title: Alexandra Elbakyan

text: On May 8, 2021, Elbakyan tweeted that the FBI had served a subpoena to Apple seeking her iCloud data. The tweet included a screengrab of the notice from Apple. The tweet was retweeted by Edward Snowden, who commented: "Members of Congress should be making calls about this. Journalists should be asking the White House and DOJ questions. The founder of Sci-hub — unquestionably one of the most important sites for academics in the world — should not be subject to persecution for their work."


title: Tommy Thayer

text: Thomas Cunningham Thayer (born November 7, 1960) is an American musician and songwriter. He is the lead guitarist and vocalist for the American hard rock band Kiss. He was also lead guitarist for the band Black 'n Blue.


title: Tommy Thayer

text: Thomas Cunningham Thayer was born on November 7, 1960, in Portland, Oregon, and grew up in the nearby suburb of Beaverton, Oregon. His mother Patricia Thayer (née Cunningham) was a classically trained violinist and singer, and his father, James Thayer (1922-2018), was a businessman, community leader and retired US Army Brigadier General.


title: Tommy Thayer

text: Early on, Thayer was raised with three brothers and a sister in a musical family, exposed to genres that ranged from classical to the Beatles and other classic 1960s pop music. Thayer's affinity for early 1970s hard rock bands led him to pick up electric guitar at age 13. After graduating from Sunset High School in 1978, Thayer played in local garage and club bands, eventually forming his own group with singer Jaime St. James, which eventually took the name Black 'n Blue.


title: Tommy Thayer

text: Tommy announced via his official Instagram account March 5th, 2021, that he had found out that he had a 31 year old daughter in the Summer of 2020, Sierra Sanchagrin. Tommy expressed joy being able to get to know his daughter and develop a bond at this stage in his life. Sierra served as an active sailor in the United States Navy for over 4 years. Sierra's mother's name is Christina, though few other details are known about her relationship with Tommy. Tommy revealed in an article that he discovered he was a father through a cousin that was on 23andMe. Sierra is Tommy's only known child.


title: Tommy Thayer

text: Formed in November 1981, Black 'n Blue played gigs in the Portland area for over a year before making a move to Southern California in early 1983. Within six months the band signed a recording contract with Geffen Records.


title: Tommy Thayer

text: The band traveled to Germany in early 1984 to work with Scorpions producer Dieter Dierks, releasing "Black 'n Blue" in August 1984, featuring the songs "Hold on to 18" and "School of Hard Knocks," both co-written by Thayer and St. James. The follow-up Bruce Fairbairn-produced album, "Without Love", was released in 1985 with Thayer, St. James and Jim Vallance co-writing the single "Miss Mystery." After touring for two months as opening act for Kiss in fall 1985, Black 'n Blue hired Kiss bassist Gene Simmons to produce the band's next studio album "Nasty Nasty", released in 1986 and "In Heat" in 1988. The band subsequently broke up in late 1988.


title: Tommy Thayer

text: Although no longer a permanent member of the band, Thayer has performed periodically with the other original members of Black 'n Blue for several one-off reunion and benefit concerts. In October 2010, the band was inducted into the Oregon Music Hall of Fame in Portland, with all five members of the classic lineup (including Thayer) attending.


title: Tommy Thayer

text: John Kalodner from Geffen Records invited Thayer to play on Jimmy Barnes' Australian album "For The Working Class Man" (released outside the Australian market as "Jimmy Barnes"). Both Barnes and Thayer's group Black 'n Blue were signed to Geffen. The album was recorded in Los Angeles and New York in 1984–85. When interviewed some years later he recalled that the two sessions he played on included Mick Fleetwood on drums, and Billy Burnette on guitar.


title: Tommy Thayer

text: In 1989, Thayer co-wrote songs with Gene Simmons and played session guitar on song demos for Kiss' 1989 release, "Hot in the Shade", which includes the Simmons and Thayer songs "Betrayed" and "The Street Giveth, The Street Taketh Away". That same year, Thayer recorded guitar tracks for singer-songwriter Teresa Straley and producer Pat Regan's record deal with Reprise Records.


title: Tommy Thayer

text: Thayer co-produced and played guitar on Doro Pesch's 1991 Polygram Records release, "Doro". In 1992, Thayer joined Los Angeles rock band Shake the Faith and recorded the album "America the Violent", which was released in Japan in 1994. Thayer persuaded journalist Hunter S. Thompson to create the original artwork for the album cover. Thayer and other members of Shake the Faith continued in the band No. 9, which recorded an album for Elektra Records that was never released. The No. 9 album included a cover of Elvis Costello's "Alison".


title: Tommy Thayer

text: In 1994, Kiss' Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley hired Thayer to work part-time on their forthcoming book "Kisstory", which led to other projects and eventually a full-time role with Kiss. Thayer's work for Stanley and Simmons began by performing such tasks as painting Stanley's house and cleaning out Simmons' gutters.


title: Tommy Thayer

text: Thayer managed the 1995 Worldwide Kiss Convention tour and the Kiss "MTV Unplugged" concert. In preparation for 1996's Kiss Alive/Worldwide Tour, Thayer worked with guitarist Ace Frehley and drummer Peter Criss, to help them relearn their original guitar and drum parts from the 1970s. Thayer worked as producer and editor of Kiss' long form video and film releases including: "Kiss, The Second Coming" in 1998, New Line Cinema's feature "Detroit Rock City" in 1998, and Showtime Television's pay-per-view, "The Last Kiss" in 2000.


title: Tommy Thayer

text: By 2002 and with the growing uncertainty of Ace Frehley's involvement in the band, Thayer stood by for a Kiss performance at the 2002 Winter Olympics Closing Ceremony in Salt Lake City to fill-in on lead guitar if necessary. One month later, Thayer got the call and donned the Spaceman makeup for the first time, filling in and performing onstage with Kiss at a private concert in Trelawny, Jamaica. Several TV appearances followed in 2002 including ABC's "Dick Clark's American Bandstand 50th Anniversary Show" and "That 70s Show" on Fox.


title: Tommy Thayer

text: After the 2002 performance in Trelawny, Jamaica, Thayer became the lead guitarist for Kiss. In 2003, Thayer with Kiss joined forces with the 70-piece Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (all in Kiss makeup) for a concert at the Telstra Dome in Melbourne Australia. Recorded and filmed in front of 40,000 fans, a pay-per-view, "" CD and DVD were released worldwide later that year. In 2004, Thayer produced the RIAA double-platinum selling DVD set, "Rock the Nation Live!", released worldwide in 2005.


title: Tommy Thayer

text: "Sonic Boom", the first Kiss studio album in 11 years, was released worldwide in October 2009, debuting at No. 2 on the Billboard magazine album chart. Thayer co-wrote three songs on the record, including his own lead vocal debut on "When Lightning Strikes.”


title: Tommy Thayer

text: A new Kiss studio album, titled "Monster", was released in October 2012; Thayer co-wrote 10 songs and sang lead vocal on "Outta This World". Thayer produced "Kiss Rocks Vegas", a Kiss live album and DVD released on August 26, 2016, commemorating the band's November 2014 residency at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino (Las Vegas) during their 40th anniversary tour.


title: Tommy Thayer

text: In 2020, when asked by Guitar World writer Greg Prato, "What do you think your legacy will be with Kiss?", Thayer replied, "My legacy will be a guy who came in, worked hard, and was the glue that kept the band together for a long period of time. I think the kind of character and personality that I have is that of a team player and somebody who can bring people together and bind things together."


title: Tommy Thayer

text: Thayer's Epiphone Les Paul signature model "Spaceman" guitar was officially released on January 1, 2013. In October, Epiphone announced the first run of 1,000 guitars had sold-out. He uses Seymour Duncan pickups and inspired by Jimmy Page, each signature guitar has the neck pickup covered and the bridge uncovered.


title: Tommy Thayer

text: January 1, 2015, saw the release of Thayer's second Epiphone signature model, the "White Lightning" Les Paul. "My new White Lightning signature model is the pinnacle of looks, style and flash,” Thayer stated, “I'm proud to put my name on a serious guitar that can be enjoyed at home or rock the biggest stages in the world." In December 2016 Epiphone announced the 1,500 guitar limited edition run had sold-out.


