Divyanshu67/squad_v2 huggingface dataset:
Marvel_Comics

In 1971, the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare approached Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Stan Lee to do a comic book story about drug abuse. Lee agreed and wrote a three-part Spider-Man story portraying drug use as dangerous and unglamorous. However, the industry's self-censorship board, the Comics Code Authority, refused to approve the story because of the presence of narcotics, deeming the context of the story irrelevant. Lee, with Goodman's approval, published the story regardless in The Amazing Spider-Man #96–98 (May–July 1971), without the Comics Code seal. The market reacted well to the storyline, and the CCA subsequently revised the Code the same year.

Question: What government agency asked Marvel to do a series of stories to publicize an issue?
Answer: United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare

Question: What issue was Marvel asked to tackle for this agency?
Answer: drug abuse

Question: What comic book series did stories related to this issue appear in?
Answer: Spider-Man

Question: What industry censorship and standards organization tried to block publication of this series?
Answer: Comics Code Authority

Question: What were the issue dates of the three-episode series on this public health issue?
Answer: May–July 1971

Question: When did the Comics Code Authority request Marvel to do a comic on drug abuse?

Question: Who is the editor-in-chief of the Comics Code Authority?

Question: What self-censorship board approved the controversial Spider-Man comic?

Question: What government-led department refused to approve the Spider-Man story?

Question: During what months did the CCA revise its code?
Marvel_Comics

A series of new editors-in-chief oversaw the company during another slow time for the industry. Once again, Marvel attempted to diversify, and with the updating of the Comics Code achieved moderate to strong success with titles themed to horror (The Tomb of Dracula), martial arts, (Shang-Chi: Master of Kung Fu), sword-and-sorcery (Conan the Barbarian, Red Sonja), satire (Howard the Duck) and science fiction (2001: A Space Odyssey, "Killraven" in Amazing Adventures, Battlestar Galactica, Star Trek, and, late in the decade, the long-running Star Wars series). Some of these were published in larger-format black and white magazines, under its Curtis Magazines imprint. Marvel was able to capitalize on its successful superhero comics of the previous decade by acquiring a new newsstand distributor and greatly expanding its comics line. Marvel pulled ahead of rival DC Comics in 1972, during a time when the price and format of the standard newsstand comic were in flux. Goodman increased the price and size of Marvel's November 1971 cover-dated comics from 15 cents for 36 pages total to 25 cents for 52 pages. DC followed suit, but Marvel the following month dropped its comics to 20 cents for 36 pages, offering a lower-priced product with a higher distributor discount.

Question: What situation allowed Marvel to expand into more adult-themed genre stories?
Answer: the updating of the Comics Code

Question: What were two of Marvel's comic heroes in fantasy, swords and magic settings?
Answer: Conan the Barbarian, Red Sonja

Question: What waterfowl character had his own satire series of comic books?
Answer: Howard the Duck

Question: In what year did Marvel's sales overtake rival DC?
Answer: 1972

Question: How were some of Marvel's genre titles published in the 1970s?
Answer: larger-format black and white magazines, under its Curtis Magazines imprint

Question: What prevented Marvel from creating more adult-themed comics?

Question: What did Marvel do that failed to be successful after the Comics Code was updated?

Question: When did DC Comics usurp Marvel's position as the top comics company?

Question: How much did DC lower the price of its comics by?

Question: What was DC's horror series called?
Marvel_Comics

Goodman, now disconnected from Marvel, set up a new company called Seaboard Periodicals in 1974, reviving Marvel's old Atlas name for a new Atlas Comics line, but this lasted only a year and a half. In the mid-1970s a decline of the newsstand distribution network affected Marvel. Cult hits such as Howard the Duck fell victim to the distribution problems, with some titles reporting low sales when in fact the first specialty comic book stores resold them at a later date.[citation needed] But by the end of the decade, Marvel's fortunes were reviving, thanks to the rise of direct market distribution—selling through those same comics-specialty stores instead of newsstands.

Question: What new venture did Marvel's founder begin after leaving the company in the 1970s?
Answer: Seaboard Periodicals

Question: What former Marvel title imprint did Goodman attempt to revive?
Answer: Atlas Comics

Question: What new retail outlet came on board at the end of the 1970s to rival newsstands for comic sales?
Answer: comic book stores

Question: How long was the 1970s revival of Atlas Comics in business?
Answer: a year and a half

Question: During what era did newsstand distribution begin to tail off markedly for Marvel?
Answer: the mid-1970s

Question: What company partnered with Marvel in 1974?

Question: When was Howard the Duck launched?

Question: What change in market distribution negatively affected Marvel near the end of the decade?

Question: How much later were specialty comic book stores reselling titles?

Question: The mid-1970s brought what favourable change for Marvel?
Marvel_Comics

Marvel held its own comic book convention, Marvelcon '75, in spring 1975, and promised a Marvelcon '76. At the 1975 event, Stan Lee used a Fantastic Four panel discussion to announce that Jack Kirby, the artist co-creator of most of Marvel's signature characters, was returning to Marvel after having left in 1970 to work for rival DC Comics. In October 1976, Marvel, which already licensed reprints in different countries, including the UK, created a superhero specifically for the British market. Captain Britain debuted exclusively in the UK, and later appeared in American comics.

