title: Portuguese Restoration War

text: In the seventeenth century and afterwards, this period of sporadic conflict was simply known, in Portugal and elsewhere, as the "Acclamation War". The war established the House of Braganza as Portugal's new ruling dynasty, replacing the House of Habsburg who had been united with the Portuguese crown since the 1581 succession crisis.


title: Portuguese Restoration War

text: When Philip II of Portugal (Philip III of Spain) died, he was succeeded by his son Philip III, who had a different approach to Portuguese issues. Taxes on the Portuguese merchants were raised, the Portuguese nobility began to lose its influence at the Spanish "Cortes", and the governments posts in Portugal were increasingly occupied by Spaniards. Ultimately, Philip III tried to make Portugal a Spanish province, and Portuguese nobles stood to lose all of their power.


title: Portuguese Restoration War

text: Moreover, being under Spanish rule entangled Portugal in Spain's Eighty Years' War with the resurgent Dutch Republic. Specifically, the Portuguese colonies being under the Spanish Crown gave the Dutch a pretext to embark on systematically attacking and conquering them in the Dutch–Portuguese War, and the Portuguese felt great resentment at what they perceived as Spain prioritizing its own colonies and neglecting the defense of the Portuguese ones.


title: Portuguese Restoration War

text: The situation culminated in a revolution organized by the nobility and "bourgeoisie", executed on 1 December 1640, sixty years after the crowning of Philip I (Philip II of Spain), the first "dual monarch". The plot was planned by Antão Vaz de Almada, Miguel de Almeida and João Pinto Ribeiro. They, together with several associates, known as the Forty Conspirators, killed the Secretary of State, Miguel de Vasconcelos, and imprisoned the king's cousin, Margaret of Savoy, who had been governing Portugal in his name. Philip's troops were then fighting the Thirty Years' War and also facing a revolution in Catalonia, which became known as the Reapers' War.


title: Portuguese Restoration War

text: The support of the people became apparent almost immediately and within a matter of hours, Philip III's third cousin John, 8th Duke of Braganza, was acclaimed as King John IV of Portugal. The news spread like wildfire throughout the country. By 2 December 1640, the day after the coup, John IV, acting in his capacity as sovereign of the country, had sent a letter to the Municipal Chamber of Évora.


title: Portuguese Restoration War

text: The ensuing conflict with Spain brought Portugal into the Thirty Years' War as at least a peripheral player. From 1641 to 1668, the period during which the two nations were at war, Spain sought to isolate Portugal militarily and diplomatically, and Portugal tried to find the resources to maintain its independence through political alliances and maintaining its colonial income.


title: Portuguese Restoration War

text: Immediately after assuming the Portuguese throne, John IV took several steps to strengthen his position. On 11 December 1640, a 'Council of War' was created to organize all of the operations. Next, the king created the 'Junta of the Frontiers' to take care of the fortresses near the border, the hypothetical defense of Lisbon, and the garrisons and sea ports.


title: Portuguese Restoration War

text: A year later, in December 1641, he created a tenancy to assure that all of the country's fortresses would be upgraded and that the improvements would be financed with regional taxes. He also organized the army, re-established the 'Military Laws of King Sebastian', and undertook a diplomatic campaign focused on restoring good relations with England.


title: Portuguese Restoration War

text: After gaining several small victories, John tried to make peace quickly. However, his demand that Philip recognize the new ruling dynasty in Portugal was not fulfilled until the reign of his son, Afonso VI, during the regency of Peter of Braganza, another of his sons, who later became King Peter II of Portugal). Confrontations with Spain lasted 28 years.


title: Portuguese Restoration War

text: In 1640, Cardinal Richelieu, the chief adviser to Louis XIII of France was fully aware of the fact that France was operating under strained circumstances. Louis was at war with Spain at that time; he had to control rebellions within France that were supported and financed by Madrid and had to send French armies to fight the Spanish Habsburgs on three different fronts. In addition to their shared frontier at the Pyrenees, Philip IV of Spain, formerly Philip III of Portugal as well, reigned, under various titles, in Flanders and the Franche-Comté, to the north and east of France. In addition, Philip IV controlled large territories in Italy, where he could, at will, impose a fourth front by attacking French-controlled Savoy. (In Savoy, Christine Marie of France was acting as regent on behalf of her young son, Charles Emmanuel II, Duke of Savoy.)


title: Portuguese Restoration War

text: Spain had enjoyed the reputation of having the most formidable military force in Europe, with the introduction of the arquebus and the so-called "Spanish School", but that reputation and tactic had diminished with the Thirty Years' War. Nevertheless, the consummate statesman, Richelieu, decided to force Philip IV to look to his own internal problems. To divert the Spanish troops besieging France, Louis XIII, on the advice of Richelieu, supported John's claim during the Acclamation War on the reasoning that a Portuguese war would drain Spanish resources and manpower.


title: Portuguese Restoration War

text: To fulfill the common foreign-policy interests of Portugal and France, a treaty of alliance between the two countries was concluded at Paris on 1 June 1641. It lasted eighteen years before Richelieu's successor as unofficial foreign minister, Cardinal Mazarin, broke the treaty and abandoned his Portuguese and Catalan allies to sign a separate peace with Madrid. The Treaty of the Pyrenees was signed in 1659. Under its terms, France received the portion of Catalonia north of the Pyrenees, known as the Roussillon, and part of the Cerdanya (French Cerdagne). Most important to the Portuguese, the French recognised Philip IV of Spain as the legitimate king of Portugal.


title: Portuguese Restoration War

text: Seven years later, in the late stages of the Portuguese Restoration War, relations between the two countries thawed to the extent that the young (but sickly) Afonso VI of Portugal married a French princess, Marie Françoise of Nemours.


title: Portuguese Restoration War

text: At the time of the revolution in Lisbon (1 December 1640), the Portuguese had been at war with the Dutch for nearly forty years. A good deal of the conflict can be attributed to the fact that Spain and the Dutch Republic were concurrently engaged in the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648), and, ever since hostilities between Portugal and the Dutch Republic erupted in 1602, Portugal had been ruled by a Spanish monarch.


title: Portuguese Restoration War

text: The Dutch-Portuguese War was fought almost entirely overseas, with the Dutch mercantile surrogates, the Dutch East India Company and the Dutch West India Company, repeatedly attacking Portugal's colonial possessions in the Americas, in Africa, in India, and in the Far East. Portugal was in a defensive posture throughout, and it received very little military help from Spain.


title: Portuguese Restoration War

text: After the acclamation of John, the pattern persisted all over the Portuguese Empire until the final expulsion of the Dutch from Angola (1648), São Tomé (1649), and Brazil (1654). The Dutch signed a European truce with Portugal, helping each other somewhat against their common enemy, Spain. The Dutch resumed buying salt in the Setúbal salt factories, restarting commerce between the two countries for the first time since 1580, when the Spanish branch of the Habsburgs, against whom the Dutch were in revolt, had assumed the Portuguese throne. However, Dutch attacks on Portuguese territories persisted until 1663, even after the signing of the Treaty of The Hague in 1661.


title: Portuguese Restoration War

text: England was then embroiled in its own civil war. Portuguese problems in dealing with England arose from the fact that the English Parliament fought and won its anti-royalist war while, at the same time, Portugal's royal court continued to receive and recognize English princes and nobles. The strained relations persisted during the short-lived Commonwealth period, when the republican government that had deposed Charles I ruled England and then Ireland and Scotland.


title: Portuguese Restoration War

text: After the restoration of the Stuart dynasty, it became possible for Portugal to compensate for the lack of French support by renewing its alliance with England. That took the form of a dynastic marriage between Charles II and Afonso VI's sister, Catherine of Braganza, which assured Portugal of outside support in its conflict with Spain. The English alliance helped peace with Spain, which had been drained by the Thirty Years' War and had no stomach for further warfare with other European powers, especially a resurgent England.


title: Portuguese Restoration War

text: Militarily, the Portuguese Restoration War consisted mainly of border skirmishes and cavalry raids to sack border towns, combined with occasional invasions and counter-invasions, many of them half-hearted and under-financed. There were only five major set-piece battles during twenty-eight years of hostilities.


title: Portuguese Restoration War

text: Hoping for a quick victory in Portugal, Spain immediately committed seven regiments to the Portuguese frontier, but delays by the Count of Monterrey, a commander with more interest in the comforts of life at camp than the battlefield, squandered any immediate advantage. A Portuguese counter-thrust in late 1641 failed, and the conflict soon settled into a stalemate.


title: Portuguese Restoration War

text: On 26 May 1644, a large column of Spanish troops and mercenaries, commanded by Neapolitan marquis of Torrecusa, was stopped at the Battle of Montijo by the Portuguese, who were led by the Matias de Albuquerque, one of a number of experienced Portuguese colonial officers who rose to prominence during the war.


title: Portuguese Restoration War

text: The war now took on a peculiar character. It became a frontier confrontation, often between local forces, neighbours who knew each other well, but this familiarity did not moderate the destructive and blood-thirsty impulses of either side. The wanton nature of the combat was often exacerbated by the use of mercenaries and foreign conscripts; incidents of singular cruelty were reported on both sides. The Portuguese settled old animosities that had festered during sixty years of Spanish domination, and the Spanish often took the view that their opponents were disloyal and rebellious subjects, not an opposing army entitled to respectful treatment under the rules of combat.


title: Portuguese Restoration War

text: Three theaters of warfare were eventually opened, but most activity focused on the northern front, near Galicia, and on the central frontier between Portuguese Alentejo and Spanish Extremadura. The southern front, where the Portuguese Algarve abuts Spanish Andalusia, was a logical target for Portugal, but it was never the focus of a Portuguese attack, probably because the Portuguese queen, Luisa de Guzmán, was the sister of the Duke of Medina Sidonia, the leading noble of Andalusia.


title: Portuguese Restoration War

text: Spain, at first, made the war a defensive one. Portugal, for its part, felt no need to take Spanish territory in order to win, and it too was willing to make the war a defensive contest. Campaigns typically consisted of "correrias" (cavalry raids) to burn fields, sack towns, and steal large herds of enemy cattle and sheep. Soldiers and officers, many of them mercenaries, were primarily interested in booty and prone to desertion. For long periods, without men or money, neither side mounted formal campaigns, and when actions were taken, they were often driven as much by political considerations, such as Portugal's need to impress potential allies, as by clear military objectives. Year after year, given the problems of campaigning in the winter, and the heat and dry conditions of summer, most of the serious fighting was confined to two relatively short "campaign seasons" in the spring and autumn.


