereas the previous "Dragon Quest" games were developed by Chunsoft. In 2011, a remake of the game, along with "Dragon Quest IV" and "Dragon Quest V", was released worldwide for the Nintendo DS, making this the first time the game was released in English. Another version of the game for Android and iOS devices was released in Japan in June 2015.


title: Dragon Quest VI

text: As the sixth installment to the "Dragon Quest" series, the graphics and gameplay remain close to the other games, with minor additions and upgrades. The graphics were vastly improved from "Dragon Quest V", which was also for the Super Famicom, but had more rudimentary graphics due to being an early game on the console. Navigation remains largely unchanged from the previous games and the turn-based battles are still in first-person. The class system from "Dragon Quest III" returns, with minor adjustments. "Dragon Quest VI" sold over three million copies in Japan, becoming the best selling game of 1995. The DS version sold an additional one million copies by March 2010.


title: Dragon Quest VI

text: The story follows the traditional "Dragon Quest" "Hero" on a quest to save the world. In this particular installment, the heroes also have to endure the personal struggle of amnesia, as many of the main characters do not initially remember who they are. After completing a series of quests, the player learns that in addition to a Real World, there is also a Dream World, made up of people's dreams, and that there is a great evil that wants to conquer both. The Hero and his new party work together to save both worlds from the ever-growing threat.


title: Dragon Quest VI

text: "Dragon Quest VI" is a traditional, turn-based role-playing video game (in an overhead perspective) that features random battles and a character class system that the Hero and his party members acquire new skills and spells.


title: Dragon Quest VI

text: The Hero travels around the world gathering a party throughout his adventure. To progress in the story, the party must defeat specific boss monsters or trigger specific flags. In order to defeat the bosses, the player must spend time training the party by gaining experience points from battles to advance in character and class levels.


title: Dragon Quest VI

text: Other new features were added to the series, such as: the monsters being animated when they attack. The Slime Arena and Best Dresser Contest were new mini-games introduced; the casinos return from previous "Dragon Quest" games.


title: Dragon Quest VI

text: Like previous games, mini medals can be found hidden throughout the worlds and can be traded for items. There are bonus dungeons and a few extra characters after beating the main storyline. There is a day and night system, as in some previous installments; with certain storyline events happening at night.


title: Dragon Quest VI

text: While the Monster Master class can catch monsters in the original Super Famicom version it is not a major part of the game. Another returning feature from the past two games is the use of the wagon, which allows characters to be swapped out for other ones on the world map.


title: Dragon Quest VI

text: This "Dragon Quest", similar to "Dragon Quest III" and "Dragon Quest VII", has a class system. Once the party gets to Alltrades Abbey, they have the option of becoming one of several starter classes. Each class has eight levels, which are gained by winning a specific number of battles (unlike character levels, which are gained by earning experience points), and advancing in level teaches a character new spells and / or skills, which are retained across class changes.


title: Dragon Quest VI

text: Once a character has mastered a specific set of two or three starter classes, they can change into a hybrid class that builds on their themes. For example: mastering Warrior and Martial Artist unlocks the Gladiator Class, which learns powerful physical attacks, and mastering certain hybrid classes unlocks the Hero class.


title: Dragon Quest VI

text: Some of the classes give special bonuses beyond their stats and abilities such as the Merchant who gives a small bonus to the party's income after every battle, or the Sage who receives a discount to MP costs.


title: Dragon Quest VI

text: To master a class, the character must fight a set number of battles as that class. Once certain hybrid classes are mastered, a stat relating to that class will permanently go up. There are two secret classes as well, Dragon (Hackasaurus) and Liquid Metal Slime, which are unlocked through consumable books.


title: Dragon Quest VI

text: Dragon Quest VI was the first game in the series to include (special attacks and other techniques that are not spells and usually do not cost MP) for human party members. These special techniques were added to the remakes of III, IV and V later on.


title: Dragon Quest VI

text: Like the other "Dragon Quest" games in the series, the setting of "Dragon Quest VI" is medieval, complete with castles, knights, and magic. The main world is divided into the "Real World" and "Dream World", each with a separate, but similar map. To get from one world to the other, the party uses special warps (such as in wells), by ascending/descending stairs on the world map or falling through holes in the "Dream World" to the "Real World". If something cannot be found in the "Real World", it may appear in the "Dream World", such as with Spiegelspire, at the middle of the game.