Question: What was Marvel's self-hosted comic book convention called?
Answer: Marvelcon

Question: What artist's return to Marvel was announced at this event?
Answer: Jack Kirby

Question: What Marvel character was specifically created to appeal to the UK market?
Answer: Captain Britain

Question: When was the first Marvel-sponsored comics convention?
Answer: spring 1975

Question: When did Marvel's British-themed superhero first appear?
Answer: October 1976

Question: Who did Jack Kirby announce was returning to Marvel in 1975?

Question: What marvel character was announced at the first Marvelcon?

Question: What was DC Comic's 1975 convention called?

Question: Who created most of DC's star characters?

Question: When did Marvel become licensed to distribute in the UK?
Marvel_Comics

In 1978, Jim Shooter became Marvel's editor-in-chief. Although a controversial personality, Shooter cured many of the procedural ills at Marvel, including repeatedly missed deadlines. During Shooter's nine-year tenure as editor-in-chief, Chris Claremont and John Byrne's run on the Uncanny X-Men and Frank Miller's run on Daredevil became critical and commercial successes. Shooter brought Marvel into the rapidly evolving direct market, institutionalized creator royalties, starting with the Epic Comics imprint for creator-owned material in 1982; introduced company-wide crossover story arcs with Contest of Champions and Secret Wars; and in 1986 launched the ultimately unsuccessful New Universe line to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Marvel Comics imprint. Star Comics, a children-oriented line differing from the regular Marvel titles, was briefly successful during this period.

Question: Who took over as head of Marvel in 1978?
Answer: Jim Shooter

Question: What is an example of a bad practice eliminated under Shooter's regime at Marvel?
Answer: repeatedly missed deadlines

Question: What noted artist and writer made brought Daredevil to the forefront during the 1980s?
Answer: Frank Miller

Question: What team of artist and writer helped popularize the Uncanny X-Men line of comics in the 1980s?
Answer: Chris Claremont and John Byrne

Question: Secret Wars was an early example of what Marvel comics story trope?
Answer: crossover story arcs

Question: What issue did Shooter cause when he started at Marvel?

Question: When did Chris Claremont become editor-in-chief?

Question: When did New Universe become successful?

Question: What anniversary did Epic Comics celebrate in 1986?

Question: Who wrote for Star Comics?
Marvel_Comics

Marvel earned a great deal of money and recognition during the comic book boom of the early 1990s, launching the successful 2099 line of comics set in the future (Spider-Man 2099, etc.) and the creatively daring though commercially unsuccessful Razorline imprint of superhero comics created by novelist and filmmaker Clive Barker. In 1990, Marvel began selling Marvel Universe Cards with trading card maker SkyBox International. These were collectible trading cards that featured the characters and events of the Marvel Universe. The 1990s saw the rise of variant covers, cover enhancements, swimsuit issues, and company-wide crossovers that affected the overall continuity of the fictional Marvel Universe

Question: What 1990s comic line featured futuristic, sci-fi stories?
Answer: 2099 line

Question: What was the name of the specialty comics line created by Clive Barker for Marvel?
Answer: Razorline

Question: In what year did Marvel introduce trading cards based on their characters?
Answer: 1990

Question: What trading card company did Marvel team up with to license these trading cards?
Answer: SkyBox International

Question: What was affected by the increasing use at Marvel of crossover stories between comic characters?
Answer: overall continuity of the fictional Marvel Universe

Question: What series was set in the past?

Question: What commercially successful comic did Clive Barker create?

Question: When was SkyBox International launched?

Question: What marvel character was featured on the first collectible trading card?

Question: When did comic book sales begin to decline?
Marvel_Comics

In 1996, Marvel had some of its titles participate in "Heroes Reborn", a crossover that allowed Marvel to relaunch some of its flagship characters such as the Avengers and the Fantastic Four, and outsource them to the studios of two of the former Marvel artists turned Image Comics founders, Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld. The relaunched titles, which saw the characters transported to a parallel universe with a history distinct from the mainstream Marvel Universe, were a solid success amidst a generally struggling industry, but Marvel discontinued the experiment after a one-year run and returned the characters to the Marvel Universe proper. In 1998, the company launched the imprint Marvel Knights, taking place within Marvel continuity; helmed by soon-to-become editor-in-chief Joe Quesada, it featured tough, gritty stories showcasing such characters as the Inhumans, Black Panther and Daredevil.

Question: What studio helped to relaunch and revamp classic marvel teams The Fantastic Four and the Avengers?
Answer: Image Comics

Question: What two Marvel veterans founded Image?
Answer: Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld

Question: How was the setting for the Image versions of Marvel characters different from the official comics?
Answer: a parallel universe with a history distinct from the mainstream

Question: How long did the Image run of Marvel characters last?
Answer: a one-year run

Question: What three titles were part of the darker, grimmer Marvel Knights comics?
Answer: the Inhumans, Black Panther and Daredevil

Question: Who created the Avengers?