title: Portuguese Restoration War

text: The war settled into a pattern of mutual destruction. As early as December 1641, it was common to hear Spaniards throughout the country lament that "Extremadura is finished." Tax collectors, recruiting officers, billeted soldiers, and depredations by Spanish and foreign troops were loathed and feared by the Spanish population as much as raids by the enemy. In Extremadura, local militias bore the brunt of the fighting until 1659, and the absence of these part-time soldiers was extremely harmful to agriculture and local finances. Since there was often no money to pay or support the troops (or to reward their commanders), the Spanish crown turned a blind eye to the smuggling, contraband, profiteering, disorder, and destruction that had become rampant on the frontier. Similar conditions also existed among the Portuguese.


title: Portuguese Restoration War

text: The war was also expensive. In the 1650s, there were over 20,000 Spanish troops in Extremadura alone, compared to 27,000 in Flanders. Between 1649 and 1654, about 29 percent (over six million ducats) of Spanish defence spending was appropriated for fighting Portugal, a figure that rose during the major campaigns of the 1660s. Portugal was able to finance its war effort because of its ability to tax the spice trade with Asia and the sugar trade from Brazil, and it received some support from the European opponents of Spain, particularly France and England.


title: Portuguese Restoration War

text: The 1650s were indecisive militarily but important on the political and diplomatic fronts, with the brief exception of the Battle of the Lines of Elvas in 1659. The death of John IV in 1656 signalled the beginning of the regency of his wife, followed by a succession crisis and a palace coup (1662). Despite these domestic problems, the expulsion of the Dutch from Brazil (1654) and the signing of a treaty with England (also in 1654) improved Portugal's diplomatic and financial position temporarily and gave it needed protection against a naval raid on Lisbon.


title: Portuguese Restoration War

text: Nonetheless, the overriding goal, a formal pact with France, continued to evade Portugal, whose weakness and isolation had been driven home by its virtual exclusion at the negotiations for the European settlement-of-settlements, the new "realpolitik" of the Peace of Westphalia (1648).


title: Portuguese Restoration War

text: With this treaty and the end of hostilities in Catalonia in 1652, Spain was again ready to direct its efforts against Portugal, but it faced a lack of men, resources, and, especially, good military commanders.


title: Portuguese Restoration War

text: By 1662, Spain had committed itself to a major effort to end the war. John of Austria the Younger, Philip IV's illegitimate son, led 14,000 men into Alentejo, and, the following year, they succeeded in taking Évora, the major city of the region.


title: Portuguese Restoration War

text: The Portuguese, under António Luís de Meneses, 1st Marquess of Marialva, were bolstered by the arrival of a British brigade which numbered 3,000 in August 1662. Many were veterans of the English Civil War and the Dutch Revolt. For King Charles II, this was a convenient way of getting rid of demobilized soldiers of Cromwell's New Model Army and removing them from English territory. They were led by the German soldier of fortune, Friedrich Hermann von Schönberg, Count of Mértola, The brigade under Schomberg's leadership, proved a decisive factor in winning back Portugal's independence.


title: Portuguese Restoration War

text: They defeated the Spanish in a major engagement at Ameixial on 8 June 1663, and this forced John of Austria to abandon Évora and retreat across the border with heavy losses.


title: Portuguese Restoration War

text: The Portuguese now had some 30,000 troops in the Alentejo-Extremadura theatre, but they could not draw the Spanish again into a major engagement until June 1665, when a new Spanish commander, the marquis of Caracena, took over Vila Viçosa with about 23,000 men, including recruits from Germany and Italy.


title: Portuguese Restoration War

text: The Portuguese relief column under António Luís de Meneses and Schomberg met them at Montes Claros on 17 June 1665. The Portuguese infantry and artillery emplacements broke the Spanish cavalry, and the Spanish force lost over 10,000 men, including casualties and prisoners. Shortly thereafter, the Portuguese retook Vila Viçosa. These were the last major engagements of the war.


title: Portuguese Restoration War

text: Both sides returned to skirmishing campaigns. Portugal, with the intercession of its English ally, had sought a truce, but after the decisive Portuguese victory at Montes Claros and with the signing of a Franco-Portuguese treaty in 1667, the Spanish Habsburgs finally agreed to recognize the House of Braganza as Portugal's new ruling dynasty on 13 February 1668.


title: Portuguese Restoration War

text: The Portuguese were victorious in almost all of these engagements, and peace was concluded, with the help of English mediation, by the Treaty of Lisbon in 1668.


title: Portuguese Restoration War

text: For Portugal, its restoration of independence from Spain was clearly established, and it proved that it could fend for itself, albeit with difficulty. Its victories on the battlefield had re-awakened Portuguese nationalism.


title: Portuguese Restoration War

text: Economically, Portugal's restoration of independence freed it to pursue the course mapped out by the pioneers of commercial imperialism. During the seventeenth century, its economy depended largely upon entrepôt trade in tobacco and sugar, and the export of salt. During the eighteenth century, even though staples were not abandoned, the Portuguese economy came to be based more upon slaves, gold, leather, and wine. Portuguese trade, centered in the busy port of Lisbon, was most influenced by Anglo-Dutch capitalism and by the colonial economy in Brazil.


title: Portuguese Restoration War

text: Luís de Meneses, the Count of Ericeira, economic adviser to the "prince regent", advocated the development of a native textile industry based on a Flemish model. Factories were established at Covilhã, in an area of central Portugal where there was easy access to flocks of sheep and clean mountain water, but they were highly unpopular with both local consumers and traditional weavers. Meanwhile, Portuguese attempts to develop a silk industry were undercut by the French, who wanted to monopolize that market.


title: Portuguese Restoration War

text: More importantly, after 1668, Portugal, determined to differentiate itself from Spain, turned to Western Europe, particularly France and England, for new ideas and skills. This was part of a gradual "de-Iberianization", as Portugal consolidated its cultural and political independence from Spain. Portuguese nationalism, aroused by success on the battlefield, produced hostile reactions to Spain and to Spanish things and persons. By this time, Portuguese society was composed of two basic elements: those who participated in the gradual Europeanization process, the “political nation,” and those who remained largely unchanged, the majority of the people who remained apolitical and passive.


title: Thalys

text: Thalys (French: ) is a French-Belgian high-speed train operator originally built around the LGV Nord high-speed line between Paris and Brussels. This track is shared with Eurostar trains that go from Paris, Brussels or Amsterdam to London via Lille and the Channel Tunnel and with French domestic TGV trains. Thalys also serves Amsterdam (via the HSL-Zuid) and German cities in the Rhein-Ruhr, including Aachen, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Duisburg, Essen and Dortmund.


title: Thalys

text: Thalys was created out of a political ambition formalised in October 1987 to establish a network of international high-speed railway services between the cities of Paris, Brussels, Cologne, and Amsterdam. The Thalys name was created in January 1995. The company procured a fleet of Alstom-built TGV trains to operate its services as they were viewed as the only existing rolling stock suitable to the task. On 4 June 1996, the first Thalys-branded train departed Paris, early services were more reliant on slower conventional lines as many of the new high speed lines were still under construction. Service speeds would improve with the opening of Belgium's HSL 1 line in December 1997 and the Dutch HSL-Zuid in December 2009, alongside other infrastructure works. Thalys' busiest route is the Paris - Belgium corridor; various airlines, such as Air France and KLM, have opted to discontinue directly competing flights with Thalys' high speed services.


title: Thalys

text: The service was historically managed by Thalys International, which was 70% owned by SNCF (the national railway company of France) and 30% owned by the National Railway Company of Belgium (NMBS/SNCB) and operated by THI Factory which is 60% owned by SNCF and 40% owned by NMBS/SNCB. Between 2007 and 2013, the German national railway company had also held a 10% stake in the company. On 30 March 2015, Thalys was restructured as a conventional train operating company, becoming less reliant on SNCF and SNCB. During September 2019, a plan to merge Thalys and the cross-Channel high speed train operator Eurostar was announced; approval of the merger was issued by the European Commission on 28 March 2022. In February 2022, Thalys International was integrated into "THI Factory", which in turn was acquired by the holding company Eurostar Group during the following month.


title: Thalys

text: Prior to the creation of Thalys, an express rail service had long been operated between the capital cities of Paris and Brussels, the earliest being run in 1924 in the form of the train service l'Étoile du Nord. By the 1970s, the conventional service connecting the two cities had a journey time of around two hours and 30 minutes. In the following decade, interest in an international high-speed train service along a similar route was gaining traction amongst various governments.


title: Thalys

text: During October 1987, the political decision to create an network of high-speed services between the cities of Paris, Brussels, Cologne, and Amsterdam was made in Brussels. However, in 1991, the Dutch parliament initially rejected the project; continued discussions led to an agreement being reached with Belgium for a route via Breda instead of Roosendaal. The building of the HSL-Zuid high speed line in the Netherlands was finally approved in 1996. Meanwhile, Germany decided against the construction of a new railway between Aachen and Cologne, instead opting to renovate the existing track between Duren and Cologne, which resulted in a top speed of 250 kilometres per hour along this section. On 28 January 1993, SNCF, SNCB/NMBS, and (which became part of in 1994) signed an agreement to operate the axis on a joint basis.


title: Thalys

text: During January 1995, "Westrail International" was created by the French and Belgian national railways to operate the new international services. That same month, both the logo and brand of "Thalys" were also created; the word deliberately lacked any particular meaning, save for being pronounceable in the languages of all the countries served. It was decided to procure Alstom-built TGV trains, similar to those already used by SNCF on the French national railways, as these were the only suitable rolling stock available at the time. Another key decision was to launch the service in advance of many of the planned high speed lines, being initially reliant upon slower conventional lines until these were eventually completed; the existing international services that used conventional rolling stock were deliberately withdrawn in preparation for the running of Thalys trains in early June 1996.


title: Thalys

text: On 4 June 1996, the first Thalys-branded train departed Paris, this maiden journey took two hours and seven minutes to reach to Brussels, and four hours and 47 minutes to arrive in Amsterdam. Initially, Thalys services only operated four times per day between Amsterdam and Cologne, while a far greater volume were run between Paris and Belgium. While quite restricted early on, the number of Thalys services would be gradually expanded over time, as would the high speed network that supported it.