title: Dragon Quest VI

text: "Dragon Quest VI" opens as the Hero and his party of a mysterious woman and a bulky man approach Murdaw, the demon king's castle. After the woman uses an ocarina to summon a dragon, the party enters the castle and comes face to face with Murdaw (Mudo "魔王ムドー" in Japanese version). Overpowering the trio, the demon king appears to destroy each member of the party, but suddenly, the Hero wakes up in the mountain town Weaver's Peak. Tania, a young woman from Weaver's Peak, insists that he was having a bad dream and introduces herself as his sister.


title: Dragon Quest VI

text: After getting out of bed, the town elder tasks the Hero to get a crown in preparation for the annual Mountain Spirit festival, which takes him to Haggleton. The hero finds out the man who is supposed to make the crown has gone out somewhere to the northwest of town and never came back. The Hero heads in that direction and finds a large hole with the crown maker just barely hanging on. The hero attempts to rescue him and succeeds, but in the process, slips and falls to the world below. In this mysterious world, the Hero finds a nearby town in which the townspeople cannot see him. The Hero receives tip from one of the townspeople: There is a special well to the north from which people who enter never come back; the Hero heads in that direction, enters the well, and returns to his world.


title: Dragon Quest VI

text: After receiving the ceremonial crown from the crown maker for no charge after saving his life, the Hero heads back to Weaver's Peak just in time for the festival to begin. During the festival, the Hero receives a mysterious vision that a great evil will take over the world; the elder asks him to leave the village in preparation for this disaster. The next day, the Hero finds out that the world that he stumbled onto was called the "Phantom World" and is given a pass by the elder that allows him entry into Somnia, where he can meet the king.


title: Dragon Quest VI

text: At Somnia, the Hero meets Carver, who does not seem to remember the Hero. The Hero then meets Captain Blade, leader of Somnia's military, who gives the potential soldier candidates a task to find a special item in a tower. The Hero manages to find this item successfully and formally becomes a soldier of Somnia. After a task, the Hero and Carver work together to obtain a horse for an old man. Carver also becomes a soldier of Somnia. The Hero and Carver speak to the king, who informs them that to defeat Murdaw, they need the Mirror of Ra. The Hero and Carver discover another portal similar to the one near Haggleton, which eventually leads them to Port Haven, another town where they can not be seen. Milly, also appearing to have lost her memory, sees them and helps them become visible via Madame Luca's help.


title: Dragon Quest VI

text: The party discovers a Somnia Castle in the “Phantom World” and learns that the prince—who looks like the Hero—is missing. They also meet Captain Rusty, who bears a striking resemblance to Captain Blade. Gaining entrance to the Moonmirror Tower, the party meets Ashlynn, a woman who was invisible in the “Phantom World” at first, too, and together they find the Mirror of Ra.


title: Dragon Quest VI

text: The party travels to Murdaw's castle in the original world. After defeating Murdaw, the Hero uses the Mirror on him. Murdaw then turns into the King of Somnia, confused and unaware of what happened. The king reveals that the original world is in fact the Dream World and the Phantom World is the Real World. Upon traveling back to the Real World, the King of Somnia thanks the party for defeating Murdaw in his dreams, but the real Murdaw lives and that the party must travel to Ghent to retrieve a boat to get to Murdaw's lair. In Ghent, Nevan, a healer, joins the party and allows them to use the Ghent Clan's ship. During the fight with the real Murdaw, the Hero is again sent back to Weaver's Peak. With the Mirror of Ra, however, the Hero warps back into the battle and defeats Murdaw.


title: Dragon Quest VI

text: The Queen of Somnia tells the Hero to discover who he really is. This quest leads the party to Arkbolt, where a terrible monster is blocking a nearby cave. The reward for defeating the monster is the famed Sunderbolt Blade, but before the party can strike the final blow, a warrior by the name of Terry kills the monster, winning the sword. After traveling both worlds, the party learns that Murdaw was not the only evil in the world, having fought several other monsters that all seem to be connected.