title: Tommy Thayer

text: Epiphone released the third Tommy Thayer signature model guitar, the "White Lightning" Explorer in Fall 2017. "My Epiphone signature guitars are a tried and true part of my arsenal. I never leave home without 'em!" says Thayer.


title: Tommy Thayer

text: Thayer was elected to the board of trustees at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon, in September 2005. He continues to serve on the board in 2019.


title: Tommy Thayer

text: Through 2006 and 2007, Thayer arranged for new musical instruments to be donated to jump-start ailing school band programs in Oregon. In February 2010, Thayer and Kiss were featured in ABC's "" helping a family in need with new instruments for their home-based, non-profit music school.


title: Tommy Thayer

text: Kiss headlined Rockin' the Corps, an outdoor concert in 2005 at Camp Pendleton, California dedicated to US Marines and US Military personnel stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan. In March 2007, Thayer and Gene Simmons visited the Marines of Camp Pendleton again with a rally and live performance featuring a medley of the armed forces anthems; it was filmed for an hour-long "Gene Simmons Family Jewels" TV special on A&E that aired on Memorial Day 2007.


title: Tommy Thayer

text: Thayer donates all royalties earned from sales of his Hughes & Kettner signature guitar amplifier to the Children's Hospital Los Angeles to support of the important medical needs of sick and injured children. In 2012, Thayer was actively involved in the organization of the fundraising event "All-Star Salute to the Oregon Military", on May 18 at the Oregon Golf Club in West Linn, Oregon. The event was the kick-off of the five-year $20 million capital campaign to raise funds in support of the new Oregon Military Museum that will be named in honor of Thayer's father, Brigadier General James B. Thayer Sr.


title: Tommy Thayer

text: The 2014 "All-Star Salute to the Oregon Military" organized by Thayer, raised $1.2 million in one night for the museum campaign. The exclusive summer party at a private residence in Lake Oswego, Oregon featured an appearance and acoustic set by Kiss. Thayer organized a similar event in 2017, with funds raised being donated to the development of the Oregon Military Museum.


title: Tommy Thayer

text: In 2016, Thayer along with his brother Jim Thayer Jr and Amy Maxwell, formed the Oregon Military Museum Project (OMMP), a 501(c)(3) organization representing the private fundraising for the Oregon Military Museum. Thayer is currently President of the OMMP. The museum is called "The Brigadier General James B. Thayer Oregon Military Museum."


title: Tommy Thayer

text: At its May 2018 commencement, Pacific University honored Thayer with an honorary doctorate of humane letters "in recognition of his tremendous career and philanthropic leadership efforts."


title: Greyhound Lines

text: Greyhound Lines, Inc. (commonly known as simply Greyhound) operates the largest intercity bus service in North America. It also operates charter bus services, Amtrak Thruway services, commuter bus services, and package delivery services. Greyhound operates 1,700 coach buses produced mainly by Motor Coach Industries and Prevost serving 230 stations and 1,700 destinations. The company's first route began in Hibbing, Minnesota in 1914 and the company adopted the "Greyhound" name in 1929. The company is owned by Flix North America, Inc., an affiliate of Flixbus, and is based in Downtown Dallas.


title: Greyhound Lines

text: In 1914, Eric Wickman, a 27-year old Swedish immigrant was laid off from his job as a drill operator at a mine in Alice, Minnesota. He became a Hupmobile salesman in Hibbing, Minnesota and, when he could not sell the first seven-passenger Hupmobile that he received, he began using it along with fellow Swedish immigrant Andy "Bus Andy" Anderson and C. A. A. "Arvid" Heed to transport iron ore miners 2 miles from Hibbing to Alice for 15 cents per ride. Wickman made $2.25 on his first run.


title: Greyhound Lines

text: Wickman almost gave up after the first winter due to the harsh driving conditions in Minnesota. However, he agreed to continue on by reducing his driving duties. In 1915, he added a 15 mile route to Nashwauk, Minnesota. In December 1915, Wickman merged his company with that of 19-year old Ralph Bogan, who was running a similar transportation service from Hibbing to Duluth, Minnesota, to form the Mesaba Transportation Company. By 1918, the company had 18 vehicles and annual income of $40,000.


title: Greyhound Lines

text: In 1922, Wickman and Heed sold their interests in the company to Bogan and Anderson. Wickman and Heed then moved to Duluth and acquired White Bus Lines. In 1924, Wickman formed Northland, which acquired the Superior-White Company; its founder, Orville S. Caesar, who had strong business acumen, mechanical skills, and ambition, eventually became president of the company. In 1925, the company completed the $2.5 million acquisition of 8 independent bus lines in Minnesota. In 1928, Anderson and Bogan disbanded and sold most of the routes of the Mesaba Transportation Company to Northland.


title: Greyhound Lines

text: The company continued to expand and, in 1928, it had income of $6 million and was offering trips all over the United States. In 1929, the company acquired the Yelloway-Pioneer System, which in 1928 made the first transcontinental bus trip, and The Pickwick Corporation.


title: Greyhound Lines

text: In 1929, the company acquired additional interests in Gray Line Worldwide and part of the Colonial Motor Coach Company to form Eastern Greyhound Lines. It also acquired an interest in Northland Transportation Company and renamed it Northland Greyhound Lines.


title: Greyhound Lines

text: By 1930, more than 100 bus lines had been consolidated into the parent company, then called Motor Transit Corporation. Recognizing the need for a more memorable name, the partners of the Motor Transit Corporation changed its name to The Greyhound Corporation after the Greyhound name used by earlier bus lines. According to company lore, that name came from a driver, Ed Stone, who was reminded of a greyhound when he saw a passing bus in a reflection.


title: Greyhound Lines

text: The business suffered during the Great Depression, and by 1931 was over $1 million in debt. As the 1930s progressed and the economy improved, Greyhound began to prosper again.


title: Greyhound Lines

text: In 1934, intercity bus lines, of which Greyhound was the largest carried approximately 400 million passengers—nearly as many passengers as the Class I railroads. The film "It Happened One Night (1934)" — about an heiress (Claudette Colbert) traveling by Greyhound bus with a reporter (Clark Gable) — has been credited by the company for spurring bus travel nationwide.


title: Greyhound Lines

text: In 1935, national intercity bus ridership climbed 50% to 651,999,000 passengers, surpassing the volume of passengers carried by the Class I railroads for the first time. In 1935, Wickman reported record profits of $8 million. In 1936, already the largest bus carrier in the United States, Greyhound began taking delivery of 306 new buses.


title: Greyhound Lines

text: Between 1937 and 1945, Greyhound built many new stations and acquired new buses in the period in the late Art Deco style known as Streamline Moderne. For terminals, Greyhound retained architects including William Strudwick Arrasmith and George D. Brown. Notable examples of Streamline Moderne stations include the Blytheville Greyhound Bus Station, Cleveland, Ohio Greyhound Bus Station, Columbia, South Carolina Greyhound Bus Station, and Old Washington, D.C. Greyhound Bus Station


title: Greyhound Lines

text: Greyhound worked with the Yellow Coach Manufacturing Company for its streamlined Series 700 buses, first for "Series 719" prototypes in 1934, and from 1937 as the exclusive customer for Yellow's "Series 743" bus (which Greyhound named the "Super Coach"). Greyhound bought a total of 1,256 buses between 1937 and 1939.


title: Greyhound Lines

text: Wickman retired as president of the Greyhound Corporation in 1946 and was replaced by his long-time partner Orville S. Caesar. Wickman died at the age of 66 in 1954.


title: Greyhound Lines

text: Greyhound commissioned industrial designer Raymond Loewy and General Motors to design several distinctive buses from the 1930s through the 1950s. Loewy's first was the Yellow Coach PDG-4101, the Greyhound "Silversides" produced in 1940-1941. Production was suspended during World War II. When the "Silversides" buses resumed production in 1947, it was renamed GM PD 3751. PD 3751 production continued through 1948. In 1954, the first of Greyhound's distinctive hump-backed buses was introduced. In 1944, Loewy had produced drawings for the GM GX-1, a full double-decker parlor bus with the first prototype built in 1953. The PD-4501 Scenicruiser was designed Loewy and built by General Motors as model PD-4501. The front of the bus was markedly lower than its rear section.