title: Thalys

text: During December 1997, the Belgian HSL 1 line, allowing and running from the French border to the outskirts of Brussels, was inaugurated. On 14 December 1997, the first Thalys train from Paris to Brussels ran on the HSL 1, reducing travel time to 1:25 hours. At the same time, service commenced to Cologne and Aachen in Germany, and Bruges, Charleroi, Ghent, Mons, Namur and Ostend in Belgium. On 19 December 1998, the Thalys Neige service started to the ski resorts of Tarentaise Valley and Bourg-Saint-Maurice. In May 1999, the new high-speed line serving Charles de Gaulle Airport opened, and Thalys started direct services from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport to Brussels, including codeshare agreements with Air France, American Airlines and Northwest Airlines. On 28 November 1999, Westrail International changed its name to Thalys International.


title: Thalys

text: In 2000, Thalys started a daily Service between Brussels and Geneva. With its (French for 'Thalys Sun'), it started offering direct connections to Provence, initially to Valence, and extended to Avignon and Marseille in 2002. Service between Brussels and Cologne was improved in December 2002 when trains began running on the new HSL 2 in Belgium. During 2003, Thalys services started to Brussels Airport and the Thalys Nuits d'Été service to Marne-la-Vallée. In 2007, Deutsche Bahn purchased a 10% shareholding, while SNCF reduced its stake to 62% and SNCB to 28%.


title: Thalys

text: Beginning on 14 June 2009, the journey between Brussels and Cologne was shortened by 19 minutes when the new high-speed line HSL 3 between Liège and Aachen opened using Deutsche Bahn's thrice-daily ICE trains running between Brussels and Frankfurt. While HSL 3 was completed during 2007, Thalys trains had not been initially equipped with the European Train Control System (ETCS) signaling equipment necessary to use the new line. Following the completion of installation and testing work, Thalys began operating on HSL 3 on 13 December 2009. For the same reasons, Thalys started operating on the HSL 4/HSL-Zuid high-speed line between Antwerp and Amsterdam on 13 December 2009, two years after the line's construction.


title: Thalys

text: Since 29 August 2011, one return journey to Cologne has been extended to Essen Hauptbahnhof, and since 30 October 2011, one return journey to Brussels had been extended to Brussels National Airport.


title: Thalys

text: On 9 June 2013, permanently ceased the sale of tickets for Thalys services, forcing affected travellers to purchase separate tickets. The company also opted to sell its 10 per cent shareholding in Thalys, marking a general parting of ways between the two operators.


title: Thalys

text: Since the winter 2013 schedule, Thalys has operated services stopping at Düsseldorf Airport station. On 12 April 2014, it launched a regular service between Lille Europe and Amsterdam Centraal.


title: Thalys

text: At the end of March 2015, Thalys dropped the Paris – Oostende and the Paris – Brussels – Mons – Charleroi – Namur – Liège routes; this withdrawal was reportedly due to a lack of funding from the Belgian government.


title: Thalys

text: On 30 March 2015, Thalys was restructured as a conventional train operating company, adopting the name "THI Factory", and has since operated under its own train operator certificate. Prior to this date, the ownership of Thalys' 26 multi-voltage TGVs had been divided between the four national railway operators holding stakes in the company; they were transferred to the company at this point. These change were promoted as making Thalys a truly independent company, reducing its interactions with both SNCF and SNCB; headquarters were established in Brussels, with a branch office in Paris.


title: Thalys

text: In March 2018, Thalys ceased all its operations from Lille-Europe, citing disappointing demand (despite lower-than-average ticket prices) and financial results.


title: Thalys

text: In September 2019, the shareholders of the cross-Channel high speed train operator Eurostar and Thalys introduced a plan to merge the two companies, named project "Green Speed". Both companies already operate in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands, with Eurostar also operating in the United Kingdom, and Thalys also operating in Germany, while SNCF already held a majority stake in both operators. The project was promoted as reducing costs and providing a more seamless experience to passengers via the use of a single ticketing system and loyalty program.


title: Thalys

text: During September 2020, the merger between Thalys and Eurostar International was confirmed, In October 2021, it was announced that, upon the completion of the merger, it was intended for all of Thalys' services to be rebranded as Eurostar. On 28 March 2022, the European Commission approved the merger. The rebranding of Thalys services is planned to happen in 2024. To differentiate the services of the Eurostar brand, Thalys's rolling stock will retain its red livery. In April 2022, THI Factory was acquired by a new holding company, Eurostar Group; its former shareholders received a corresponding stake in the new holding company.


title: Thalys

text: Beyond Brussels, the main cities Thalys trains reach are Antwerp, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Liège, Aachen and Cologne. Trains to these destinations run partly on dedicated high-speed tracks, and partly on conventional tracks shared with normal-speed trains. The high-speed lines used by Thalys are HSL 1 between Paris and Brussels, HSL 4/HSL-Zuid between Antwerp and Amsterdam, and the HSL 2 and HSL 3 between Brussels and Aachen. For its seasonal operations within France, other high-speed lines are used.


title: Thalys

text: Journeys from Brussels (Brussels-South) to Paris ("Gare du Nord") are normally 1 hour and 22 minutes, for a distance of approximately . The peak service speed is while travelling a dedicated high-speed railway track, which is typically electrified at 25 kV AC OHLE.


title: Thalys

text: The "ligne à grande vitesse" (LGV) link with Charles de Gaulle Airport allowed Air France to withdraw its air service between Paris and Brussels; instead, Air France books seats on Thalys trains. Thalys has been given the IATA designator 2H. This is used in conjunction with American Airlines and Delta Air Lines. American Airlines has a code-sharing agreement with Thalys for rail service from Charles de Gaulle airport to Brussels-South. The airline alliance SkyTeam also has a code-sharing agreement with Thalys for rail service connecting its hub Amsterdam Schiphol Airport with Antwerp-Centraal and Bruxelles Midi/Brussel Zuid. Thalys and the Dutch flagcarrier KLM jointly collaborate on "AirRail", an initiative to encourage passengers to travel by train to connect with KLM flights; this effort led to KLM ending its air route between Brussels and Amsterdam.


title: Thalys

text: The percentage of income coming from different routes demonstrates on which routes the company is most used:


title: Thalys

text: 52% of customers are from the leisure market, while 48% are from the business market. A large segment of Thalys's total sales and income comes from the connection between Paris and Brussels.


title: Thalys

text: Unlike many national train companies, Thalys does not allow children below 12 years old to travel alone. Children onboard Thalys services must be accompanied and possess appropriate travel documents as required by the relevant national authorities pertaining to the journey being made.


title: Thalys

text: Since 24 August 2010, there has been a supplement of €7 to Thalys (as well as other international high-speed tickets) tickets bought at SNCB/NMBS ticket offices at train stations (but not on tickets bought over the Internet). This is due to a reduction of a sales fee paid by Thalys and Eurostar to the Belgian rail company. The sales prices have evolved, by June 2019, the "booking fee" (as it is referred to as) had risen to €9.


title: Thalys

text: Thalys trains are wheelchair-accessible, with the assistance of the train staff. Bicycles are not allowed on Thalys unless disassembled or packed in a special wrap. Folding bikes are allowed.


title: Thalys

text: In February 2020, Thalys announced that its new first-and-last mile travel service 'My Driver by Thalys' enables passengers can choose between around 50 local taxi fleets to complete their rail journeys.


title: Thalys

text: Thalys operates station lounges in Brussels and Paris. Opened on 9 July 2015, the newest lounge in Paris' Gare du Nord , located on


title: Thalys

text: , offers travelers with a valid "My Thalys World" membership (Thalys' Loyalty Program) a variety of services, including free WiFi and a luggage storage service. For business travelers, a fully equipped meeting room is available for up to six people.


title: Thalys

text: Thalys uses two models of trains, both of which are part of the TGV ("train à grande vitesse") family of high-speed trains built by Alstom in France.


title: Flack (TV series)

text: Flack is a British dramedy television series. The first season, starring Anna Paquin, premiered on 21 February 2019 and consisted of six episodes.


title: Flack (TV series)

text: On 2 August 2019, the series was renewed for a second season. It was scheduled to premiere on Pop in the U.S. on March 13, 2020, but was removed from the schedule after cutbacks by parent company ViacomCBS. In the UK, the show's website listed the second season as scheduled to run on W that March, before being changed to "Coming Soon". In late March 2020, the first season was made available through the video on demand platforms of Pop's sister network Showtime in the United States, though a confirmation of the network airing the second season has not been made. In June 2020, it was announced that the series would move to Amazon Prime Video for its second season. Series 2 became available for streaming on Prime Video on June 10, 2021.


title: Flack (TV series)

text: Robyn (Paquin) an American PR executive living in London, must figure out how to make the best of bad situations and somehow manage to get out unscathed. Robyn specialises in clearing up the monumental messes caused by her hapless and selfish clients. Although utterly in command of her job, her personal life is spinning out of control.


title: Flack (TV series)

text: On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds an approval rating of 73% with an average rating of 6.1/10, based on 26 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Audiences looking for an arsenic cookie of a series may cut "Flack" some slack, but its cynical take on publicity is exacerbated by hyperbolically unpleasant, underdeveloped characters." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the series a score of 58 out of 100, based on 13 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews."


title: Big Boy (radio host)

text: Big Boy (born Kurt Alexander; September 8, 1969) is a nationally syndicated American radio host and actor. From 1997 he has hosted the morning show at Los Angeles Rhythmic contemporary station KPWR (Power 106) until his move in February 2015 to KRRL (Real 92.3). His stage name derives from his formerly large build, which he modified through duodenal switch surgery in 2003, leading to a nearly fatal weight loss of over 250 pounds.


title: Big Boy (radio host)

text: Big Boy was born in Chicago's West Side and moved to Los Angeles at the age of two. After becoming acquainted with the music industry while DJing Culver City High School parties, Big Boy soon became a bodyguard for the music group The Pharcyde. Big Boy was friends with the Baka Boyz, the morning show hosts at Power 106. Always being a funny personality, Big Boy was offered a hosting position with the station, soon proving successful in nighttime and afternoon hosting spots.


title: Big Boy (radio host)

text: Big Boy's image became well known throughout the Greater Los Angeles Area in the late 1990s. However his first big break onto the national spotlight was when he was hired as the announcer on the Vibe TV talk show (named after the popular magazine) in 1998 hosted by comedian Sinbad. When the program ended, apparently Big Boy had media fans at the executive level because Big Boy, in the early 2000s, was offered a host position with Power 106 and was promoted by placing his 500-plus pound image onto billboards throughout the area.


title: Big Boy (radio host)

text: Big Boy has been named Personality of the Year four times by the Radio Music Awards and three times by Radio and Records magazine. The National Association of Broadcasters awarded him the Marconi Award in 2002 and 2004. In September 2015 he was voted as an inductee to the 2015 National Radio Hall of Fame.