Question: When was Image Comics founded?

Question: What year did Joe Quesada become editor in chief?

Question: How long did Marvel Knights run for?

Question: What caused Image Comics to discontinue the Marvel crossover?
Marvel_Comics

In late 1994, Marvel acquired the comic book distributor Heroes World Distribution to use as its own exclusive distributor. As the industry's other major publishers made exclusive distribution deals with other companies, the ripple effect resulted in the survival of only one other major distributor in North America, Diamond Comic Distributors Inc. In early 1997, when Marvel's Heroes World endeavor failed, Diamond also forged an exclusive deal with Marvel—giving the company its own section of its comics catalog Previews.

Question: What channel did Marvel buy to self-distribute its own comics in the 1990s?
Answer: Heroes World Distribution

Question: When did Marvel purchase this distribution network?
Answer: 1994

Question: Exclusive deals for distributing comics during the 1990s left this company as the only unaffiliated one.
Answer: Diamond Comic Distributors Inc

Question: What year did Diamond Comic Distributors team up with Marvel?
Answer: 1997

Question: The failure of what high profile business initiative caused Marvel to approach Diamond?
Answer: Marvel's Heroes World

Question: What was the only North American distribution company to go under?

Question: When did Diamond Comic Distributors part ways with Marvel?

Question: What caused distributors to thrive in the mid-90s?

Question: When was Marvel's Heroes World declared a financial success?

Question: When was Diamond Comic Distributors Inc. founded?
Marvel_Comics

With the new millennium, Marvel Comics emerged from bankruptcy and again began diversifying its offerings. In 2001, Marvel withdrew from the Comics Code Authority and established its own Marvel Rating System for comics. The first title from this era to not have the code was X-Force #119 (October 2001). Marvel also created new imprints, such as MAX (an explicit-content line) and Marvel Adventures (developed for child audiences). In addition, the company created an alternate universe imprint, Ultimate Marvel, that allowed the company to reboot its major titles by revising and updating its characters to introduce to a new generation.

Question: What was the business state of Marvel by 2000?
Answer: bankruptcy

Question: When did Marvel withdraw from the Comics Code Authority?
Answer: 2001

Question: What in-house standards system did Marvel replace the Comics Code with?
Answer: Marvel Rating System

Question: What was the first book published under this new ratings system?
Answer: X-Force #119

Question: What was the name of the adult themed comics imprint for Marvel with more explicit content?
Answer: MAX

Question: When did Marvel Comics file for bankruptcy?

Question: When did Marvel join the Comics Code Authority?

Question: When was the first issue of MAX released?

Question: What did Marvel Comics replace the Marvel Rating System with?

Question: What age bracket was Marvel Adventures designed for?
Marvel_Comics

On August 31, 2009, The Walt Disney Company announced a deal to acquire Marvel Comics' parent corporation, Marvel Entertainment, for $4 billion or $4.2 billion, with Marvel shareholders to receive $30 and 0.745 Disney shares for each share of Marvel they own. As of 2008, Marvel and its major, longtime competitor DC Comics shared over 80% of the American comic-book market. As of September 2010, Marvel switched its bookstores distribution company from Diamond Book Distributors to Hachette Distribution Services.

Question: What entertainment company purchased Marvel at the end of the 2000s?
Answer: The Walt Disney Company

Question: When was the sale of Marvel to this entertainment conglomerate announced?
Answer: August 31, 2009

Question: What was the sale price of Marvel?
Answer: $4 billion or $4.2 billion

Question: What is the readership market share enjoyed by Marvel and DC comics?
Answer: 80%

Question: In 2010, Marvel switched to what distributor for bookstore comic book sales?
Answer: Hachette Distribution Services

Question: What did Marvel Entertainment purchase in 2009?

Question: How much did Disney buy DC for?

Question: What percentage of the American comic-book market did Marvel account for?

Question: When did Marvel switch to Diamond Book Distributors?

Question: How much did DC Comics shareholder receive as a result of the Marvel-Disney deal?
Marvel_Comics

Marvel discontinued its Marvel Adventures imprint in March 2012, and replaced them with a line of two titles connected to the Marvel Universe TV block. Also in March, Marvel announced its Marvel ReEvolution initiative that included Infinite Comics, a line of digital comics, Marvel AR, an application software that provides an augmented reality experience to readers and Marvel NOW!, a relaunch of most of the company's major titles with different creative teams. Marvel NOW! also saw the debut of new flagship titles including Uncanny Avengers and All-New X-Men.

Question: When did the Marvel Adventures line cease publishing?
Answer: March 2012

Question: Infinite Comics is related to what comics media platform?
Answer: digital comics

Question: What are two new titles under the Marvel NOW! line of comics?
Answer: Uncanny Avengers and All-New X-Men

Question: Marvel NOW!, Infinite Comics, and Marvel AR are under the umbrella of what in house business endeavor?
Answer: Marvel ReEvolution

Question: What does the AR in Marvel AR stand for?
Answer: augmented reality

Question: When did Marvel launch Marvel Adventures?