title: Greyhound Lines

text: After World War II, and the building of the Interstate Highway System beginning in 1956, automobile travel became a preferred mode of travel in the United States. This, combined with the increasing affordability of air travel, led to a decline in business for Greyhound and other intercity bus carriers.


title: Greyhound Lines

text: In October 1953, Greyhound acquired the Tennessee Coach Company's entire operation, and the negotiations for the Blue Ridge Lines, and its affiliate White Star Lines, that operated between Cleveland and the Mid Atlantic Seaboard.


title: Greyhound Lines

text: In 1955, the Interstate Commerce Commission ruled in the case of "Keys v. Carolina Coach Co." that U.S. interstate bus operations, such as Greyhound's, could not be segregated by race. In 1960, in the case of "Boynton v. Virginia", the U.S. Supreme Court found that an African American had been wrongfully convicted for trespassing in a "whites only" terminal area. In May 1961, Civil Rights Movement activists organized interracial Freedom Rides as proof of the desegregation rulings. On May 14, a mob attacked a pair of buses (a "Greyhound" and a "Trailways") traveling from Washington, D.C., to New Orleans, Louisiana, and slashed the Greyhound bus's tires. Several miles outside of Anniston, Alabama, the mob forced the Greyhound bus to stop, broke its windows, and firebombed it. The mob held the bus' doors shut, intending to burn the riders to death. Sources disagree, but either an exploding fuel tank or an undercover state investigator brandishing a revolver caused the mob to retreat. When the riders escaped the bus, the mob beat them, while warning shots fired into the air by highway patrolmen prevented them from being lynched. Additional Freedom Riders were beaten by a mob at the Greyhound Station in Montgomery Alabama.


title: Greyhound Lines

text: The Civil Rights Act of 1964's Title II and Title III broadened protections beyond federally regulated carriers such as Greyhound, to include non-discrimination in hotels, restaurants, and other public accommodations, as well as state and local government buildings.


title: Greyhound Lines

text: Later in the 1960s, Greyhound leadership ridership declined and Greyhound used the profitable bus operations to invest in other industries.


title: Greyhound Lines

text: In 1970, the company acquired Armour and Company meat-packing company, which owned the Dial deodorant soap brand, for $400 million.


title: Greyhound Lines

text: The company also acquired Traveller's Express money orders, MCI and TMC bus manufacturing companies, and airliner leasing.


title: Greyhound Lines

text: In 1972, Greyhound introduced the unlimited mileage Ameripass. The pass was initially marketed as offering "99 days for $99" or, transportation to anywhere at any time for a dollar a day. For decades, it was a popular choice for people traveling across the U.S. on a budget. Over time, Greyhound raised the price of the pass, shortened its validity period and rebranded it as the Discovery Pass, before discontinuing it in 2012.


title: Greyhound Lines

text: Greyhound acquired Premier Cruise Line in 1984. Between 1985 and 1993, Premier operated as the "Official Cruise Line of Walt Disney World" with onboard Disney characters.


title: Greyhound Lines

text: In 1983, Greyhound operated a fleet of 3,800 buses and carried about 60% of the intercity bus-travel market in the United States.


title: Greyhound Lines

text: Starting November 2, 1983, Greyhound suffered a major and bitter drivers' strike action. A fatality occurred in Zanesville, Ohio, when a replacement driver ran over a striking worker at a picket line. A new contract was ratified on December 19, 1983 and drivers returned to work the next day.


title: Greyhound Lines

text: In early 1987, the bus line was acquired by an investor group led by Fred Currey, a former executive of rival Continental Trailways, who became CEO of Greyhound and relocated its headquarters to Dallas, Texas.


title: Greyhound Lines

text: In February 1987, Greyhound Lines' new ownership and the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) agreed on a new, 3-year contract.


title: Greyhound Lines

text: In June 1987, Greyhound Lines acquired "Trailways, Inc." (formerly "Continental Trailways"), the largest member of the rival Trailways Transportation System, effectively consolidating into a national bus service. Greyhound was required by the Interstate Commerce Commission to maintain coordinated schedules with other scheduled service operators in the U.S.


title: Greyhound Lines

text: Between 1987 and 1990, Greyhound Lines' former parent continued to be called The Greyhound Corporation, confusing passengers and investors alike. The Greyhound Corporation retained Premier Cruise Lines and ten non-bus subsidiaries using the Greyhound name, such as Greyhound Leisure Services, Inc. (an operator of airport and cruise ship duty-free shops), and Greyhound Exhibits. In March 1990, The Greyhound Corporation changed its name to Greyhound Dial Corporation. Because Greyhound Dial's switchboard continued to get questions from misdirected bus passengers, it changed its name to The Dial Corporation in March 1991, to eliminate any association with bus travel.


title: Greyhound Lines

text: In early 1990, the drivers' contract from 1987 expired at the end of its three-year term. In March, the ATU began a strike action against Greyhound. The 1990 drivers' strike was similar in its bitterness to the strike of 1983, with violence against both strikers and their replacement workers. One striker in California was killed by a Greyhound bus driven by a strikebreaker, and a shot was fired at a Greyhound bus. While Greyhound CEO Fred Currey argued that "no American worth his salt negotiates with terrorists," ATU leader Edward M. Strait responded that management's failure to negotiate amounted to "putting the negotiations back into the hands of terrorists." During the strike by its 6,300 drivers, Greyhound idled much of its fleet of 3,949 buses and cancelled 80% of its routes. At the same time, Greyhound was having to contend with the rise of low-cost airlines such as Southwest Airlines, which further reduced the market for long-distance inter-city bus transportation. Without the financial strength provided in the past by a parent company, the strike's lower revenues and higher costs for security and labor-law penalties caused Greyhound to file for bankruptcy in June 1990. The strike was not settled until May 1993, 38 months later, under terms favorable to Greyhound. While the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) had awarded damages for unfair labor practices to the strikers, this liability was discharged during bankruptcy reorganization. Greyhound agreed to pay $22 million in back wages to union drivers, recall 550 of the remaining strikers, reinstate most of the 200 strikers who were fired for alleged misconduct, and increase hourly pay for drivers to $16.55 from $13.83 by March 1998.


title: Greyhound Lines

text: In August 1991, Greyhound emerged from bankruptcy by which time it had shrunk its overall workforce to 7,900 employees from 12,000 pre-bankruptcy, and trimmed its fleet to 2,750 buses and 3,600 drivers.


title: Greyhound Lines

text: In August 1992, Greyhound canceled its bus terminal license (BTL) agreements with other carriers at 200 terminals, and imposed the requirement that Greyhound be the sole-seller of the tenant's bus tickets within a 25-mile radius of such a Greyhound terminal. In 1995, the United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division brought suit to stop this practice, alleging that it was an illegal restraint of trade, bad for consumers, and reduced competition. In February 1996, the DOJ won its case, and Greyhound agreed to permit its tenants to sell tickets nearby and permit its tenants to honor interline tickets with competitors.


title: Greyhound Lines

text: Greyhound's total revenues in 1994 were $616 million. At that time, the company was offering $10 fares due to competition.


title: Greyhound Lines

text: In September 1998, Greyhound promised to make accommodations for disabled passengers, including equipping most buses with wheelchair lifts.


title: Greyhound Lines

text: In the late 1990s, Greyhound Lines acquired two more members of the National Trailways Bus System. The company purchased "Carolina Trailways" in 1997, followed by the intercity operations of "Southeastern Trailways" in 1998. Following the acquisitions, most of the remaining members of the "Trailways System" began interlining cooperatively with Greyhound, discontinued their scheduled route services, diversified into charters and tours, or went out of business altogether.


title: Greyhound Lines

text: On September 3, 1997, Burlington, Ontario-based transportation conglomerate Laidlaw announced it would buy Greyhound Canada, Greyhound's Canadian operations, for US$72 million.