title: Big Boy (radio host)

text: He has made cameo appearances in movies such as "Malibu's Most Wanted", "Soul Plane", "The Longest Yard", "The Players Club", and "Charlie's Angels 2", and co-starred in "". Fox television signed Big Boy to co-star in the police drama "Fastlane "in the fall of 2002. Also, Big Boy voiced himself in the 2005 Disney Channel Original Movie, "The Proud Family Movie" as a host of Wizard Kelly Radio. He has appeared numerous times on the hit HBO "Entourage" TV series. He was also featured on the second episode of the VH1 reality series, "I Love New York", hosting the "I Love New York Management". Big Boy is in the development process for his own network sitcom and hosts his syndicated weekend show formerly called "Big Boy's Hip Hop Spot." He has performed on-air voice-overs on MTV's reality game show "Yo Momma".


title: Big Boy (radio host)

text: Big Boy voiced the character Big Bear in the 2004 video game "" Big Boy is also an announcer along with set free in the 2002 video game "Street Hoops". He is a radio host in the 2013 video game "Grand Theft Auto V" on the Radio Los Santos radio station.


title: Big Boy (radio host)

text: In 2010, Big Boy and Power 106 were featured in the movie 'Project X.' During the end of the movie he talked about the party and made reference to Kanye West. On August 6, 2007, Big Boy signed a multi-year deal with ABC Radio Networks to syndicate the show, and his weekend show Big Boy's Hip Hop Spot. The show launched nationally on August 20 and is also now called The Big Boy's Neighborhood Morning Show.


title: Big Boy (radio host)

text: On November 24, 2010, Big Boy made a special guest performance in Vicente Fernández's concert at the Gibson Amphitheatre performing "Aca Entre Nos".


title: Big Boy (radio host)

text: In September 2010, Big Boy entered into film production via his production company, Ida's Son Productions. The first film, "Exit Strategy", is a romantic comedy centering on James (Jameeel Saleem) who is evicted from his apartment and forced to move in with his girlfriend of three months, Kim (Kimelia Weathers) and quickly discovers she's not his type. When he enlists his friend Carville (Quincy 'QDeezy' Harris) and Leona (Noelle Balfour) to help him find an exit out of the relationship. Comedian Kevin Hart makes a cameo role.


title: Big Boy (radio host)

text: On February 3, 2015, Emmis Communications filed a breach-of-contract suit against Big Boy after he accepted a $3.5 million contract with iHeartMedia and quit the KPWR morning show. iHeart owns crosstown Urban Contemporary station Real 92.3 KRRL. At KPWR, nighttime host J. Cruz was the morning show host until he left the station in 2019 prior to his move to KRRL as its afternoon host with Nick Cannon taking his place as the new host in early June.


title: Big Boy (radio host)

text: In March 2016, a year after he joined KRRL and iHeartMedia, his nationally syndicated program was transferred to iHeart's syndication division Premiere Networks from Westwood One. Beginning July 30, 2018, the show is also carried in a two-hour edited video form on the American cable network FM (Fuse Music).


title: Busch Stadium

text: Busch Stadium (also referred to informally as "New Busch Stadium" or "Busch Stadium III") is a baseball stadium located in St. Louis, Missouri. The stadium serves as the home of the St. Louis Cardinals, the city's Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise, and has a seating capacity of 44,494, with 3,706 club seats and 61 luxury suites. It replaced Busch Memorial Stadium (aka Busch Stadium II) and occupies a portion of that stadium's former footprint. A commercial area dubbed Ballpark Village was built adjacent to the stadium over the remainder of the former stadium's footprint.


title: Busch Stadium

text: The stadium opened on April 4, 2006 with an exhibition between the minor league Memphis Redbirds and Springfield Cardinals (both affiliates of the St. Louis Cardinals), which Springfield won 5–3 with right-hander Mike Parisi recording the first win. The first official major league game occurred on April 10, 2006, as the Cardinals defeated the Milwaukee Brewers 6–4 behind an Albert Pujols home run and winning pitcher Mark Mulder.


title: Busch Stadium

text: In 2004, then-Anheuser-Busch president August Busch IV announced that the brewing giant had purchased 20-year naming rights for the stadium. Team owner William DeWitt Jr. said: "From the day we began planning for the new ballpark, we wanted to keep the name 'Busch Stadium.' August Busch IV and Anheuser-Busch share our vision for continuing that tradition for our great fans and the entire St. Louis community."


title: Busch Stadium

text: It is the third stadium in St. Louis to carry the name Busch Stadium. Sportsman's Park was renamed Busch Stadium in 1953; then-team owner August Busch Jr. had planned to name it Budweiser Stadium, but league rules prohibited naming a venue after an alcoholic beverage. Busch named the stadium after himself, and the Anheuser-Busch corporation later introduced "Busch Beer". The first Busch Stadium closed in 1966 and both the baseball Cardinals, and the National Football League (NFL)'s team of the same name (now the Arizona Cardinals) moved to a new multi-purpose stadium, named Busch Memorial Stadium (Busch Stadium II).


title: Busch Stadium

text: In 1995, St. Louis Cardinals team ownership began to lobby for a new ballpark in downtown St. Louis, but the team was unable to acquire funding for the project for several years. In June 2001, the Missouri state government signed a contract with the team, proposing a ballpark in downtown St. Louis, but a subsequent funding bill was struck down in May 2002, leaving the saga open. Team owners sought a location near Madison, Illinois, adjacent to Gateway International Raceway, until the city of St. Louis drafted a financing plan for the team to construct the new stadium in downtown St. Louis. The stadium was financed through private bonds, bank loans, a long-term loan from St. Louis County, and money from the team owners. The development, including the Ballpark Village was projected to cost approximately $665 million with the stadium alone costing $365 million.


title: Busch Stadium

text: New Busch Stadium was designed by Populous (then known as HOK Sport) and built by Hunt Construction with an estimated cost of $344.8 million, which proved too low by $20.2 million to its final cost of $365 million. Populous' senior project designer for Busch Stadium was Jim Chibnall, who was also the lead designer of Progressive Field in Cleveland, Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Sydney Olympic Stadium, and other notable stadiums throughout the world.


title: Busch Stadium

text: The field level (16,880 seats), terrace level (9,150), and bleachers (3,661) were completed in time for opening day, with total capacity on that day of 37,962, not including up to 2,751 standing room tickets. An integrated LED video and scoring system from Daktronics was installed in the stadium prior to its opening, featuring a video display measuring high by wide and three message displays, as well as more than of digital ribbon board technology.


title: Busch Stadium

text: Construction on the seating area was completed in late May increasing the capacity for the May 29, 2006 game vs the Houston Astros with finishing touches performed throughout the year. Including all 2,886 standing-room-only tickets for the general public, as well as suites and party rooms, the stadium's total capacity is 46,861. Natural grass turf was installed in March 2006.


title: Busch Stadium

text: In the stadium's debut season every Cardinal game was sold out, giving a total attendance of 3,407,104 for the season, the second-largest in team history, but since surpassed in both 2007, 2008, and 2014–2017.


title: Busch Stadium

text: The largest attendance for a baseball game occurred August 6, 2022, when 48,581 fans watched a game between the Cardinals and the New York Yankees, a 1-0 Cardinals victory.


title: Busch Stadium

text: In the first season of the new stadium, the Cardinals hosted the San Diego Padres in Games 3 and 4 of the National League Division Series. In Game 3 on October 7, San Diego defeated St. Louis 3–1. The Cardinals won the next night by the score of 6–2, clinching the series win. In the 2006 National League Championship Series the Cardinals hosted the New York Mets in Games 3, 4, and 5. St. Louis won Game 3 and Game 5, and eventually clinched their 17th National League pennant by defeating the Mets on the road in Game 7, 3–1.


title: Busch Stadium

text: The Cardinals faced the Detroit Tigers in the 2006 World Series. This was the third meeting between the two ballclubs in the Fall Classic, and the first in 38 years. The Cardinals won the first in 1934, and the Tigers won the second in 1968; each went the full seven games. Because the American League won that year's All-Star Game, the Tigers were granted home field advantage, meaning the Cardinals would host Games 3, 4, and 5. This proved fortuitous for St. Louis, as they won every game at home, clinching their 10th World Series championship in Game 5 on October 27, by the score of 4–2.


title: Busch Stadium

text: Busch Stadium hosted only one postseason game in 2009, a 5–1 loss versus the Los Angeles Dodgers on October 10, to complete a sweep of the Cardinals.


title: Busch Stadium

text: In 2011, Busch Stadium hosted two postseason games in the National League Division Series versus the Philadelphia Phillies. On October 4, the Phillies won 3–2, to take a 2–1 game lead over the Cardinals. The next night, the 5th, the Cardinals beat the Phillies 5–3 to tie the series at 2 games apiece. In the NLCS versus the Milwaukee Brewers, the Cardinals won 2 of the three games they played at home (Games 3, 4, 5). The Cards ended up winning the series on the road in Milwaukee to advance to the World Series. (This was the second time the Cardinals had defeated the Brewers in a postseason series, the first being the 1982 World Series, when Milwaukee was represented as an American League team; the Brewers switched over to the National League in 1998.)


title: Busch Stadium

text: Because the National League had won the 2011 MLB All-Star Game, home field advantage went to the Cardinals as the National League champions, thus allowing the team to host the Texas Rangers for Games 1, 2, 6 and 7. Game 1 was won by the Cardinals on October 19, along with Game 6 on October 27, in a game won in walk-off fashion by a David Freese home run, then the deciding Game 7, which was taken by the Cardinals in a 6–2 final, giving the team the 2011 World Series title.


title: Busch Stadium

text: Busch Stadium hosted two postseason games vs. the Washington Nationals in the 2012 National League Division Series. The two teams split the two games at Busch, before the Cardinals won two of the next three games at Nationals Park. The Cardinals then won the first two home games against the San Francisco Giants to take a 3–1 series lead, but lost Game 5 and went on to lose the series in Game 7 at AT&T Park.


title: Busch Stadium

text: The Cardinals hosted nine postseason games at Busch Stadium in 2013. In the National League Division Series, they won Games 1 and 5 against the Pittsburgh Pirates, with the latter game capping off a series comeback after trailing 2–1. They would win every home game of the NLCS against the Dodgers, including a 9–0 shutout win in Game 6 to take the series 4–2. In the World Series, the Cardinals hosted Games 3–5 against the Boston Red Sox. Game 3 on October 26 ended in an obstruction call when Allen Craig was impeded by Will Middlebrooks at third base, thus awarding him a run after umpire Jim Joyce ruled obstruction on the play. The next night Game 4 ended on a successful pickoff by Koji Uehara on pinch-runner Kolten Wong at first base. The Cardinals led 2–1 after the controversial Game 3 win, but proceeded to lose the next three games to lose the series 4–2.