Question: How many titles run on the Marvel Universe TV block?

Question: What titles were released with Marvel AR?

Question: When was Marvel NOW! canceled?
Marvel_Comics

In April 2013, Marvel and other Disney conglomerate components began announcing joint projects. With ABC, a Once Upon a Time graphic novel was announced for publication in September. With Disney, Marvel announced in October 2013 that in January 2014 it would release its first title under their joint "Disney Kingdoms" imprint "Seekers of the Weird", a five-issue miniseries. On January 3, 2014, fellow Disney subsidiary Lucasfilm Limited, LLC announced that as of 2015, Star Wars comics would once again be published by Marvel.

Question: What TV network shares a parent with Marvel?
Answer: ABC

Question: What series on this network was given a Marvel graphic novel?
Answer: Once Upon a Time

Question: What is the Marvel and Disney line of comics called?
Answer: "Disney Kingdoms"

Question: What was the first title published in that joint line of comics?
Answer: "Seekers of the Weird"

Question: What movie sci-fi franchise returned to Marvel in 2015?
Answer: Star Wars

Question: When did Disney and LLC stop publishing Star Wars comics?

Question: How many issues was the Once Upon a Time novel?

Question: What was the joint line of comics owned by LLC and Marvel called?

Question: When was the Once Upon a Time novel released?

Question: When did Disney and Marvel announce they were ending joint projects?
Marvel_Comics

Marvel first licensed two prose novels to Bantam Books, who printed The Avengers Battle the Earth Wrecker by Otto Binder (1967) and Captain America: The Great Gold Steal by Ted White (1968). Various publishers took up the licenses from 1978 to 2002. Also, with the various licensed films being released beginning in 1997, various publishers put out movie novelizations. In 2003, following publication of the prose young adult novel Mary Jane, starring Mary Jane Watson from the Spider-Man mythos, Marvel announced the formation of the publishing imprint Marvel Press. However, Marvel moved back to licensing with Pocket Books from 2005 to 2008. With few books issued under the imprint, Marvel and Disney Books Group relaunched Marvel Press in 2011 with the Marvel Origin Storybooks line.

Question: What publisher did Marvel first license its characters to for novelization?
Answer: Bantam Books

Question: What was the first novel published under this deal?
Answer: The Avengers Battle the Earth Wrecker by Otto Binder

Question: What was the name of the short-lived Marvel novelization book publisher during the 2000s?
Answer: Marvel Press

Question: In 2005, Marvel dropped it's own publishing rights for novelization and instead partnered with what publisher?
Answer: Pocket Books

Question: Marvel Press was relaunched in what year?
Answer: 2011

Question: Who wrote the movie novelizations?

Question: Who wrote the Young Adult novel Mary Jane?

Question: How many books did Marvel license with Pocket Books?

Question: What is the name of the company that licensed the majority of marvel comics before 2003?

Question: When did Marvel switch to the Disney Books Group?
Marvel_Comics

Walt Disney Parks and Resorts plans on creating original Marvel attractions at their theme parks, with Hong Kong Disneyland becoming the first Disney theme park to feature a Marvel attraction. Due to the licensing agreement with Universal Studios, signed prior to Disney's purchase of Marvel, Walt Disney World and Tokyo Disney are barred from having Marvel characters in their parks. However, this only includes characters Universal is currently using, other characters in their "families" (X-Men, Avengers, Fantastic Four, etc.), and the villains associated with said characters. This clause has allowed Walt Disney World to have meet and greets, merchandise, attractions and more with other Marvel characters not associated with the characters at Islands of Adventures, such as Star-Lord and Gamora from Guardians of the Galaxy as well as Baymax and Hiro from Big Hero 6.

Question: What Disney theme park will become the first to feature Marvel-specific attractions?
Answer: Hong Kong Disneyland

Question: Because of a prior contract, what two Disney parks are barred from featuring Marvel characters?
Answer: Walt Disney World and Tokyo Disney

Question: The contract with what non-Disney studio prevents some parks from using Marvel characters?
Answer: Universal Studios

Question: What Marvel movie featured Star-Lord and Gamora?
Answer: Guardians of the Galaxy

Question: What movie features the characters Baymax and Hiro?
Answer: Big Hero 6

Question: What are the only two Disney parks allowed to have Marvel characters?

Question: Why is Walt Disney unable to have characters such as Star-Lord appear?

Question: What does Universal Studios plan to do with their Marvel contract?

Question: What was signed after Disney purchased Marvel?

Question: Because of the Universal Studios agreement, which Big Hero 6 characters are off limits for Disney?
British_Empire

The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas possessions and trading posts established by England between the late 16th and early 18th centuries. At its height, it was the largest empire in history and, for over a century, was the foremost global power. By 1922 the British Empire held sway over about 458 million people, one-fifth of the world's population at the time, and covered more than 13,000,000 sq mi (33,670,000 km2), almost a quarter of the Earth's total land area. As a result, its political, legal, linguistic and cultural legacy is widespread. At the peak of its power, the phrase "the empire on which the sun never sets" was often used to describe the British Empire, because its expanse around the globe meant that the sun was always shining on at least one of its territories.