title: Greyhound Lines

text: In October 1998, Laidlaw announced it would acquire the U.S. operations of Greyhound Lines, Inc., including Carolina Trailways and other Greyhound affiliates, for about $470 million. The acquisition was completed in March 1999.


title: Greyhound Lines

text: In June 2001, after incurring heavy losses through its investments in Greyhound Lines and other parts of its diversified business, Laidlaw filed for bankruptcy protection in both the U.S. and Canada.


title: Greyhound Lines

text: Naperville, Illinois-based Laidlaw International, Inc. listed its common shares on the New York Stock Exchange on February 10, 2003 and emerged from re-organization on June 23, 2003 as the successor to Laidlaw Inc.


title: Greyhound Lines

text: By 2003, Greyhound faced significant competition in the northeast from Chinatown bus lines. More than 250 buses, operated by competitors such as Fung Wah Bus Transportation and Lucky Star Bus were competing fiercely from curbsides in the Chinatowns of New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. When operating on inter-city routes, the Chinatown buses offered prices about 50% less than Greyhound's. Between 1997 and 2007, Chinatown buses took 60% of Greyhound's market share in the northeast United States.


title: Greyhound Lines

text: In 2003, Greyhound expanded its QuickLink service, Greyhound's brand of commuter bus service that runs frequently during the peak weekday commuting hours. Routes were operated from Sacramento, California to the San Francisco Bay Area and Macon, Georgia to Atlanta.


title: Greyhound Lines

text: In 2004, Greyhound dropped low-demand rural stops and started concentrating on dense, inter-metropolitan routes. It cut nearly 37% of its network. In some rural areas, particularly in the Plains states, parts of the upper Midwest (such as Wisconsin), and the Pacific Northwest, local operators took over the old stops, often with government subsidies.


title: Greyhound Lines

text: On February 7, 2007, British transport group FirstGroup announced the acquisition of Laidlaw International for $3.6 billion, which closed on October 1, 2007.


title: Greyhound Lines

text: Almost immediately after acquiring the carrier, FirstGroup sought to improve Greyhound's image by refurbishing many terminals, expanding the fleet with new buses, refurbishing old buses, and retraining customer service staff. Greyhound also started a new advertising campaign with Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners aimed at attracting 18- to 24-year-olds and Hispanics.


title: Greyhound Lines

text: Although FirstGroup's interest was primarily the school and transit bus operations of Laidlaw, FirstGroup retained the Greyhound operations and in 2009 exported the brand back to the United Kingdom as Greyhound UK (unrelated to bus operator Greyhound Motors which operated from 1921 to 1972).


title: Greyhound Lines

text: In 2008, Greyhound's three regional bus operations (Carolina Trailways, based in Raleigh, N.C., Vermont Transit Lines of Burlington, Vermont, and Texas, New Mexico & Oklahoma Coaches of Lubbock, Texas ["T.N.M.&O."]) were consolidated into Greyhound Lines.


title: Greyhound Lines

text: On March 27, 2008, Greyhound launched service under the BoltBus brand. The first buses started running between Boston, New York City, and Washington, D.C. In the Northeastern U.S., BoltBus was originally operated in partnership with Peter Pan Bus Lines, but this arrangement ended on September 27, 2017, with Greyhound continuing the brand alone. BoltBus expanded to the West Coast in May 2012 with a route in the Pacific Northwest between Vancouver, BC, Seattle, and Portland. Service was expanded again in October 2013 with a route between the two largest metropolitan areas in California, Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area (San Jose and Oakland). A stop in San Francisco was added in December 2013 along with a route between Los Angeles and Las Vegas.


title: Greyhound Lines

text: In 2010, in response to competition from Megabus and Chinatown bus lines, the company launched "Greyhound Express", featuring newer buses and fewer stops.


title: Greyhound Lines

text: In February 2013, in partnership with DriveCam, Greyhound deployed video cameras across its entire fleet to increase safety and driver compliance by combining data and video analytics with real-time driver feedback and coaching.


title: Greyhound Lines

text: As of 2014, Greyhound's 1,229 buses served over 3,800 destinations in North America, traveling 5.5 billion miles (8.8 billion km) on North America's roads.


title: Greyhound Lines

text: In 2014, the company introduced a refreshed logo and a new navy blue and dark gray livery for buses. Buses were refurbished to add wireless Internet access, power outlets, and leather seating with increased legroom.


title: Greyhound Lines

text: Before 2014, Greyhound was criticized for overbooking, often leaving passengers to wait for the next bus departure. Shortly after the sale to FirstGroup closed, Greyhound began a program in select markets, where riders could reserve a seat for an additional $5. However, only a limited number of seats could be reserved and the fee would have to be paid at the terminal's ticketing counter, even if the ticket was bought in advance online. In 2014, Greyhound rolled out a new yield management computer system, enabling the company to more closely manage the number of tickets sold for each departure and dynamically adjust pricing based on sales. Although the amount of overbooked buses has been sharply reduced with this new system, Greyhound still does not explicitly guarantee a seat to everyone with a ticket (except on Greyhound Express routes).


title: Greyhound Lines

text: In 2014, Greyhound reported a profit of $73 million on revenues of $990.6 million, and attributed the company's success to a mix of changing urban populations and a focus on more profitable routes with higher demand.


title: Greyhound Lines

text: In 2013-2015, Greyhound expanded its Greyhound Connect service, which operates shorter routes to take passengers from stops in smaller, rural cities to stations in larger, urban cities. Some routes are operated using funds from the "Federal Formula Grant Program for Rural Areas" from the Federal Transit Administration.


title: Greyhound Lines

text: In July 2015, the company announced that it would open terminals in Monterrey and Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, and begin service between the two cities and Texas, claiming to be the first American bus company to operate an intra-Mexican route. In September 2015, Greyhound announced expanded service in Missouri and Kansas shortly after Megabus announced that it would be ending service to several cities and college campuses.


title: Greyhound Lines

text: The company's Lucky Streak brand is for routes to/from cities with casinos. All fares are sold as open-ended round-trips, with passengers allowed to return to their origin at any time. On the Atlantic City routes, casinos offer special bonuses (gambling credit, room/dining discounts) to Lucky Streak passengers. Lucky Streak routes serve Atlantic City (to/from Baltimore, Brooklyn, New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C.), Connecticut (Mohegan Sun & Foxwoods Casino) (to/from Boston, Bridgeport, New Haven, New York City, Providence, and Stamford) and Las Vegas (to/from Anaheim, Barstow, Claremont, Compton, El Monte, Hollywood, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Santa Ana, and Victorville).


title: Greyhound Lines

text: In February 2020, the company reversed its position regarding unwarranted searches and notified the Department of Homeland Security that it no longer would allow unwarranted searches on its buses, in areas of terminals, company offices, or any area where a person needs a ticket for access.


title: Greyhound Lines

text: In December 2020, the company sold the customer terminal facility in Los Angeles, as well as facilities in Denver, Colorado, and Ottawa, Canada for a total of $137 million. The facility in Denver was sold for $38 million.


title: Greyhound Lines

text: In May 2021, Greyhound Canada shut down all of its bus routes in Canada. Greyhound Lines continues to operate four cross-border routes that either start or finish in the U.S. from Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver: The company also placed 38 buses used by its Canada division up for auction.


title: Greyhound Lines

text: In July 2021, the bus station in Columbus, Ohio, was sold to the Central Ohio Transit Authority for $9.5 million. In October 2021, the bus station in Downtown Louisville was sold for $2.8 million. The bus station in Cincinnati was sold to a real estate company for $4.25 million, with plans to convert it to parking.


title: Greyhound Lines

text: In September 2021, the company agreed to pay $2.2 million to settle a lawsuit over its practice of allowing U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents to board its buses in Washington State to conduct warrantless immigration sweeps. The company had been criticized for allowing government officials to arrest its customers who were illegally in the country.


title: Greyhound Lines

text: In 2022, FirstGroup sold almost all its remaining Greyhound properties to Twenty Lake Holdings LLC for approximately $140 million.


title: Greyhound Lines

text: Below is a list of major incidents and accidents on Greyhound buses and buses of subsidiaries in the United States.