title: Busch Stadium

text: The Cardinals played two games in Busch Stadium against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Division Series. The first two games of the Series were played at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, and the teams each won a game there. The Series then moved to Busch Stadium, and the Cardinals won the next two games, to win the Series 3-1 and advance to the National League Championship Series.


title: Busch Stadium

text: The Cardinals opened the National League Championship Series at Busch Stadium on October 11, 2014, against the San Francisco Giants. The teams split games 1 and 2 played at Busch Stadium, and the Series moved to AT&T Park in San Francisco. The Giants won games 3, 4, and 5 in their home ballpark, to defeat the Cardinals in the NLCS 4–1, and move on to an appearance in the 2014 World Series against the Kansas City Royals.


title: Busch Stadium

text: The Cardinals hosted two postseason games at Busch Stadium in 2015. In the National League Division Series, they won game 1 on October 9, 2015, but lost game 2 against the Chicago Cubs. The Cardinals then lost games 3 and 4 to the Cubs at Wrigley Field to lose the series 3–1.


title: Busch Stadium

text: The Cardinals hosted four postseason games at Busch Stadium in 2019, in the National League Division Series against the Atlanta Braves, and in the National League Championship Series against the Washington Nationals.


title: Busch Stadium

text: The stadium hosted the 2009 Major League Baseball All-Star Game on July 14, 2009. The American League defeated the National League in that game, 4–3. Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Carl Crawford won MVP. President Barack Obama threw out the ceremonial first pitch wearing a Chicago White Sox jacket.


title: Busch Stadium

text: Missouri has recently started to play one game a year at Busch. In 2009, they defeated SLU, and in 2010, they defeated Illinois in a Braggin' Rights matchup.


title: Busch Stadium

text: The Cardinals have allowed local high school teams to play each other on the field following select weekend afternoon games. So far, only 3 homeruns have been hit by high school students. The first was on May 7, 2011, by Johnny Wilson of Marquette Catholic High School against Farmington High School. The second was on April 21, 2018, by Zach Hilboldt of De Smet Jesuit High school against Palmyra High School. The third was on April 11, 2018, by David Olejnik (St. Louis Home School Patriots) against (Marshall County High School, Benton, Kentucky).


title: Busch Stadium

text: Busch Stadium hosted an exhibition soccer game on May 23, 2013, between English clubs Manchester City and Chelsea. Tickets for the match sold out within 20 minutes of going on sale, and Manchester City won 4–3 in front of a crowd of 48,263, to date the 2nd largest attendance at a sporting event at the stadium.


title: Busch Stadium

text: Later that year on November 18, Busch hosted a friendly between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Argentina; before a crowd of more than 30,000, many of which were members of St. Louis' large Bosniak community, Argentina beat Bosnia 2–0, with Sergio Agüero scoring both goals.


title: Busch Stadium

text: On April 4, 2015, the United States Women's National Soccer Team defeated New Zealand 4–0 in front of over 35,000 fans.


title: Busch Stadium

text: On November 13, 2015, the United States Men's National Soccer Team defeated St. Vincent and the Grenadines 6–1 in the first match of the fourth round of qualifiers for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in front of a crowd of 43,433.


title: Busch Stadium

text: Another international friendly was hosted at Busch in 2016: Italian side A.S. Roma, bolstered by a goal from Bosnian star Edin Džeko, defeated Liverpool F.C. 2–1.


title: Busch Stadium

text: The United States women's national team returned on May 16, 2019, for another friendly against New Zealand as part of their preparations for the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup. The United States won 5–0 in front of 35,761 spectators.


title: Busch Stadium

text: On March 9, 2016, the National Hockey League announced that the St. Louis Blues, for the first time in their 50-year history, would host an outdoor game. The 2017 NHL Winter Classic was held at Busch Stadium on January 2, 2017. The Blues won the game by a score of 4–1 against the Chicago Blackhawks. Despite thick fog and spotty rain, Busch Stadium sold out to a crowd of 46,556 St. Louis hockey fans.


title: Busch Stadium

text: On June 12, 2019, the stadium hosted a watch party for Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals when the Blues beat the Boston Bruins and won their first ever Stanley Cup. The Cardinals offered the stadium for use as it was empty that evening (the Cards were at Miami for a series) and the Blues' main watch party at Enterprise Center had sold out within a minute for Game 7, with many of the $10 tickets being picked up by scalpers who sold them on secondary markets at inflated prices. More than 25,000 fans viewed the game on the main scoreboards while braving a heavy rainstorm that hit the area during the 1st period.


title: Busch Stadium

text: Southern Illinois University and Southeast Missouri State played each other in the first ever football game at Busch Stadium on September 21, 2013. The announced attendance was 14,618.


title: Busch Stadium

text: Whereas the previous stadium was enclosed on all sides in the "cookie-cutter" style very similar to Riverfront, Veterans, Three Rivers and Atlanta-Fulton County stadiums, the new stadium is similar to the many other Populous designed "retro-classic" fields. Like all those, it offers a panoramic view of the downtown skyline.


title: Busch Stadium

text: The Gate 3 entrance on the west side of the stadium is most iconic, with a large "bridge" resembling the Eads Bridge arching over the entrance. The exterior of the stadium contains historical plaques of Cardinals logos, the STL insignia and a Busch Stadium logo behind home plate.


title: Busch Stadium

text: After complaints from fans that not all out-of-town games could be placed on the Daktronics out-of-town scoreboard at one time, following the inaugural season a number of advertisement panels were removed to expand the scoreboard and also create a secondary video board. In 2016, the entire original scoreboard and fascia-board system was replaced, creating two full HD video boards: the main board, which took up the entire area of the original scoreboard and video board, measures 4,800 sq ft (40 ft x 120 ft), with the out-of-town scoreboard measuring 3,280 sq ft (40 x 81 ft). 2019 saw the installation of LED floodlights with light-show capabilities, as well as the construction of the Budweiser Terrace in the right field upper deck. The Terrace is a multi-level general admission standing area with two full bars, a BBQ outlet and social areas in the concourse, and a stage area for pre- and in-game entertainment.


title: Busch Stadium

text: Outside the Gate 3 entrance stands a bronze statue of Cardinals legend Stan "The Man" Musial. Other Cardinals statues that previously surrounded Busch Memorial Stadium are now displayed at the corner of Clark and 8th streets, outside the Cardinals' team store. The statues are of former Cardinal players and Hall of Fame inductees Enos Slaughter, Dizzy Dean, Rogers Hornsby, Red Schoendienst, Lou Brock, Bob Gibson, Ozzie Smith, and Ted Simmons; former St. Louis Browns player and Hall of Fame inductee George Sisler; former Negro league St. Louis Stars player and Hall of Fame inductee Cool Papa Bell; and former Cardinals radio broadcaster and Hall of Fame honoree Jack Buck.


title: Busch Stadium

text: Fans at the stadium have access to a large amount of food and drink options, ranging from standard ballpark fare like bratwurst, nachos and peanuts to St Louis-area favorites such as pork steak sandwiches and toasted ravioli. Budweiser holds the beer contract for the stadium as one would expect, but local craft breweries such as Saint Louis Brewery, Urban Chestnut, and 4 Hands all are available at multiple outlets. Tickets for multiple all-inclusive areas are sold on a single game basis, with amenities running the gamut from the ritzy Champions Club (offering a multiple-course buffet, large screen televisions, a chance to get on television or radio as a broadcast booth is located inside the club, and a full bar) to the more family-oriented Scoreboard Patio (with table seating for four in center field and a cookout-style selection of food). Cardinal management also allows outside food and drink (including soft-sided drink coolers); as a result, it is not uncommon to see vendors selling discounted bags of peanuts and bottles of soda and water, or even scalpers including a box of Cracker Jack with tickets.


title: Busch Stadium

text: The ballpark features a make-your-own-mascot store featuring Fredbird, the Cardinals' team mascot. Operated by St. Louis-based Build-A-Bear, the store was first located in the right-field lower deck before it was moved to center field across from Ballpark Village in 2015 to allow it to be open on non-game days.


title: Busch Stadium

text: After "St. Louis Post-Dispatch" sportswriter Rick Hummel was honored with the BBWAA Career Excellence Award and induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in 2007, the Cardinals renamed the stadium's press box the "Bob Broeg-Rick Hummel Press Box", honoring the two local writers enshrined in Cooperstown.


title: Busch Stadium

text: Ballpark Village is a multi-phase residential and entertainment complex located on the site of the former Busch Memorial Stadium across the street from the new ballpark. Despite several years of delays, groundbreaking occurred in February 2013 and the first phase was completed in time for Opening Day 2014.


title: Busch Stadium

text: During a weather incident during a July 2006 game vs the Atlanta Braves, portable concession stands were knocked over, the infield rain tarp was damaged, and plastic sheets used to protect the press box were dislodged. As a result of the storm at least 30 spectators were injured, of whom five were taken to the hospital. After the storm happened, the stadium designated shelter areas for such disasters which are located throughout the ballpark.


title: Busch Stadium

text: Following Juan Encarnación's face injury on August 31, 2007, workers extended the screen from dugout to dugout during the 2007-2008 off season.


title: Busch Stadium

text: In 2018, the Cardinals Front Office announced that six sections of seating would be removed to make way for a new fan experience called the Budweiser Terrace, which features food, drinks, games, drink rails, and lounge style seating while providing a view of the game.


title: Uriah Heep discography

text: Over the years, the British hard rock band Uriah Heep has released 24 studio albums (of original material), 20 live albums, 41 compilation albums, 27 UK singles (33 worldwide) and 17 videos. The band's best selling album is "Sweet Freedom", which was released in 1973 and its worldwide sales are more than 6 million copies. Uriah Heep's progressive/art rock/heavy metal fusion's distinctive features have always featured massive keyboards sound, strong vocal harmonies and (in the early years) David Byron's operatic vocals. Twelve of the band's albums have made it to the UK Albums Chart ("Return to Fantasy" reached No. 7 in 1975) while of the fifteen "Billboard" 200 Uriah Heep albums "Demons and Wizards" was the most successful (No. 23, 1972). In the late 1970s the band had massive success in Germany, where the "Lady in Black" single was a big hit. With Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin, Uriah Heep became one of the top heavy metal and hard rock bands of the 1970s.