Question: The United Kingdom ruled what empire?
Answer: British

Question: Which empire was the largest in history, at its height?
Answer: British

Question: When did 458 million people live in the British Empire?
Answer: 1922

Question: How much of the world's population did the British Empire rule in 1922?
Answer: one-fifth

Question: How many square miles did the British Empire rule in 1922?
Answer: 13,000,000
British_Empire

During the Age of Discovery in the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal and Spain pioneered European exploration of the globe, and in the process established large overseas empires. Envious of the great wealth these empires generated, England, France, and the Netherlands began to establish colonies and trade networks of their own in the Americas and Asia. A series of wars in the 17th and 18th centuries with the Netherlands and France left England (and then, following union between England and Scotland in 1707, Great Britain) the dominant colonial power in North America and India.

Question: In which centuries was the Age of Discovery?
Answer: 15th and 16th centuries

Question: Which countries pioneered European exploration of the globe?
Answer: Portugal and Spain

Question: Which countries began colonizing because they envied the empires of Portugal and Spain?
Answer: England, France, and the Netherlands

Question: When did England become Great Britain?
Answer: 1707

Question: Which country combined with England to form Great Britain?
Answer: Scotland
British_Empire

The independence of the Thirteen Colonies in North America in 1783 after the American War of Independence caused Britain to lose some of its oldest and most populous colonies. British attention soon turned towards Asia, Africa, and the Pacific. After the defeat of France in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars (1792–1815), Britain emerged as the principal naval and imperial power of the 19th century (with London the largest city in the world from about 1830). Unchallenged at sea, British dominance was later described as Pax Britannica ("British Peace"), a period of relative peace in Europe and the world (1815–1914) during which the British Empire became the global hegemon and adopted the role of global policeman. In the early 19th century, the Industrial Revolution began to transform Britain; by the time of the Great Exhibition in 1851 the country was described as the "workshop of the world". The British Empire expanded to include India, large parts of Africa and many other territories throughout the world. Alongside the formal control it exerted over its own colonies, British dominance of much of world trade meant that it effectively controlled the economies of many regions, such as Asia and Latin America. Domestically, political attitudes favoured free trade and laissez-faire policies and a gradual widening of the voting franchise. During this century, the population increased at a dramatic rate, accompanied by rapid urbanisation, causing significant social and economic stresses. To seek new markets and sources of raw materials, the Conservative Party under Disraeli launched a period of imperialist expansion in Egypt, South Africa, and elsewhere. Canada, Australia, and New Zealand became self-governing dominions.

Question: When did the Thirteen Colonies become independent from Britain?
Answer: 1783

Question: Which war caused Britain to lose some of its oldest and most populous colonies?
Answer: American War of Independence

Question: In which wars was France defeated?
Answer: the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars

Question: What did Pax Britannica mean?
Answer: British Peace

Question: When was Britain called the "workshop of the world"?
Answer: 1851
British_Empire

The foundations of the British Empire were laid when England and Scotland were separate kingdoms. In 1496 King Henry VII of England, following the successes of Spain and Portugal in overseas exploration, commissioned John Cabot to lead a voyage to discover a route to Asia via the North Atlantic. Cabot sailed in 1497, five years after the European discovery of America, and although he successfully made landfall on the coast of Newfoundland (mistakenly believing, like Christopher Columbus, that he had reached Asia), there was no attempt to found a colony. Cabot led another voyage to the Americas the following year but nothing was heard of his ships again.

Question: When was John Cabot's voyage commissioned?
Answer: 1496

Question: Who commissioned John Cabot's voyage?
Answer: King Henry VII of England

Question: Where was Cabot trying to find a route to via the North Atlantic?
Answer: Asia

Question: Where did Cabot make landfall?
Answer: Newfoundland

Question: Which explorer did Cabot make a mistake similar to?
Answer: Christopher Columbus
British_Empire

No further attempts to establish English colonies in the Americas were made until well into the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, during the last decades of the 16th century. In the meantime the Protestant Reformation had turned England and Catholic Spain into implacable enemies . In 1562, the English Crown encouraged the privateers John Hawkins and Francis Drake to engage in slave-raiding attacks against Spanish and Portuguese ships off the coast of West Africa with the aim of breaking into the Atlantic trade system. This effort was rebuffed and later, as the Anglo-Spanish Wars intensified, Elizabeth I gave her blessing to further privateering raids against Spanish ports in the Americas and shipping that was returning across the Atlantic, laden with treasure from the New World. At the same time, influential writers such as Richard Hakluyt and John Dee (who was the first to use the term "British Empire") were beginning to press for the establishment of England's own empire. By this time, Spain had become the dominant power in the Americas and was exploring the Pacific ocean, Portugal had established trading posts and forts from the coasts of Africa and Brazil to China, and France had begun to settle the Saint Lawrence River area, later to become New France.