title: Pinocchio (2014 TV series)

text: Pinocchio () is a 2014–2015 South Korean television series starring Lee Jong-suk, Park Shin-hye, Kim Young-kwang, and Lee Yu-bi. With 20 episodes, the show aired on SBS from 12 November 2014 to 15 January 2015.


title: Pinocchio (2014 TV series)

text: In China, the online broadcasting rights were sold at a record price of per episode, making it the most expensive Korean drama ever to be sold in China at the time. As of 23 January 2015, it has an accumulated view of 1 billion on Chinese video-sharing website Youku.


title: Pinocchio (2014 TV series)

text: In the year 2000, Ki Ha-myung is leading a happy life with his parents and elder brother, Jae-myung, until his father, Ki Ho-sang, the captain of a firefighting squad, dies in a factory explosion during a rescue attempt, along with several of his men. Ho-sang's body initially goes missing, and the media sensationalizes the case by scapegoating him. In a battle for ratings, cold and calculating MSC reporter Song Cha-Ok alleges that Ho-sang survived the blast and is currently in hiding because he was responsible for the deaths of his men. This causes the Ki family to become outcasts in their neighborhood and objects of national scorn. Ki Ho-sang's wife kills herself and Ha-myung by jumping off a cliff, and the elder son, Jae-myung, blames their deaths on the media, particularly Cha-ok.


title: Pinocchio (2014 TV series)

text: But Ha-myung is alive, having been rescued from the water by Choi Gong-pil, a kind elderly man who lives on Hyangri Island. Gong-pil, who may either have Alzheimer's disease or trauma-induced memory loss, believes that Ha-myung is his older son Choi Dal-po, a simpleton who died thirty years earlier. Ha-myung embraces the deception and treats Gong-pil as his father. Gong-pil officially adopts Ha-myung, now named Dal-po, and places him in the family register as his eldest son. Five months later, when Gong-pil's younger son, Choi Dal-pyung, moves to the island with his daughter, Choi In-ha, they are flabbergasted to be told by Gong-pil to address a mere boy as their "older brother" and "uncle", respectively. Choi In-ha has "Pinocchio syndrome", which causes her to hiccup whenever she tells a lie. She idolizes her mother and hates living on the island after her parents' divorce. The fledgling friendship between Dal-po and In-ha is dashed, however, when he learns that In-ha's mother is none other than Song Cha-ok.


title: Pinocchio (2014 TV series)

text: Five years later, In-ha and Dal-po are seniors and classmates at their small-town high school. Dal-po, who is a genius, pretends to be dumb and gets all zeroes in his test scores to keep up the deception in front of Choi Gong-pil. With his last-place class standing and scruffy, country bumpkin hair, Dal-po is friendless at school, while In-ha is the most popular girl. Dal-po secretly likes In-ha, and he is forced to join a televised quiz show at first to prevent Ahn Chan Soo, who has a crush on In-ha, from confessing to her on national TV. At the TV studio, Dal-po runs into the show producer, Hwang Gyo-dong, who had been a YGN reporter and one of Cha-ok's rivals but changed careers after what happened to the Ki family. After seeing Dal-po on TV, and despite knowing that her Pinocchio syndrome limits her career choices, In-ha decides to become a journalist.


title: Pinocchio (2014 TV series)

text: In 2013, the Choi family has moved back to the city. In-ha has spent the last three years after college studying to become a reporter but continuously fails her job interviews. On the other hand, due to the poverty-stricken condition of the Choi family, Dal-po is forced to work as a taxi driver to make ends meet. Cha-ok, who hasn't seen her daughter in a decade and is now MSC's nightly news anchor and section chief, fails In-ha at her final interview, saying a reporter with Pinocchio syndrome would be useless. Seeing how hurt In-ha is at her mother's rejection, Dal-po becomes determined to help her achieve her dream and announces that he wants to become a reporter as well. A month later, In-ha and Dal-po apply at YGN's "blind" audition for broadcast news reporters, but only Dal-po gets hired. When confronted by Gyo-dong, now chief of YGN's news desk, Dal-po confesses his real identity as well as his real motive for taking the job: he wants to find his older brother, Jae-myung, and clear their father's name. But what he doesn't know is that Jae-myung has taken revenge on the factory workers who lied about their father by killing all of them and framing his last victim for the murders by hiding his body and making it seem like he is on the run. Meanwhile, with MSC's credibility rating at an all-time low, Cha-ok hires In-ha, using her Pinocchio syndrome in a publicity stunt. Thus, Dal-po and In-ha become rookies at rival networks, and among their colleagues are Seo Beom-jo, who comes from a rich, sheltered chaebol background and has a connection to In-ha via a wrong cellphone number, and Yoon Yoo-rae, once a sasaeng fan who now uses those obsessive and determined traits in her new job.


title: Pinocchio (2014 TV series)

text: Later in her line of work, In-ha discovers Choi Dal-po's real identity and is disgusted by what her mother Cha-ok did to his family during the fire accident. In a lecture held by Cha-ok, In-ha stands against her and in the process, reveals to Jae-myung that his brother is alive. Together, they try to bring Cha-ok down through their honest news reporting, all the while uncovering a bigger conspiracy in the news industry.


title: Pinocchio (2014 TV series)

text: The series reunited actors Lee Jong-suk and Kim Hae-sook with screenwriter Park Hye-ryun and television director Jo Soo-won, who had collaborated a year before on "I Can Hear Your Voice".


title: Pinocchio (2014 TV series)

text: In the table below, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings.


title: Wolf Blitzer

text: Wolf Isaac Blitzer (born March 22, 1948) is an American journalist, television news anchor, and author who has been a CNN reporter since 1990, and who currently serves as one of the principal anchors at the network. He is the host of "The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer" and until 2021, served as the network's lead political anchor.


title: Wolf Blitzer

text: Blitzer was born in Augsburg, Bavaria, Germany near Munich in 1948, during post-World War II Allied occupation the son of Cesia Blitzer (née Zylberfuden), a homemaker, and David Blitzer, a home builder. His parents were Polish Jewish refugees from German-occupied Poland who survived the Auschwitz concentration camp; his grandparents, two uncles, and two aunts on his father's side were all murdered there. Blitzer and his family immigrated to the United States under the provisions of the 1948 Displaced Persons Act. He was raised in Buffalo, New York, and graduated from Kenmore West Senior High School. He received a Bachelor of Arts in history from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1970. While there, he was a member of Alpha Epsilon Pi. In 1972, he received a Master of Arts in International Relations from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. While at Johns Hopkins, he studied abroad at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he learned Hebrew.


title: Wolf Blitzer

text: Blitzer has said he has frequently been asked about his name, which has been characterized as seemingly made for TV. He explained that his surname goes back for generations, and that "Wolf" is the same first name as that of his maternal grandfather.


title: Wolf Blitzer

text: Blitzer began his career in journalism in the early 1970s, in the Tel Aviv bureau of the Reuters news agency. In 1973, he caught the eye of "Jerusalem Post" editor Ari Rath, who hired Blitzer as a Washington correspondent for the English-language Israeli newspaper. Blitzer remained with "The Jerusalem Post" until 1990, covering both American politics and developments in the Middle East.


title: Wolf Blitzer

text: Fluent in Hebrew, Blitzer also published articles in several Hebrew-language newspapers. Under the name Ze'ev Blitzer, he wrote for "Al HaMishmar". Using the name Ze'ev Barak, he had work published in "Yedioth Ahronoth". "Ze'ev" (זאב) is the Hebrew word for "wolf", and "Barak" (ברק) is the Hebrew word for "lightning" (which in German/Yiddish is "Blitz"/"blits").


title: Wolf Blitzer

text: In the mid-1970s, Blitzer also worked for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) as the editor of their monthly publication, the "Near East Report". While at AIPAC, Blitzer's writing focused on Middle East affairs as they relate to United States foreign policy.