The 2020 United States presidential election in Indiana was held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020, as part of the 2020 United States presidential election in which all 50 states plus the District of Columbia participated. Indiana voters chose electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote, pitting the Republican Party's nominee, incumbent President Donald Trump, and running mate Vice President Mike Pence against Democratic Party nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden, and his running mate California Senator Kamala Harris. Indiana has 11 electoral votes in the Electoral College.


title: 2020 United States presidential election in Indiana

text: Indiana was the home state of Pence, who served as Governor of Indiana from 2013 to 2017. Pence retained a 59% approval among voters in his home state.


text: On the day of the election, most news organizations considered Indiana a state Trump would win, or a likely red state. Trump won Indiana by 57% to Biden's 41%, a slight increase in his vote share from 2016, but a reduction in his margin of victory. This election marked the first time since 1952 and only the third time since 1888 that Vigo County, home to Terre Haute and a significant bellwether county, voted for the losing candidate in a presidential election. Biden subsequently became the first presidential nominee of either party since Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952, and the first Democrat since Grover Cleveland in 1884, to win without carrying Vigo County. Biden also became the first Democrat since FDR in 1944 to win without carrying traditionally Democratic Perry County in Southern Indiana. Biden did flip Tippecanoe County, home to Lafayette, from Republican to Democratic, marking the first time since 1936 that the county voted against Indiana's statewide winner. Trump also became the first Republican since Ronald Reagan in 1984 to carry exurban Madison County with more than 60% of the vote. This is also the first election since 1992 in which Indiana voted to the right of Kansas.


text: Notably, Biden reduced the Republican margin in Hamilton County, a suburban county in the Indianapolis metropolitan area that is the state's fourth-most populous county. Hamilton County has never supported a candidate of the Democratic Party for president except for 1912, when the split in the Republicans allowed Woodrow Wilson to carry the county with a 34.9% plurality. Hamilton broke 60%-38% for John McCain in 2008, when Barack Obama won Indiana. Mitt Romney won Hamilton County 66%-32% in 2012 and Trump won it 56%-37% in 2016, nearly identical to his statewide margin. In this election, Trump narrowly won Hamilton County, 52%-45%, a margin that is to the left of the statewide result. Biden's 45% vote share in Hamilton County is higher than that of even Lyndon B. Johnson in his nationwide landslide in 1964 and higher than that of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1936. Biden's vote share in Hamilton is only equaled by Roosevelt's 44.85% share in his 1932 landslide.


text: Donald Trump won the Republican primary, and received all of the state's 58 delegates to the 2020 Republican National Convention.


text: The 2020 Libertarian National Convention was held on May 22–24, 2020, selecting Jo Jorgensen, Psychology Senior Lecturer at Clemson University, as their presidential nominee.


text: The Green primary was held on May 1–31, 2020, with mail-in ballots being post marked no later than June 1, 2020, and results being published by June 14, 2020.


title: Great Indian bustard

text: The great Indian bustard (Ardeotis nigriceps) or Indian bustard, is a bustard found on the Indian subcontinent. A large bird with a horizontal body and long bare legs, giving it an ostrich like appearance, this bird is among the heaviest of the flying birds. Once common on the dry plains of the Indian subcontinent, as few as 150 individuals were estimated to survive in 2018 (reduced from an estimated 250 individuals in 2011) and the species is critically endangered by hunting and loss of its habitat, which consists of large expanses of dry grassland and scrub. These birds are often found associated in the same habitat as blackbuck. It is protected under Wildlife Protection Act 1972 of India.


title: Great Indian bustard

text: The great Indian bustard is a large ground bird with a height of about one metre. It is unmistakable with its black cap contrasting with the pale head and neck. The body is brownish with a black patch spotted in white. The male is deep sandy buff coloured and during the breeding season has a black breast band. The crown of the head is black and crested and is puffed up by displaying males. In the female which is smaller than the male, the head and neck are not pure white and the breast band is either rudimentary, broken or absent.


title: Great Indian bustard

text: Among bustards, this species is smaller only than the Kori bustard and the great bustard in size. It is also the largest land bird in its native range. The great Indian bustard stands at about tall, having a somewhat long neck and quite long legs. The female as in most members of the bustard family are typically considerably smaller.


title: Great Indian bustard

text: Males have a well-developed gular pouch which is inflated when calling during display and helps produce the deep resonant calls.


title: Great Indian bustard

text: This species was formerly widespread in India and Pakistan. The bustard is critically endangered in Pakistan primarily due to lack of protection and rampant hunting. A few birds were detected in a September 2013 survey of the Cholistan Desert in Pakistan.


title: Great Indian bustard

text: In India, the bird was historically found in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Today the bustard is restricted to isolated pockets in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan (shared with Pakistan).


title: Great Indian bustard

text: Great Indian bustards make local movements but these are not well understood although it is known that populations disperse after the monsoons. Males are said to be solitary during the breeding season but form small flocks in winter. Males may however distribute themselves close together and like other bustards they are believed to use a mating system that has been termed as an "exploded or dispersed lek". The male is polygamous.


title: Great Indian bustard

text: The habitat where it is most often found is arid and semi-arid grasslands, open country with thorn scrub, tall grass interspersed with cultivation. It avoids irrigated areas. The major areas where they are known to breed are in central and western India and eastern Pakistan. The dry semi-desert regions where it was found in parts of Rajasthan has been altered by irrigation canals that have transformed the region into an intensively farmed area.


title: Great Indian bustard

text: The great Indian bustard is omnivorous. Apparently, insects, consisting mainly of Orthoptera, but also beetles,( particularly "Mylabris" sp.) are preferred in the diet. Alternatively, they will take grass seeds, berries (largely of the genera "Ziziphus" and "Eruca"), rodents and reptiles (in Rajasthan they are known to take Indian spiny-tailed lizards "Uromastyx hardwickii"). In cultivated areas, they feed on crops such as exposed groundnut, millets and pods of legumes.


title: Great Indian bustard

text: They drink water if it is available and will sometimes sit down to drink or suck water followed by raising up their heads at an angle. When threatened, hens are said to carry young chicks under the wing. Young birds have been recorded to dust-bathe frequently.


title: Great Indian bustard

text: Breeding occurs between March and September, when the inflated fluffy white feathers of the male are inflated and displayed. Territorial fights between males may involve strutting next to each other, leaping against each other with legs against each other and landing down to lock the opponent's head under their neck. During courtship display, the male inflates the gular sac which opens under the tongue, inflating it so that a large wobbly bag appears to hang down from the neck. The tail is held cocked up over the body. The male also raises the tail and folds it on its back. The male periodically produces a resonant deep, booming call that may be heard for nearly 500m. The female lays a single egg in an unlined scrape on the ground. Only the females are involved in incubation and care of the young. The eggs are at risk of destruction from other animals particularly ungulates and crows. Females may use a distraction display that involves flying zigzag with dangling legs.


title: Great Indian bustard

text: In 2011 Birdlife International uplisted this species from Endangered to Critically Endangered, mainly because it has been extirpated from 90% of its former range and the population was estimated at perhaps fewer than 250 individuals in 2008. The main threats are hunting and habitat loss. In the past they were heavily hunted for their meat and for sport and, today, poaching of the species may continue. In some places, such as Rajasthan, increased irrigation by the Indira Gandhi canal has led to increased agriculture and the altered habitat has led to the disappearance of the species from these regions. Some populations migrate into Pakistan where hunting pressure is high. The bird is found in Rajasthan, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat states of India. Desert National Park, near Jaisalmer and coastal grasslands of the Abdasa and Mandvi talukas of Kutch District of Gujarat support some populations. Ghatigaon and Karera sanctuaries in Madhya Pradesh once held sizeable populations. Other sanctuaries with the species include Kutch Bustard Sanctuary of Naliya in Kutch, Karera Wildlife Sanctuary in Shivpuri district;Great Indian Bustard Sanctuary near Nannaj, 18 km from Solapur in Maharashtra, Shrigonda taluka in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra, near Nagpur and near Warora in Chandrapur district in Maharashtra and Rollapadu Wildlife Sanctuary, 45 km from Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh. At Ranibennur Blackbuck Sanctuary, habitat changes have affected the populations of blackbuck and bustards. In the 1950s the scrub forest was replaced with "Eucalyptus" plantations. These helped wildlife when the trees were short but after their extensive growth they made the adjoining grassland less favourable for bustards.


title: Great Indian bustard

text: A 2011 study of the variability in mitochondrial DNA (hypervariable control region II and cytochrome b) in 63 samples from 5 Indian states found very low genetic diversity suggesting a historical population reduction. The study suggested a population reduction or near extinction estimated about 20–40,000 years ago.


title: Great Indian bustard

text: Attempts to breed them in captivity in the 1970s failed. The species is considered as "critically endangered" by the IUCN Red data list.


title: Great Indian bustard

text: The rapid reduction of the population of India's bustards, their endangered status and the decline of grasslands led the Ministry of Environment and Forests to prepare species recovery programs in 2012 for three species of bustard; the great Indian bustard, the Bengal florican ("Houbaropsis bengalensis") and the lesser florican ("Sypheotides indicus"). These programs remain to be finalised and executed by the state wildlife departments. The state of Rajasthan initiated "Project Great Indian Bustard", on World Environment Day 2013, identifying and fencing off bustard breeding grounds in existing protected areas as well as provide secure breeding enclosures in areas outside protected areas.


title: Great Indian bustard

text: Current threats to the species include the development of linear infrastructure intrusions such as roads and electric power lines in the desert that lead to collision-related mortality. Proposed expansion of renewable energy infrastructure, which may involve deploying solar panels over large areas of desert and grasslands is another threat to the bird's habitat.


title: Great Indian bustard

text: The Mughal emperor Babur noted that "[while] the flesh of the leg of some fowls, and of the breast of others is excellent; the flesh of every part of the "Kharchal" is delicious". The great Indian bustard was however a cryptic and wary bird making it a challenge for sportsmen, who had to stalk carefully (sometimes using covered bullock carts) to get within range. British soldiers in India considered it a delicacy and the species was among the top game-birds. William Henry Sykes notes that they were common in the Deccan region where a "gentleman" had shot a thousand birds. (E C Stuart Baker however notes that this may have been an exaggeration- "...we must remember that those were the days when tigers averaged twelve feet...") Jerdon noted that subadults and females had tastier flesh than males while Salim Ali notes that feeding on "Mylabris" (now "Hycleus") tainted their flesh.