title: Dragon Quest VI

text: In Sorceria, the party learns that this is Ashlynn's home. The elders tell Ashlynn that the Demon Lord is watching her and give her the powerful spell Magic Burst to fight him. The party also learns that the only way to get to the Demon Lord is through Zenith Tower, but to activate the tower, they need to collect the sword, armor, shield, and helmet of legend. While doing so, the Hero meets his double in Real Weaver's Peak, who gets spooked, and speaks 'Y-You. Y-You're m-m-me!', and says that he must prove himself to be faithful to his family if he is to join powers. Returning to Real Somnia, the King and Queen tell the Hero that he is indeed the prince. When he fused with his clone, the Hero gained his memory back, much like Ashlynn and Carver previously.


title: Dragon Quest VI

text: The party reaches Cloudsgate Citadel and meets Dhuran (デュラン), who claims to have taken over the castle. He summons Terry to fight the party and then fights the party himself. Dhuran then reveals that all the enemies the party has faced were just pawns of Mortamor, the Archfiend. Milly reveals that Terry is her brother and Terry decides to join the party and fight against Mortamor.


title: Dragon Quest VI

text: Once Cloudsgate Citadel returns to normal, the party speaks to King Zenith who informs them of Mortamor's doings and how to reach the Dread Realm. Mortamor plans on merging both worlds. The party's horse fuses with Pegasus, allowing the party to fly to the Dread Realm. Several challenges await in the Dread Realm, including the party's strength suddenly and unexpectedly plummeting. With the help of two Supreme Sage brothers, Benjamin and Isaac, the party enters Mortamor's Castle. After solving many puzzles, they come face to face with Mortamor and defeat him. Isaac reveals that the Dread Realm is falling apart and Pegasus helps them escape. After returning to the Real World, everyone parts ways, with Ashlynn having to return to the Dream World since her Real World self no longer exists. With Mortamor's link between the Real World and the Dream World severed, the Dream World vanishes, with only Cloudgate Castle remaining visible in the Real World. Ashlynn is then shown in the castle, taking care of the newly hatched Zenithian Dragon.


title: Dragon Quest VI

text: The scenario designer, as in all previous "Dragon Quest" games, was Yuji Horii. Similarly, the lead artist was Akira Toriyama and the sound was composed by Koichi Sugiyama. This is the last game in the series to feature in the Zenithia (天空の城, "Tenkū no Shiro" lit. "Sky Castle") trilogy.


title: Dragon Quest VI

text: A prequel, "Dragon Warrior Monsters" ("Dragon Quest Monsters: Terry's Wonderland" in Japan), was released in 1998. This game featured Terry and Milly years before the events of "Dragon Quest VI". It was released in North America the next year, even though "Dragon Quest VI" was never released in North America. Along with Terry and Milly, several of the main enemies, including Mortamor, reappear. Their previous roles have been eliminated, however, making them appear as just normal enemies. Mortamor and Murdaw (DeathMore and Mudou, respectively, in the localization) do appear as very challenging, very late in-game bosses, though.


title: Dragon Quest VI

text: The initial release was delayed over a year because of Enix wanting to further develop their game. The game was eventually shown at Shoshinkai in November 1995. "Dragon Quest VI" was released a few weeks later on December 9, with the very steep price of 11,400 yen (roughly over 100 U.S. dollars). The game went on to sell over 3.2 million copies. In Japan, the game made the news in 2005, when a Japanese student threatened another student over an argument about which "Dragon Quest" is the best, the student doing the threatening favoring "Dragon Quest VI".


title: Dragon Quest VI

text: Like its predecessor, "Dragon Quest VI" did not receive an English-language localization because of being cost-ineffective. At 4MB, it was one of the largest games made for the Super Famicom as well as the largest the console could support without adding bank-switching circuitry to the cartridge, and translating it would have necessitated even bigger and more expensive ROMs. In addition, the game was a late release for the Super Famicom and by the time an English localization could be finished, Enix had already dropped support for the console in North America and moved to the PlayStation.


title: Dragon Quest VI

text: The "Dragon Quest VI" enhanced remake for the Nintendo DS was announced in late 2007 by Square Enix and was developed by ArtePiazza. The game was released in Japan on January 28, 2010, in North America on February 14, 2011, and in Europe on May 20, 2011.


title: Dragon Quest VI

text: On April 28, 2008, it was reported that Square Enix has applied for the trademark "The Realms of Reverie" at the United States Patent and Trademark Office, leading to speculation that it was the localized title for this game. On May 20, 2008, Square Enix opened up the North American site featuring the three Dragon Quest DS remakes, acknowledging "Realms of Reverie" as the official subtitle, as well as confirming a release in North America. The title was later changed to "Realms of Revelation" just prior to release. Listings in some stores, including on price tags and the like, still use the "Reverie" title.