title: Wolf Blitzer

text: At an April 1977 White House press conference, Blitzer asked Egyptian leader Anwar Sadat why Egyptian scholars, athletes and journalists were not permitted to visit Israel. Sadat responded that such visits would be possible after an end to the state of belligerence between the two nations. In November of that year, Sadat made a historic visit to Israel, and Blitzer covered the negotiations between the two countries from the first joint Israeli-Egyptian press conference in 1977, to the final negotiations that would lead to the signing of the Egypt–Israel peace treaty two years later.


title: Wolf Blitzer

text: In 1985, Blitzer published his first book, "Between Washington and Jerusalem: A Reporter's Notebook" (Oxford University Press, 1985). The text outlined his personal development as a reporter, and the relations between the United States and Israel.


title: Wolf Blitzer

text: In 1986, he became known for his coverage of the arrest and trial of Jonathan Pollard, a US Navy intelligence analyst who was charged with spying for Israel. Blitzer was the first journalist to interview Pollard, and he later wrote a book about the Pollard Affair titled "Territory of Lies". In the book, Blitzer writes that Pollard contacted him because he had been reading Blitzer's byline for years, and because Blitzer "had apparently impressed him as someone who was sympathetic". Pollard also hoped that Blitzer would help him "reach the people of Israel, as well as the American Jewish community."


title: Wolf Blitzer

text: Blitzer's interview with Pollard was controversial in the context of the legal action against him, as it was construed by some media voices as a possible violation of the terms of Pollard's plea deal, which forbade media contact. Blitzer's subsequent book about the affair was included in "The New York Times" list of "Notable Books of the Year" for 1989. In its review, the "Times" praised the book as "lucid and highly readable" and called Blitzer's judgment of Israeli officials "harsh but fair".


title: Wolf Blitzer

text: A review in "The New York Review of Books" was more critical, prompting a letter from Blitzer accusing the reviewer of making several inaccurate statements. Reviewer Robert I. Friedman responded to Blitzer's criticism by characterizing "Territory of Lies" as "a slick piece of damage control that would make [Blitzer's] former employers at AIPAC (not to mention Israel's Defense Ministry) proud."


title: Wolf Blitzer

text: Pollard was released on November 20, 2015, in accordance with federal guidelines in place at the time of his sentencing.


title: Wolf Blitzer

text: In May 1990, Blitzer moved to CNN and worked as the cable network's military affairs reporter. His team's coverage of the first Gulf War in Kuwait won a CableACE Award and made him a household name.


title: Wolf Blitzer

text: In 1992, Blitzer became CNN's White House correspondent, a position he would hold until 1999. During this period, he earned an Emmy Award for his coverage of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. In 1998, he began hosting the CNN Sunday morning interview program "Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer", which was seen in over 180 countries. Blitzer's first assignment as an anchor was on the daily newscast "The World Today", in 1999. In 2000, he started anchoring his own show, "Wolf Blitzer Reports", which ran until 2005.


title: Wolf Blitzer

text: CNN selected Blitzer to anchor their coverage of all U.S. presidential elections since 2004. Since August 8, 2005, Blitzer has hosted "The Situation Room", a two-hour afternoon/early evening program on CNN.


title: Wolf Blitzer

text: In 2013, he began anchoring the 1pm ET hour of "CNN Newsroom"; in 2014, the program was renamed to "Wolf". "Wolf" ended in 2018 and was replaced by "CNN Right Now", hosted by Brianna Keilar.


title: Wolf Blitzer

text: In January 2021, CNN announced programming changes, shortening "The Situation Room" to one hour (6-7 p.m. (ET)) beginning April 26, and expanding Jake Tapper's role at the network to become Lead Washington anchor and expanded his show "The Lead with Jake Tapper" to 4-6 p.m. (ET). Blitzer will remain hosting documentaries and serving "a principal anchor for a major breaking news." However, Jim Acosta is now regarded as the network's "chief domestic correspondent."


title: Wolf Blitzer

text: In 2022, he hosted "The Newscast with Wolf Blitzer" on CNN's short-lived streaming service, CNN+ from its late March launch to its late April end.


title: Wolf Blitzer

text: Blitzer has won multiple awards, including the 2004 Journalist Pillar of Justice Award from the Respect for Law Alliance, and the 2003 Daniel Pearl Award from the Chicago Press Veterans Association. His news team was among those awarded a George Foster Peabody Award for coverage of Hurricane Katrina, an Alfred I. DuPont Award for coverage of the 1999 Southeast Asian tsunami, and an Edward R. Murrow Award for CNN's coverage of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.


title: Wolf Blitzer

text: In November 2002, he won the American Veteran Awards' Ernie Pyle Journalism Award for military reporting. In February 2000, he received the Anti-Defamation League's Hubert H. Humphrey First Amendment Freedoms Prize. In 1999, Blitzer won the International Platform Association's Lowell Thomas Broadcast Journalism Award. Blitzer won an Emmy Award for his coverage of the Oklahoma City bombing. Blitzer was also part of the CNN team that was awarded a Golden ACE award for their 1991 Gulf War reporting. In 1994, "American Journalism Review" cited him and CNN as the readers' choice for the Best in the Business Award for network coverage of the Clinton administration.


title: Wolf Blitzer

text: In May 1999, Blitzer was awarded the honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters by the University at Buffalo. On May 20, 2007, Blitzer was awarded the honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters by the George Washington University at their undergraduate commencement exercise. On May 23, 2010, Blitzer was awarded the honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters by Niagara University at their undergraduate commencement exercise. Also, on May 14, 2011, he received an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Penn State University. On September 25, 2011, Blitzer was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters by the University of Hartford. On May 10, 2014, Blitzer received an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Howard University. On September 13, 2014, Blitzer received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement presented by Awards Council member Rick Atkinson.


title: Wolf Blitzer

text: On September 17, 2009, Blitzer competed on an episode of "Celebrity Jeopardy!", finishing the Double Jeopardy round with negative $4,600, prompting host Alex Trebek to comment: “Wolf, things have not worked out as well as you had hoped for". Blitzer was given $1,000 to bet in Final Jeopardy!, finishing with $2,000, losing to comedian Andy Richter.


title: Wolf Blitzer

text: Blitzer, along with fellow CNN anchor John King, is a fan of the Washington Wizards NBA team and participates in a pre-game video update for the team at home games known as the "Wizards Situation."


title: Wolf Blitzer

text: Blitzer has appeared in numerous films as himself reporting on events, including the James Bond film "Skyfall". Since 2013, Blitzer has made guest appearances in Netflix's political drama "House of Cards", portraying himself. He also makes a brief cameo in the 2016 movie "", in "" (2018), and in an episode of "".


title: Wolf Blitzer

text: Blitzer played a prominent supporting role in the 2009 documentary "", in which he relayed his experiences as a journalist working for the "Jerusalem Post", which traces the confluence of factors that made the 1979 Peace Treaty between Israel and Egypt possible.


title: Patrick Macnee

text: Daniel Patrick Macnee (6 February 1922 – 25 June 2015) was a British film and television actor. After serving in the Royal Navy during World War II, he began his acting career in Canada. Despite having some small film roles, Macnee spent much of his early career in playing small roles in American and Canadian television shows. In 1961, he landed the role of secret agent John Steed in the British television series "The Avengers". The show was a success running for eight seasons from 1961 to 1969 and was revived in 1976 as "The New Avengers". The show was a major breakthrough for Macnee and led to his roles in many films including "This Is Spinal Tap" and "A View to a Kill" as well as continuing to appear in both British and US television shows up until 2001.


title: Patrick Macnee

text: The elder of two sons, Macnee was born in Paddington, London, England, on 6 February 1922; to Daniel Macnee (1878–1952) and British socialite Dorothea Mabel Macnee (née Henry) (1896–1984). His father, who was a grandson of the Scottish artist Sir Daniel Macnee, trained race horses in Lambourn, and was known for his dress sense; he had served as an officer in the Yorkshire Dragoons in the First World War. His maternal grandmother was Frances Alice Hastings (1870–1945), who was the daughter of Vice-Admiral George Fowler Hastings and granddaughter of The 12th Earl of Huntingdon. His younger brother James, known as Jimmy, was born five years later. Macnee saw himself as a Scot.