title: Great Indian bustard

text: Tribal Bhils are claimed to have used a technique for trapping females that involves setting twigs on fire around the nest containing an egg or chick. The female was then said to run to the nest and singe its wings upon which the tribals captured it. Other trapping methods involving the use of nooses are described by Hume in his "Game Birds of India". The invention of the Jeep changed the method of hunting and it became extremely easy for hunters to chase bustards down in their open semi-desert habitats.


title: Great Indian bustard

text: The name "hoom" is used in parts of Maharashtra and is derived from the low booming call. The sharp barking alarm call leads to its name of "hookna" in some parts of northern India. It is known in some other parts as "Gaganbher" or "Gurayin" for the resemblance of other calls to thunder or the roar of a tiger.


title: Great Indian bustard

text: When the "national bird" of India was under consideration, the great Indian bustard was a proposed candidate (strongly supported by the Indian ornithologist Salim Ali), but dropped in favour of the Indian peafowl with at least one reason being the potential for being misspelt.


title: Freedom Mobile

text: Freedom Mobile Inc. is a Canadian wireless telecommunications provider owned by Shaw Communications. It has 6% market share of Canada, mostly in urban areas of Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta. Freedom Mobile is the fourth-largest wireless carrier in Canada, with 2,188,845 subscribers as of February 28, 2022.


title: Freedom Mobile

text: Founded in 2008 as Wind Mobile by the telecommunications company Globalive, Freedom was one of several new mobile carriers launched in Canada in 2008 after a government initiative to encourage competition in the wireless sector alongside Mobilicity (later acquired by Rogers Communications) and Public Mobile (later acquired by Telus). It initially launched mobile data and voice services in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, Ontario, on December 16, 2009, and two days later in Calgary, Alberta. Since then, Southern Ontario has been the main target of network expansion: first with Ottawa in Q1 2011, and then with about half a dozen additional regions, the most recently being Cornwall, Cobourg, Belleville, Trenton, Brockville, and Pembroke on March 8, 2019.


title: Freedom Mobile

text: On June 17, 2022, Shaw Communications, Rogers Communications and Québecor jointly announced an agreement for the sale of Freedom Mobile to Québecor, parent of Vidéotron, pending approval of Competition Bureau and Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development.


title: Freedom Mobile

text: Globalive, a Canadian company was primarily financed by an Egyptian corporation, Orascom Telecom Holding, and managed by Wind Telecom S.p.A., which owns a number of other "Wind" brand telecommunications companies. Globalive bid $442 million (CAD) in 2008 to secure the Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) wireless spectrum (3G at 1,700mhz) required for the launch of the network. Ken Campbell, a former Vodafone and Orascom executive, was named as the first chief executive officer of Globalive Wireless in 2008. The launch of the company was delayed due to a public ownership review by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). The regulatory body stated that Globalive did not meet Canadian ownership requirements. The most prominent issue was Globalive's reliance on Orascom for its debt, which stood at $508 million (CAD).


title: Freedom Mobile

text: On December 11 of that year, the Governor-in-Council (acting on the advice of Tony Clement, then Minister of Industry) issued a final decision deeming that Globalive does meet ownership requirements, allowing Globalive to enter the Canadian market immediately.


title: Freedom Mobile

text: On December 14, shortly before the peak of the Christmas and holiday season, Wind announced an alliance with Blockbuster LLC in Canada to offer Wind kiosks and prepaid products within Blockbuster stores at 16 locations, 13 in Ontario and 3 in Calgary. On December 16, Wind Mobile launched its service in Toronto. A launch event was hosted at its Queens Quay location in downtown Toronto.


title: Freedom Mobile

text: Chris Robbins, Chief Customer Officer, resigned from Wind Mobile on March 4, 2010. Both Robbins and Wind Mobile said that the departure was due to strategic changes and the former wanting to pursue other business opportunities. Analysts assessed the change negatively speculating that an executive departure so early reflected disappointing market penetration.


title: Freedom Mobile

text: On March 27, 2010, Wind Mobile launched its service in Ottawa. A launch event was hosted at the Rideau Street location. Service was also launched in most of Greater Vancouver area and Edmonton, Alberta throughout the year.


title: Freedom Mobile

text: Wind Mobile announced on August 13 that in early July, they had reached "the 100,000 mark in terms of new wireless subscribers". Orascom's third-quarter financial report, released in November 2010, listed Wind's subscriber base as 139,681.


title: Freedom Mobile

text: On February 4, 2011, the Federal Court ruled in a suit brought by competitors Public Mobile and Telus that the Governor in Council's decision regarding Wind's Canadian ownership requirements was improper. Wind was granted a 45-day stay of the decision to file arguments. On May 18, the Federal Court of Appeal heard arguments from Wind and the federal government as to why the Federal Court decision should be quashed. The Federal Court of Appeal's decision allowed Globalive's appeal and restored the Governor in Council's order that Wind met Canadian ownership requirements. On September 19, Public Mobile entered an application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada.


title: Freedom Mobile

text: On March 17, the shareholders of Russian mobile telephone operator VimpelCom voted in support of a $6 billion deal to acquire Wind Telecom, whose assets include Orascom Telecom, a significant shareholder in Wind Mobile. The transaction would create the world's fifth largest mobile operator by subscribers – more than 173 million subscribers.


title: Freedom Mobile

text: In June 2011, Ken Campbell, the founding CEO, departed the company. Campbell had led the management team since start up, leading the build out of the company in its five major markets. He went on to be CEO at a former Orascom property, Tunisiana, the leading operator in Tunisia, and co-found the Canadian cellphone repair chain Mobile Klinik. Wind's network in the region of Kitchener and Waterloo (K-W) was launched on August 16, during the back to school season of 2011. In conjunction with this launch, the company introduced a Windtab+ option for Pay After customers, and a promotional Super Smart plan for all customers. Both services were available to all Wind subscribers in any Wind zones. Guelph coverage was announced on September 9 and two stores opened in Guelph by the end of the month. The St. Catharines and Welland zones were launched on October 15, and one store was opened in each city. The provider added more stores in October for all these regions, along with new handsets and special promotions.


title: Freedom Mobile

text: The carrier launched a new advertising campaign on November 7, adopting the slogan "That's the power of Wind" and reinforcing orange as its official colour. A promotional "Oh Canada" plan was also offered in conjunction with the new campaign. Service in Niagara Falls was launched on November 23. To celebrate, the company offered 30 Nokia C7 smartphones at its store in The Pen Centre shopping mall. Wind plans to connect the Niagara region coverage with that of the Greater Toronto Area. The Abbotsford and Cambridge cities were added to Wind's network between December 4 and 6. London was added the following week, on December 13.


title: Freedom Mobile

text: Wind Mobile refreshed its plan lineup on March 1, 2012; the Clever and Brilliant plans were eliminated, Pay Your Way permanently included unlimited incoming calls answered when using Wind's network, while the mid-range Smart and high-end Genius plans lost their monikers and had some features changed. Only SMS messages sent to Canadian numbers were included, and all MMS or non-Canadian SMS became pay-per-use. The Wind 25 plan included 100 MB of mobile Internet access, while the Wind 40 plan feature 5 GB of full-speed mobile Internet instead of voice-mail.


title: Freedom Mobile

text: Wind's network in Southern Ontario expanded throughout 2012. Kingston, Peterborough and Woodstock were added throughout Q3 2012. Although the carrier initially planned to add Windsor during that same fiscal quarter, the plans were delayed


title: Freedom Mobile

text: Small business pricing was launched in October 2012 to coincide with Small Business Week. This includes a premium monthly plan and lower Windtab pricing on several high-end phones purchased with that plan. Windsor and Peterborough coverage and retail presence went live in November 2012 along with two new "Wish" customer monthly plans. Both include global SMS and reduced international long-distance rates. TDD and IP relay operator services were launched by Wind in December 2012. Throughout the year, 122 additional retail locations were added, and 231 network sites. The operator finished 2012 with 200,000 Facebook fans and 35,000 Twitter followers.


title: Freedom Mobile

text: The promotional Wish plans were extended for the month of January and the first three days in February 2013. On January 18, 2013, Anthony Lacavera announced that he would no longer assume the role of CEO and instead become a chairman for the company. At the same time, the company announced that it had reached around 600,000 subscribers. VimpelCom Ltd. began seeking potential buyers for Wind in March 2013.


title: Freedom Mobile

text: On April 10, 2013, Wind Mobile announced that it would withdraw from the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association. Competitors Mobilicity and Public Mobile also withdrew from the CWTA, citing bias to its competitors Bell, Rogers, and Telus as justification.


title: Freedom Mobile

text: On June 19, 2013, Orascom Telecom, a subsidiary of Vimpelcom, withdrew its application to take full control of Wind Mobile – which reversed an earlier decision.


title: Freedom Mobile

text: On June 26, 2013, "The Globe and Mail" reported that American provider Verizon Wireless made a $700 million offer to acquire Wind Mobile, though the company later announced it had no interest in entering the Canadian wireless market.


title: Freedom Mobile

text: It was reported on September 4, 2013, that Wind Mobile was in negotiations to assume struggling competitor Mobilicity's customers as it shut down its consumer operations, though this report was later denied by Mobilicity.


title: Freedom Mobile

text: On January 13, 2014, majority shareholder VimpelCom (which owned indirect equity in Wind Mobile through its subsidiaries Wind Telecom and Global Telecom Holding) pulled out its financial backing for Wind Mobile's bid in the Industry Canada 700 MHz spectrum auction following a dispute with the Canadian federal government. The resulting fallout led some observers to cast doubt on Wind's ability in deploying LTE services on its network due to shortfalls in its spectrum holdings.


title: Freedom Mobile

text: In September 2014, VimpelCom's majority stake in Wind Mobile was sold to AAL Acquisitions Corporation (a holding company controlled by Wind Mobile founder Anthony Lacavera) for a fee of $135 million, with the consortium also assuming $150 million of Wind's debt. The deal received regulatory approval from Industry Canada in November 2014 and Wind's spectrum licences were transferred to AAL Acquisitions Corp. The stake and spectrum licences were then transferred to Mid-Bowline Holdings Corporation, a company controlled by a consortium of investors consisting of Globalive and several private equity firms based in Canada and the United States. Wind Mobile continued to license the Wind name and logo, which remained trademarks of Wind Telecom, until 2016.