title: Dragon Quest VI

text: Mark Franklin, director of Public Relations at Nintendo, made the claim that "Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation" “will give fans unique access to a classic game in the series for the first time” outside Japan.


title: Dragon Quest VI

text: The iOS and Android versions replaced the orchestrated music with the synthesized MIDI music in the title screen, which is performed by the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra. However, the synthesized music is entirely remastered in the iOS and Android versions, other than the synthesized music in the DS version.


title: Dragon Quest VI

text: As with every "Dragon Quest", Koichi Sugiyama composed the music and directed all the associated spinoffs. Three soundtracks were released for the music of "Dragon Quest VI". The first was a two-disk soundtrack, which included an orchestral performance and an OST. The second soundtrack was released on August 23, 2000, and just had the orchestral version. This version was released by SPE Visual Works (now Aniplex), and was named "Dragon Quest VI ~The Dream World~ Symphonic Suite". This version was featured on "Dragon Quest Daizenshu Vol. 2", which is a compilation of "Dragon Quest" music. A second Symphonic Suite edition of the OST was performed in March 2005 and released on July 19, 2006, also by Aniplex. The Symphonic Suite track list is as follows:


title: Dragon Quest VI

text: A 10-volume manga adaptation of the game was also made, which titled . It was authored by Masaomi Kanzaki and published by Enix in the "Monthly Shōnen Gangan" between 1997 and 2001. The storyline roughly follows that of the video game from which it was based but with several differences, such as the inclusion of the character Kizu Buchi, a spotted slime.


title: Dragon Quest VI

text: Kurt Kalata of "Gamasutra" praised the game's storyline, particularly its innovative scenario. While comparable to the light-dark world setting of "", "Dragon Quest VI" featured a unique real world and dream world setting, which he suggests had an influence on the later Square role-playing games "Chrono Cross" and "Final Fantasy X". Kalata also praised the gameplay improvements, including its class system that improves on "Dragon Quest III" and is now more similar to "Final Fantasy V", and the addition of a bag that improves on the inventory management of previous games. He concludes that it is "still a fantastic game."


title: Dragon Quest VI

text: Despite the very high price of (), "Dragon Quest VI" launched with 1,274,857 sales, and sold in December alone. It went on to sell copies in Japan, resulting in it becoming the best-selling game of 1995. In 2010, "Dragon Quest VI" for the Nintendo DS sold almost a million copies in Japan in its first week. The game sold over 1.2 million copies by March 2010.


title: Dragon Quest VI

text: According to "Nintendo Power", "Dragon Quest VI" was originally planned for North American release in the spring of 1996 under the title ""Dragon Warrior V"." The Super NES localization of the game never happened, however, as Enix had already given up on the U.S. market. Square, one of the only companies still willing to bring console role-playing video games to the United States, was also still struggling to get their games to sell in the United States, and therefore, "Dragon Quest VI" had no companies willing to take a risk for it. In "Nintendo Power" vol. 81, the staff wrote an article on "Dragon Quest VI", hoping the game would find a North American release. They also suggested why the series might not appeal to the American audience: there is too much fighting and not enough adventuring. Other critics have mentioned that class building becomes tedious and that the dual worlds are too overwhelming, both possible reasons against a US release. "Dragon Quest VI" was listed as #7 among the 10 Best Japanese Games Never Released in the U.S. by "GamePro" magazine in their May 2005 issue.


title: André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal

text: The André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal is a namesake battle royal held as part of WrestleMania Weekend by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE. The winner of the match receives the André the Giant Memorial Trophy. The inaugural battle royal was held at WrestleMania XXX in 2014 and was won by Cesaro.


title: André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal

text: The match is named in honor of André the Giant, the first WWE Hall of Fame inductee and wrestler who at over seven feet tall and weighing 500 pounds was known as "The King of the Battle Royal" due to winning a large majority of such matches he participated in. A short lived female counterpart to this match was established in 2018, which debuted at WrestleMania 34 – the WrestleMania Women's Battle Royal.


title: André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal

text: Originally established as an annual battle royal held at WrestleMania itself, the match did not occur at WrestleMania 36 in 2020 due to concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the match returned in 2021, taking place on a special "WrestleMania Edition" of "SmackDown" the night before WrestleMania (as "SmackDown" has aired live Friday nights on Fox since October 2019), which has since been established as the start of WrestleMania weekend.