title: Patrick Macnee

text: Macnee's parents separated after his mother came out as a lesbian. His father later moved to India, and his mother began to live with her wealthy partner, Evelyn Spottiswoode, whose money came from the Dewar's whisky business. Macnee referred to her in his autobiography as "Uncle Evelyn", and she helped pay for his schooling. He was educated at Summer Fields School and Eton College, where he was a member of the Officer Training Corps and was one of the guard of honour for King George V at St George's Chapel in 1936. He was later expelled from Eton for selling pornography and being a bookmaker for his fellow students.


title: Patrick Macnee

text: Macnee studied acting at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, but shortly before he was to perform in his first West End leading role, which would have had him acting alongside Vivien Leigh, he was called up for the Royal Navy. He joined as an ordinary seaman in October 1942 and was commissioned a sub-lieutenant in June 1943, becoming a navigator on Motor Torpedo Boats in the English Channel and North Sea. Reassigned as first lieutenant on a second MTB, Macnee caught bronchitis just before D-Day; while he was recuperating in hospital, his boat and crew were lost in action. Two of the crew received the Distinguished Service Medal. He left the Royal Navy in 1946 as a lieutenant.


title: Patrick Macnee

text: Macnee nurtured his acting career in Canada early on, but he also appeared as an uncredited extra in the British films "Pygmalion" (1938), "The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp" (1943) and Laurence Olivier's "Hamlet" (1948), as well as some live TV dramas for the BBC, before graduating to credited roles in such films as "Scrooge" (US: "A Christmas Carol", 1951), as young Jacob Marley, the Gene Kelly vehicle "Les Girls" (1957), as an Old Bailey barrister, and the war film "The Battle of the River Plate" (1956). Between these occasional movie roles, Macnee spent the better part of the 1950s working in dozens of small roles in American and Canadian television and theatre, including an appearance in an episode of "" ("Night of April 14th") and "The Twilight Zone" ("Judgment Night") in 1959. Disappointed in his limited career development, in the late 1950s Macnee was daily smoking 80 cigarettes and drinking a bottle of whisky.


title: Patrick Macnee

text: Not long before his career-making role in "The Avengers", Macnee took a break from acting and served as one of the London-based producers for the classic documentary series "The Valiant Years", based on the Second World War memoirs of Winston Churchill.


title: Patrick Macnee

text: While working in London on the Churchill series, Macnee was offered the role in "The Avengers" (1961–69), (originally intended to be known as "Jonathan Steed"), for which he became best known. The series was conceived as a vehicle for Ian Hendry, who played the lead role of Dr. David Keel in a sequel to an earlier series, "Police Surgeon" (1960), while John Steed was his assistant. Macnee, though, became the lead after Hendry's departure at the end of the first season. Macnee played opposite a succession of glamorous female partners: Honor Blackman, Diana Rigg and Linda Thorson. Of the 161 completed episodes, Macnee appeared in all but two, both from the first season.


title: Patrick Macnee

text: Although Macnee evolved in the role as the series progressed, the key elements of Steed's persona and appearance were there from very early on: the slightly mysterious demeanour and, increasingly, the light, suave, flirting tone with ladies (and always with his female assistants). Finally, from the episodes with Blackman onwards, the trademark bowler hat and umbrella completed the image. Although it traditionally was associated with London "city gents", the ensemble of suit, umbrella and bowler had developed in the post-war years as mufti for ex-servicemen attending Armistice Day ceremonies. Steed's sartorial style may also have been drawn from Macnee's father. Macnee, alongside designer Pierre Cardin, adapted the look into a style all his own, and he went on to design several outfits himself for Steed based on the same basic theme. Steed was also the central character of "The New Avengers" (1976–77), in which he was teamed with agents named Purdey (Joanna Lumley) and Mike Gambit (Gareth Hunt).


title: Patrick Macnee

text: Macnee insisted on, and was proud of, almost never carrying a gun in the original series; when asked why, he explained, "I'd just come out of a World War in which I'd seen most of my friends blown to bits." Lumley later said she did all the gun-slinging in "The New Avengers" for the same reason.


title: Patrick Macnee

text: When asked in June 1982 which "Avengers" female lead was his favourite, Macnee declined to give a specific answer. "Well, I'd rather not say. To do so would invite trouble," he told "TV Week" magazine. Macnee did provide his evaluation of the female leads. Of Honor Blackman he said, "She was wonderful, presenting the concept of a strong-willed, independent and liberated woman just as that sort of woman was beginning to emerge in society." Diana Rigg was "One of the world's great actresses. A superb comedienne. I'm convinced that one day she'll be Dame Diana" (his prediction came true in 1994). Linda Thorson was "one of the sexiest women alive" while Joanna Lumley was "superb in the role of Purdey. An actress who is only now realising her immense potential."


title: Patrick Macnee

text: Macnee co-wrote two original novels based upon "The Avengers" during the 1960s, titled "Dead Duck" and "Deadline". He hosted the documentary "The Avengers: The Journey Back" (1998), directed by Clyde Lucas.


title: Patrick Macnee

text: For the critically lambasted film version of "The Avengers" (1998), he lent his voice in a cameo as Invisible Jones. The character John Steed was taken over by Ralph Fiennes.


title: Patrick Macnee

text: Macnee's other significant roles included playing Sir Godfrey Tibbett opposite Roger Moore in the James Bond film "A View to a Kill" (1985), as Major Crossley in "The Sea Wolves" (again with Moore), guest roles in "Encounter", "Alias Smith and Jones" (for Glen A. Larson), "Magnum, P.I.", "Hart to Hart", "Murder, She Wrote" and "The Love Boat". Although his best known role was heroic, many of his television appearances were as villains; among them were his roles of both the demonic Count Iblis and his provision of the character voice of the Cylons' Imperious Leader in "Battlestar Galactica", also for Glen A. Larson, for which he also supplied the show's introductory voiceover. He also presented the American paranormal series "Mysteries, Magic and Miracles". Macnee appeared on Broadway as the star of Anthony Shaffer's mystery "Sleuth" in 1972–73. He subsequently headlined the national tour of that play.


title: Patrick Macnee

text: Macnee reunited with Diana Rigg in her short-lived sitcom "Diana" (1973) in a single episode. Other television appearances include a guest appearance on "Columbo" in the episode "Troubled Waters" (1975); and playing Major Vickers in "For the Term of his Natural Life" (1983). He had recurring roles in the crime series "Gavilan" with Robert Urich and in the short-lived satire on big business, "Empire" (1984), as Dr. Calvin Cromwell. Macnee was known for narrating various James Bond Documentaries on Special Edition DVD. He also narrated the documentary "Ian Fleming: 007's Creator" (2000).


title: Patrick Macnee

text: Macnee featured prominently in two editions of the long-running British television series "This Is Your Life": in 1978, when he and host Eamonn Andrews, both dressed as Steed, surprised Ian Hendry, and in 1984 when he was the edition's unsuspecting subject.


title: Patrick Macnee

text: He also appeared in several cult films: in "The Howling" (1981), as Dr. George Waggner (named whimsically after the director of "The Wolf Man", 1941) and as Sir Denis Eton-Hogg in the rockumentary comedy "This Is Spinal Tap" (1984). He played Dr. Stark in "The Creature Wasn't Nice" (1981), also called "Spaceship" and "Naked Space". Macnee played the role of actor David Mathews in the television movie "Rehearsal for Murder" (1982), which starred Robert Preston and Lynn Redgrave. The movie was from a script written by "Columbo" co-creators Richard Levinson and William Link. He took over Leo G. Carroll's role as the head of U.N.C.L.E. His character being Sir John Raleigh in "" (1983), produced by Michael Sloan. He was featured in the science fiction television movie "Super Force" (1990) as E. B. Hungerford (the series which followed only featured Macnee's voice as a Max Headroom-style computer simulation of his character), as a supporting character in the parody film "Lobster Man from Mars" (1989) as Professor Plocostomos and in the television film "The Return of Sam McCloud" (1989) as Tom Jamison. He made an appearance in "Frasier" (2001), and several episodes of the American sci-fi series "Nightman" as Dr. Walton, a psychiatrist who would advise Johnny/Nightman. Macnee appeared in two episodes of the series "" (1993–94) and was a retired agent in a handful of instalments of "Spy Game" (1997–98).