title: Freedom Mobile

text: New CEO Pietro Cordova announced in December 2014 that Wind was engaging in planning for further expansion and development of LTE services, including bidding in the Canadian government's 2015 spectrum auctions, which was not possible when the company was controlled by VimpelCom. Cordova stated that such a plan may also include purchasing spectrum from companies that are under-utilizing it (such as Vidéotron Mobile's spectrum licences outside Quebec and the unused AWS spectrum purchased by Shaw Communications in the previous auction) as well as developing agreements with other providers such as Mobilicity and Vidéotron to expand Wind's footprint. The company's new priorities also included improving the network quality in their existing coverage areas.


title: Freedom Mobile

text: Cordova also stated in an interview that Wind might be ready for an initial public offering in 2016 or 2017, if the Mid-Bowline Holdings investors agree.


title: Freedom Mobile

text: In February 2015, the "Financial Post" had reported that Wind Mobile was in negotiations to take over Mobilicity in the weeks leading up to the AWS-3 spectrum auction registration deadline. The negotiations had been reportedly stalled due to the high price that Mobilicity's creditors were requesting from Wind to purchase the smaller carrier's assets. Discussions halted on January 30, 2015 (the application deadline for the spectrum auction), since both carriers had registered for the auction and anti-collusion regulations prohibited any discussion or negotiation of deals between competitors during the auction.


title: Freedom Mobile

text: Industry Canada announced the results of the AWS-3 auction on 6 March 2015. Mobilicity ultimately withdrew from the auction due to lack of funding, which allowed Wind to acquire the entire spectrum block set aside for new entrants in Alberta, British Columbia, and southern Ontario uncontested. The $56.4 million bid allowed Wind to increase its spectrum holdings in areas where it offers service by 180 percent.


title: Freedom Mobile

text: On March 23, 2015, Alek Krstajic, former CEO of rival start-up Public Mobile, was named CEO of Wind Mobile Corporation, and Robert MacLellan, a former executive of Toronto-Dominion Bank, was made chairman of the board. At the time, Wind's shareholders included the Toronto hedge fund West Face Capital (35%), the California-based fund Tennenbaum Capital Partners (31%), and Globalive Capital Voting Group (25%), which included Tony Lacavera's investment fund together with investment vehicles owned by Alex Shnaider, Terrence Hui, and Michael Serruya, and an investment firm controlled by Lawrence Guffey (8%).


title: Freedom Mobile

text: On June 17, 2015, Wind Mobile became the first cellular provider to offer service in TTC subway stations through an agreement with BAI Canada, the company which owns the infrastructure that provides mobile and Wi-Fi service for the TTC subway network. The deal included Wind having exclusive rights to the underground mobile system for one year before BAI Canada would allow other providers to join the system.


title: Freedom Mobile

text: Under the terms of Rogers Communications' acquisition of Mobilicity in June 2015, Wind purchased certain AWS spectrum licences formerly held by Shaw Communications (purchased by Rogers in a separate deal) and Mobilicity for the provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and northern and eastern regions of Ontario for a "peppercorn" payment of $1 per licence. Wind negotiated an option to pay Rogers $25 million for half of Mobilicity's cell sites and other infrastructure at a later date. Additionally, Wind agreed to swap spectrum licences with Rogers in southern Ontario so that both companies' AWS spectrum blocks were contiguous.


title: Freedom Mobile

text: These new licences allowed Wind to increase its network capacity and the potential to develop a network across all of western Canada. However, on July 31, 2015, Wind sold several of the newly acquired AWS-1 spectrum licences to regional telecom companies in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, with Wind stating its desire to focus on providing better regional competition in the provinces where it already offered service (British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario) and upgrade its network to LTE, both of which would be funded using proceeds from the sales. All of Wind's five spectrum licences in Manitoba were sold to MTS for $45 million, and all of Wind's six spectrum licences in Saskatchewan were sold to SaskTel for an undisclosed amount.


title: Freedom Mobile

text: Wind announced on December 15, 2015, that it was beginning a "planned cross-Canada network upgrade" starting with the Greater Vancouver coverage area. This upgrade included adding new antennas, replacing existing infrastructure with new equipment from Nokia Networks, and the deployment of new AWS-1 spectrum to improve network performance.


title: Freedom Mobile

text: Shaw Communications announced on December 16, 2015, that it planned to acquire Wind Mobile's parent company Mid-Bowline Group in a deal worth approximately $1.6 billion. The acquisition required approval by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (formerly Industry Canada) and the Competition Bureau. As part of the announcement of the transaction Shaw Communications outlined some terms of the acquisition: then-CEO Alek Krstajic would remain to lead Wind as a division within Shaw and it would remain headquartered in Toronto as a "distinct unit", Wind would remain a budget-priced mobile carrier at least for the short term, and the network upgrade from HSPA 3G to a faster LTE network would continue as planned. Brad Shaw, CEO of Shaw Communications, stated in an interview that the acquisition of Wind would allow Shaw to compete "at the same level" as an integrated telecommunications provider with rival Telus in western Canada and gain a foothold in the Ontario telecom market.


title: Freedom Mobile

text: Wind completed the planned upgrades to its HSPA network in Vancouver in February 2016, announcing that the next coverage area to be upgraded would be Calgary.


title: Freedom Mobile

text: The purchase was approved by the Competition Bureau on February 4, 2016 and the purchase of Wind Mobile by Shaw was completed on March 1, 2016. Shaw sold Shaw Media to Corus Entertainment, a company also controlled by the Shaw family, as part of the funding for the deal. Krstajic was given the new title within Shaw of "Executive Vice President & President, Wind" and continued to lead the new subsidiary.


title: Freedom Mobile

text: On November 21, 2016, Shaw announced that Wind Mobile had been renamed to Freedom Mobile. The company stated that it no longer wanted to license the Wind brand from VimpelCom due to increasing royalty fees, while CEO Alek Krstajic justified the move by stating that the company wanted to shed the "baggage" of the Wind name, and use the new ownership and developments as a means of re-launching the carrier.


title: Freedom Mobile

text: The same day, Freedom announced that it would be launching LTE service on the AWS-3 band in Toronto and Vancouver, with a nationwide rollout to be completed by the end of fiscal year 2017. LTE access would require purchase of a compatible device and service plan; the company justified this requirement by noting that the service utilizes bands that are currently underutilized and not widely supported by existing LTE devices, and thus promoted that its network was a "superhighway" in comparison to other providers. Freedom will implement LTE service in Ottawa, Kingston and Peterborough on the AWS-1 band, providing LTE access to customers with existing AWS-1-compatible devices.


title: Freedom Mobile

text: CEO Alek Krstajic, who had headed Freedom Mobile throughout the acquisition by Shaw, stepped down in April 2017 and was replaced by Paul McAleese. McAleese's title was changed to chief operating officer.


title: Freedom Mobile

text: Freedom Mobile announced on November 7, 2017, that LTE access was enabled on all grandfathered 3G plans at no additional cost. This coincided with a planned national upgrade of Freedom cell sites to utilize newly acquired 2,500 MHz (Band 7) spectrum and the re-allocation of some AWS-1 (Band 4) spectrum for LTE, both of which are compatible with a greater number of devices than Freedom's initial AWS-3 (Band 66) LTE network.


title: Freedom Mobile

text: On August 13, 2018, Freedom Mobile launched VoLTE, letting calls go over Freedom's LTE network instead of the 3G network. At launch, only the LG G6 and G7 were supported. As of November 1, 2018, the list of VoLTE supported devices has grown to support the iPhone, Galaxy S9/S9+, Galaxy S8/S8+, Galaxy Note8/9, Galaxy A8, LG V30, LG X Power 2 and 3, LG Q Stylo+, Moto E5 Play, Moto G6 Play, Sony Xperia XA2/XA2 Ultra, Xperia XZ2, Google Pixel 3/3 XL, and the Alcatel GoFlip.


title: Freedom Mobile

text: Freedom's Extended Range LTE service was unveiled and launched in parts of Calgary on October 9, 2018, providing Freedom Mobile users with better LTE coverage inside buildings, basements and elevators. A week later on October 16, 2018, the service had expanded to Edmonton, Hamilton, and parts of BC. Starting from October 23, 2018, parts of the Greater Toronto Area, Milton and Pickering had Extended Range LTE. Phones with Band 13 compatibility and VoLTE support can access Extended Range LTE.


title: Freedom Mobile

text: As part of Rogers' proposal to address competition concerns in its $26-billion takeover of Shaw, Rogers agreed to sell Freedom to telecommunications company Vidéotron's owner Quebecor for $2.85 billion. The deal includes Freedom Mobile's wireless and internet customers, infrastructure, spectrum and retail sites. Globalive Capital the founder of Freedom Mobile's precursor also made a bid by striking a network and spectrum sharing deal with telecom giant Telus.


title: Freedom Mobile

text: Freedom Mobile provides UMTS wireless services with High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) for data using its license for UMTS Band IV, also known as the Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) band. Using this band user equipment transmits at 1710–1755 MHz and receives at 2110–2155 MHz. HSPA+ was activated on Freedom's network starting in mid-2011.


title: Freedom Mobile

text: Freedom Mobile was the first Canadian wireless service provider to make use of Advanced Wireless Services bands for its primary network. In North America, T-Mobile US is the largest provider to use this spectrum. Freedom's use of AWS requires that customers use an AWS-capable handset which, at launch, were somewhat less common than Band 2 (PCS) and Band 5 (Cellular) handsets, which predate Band 4 (AWS) by more than 10 years.


title: Freedom Mobile

text: Since Freedom's launch in Canada, other service providers have begun operations using AWS. Those that primarily use this spectrum for their network include Eastlink Wireless and Vidéotron Mobile. Canada's three largest mobile companies (Rogers Wireless, Bell Mobility and Telus Mobility) and their subsidiary brands, as well as independent regional provider SaskTel, only use AWS for their LTE networks. Bell and Rogers deployed LTE in late 2011, while Telus deployed it in early 2012 while maintaining a mutual roaming agreement with Bell. Devices that support AWS LTE but not AWS HSPA+ are incompatible with Freedom's network. In late 2015, Freedom announced it secured $425 million in funding to build its own LTE network, meaning it would be able to offer 4G speeds up to 5x faster than those offered through the current HSPA+ network.


title: Freedom Mobile

text: Freedom's LTE network uses AWS-3 spectrum it obtained in a 2015 spectrum auction. The rollout is expected to be completed by August 2017. In June 2017, Freedom's parent company Shaw announced that it had made a $430 million deal to acquire 700 MHz and 2500 MHz spectrum licences covering Alberta, British Columbia, and southern Ontario from Quebecor (the parent company of Vidéotron Mobile). The acquisition received regulatory approval from Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada on July 10, 2017 and closed on July 24, 2017.