title: André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal

text: André the Giant was a French professional wrestler. He was best known for his time in the American professional wrestling promotion WWE. He signed with the company in 1973 when it was still known by its original name of World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF), which was renamed to World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1979, and he continued performing for the promotion until 1991 (the WWF was renamed to WWE in 2002). Following his death in 1993, André was the inaugural inductee into the promotion's Hall of Fame as the sole inductee for the Class of 1993. At over seven feet tall and weighing 500 pounds, André was known as "The King of the Battle Royal" due to winning a large majority of such matches he participated in.


title: André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal

text: On the March 10, 2014, episode of "Raw", WrestleMania XXX host Hulk Hogan announced the establishment of the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. The match was established in honor of André's legacy. It took place at WrestleMania XXX on April 6, with the winner receiving the André the Giant Memorial Trophy, made in the likeness of André. Cesaro won the inaugural match after eliminating Big Show using a body slam, mimicking the famous moment of when Hogan performed a body slam on André at WrestleMania III.


title: André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal

text: At WrestleMania 31 on March 29, 2015, the second annual André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal took place as part of the event's Kickoff pre-show, thus establishing the match as a yearly tradition. Big Show—a wrestler who had been often compared to André due to his similar size and stature and who was originally billed as André's (storyline) son when he debuted in World Championship Wrestling in 1995—won the match by last eliminating Damien Mizdow.


title: André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal

text: While largely contested by professional wrestlers, celebrities began to make appearances in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal beginning with the third annual match at WrestleMania 32 in 2016. This match, which occurred on the main card, featured former National Basketball Association player Shaquille O'Neal entering as a surprise participant, confronting Big Show. This year's match was won by Baron Corbin, who last eliminated Kane to win.


title: André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal

text: The following year's match occurred on April 2, 2017, on the WrestleMania 33 Kickoff pre-show. Although not a participant in the match itself, the match did feature a surprise appearance by National Football League player Rob Gronkowski, who assisted his real life friend Mojo Rawley, enabling Rawley to last eliminate Jinder Mahal to win the match.


title: André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal

text: The fifth annual André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal took place as part of WrestleMania 34's Kickoff pre-show on April 8, 2018. Unlike the past couple of years, this match did not feature any celebrity appearances, but the match was won by Matt Hardy, who last eliminated Baron Corbin to win. Also at WrestleMania 34, a women's version of the match was established, called the WrestleMania Women's Battle Royal.


title: André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal

text: The sixth annual André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal was held as part of WrestleMania 35's Kickoff pre-show on April 7, 2019. This year's battle royal was unique in that there was a storyline going into the match with the two celebrity guest participants. Prior to the event, comedians Colin Jost and Michael Che of "Saturday Night Live" began appearing on "Raw" as part of a storyline with Braun Strowman, which ultimately led to them being scheduled as participants in the match. Strowman ultimately won the match by last eliminating Jost.


title: André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal

text: The match did not occur at WrestleMania 36 in 2020 due to concerns stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic brought many changes to WWE's programming during that time, and the battle royal was not scheduled so as to limit the number of wrestlers in the ring at the same time. WrestleMania 36 itself, which was WWE's first pay-per-view affected by the pandemic, was relocated and held behind closed doors at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.


title: André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal

text: On April 1, 2021, WWE announced the return of the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. Unlike previous editions of the match, the seventh battle royal was not held at WrestleMania itself. Instead, it aired as part of the April 9 episode of "SmackDown", the night before WrestleMania 37, with the episode promoted as "WrestleMania SmackDown". The show was pre-taped on April 2. Jey Uso won the match by last eliminating Shinsuke Nakamura.


title: André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal

text: The eighth André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal took place on April 1, 2022, during the special "WrestleMania SmackDown", which aired live the night before WrestleMania 38. Madcap Moss won the match by last eliminating Finn Bálor.


title: André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal

text: Writing for "PWInsider" in 2017, Dave Scherer saw no reason for viewers to care about the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, given how winners have been booked and further said: "It's great that talent will get on the show for WrestleMania, but that match hasn't meant anything thus far."