Question: What had turned England and Catholic Spain into implacable enemies?
Answer: the Protestant Reformation

Question: When did John Hawkins and Francis Drake attack Spanish and Portuguese slave ships?
Answer: 1562

Question: Where did John Hawkins and Francis Drake attack Spanish and Portuguese slave ships?
Answer: off the coast of West Africa

Question: Who gave their blessing to further privateering raids against Spanish ports?
Answer: Elizabeth I

Question: Which author was the first to use the term "British Empire"?
Answer: John Dee
British_Empire

In 1603, James VI, King of Scots, ascended (as James I) to the English throne and in 1604 negotiated the Treaty of London, ending hostilities with Spain. Now at peace with its main rival, English attention shifted from preying on other nations' colonial infrastructures to the business of establishing its own overseas colonies. The British Empire began to take shape during the early 17th century, with the English settlement of North America and the smaller islands of the Caribbean, and the establishment of private companies, most notably the English East India Company, to administer colonies and overseas trade. This period, until the loss of the Thirteen Colonies after the American War of Independence towards the end of the 18th century, has subsequently been referred to by some historians as the "First British Empire".

Question: What was James I's name/title before taking the English throne?
Answer: James VI, King of Scots

Question: When did James I negotiate the Treaty of London?
Answer: 1604

Question: Which country did England negotiate the Treaty of London with?
Answer: Spain

Question: In what century did the English East India Company form?
Answer: 17th

Question: What period ended towards the end of the 18th century?
Answer: the "First British Empire"
British_Empire

The Caribbean initially provided England's most important and lucrative colonies, but not before several attempts at colonisation failed. An attempt to establish a colony in Guiana in 1604 lasted only two years, and failed in its main objective to find gold deposits. Colonies in St Lucia (1605) and Grenada (1609) also rapidly folded, but settlements were successfully established in St. Kitts (1624), Barbados (1627) and Nevis (1628). The colonies soon adopted the system of sugar plantations successfully used by the Portuguese in Brazil, which depended on slave labour, and—at first—Dutch ships, to sell the slaves and buy the sugar. To ensure that the increasingly healthy profits of this trade remained in English hands, Parliament decreed in 1651 that only English ships would be able to ply their trade in English colonies. This led to hostilities with the United Dutch Provinces—a series of Anglo-Dutch Wars—which would eventually strengthen England's position in the Americas at the expense of the Dutch. In 1655, England annexed the island of Jamaica from the Spanish, and in 1666 succeeded in colonising the Bahamas.

Question: When did England first establish a colony in Guiana?
Answer: 1604

Question: When did England first establish a colony in St. Lucia?
Answer: 1605

Question: When did England annex the island of Jamaica from the Spanish?
Answer: 1655

Question: When did England colonize the Bahamas?
Answer: 1666

Question: What was the goal of England's colony in Guiana?
Answer: to find gold deposits
British_Empire

England's first permanent settlement in the Americas was founded in 1607 in Jamestown, led by Captain John Smith and managed by the Virginia Company. Bermuda was settled and claimed by England as a result of the 1609 shipwreck there of the Virginia Company's flagship, and in 1615 was turned over to the newly formed Somers Isles Company. The Virginia Company's charter was revoked in 1624 and direct control of Virginia was assumed by the crown, thereby founding the Colony of Virginia. The London and Bristol Company was created in 1610 with the aim of creating a permanent settlement on Newfoundland, but was largely unsuccessful. In 1620, Plymouth was founded as a haven for puritan religious separatists, later known as the Pilgrims. Fleeing from religious persecution would become the motive of many English would-be colonists to risk the arduous trans-Atlantic voyage: Maryland was founded as a haven for Roman Catholics (1634), Rhode Island (1636) as a colony tolerant of all religions and Connecticut (1639) for Congregationalists. The Province of Carolina was founded in 1663. With the surrender of Fort Amsterdam in 1664, England gained control of the Dutch colony of New Netherland, renaming it New York. This was formalised in negotiations following the Second Anglo-Dutch War, in exchange for Suriname. In 1681, the colony of Pennsylvania was founded by William Penn. The American colonies were less financially successful than those of the Caribbean, but had large areas of good agricultural land and attracted far larger numbers of English emigrants who preferred their temperate climates.

Question: When was England's first permanent settlement in the Americas founded?
Answer: 1607

Question: Where was England's first permanent settlement in the Americas?
Answer: Jamestown

Question: Who led England's first permanent settlement in the Americas?
Answer: Captain John Smith

Question: When did the Somer Isles Company take over managing Bermuda?
Answer: 1615

Question: What did England rename New Netherland to?
Answer: New York
British_Empire

Two years later, the Royal African Company was inaugurated, receiving from King Charles a monopoly of the trade to supply slaves to the British colonies of the Caribbean. From the outset, slavery was the basis of the British Empire in the West Indies. Until the abolition of the slave trade in 1807, Britain was responsible for the transportation of 3.5 million African slaves to the Americas, a third of all slaves transported across the Atlantic. To facilitate this trade, forts were established on the coast of West Africa, such as James Island, Accra and Bunce Island. In the British Caribbean, the percentage of the population of African descent rose from 25 percent in 1650 to around 80 percent in 1780, and in the 13 Colonies from 10 percent to 40 percent over the same period (the majority in the southern colonies). For the slave traders, the trade was extremely profitable, and became a major economic mainstay for such western British cities as Bristol and Liverpool, which formed the third corner of the so-called triangular trade with Africa and the Americas. For the transported, harsh and unhygienic conditions on the slaving ships and poor diets meant that the average mortality rate during the Middle Passage was one in seven.