title: General officers in the Confederate States Army

text: The general officers of the Confederate States Army (CSA) were the senior military leaders of the Confederacy during the American Civil War of 1861–1865. They were often former officers from the United States Army (the regular army) prior to the Civil War, while others were given the rank based on merit or when necessity demanded. Most Confederate generals needed confirmation from the Confederate Congress, much like prospective generals in the modern U.S. armed forces.


text: Like all of the Confederacy's military forces, these generals answered to their civilian leadership, in particular Jefferson Davis, the South's president and therefore commander-in-chief of the Army, Navy, and the Marines of the Confederate States.


text: Much of the design of the Confederate States Army was based on the structure and customs of the U.S. Army when the Confederate Congress established their War Department on February 21, 1861. The Confederate Army was composed of three parts; the Army of the Confederate States of America (ACSA, intended to be the permanent, regular army), the Provisional Army of the Confederate States (PACS, or "volunteer" Army, to be disbanded after hostilities), and the various Southern state militias.


text: Graduates from West Point and Mexican War veterans were highly sought after by Jefferson Davis for military service, especially as general officers. Like their Federal counterparts, the Confederate Army had both professional and political generals within it. Ranks throughout the CSA were roughly based on the U.S. Army in design and seniority. On February 27, 1861, a general staff for the army was authorized, consisting of four positions: an adjutant general, a quartermaster general, a commissary general, and a surgeon general. Initially the last of these was to be a staff officer only. The post of adjutant general was filled by Samuel Cooper (the position he had held as a colonel in the U.S. Army from 1852 until resigning) and he held it throughout the Civil War, as well as the army's inspector general.


text: Initially, the Confederate Army commissioned only brigadier generals in both the volunteer and regular services; however, the Congress quickly passed legislation allowing for the appointment of major generals as well as generals, thus providing clear and distinct seniority over the existing major generals in the various state militias. On May 16, 1861, when there were only five officers at the grade of brigadier general, this legislation was passed, which stated in part:


text: As of September 18, 1862, when lieutenant generals were authorized, the Confederate Army had four grades of general officers; they were (in order of increasing rank) brigadier general, major general, lieutenant general, and general. As officers were appointed to the various grades of general by Jefferson Davis (and were confirmed), he would create the promotion lists himself. The dates of rank, as well as seniority of officers appointed to the same grade on the same day, were determined by Davis "usually following the guidelines established for the prewar U.S. Army."


text: These generals were most often infantry or cavalry brigade commanders, aides to other higher ranking generals, and War Department staff officers. By war's end the Confederacy had at least 383 different men who held this rank in the PACS, and three in the ACSA: Samuel Cooper, Robert E. Lee, and Joseph E. Johnston. The organization of regiments into brigades was authorized by the Congress on March 6, 1861. Brigadier generals would command them, and these generals were to be nominated by Davis and confirmed by the Confederate Senate.


text: Though close to the Union Army in assignments, Confederate brigadiers mainly commanded brigades while Federal brigadiers sometimes led divisions as well as brigades, particularly in the first years of the war. These generals also often led sub-districts within military departments, with command over soldiers in their sub-district. These generals outranked Confederate Army colonels, who commonly led infantry regiments.


text: These generals were most commonly infantry division commanders, aides to other higher ranking generals, and War Department staff officers. They also led the districts that made up military departments and had command over the troops in their districts. Some Major generals also led smaller military departments. By war's end, the Confederacy had at least 88 different men who had held this rank, all in the PACS.


text: Divisions were authorized by the Congress on March 6, 1861, and major generals would command them. These generals were to be nominated by Davis and confirmed by the Senate. Major generals outranked brigadiers and all other lesser officers.


text: This rank was not synonymous with the Union's use of it, as Northern major generals led divisions, corps, and entire armies. This rank is equivalent in most respects to major general in the modern U.S. Army.


text: Evander Mclver Law was promoted to the rank of Major General on March 20, 1865; on the recommendation of Generals Johnston and Hampton just before the surrender. The promotion was too late to be confirmed by the Confederate Congress however.


text: There were 18 lieutenant generals in the Confederate Army, and these general officers were often corps commanders within armies or military department heads, in charge of geographic sections and all soldiers in those boundaries. All of the Confederacy's lieutenant generals were in the PACS. The Confederate Congress legalized the creation of army corps on September 18, 1862, and directed that lieutenant generals lead them. These generals were to be nominated by President Davis and confirmed by the C.S. Senate. Lieutenant generals outranked major generals and all other lesser officers.