Question: Which company had monopoly of the trade to supply slaves to the British colonies of the Caribbean?
Answer: Royal African Company

Question: When was the British slave trade abolished?
Answer: 1807

Question: How many African slaves did Britain transport to the Americas?
Answer: 3.5 million

Question: The triangular slave trade was between Africa, the Americas, and which British cities?
Answer: Bristol and Liverpool

Question: What was the death rate during the Middle Passage?
Answer: one in seven
British_Empire

In 1695, the Scottish Parliament granted a charter to the Company of Scotland, which established a settlement in 1698 on the isthmus of Panama. Besieged by neighbouring Spanish colonists of New Granada, and afflicted by malaria, the colony was abandoned two years later. The Darien scheme was a financial disaster for Scotland—a quarter of Scottish capital was lost in the enterprise—and ended Scottish hopes of establishing its own overseas empire. The episode also had major political consequences, persuading the governments of both England and Scotland of the merits of a union of countries, rather than just crowns. This occurred in 1707 with the Treaty of Union, establishing the Kingdom of Great Britain.

Question: When was the Company of Scotland granted a charter?
Answer: 1695

Question: When was Panama colonized by Scotland?
Answer: 1698

Question: How long did the Scottish Panama colony survive?
Answer: two years

Question: How much Scottish capital was lost in the Panama colony attempt?
Answer: a quarter

Question: When was the Treaty of Union?
Answer: 1707
British_Empire

At the end of the 16th century, England and the Netherlands began to challenge Portugal's monopoly of trade with Asia, forming private joint-stock companies to finance the voyages—the English, later British, East India Company and the Dutch East India Company, chartered in 1600 and 1602 respectively. The primary aim of these companies was to tap into the lucrative spice trade, an effort focused mainly on two regions; the East Indies archipelago, and an important hub in the trade network, India. There, they competed for trade supremacy with Portugal and with each other. Although England ultimately eclipsed the Netherlands as a colonial power, in the short term the Netherlands' more advanced financial system and the three Anglo-Dutch Wars of the 17th century left it with a stronger position in Asia. Hostilities ceased after the Glorious Revolution of 1688 when the Dutch William of Orange ascended the English throne, bringing peace between the Netherlands and England. A deal between the two nations left the spice trade of the East Indies archipelago to the Netherlands and the textiles industry of India to England, but textiles soon overtook spices in terms of profitability, and by 1720, in terms of sales, the British company had overtaken the Dutch.

Question: When was the British East India Company chartered?
Answer: 1600

Question: When was the Dutch East India Company chartered?
Answer: 1602

Question: When had the British East India Company overtaken the Dutch East India Company in sales?
Answer: 1720

Question: How many Anglo-Dutch Wars were there in the 17th century?
Answer: three

Question: The Dutch East India Company focused on trade in which industry?
Answer: spice
British_Empire

Peace between England and the Netherlands in 1688 meant that the two countries entered the Nine Years' War as allies, but the conflict—waged in Europe and overseas between France, Spain and the Anglo-Dutch alliance—left the English a stronger colonial power than the Dutch, who were forced to devote a larger proportion of their military budget on the costly land war in Europe. The 18th century saw England (after 1707, Britain) rise to be the world's dominant colonial power, and France becoming its main rival on the imperial stage.

Question: Which country became Britain's main rival in the 18th century?
Answer: France

Question: When did England and the Netherlands make peace?
Answer: 1688

Question: In which war were England and the Netherlands allies?
Answer: Nine Years' War

Question: In which century did Britain become the world's dominant colonial power?
Answer: 18th
British_Empire

At the concluding Treaty of Utrecht, Philip renounced his and his descendants' right to the French throne and Spain lost its empire in Europe. The British Empire was territorially enlarged: from France, Britain gained Newfoundland and Acadia, and from Spain, Gibraltar and Minorca. Gibraltar became a critical naval base and allowed Britain to control the Atlantic entry and exit point to the Mediterranean. Spain also ceded the rights to the lucrative asiento (permission to sell slaves in Spanish America) to Britain.

Question: King Philip renounced his right to the throne after what treaty?
Answer: Treaty of Utrecht

Question: Which country did Britain acquire Newfoundland and Acadia from?
Answer: France

Question: Which country did Britain acquire Gibraltar and Minorca from?
Answer: Spain

Question: Which colony allowed Britain to control the Atlantic entry and exit point to the Mediterranean?
Answer: permission to sell slaves in Spanish America

Question: What was the Spanish term for permission to sell slaves in Spanish America?
Answer: asiento
British_Empire

During the middle decades of the 18th century, there were several outbreaks of military conflict on the Indian subcontinent, the Carnatic Wars, as the English East India Company (the Company) and its French counterpart, the Compagnie française des Indes orientales, struggled alongside local rulers to fill the vacuum that had been left by the decline of the Mughal Empire. The Battle of Plassey in 1757, in which the British, led by Robert Clive, defeated the Nawab of Bengal and his French allies, left the Company in control of Bengal and as the major military and political power in India. France was left control of its enclaves but with military restrictions and an obligation to support British client states, ending French hopes of controlling India. In the following decades the Company gradually increased the size of the territories under its control, either ruling directly or via local rulers under the threat of force from the British Indian Army, the vast majority of which was composed of Indian sepoys.

Question: What was the French equivalent of the English East India Company?
Answer: Compagnie française des Indes orientales

Question: When was the Battle of Plassey?
Answer: 1757

Question: Who led the British in the Battle of Plassey?
Answer: Robert Clive

Question: Where were the Carnatic Wars?
Answer: British Indian Army

Question: What was the British Indian Army mostly composed of?
Answer: Indian sepoys
British_Empire

The British and French struggles in India became but one theatre of the global Seven Years' War (1756–1763) involving France, Britain and the other major European powers. The signing of the Treaty of Paris (1763) had important consequences for the future of the British Empire. In North America, France's future as a colonial power there was effectively ended with the recognition of British claims to Rupert's Land, and the ceding of New France to Britain (leaving a sizeable French-speaking population under British control) and Louisiana to Spain. Spain ceded Florida to Britain. Along with its victory over France in India, the Seven Years' War therefore left Britain as the world's most powerful maritime power.

Question: When was the Seven Years' War?
Answer: 1756–1763

Question: When was the Treaty of Paris?
Answer: 1763

Question: Which country acquired New France from France?
Answer: Britain

Question: Which country acquired Louisiana from France?
Answer: Spain

Question: Which country acquired Florida from Spain?
Answer: Britain
British_Empire

During the 1760s and early 1770s, relations between the Thirteen Colonies and Britain became increasingly strained, primarily because of resentment of the British Parliament's attempts to govern and tax American colonists without their consent. This was summarised at the time by the slogan "No taxation without representation", a perceived violation of the guaranteed Rights of Englishmen. The American Revolution began with rejection of Parliamentary authority and moves towards self-government. In response Britain sent troops to reimpose direct rule, leading to the outbreak of war in 1775. The following year, in 1776, the United States declared independence. The entry of France to the war in 1778 tipped the military balance in the Americans' favour and after a decisive defeat at Yorktown in 1781, Britain began negotiating peace terms. American independence was acknowledged at the Peace of Paris in 1783.

Question: British relations with which area became strained in the 1760s-1770s?
Answer: the Thirteen Colonies

Question: What was the American colonists' anti-tax slogan?
Answer: "No taxation without representation"

Question: When did the US declare independence?
Answer: 1776

Question: When did France enter the American Revolution war?
Answer: 1778

Question: When did Britain recognize American independence?
Answer: 1783
British_Empire

The loss of such a large portion of British America, at the time Britain's most populous overseas possession, is seen by some historians as the event defining the transition between the "first" and "second" empires, in which Britain shifted its attention away from the Americas to Asia, the Pacific and later Africa. Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations, published in 1776, had argued that colonies were redundant, and that free trade should replace the old mercantilist policies that had characterised the first period of colonial expansion, dating back to the protectionism of Spain and Portugal. The growth of trade between the newly independent United States and Britain after 1783 seemed to confirm Smith's view that political control was not necessary for economic success.

Question: What book by Adam Smith was published in 1776?
Answer: Wealth of Nations

Question: The growth of trade between the US and Britain after 1783 seemed to confirm whose views?
Answer: Smith

Question: In the 'second' British Empire period, Britain refocused on which areas?
Answer: Asia, the Pacific and later Africa

Question: What had been Britain's most populous overseas possession?
Answer: British America

Question: Who argued that colonies were redundant?
Answer: Adam Smith
British_Empire

Events in America influenced British policy in Canada, where between 40,000 and 100,000 defeated Loyalists had migrated from America following independence. The 14,000 Loyalists who went to the Saint John and Saint Croix river valleys, then part of Nova Scotia, felt too far removed from the provincial government in Halifax, so London split off New Brunswick as a separate colony in 1784. The Constitutional Act of 1791 created the provinces of Upper Canada (mainly English-speaking) and Lower Canada (mainly French-speaking) to defuse tensions between the French and British communities, and implemented governmental systems similar to those employed in Britain, with the intention of asserting imperial authority and not allowing the sort of popular control of government that was perceived to have led to the American Revolution.

Question: How many British loyalists moved from the US to Canada?
Answer: between 40,000 and 100,000

Question: New Brunswick was split off from which province?
Answer: Nova Scotia

Question: Which act created the Upper Canada provinces?
Answer: The Constitutional Act of 1791

Question: What language did most of Upper Canada speak?
Answer: English

Question: What language did most of Lower Canada speak?
Answer: French