title: Patrick Macnee

text: Macnee made numerous TV commercials including one around 1990 for Swiss Chalet, the Canadian restaurant chain, and a year or so before, a commercial for the Sterling Motor Car Company. Over the James Bond theme, the car duels with a motorcycle assailant at high speed through mountainous territory, ultimately eludes the foe, and reaches its destination. Macnee steps out of the car and greets viewers with a smile, saying "I suppose you were expecting someone else". Macnee was the narrator for several "behind-the-scenes" featurettes for the James Bond series of DVDs and recorded numerous audio books, including the releases of many novels by Jack Higgins. He also recorded the children's books "The Musical Life of Gustav Mole" and its sequel, "The Lost Music (Gustav Mole's War on Noise)," both written by Michael Twinn.


title: Patrick Macnee

text: Macnee featured in two pop videos: as Steed in original "Avengers" footage in The Pretenders' video for their song "Don't Get Me Wrong" (1986) and in the promotion for Oasis' video "Don't Look Back in Anger" (1996), as the band's driver, a role similar to that which he played in the James Bond film "A View to a Kill" (1985). In 1990, his recording with his "Avengers" co-star Honor Blackman, called "Kinky Boots" (1964), reached the UK Singles Chart after being played on Simon Mayo's BBC Radio One breakfast show.


title: Patrick Macnee

text: Macnee appeared in "Magnum, P.I." (1984) as a retired British agent who suffered from the delusion that he was Sherlock Holmes, in a season four episode titled "Holmes Is Where the Heart Is". He played both Holmes and Dr. Watson on several occasions. He played Watson three times: once alongside Roger Moore's Sherlock Holmes in the television film "Sherlock Holmes in New York" (1976), and twice with Christopher Lee, first in "Sherlock Holmes and the Leading Lady" (1991), and then in "Incident at Victoria Falls" (1992). He played Holmes in another television film "The Hound of London" (1993), along with the Canadian television film "Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Temporal Nexus" (1996). He is thus one of only a small number of actors to have portrayed both Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson on screen.


title: Patrick Macnee

text: Macnee married his first wife Barbara Douglas (1921–2012) in 1942. They had two children, Rupert and Jenny, and a grandson, Christopher ("Kit"). After they were divorced in 1956, his second marriage (1965–1969) was to actress Katherine Woodville. From 1973 to 1991, Macnee owned a home in the Deep Well neighborhood of Palm Springs, California. His third marriage was to Baba Majos de Nagyzsenye, daughter of opera singer Ella Némethy. It lasted from 1988 until her death in 2007. Macnee became a United States citizen in 1959. He dedicated his autobiography, which he titled "Blind in One Ear: The Avenger Returns" (1988), to Marie Cameron. Later in life, Macnee was an enthusiastic naturist.


title: Patrick Macnee

text: On 25 June 2015, Macnee died at Rancho Mirage, California, his home for the previous four decades, at the age of 93.


title: Unforgettable (American TV series)

text: Unforgettable is an American police procedural crime drama television series that premiered on CBS on September 20, 2011. "Unforgettable" was developed by Ed Redlich and John Bellucci, and stars Poppy Montgomery as Detective Carrie Wells, a police detective with an unusually detailed and photographic memory.


title: Unforgettable (American TV series)

text: After being canceled twice by CBS, "Unforgettable" was picked up by A&E for a fourth season. The season premiered on November 27, 2015, with two back-to-back episodes. In February 2016, A&E cancelled the show.


title: Unforgettable (American TV series)

text: Former Syracuse, New York, police detective Carrie Wells has hyperthymesia, a rare medical condition that gives her the ability to visually remember everything. She reluctantly joins the New York City Police Department's Queens homicide unit after her former boyfriend and partner, Lieutenant Al Burns, asks for help with solving a case. The move allows her to try to find out the one thing she has been unable to remember, which is what happened the day her sister was murdered.


title: Unforgettable (American TV series)

text: For a time, the series had an opening monologue narrated by lead actress Poppy Montgomery. The narration was as follows:


title: Unforgettable (American TV series)

text: I'm Carrie Wells. Only a few people in the world have the ability to remember everything—I'm one of them. Pick any day of my life, and I can tell you what I saw or heard: faces, conversations, clues; which comes in handy when you're a cop. If I miss something the first time, it's okay. I can go back and look again. My life ... is unforgettable.


title: Unforgettable (American TV series)

text: The hour-long program is based on J. Robert Lennon's 2008 short story "The Rememberer". The series was created by Ed Redlich and John Bellucci, and co-produced with Carl Beverly and Sarah Timberman for CBS, where it made its debut on September 20, 2011. The series produced by CBS Television Studios and Sony Pictures Television. On October 25, 2011, CBS picked up the series for a full season of 22 episodes.


title: Unforgettable (American TV series)

text: Serving as a consultant on the series is actress Marilu Henner who, like the series' lead character Carrie Wells, possesses hyperthymesia in real life. She had a guest spot in the episode "Golden Bird", as Wells' aunt, who is suffering from symptoms similar to that of Wells' mother's early-onset Alzheimer's disease.


title: Unforgettable (American TV series)

text: On May 13, 2012, CBS canceled "Unforgettable". TNT and Lifetime soon expressed interest in picking up the show, but ultimately passed on the series. On June 29, 2012, CBS reversed course, and confirmed that "Unforgettable" would return for a second season in summer 2013 with an order for 13 episodes, of which seven were broadcast in 2013. Season two premiered on Sunday, July 28 at 9:00 p.m. Eastern / 8:00 p.m. Central. On September 27, 2013, CBS renewed "Unforgettable" for a third season of 13 episodes to premiere summer 2014. Broadcast of the second season was resumed on Friday April 4, 2014 at 8:00 p.m. EDT.


title: Unforgettable (American TV series)

text: CBS canceled the series after the third season in October 2014. However, in February 2015, A&E picked up "Unforgettable" for a fourth season consisting of 13 episodes.


title: Unforgettable (American TV series)

text: In February 2016, A&E opted not to order a fifth season. The final episode of season four ended with Al being shot by a sniper. The cancellation leaves that plot element unresolved.


title: Unforgettable (American TV series)

text: On Rotten Tomatoes season 1 has a score of 40% based on 20 reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "More tedious than compelling, "Unforgettable" is yet another lukewarm procedural." On Metacritic season 1 has a score of 59/100 based on 23 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".


title: Battle of Balaclava

text: The Battle of Balaclava, fought on 25 October 1854 during the Crimean War, was part of the Siege of Sevastopol (1854–55), an Allied attempt to capture the port and fortress of Sevastopol, Russia's principal naval base on the Black Sea. The engagement followed the earlier Allied victory in September at the Battle of the Alma, where the Russian General Menshikov had positioned his army in an attempt to stop the Allies progressing south towards their strategic goal. Alma was the first major encounter fought in the Crimean Peninsula since the Allied landings at Kalamita Bay on 14 September, and was a clear battlefield success; but a tardy pursuit by the Allies failed to gain a decisive victory, allowing the Russians to regroup, recover and prepare their defence.


title: Battle of Balaclava

text: The Russians split their forces. Defending within the allied siege lines was primarily the Navy manning the considerable static defenses of the city and threatening the allies from without was the mobile Army under General Menshikov.


title: Battle of Balaclava

text: The Allies decided against a slow assault on Sevastopol and instead prepared for a protracted siege. The British, under the command of Lord Raglan, and the French, under Canrobert, positioned their troops to the south of the port on the Chersonese Peninsula: the French Army occupied the bay of Kamiesch on the west coast whilst the British moved to the southern port of Balaclava. However, this position committed the British to the defence of the right flank of the Allied siege operations, for which Raglan had insufficient troops. Taking advantage of this exposure, the Russian General Liprandi, with some 25,000 men, prepared to attack the defences around Balaclava, hoping to disrupt the supply chain between the British base and their siege lines.


title: Battle of Balaclava

text: The battle began with a Russian artillery and infantry attack on the Ottoman redoubts that formed Balaclava's first line of defence on the Vorontsov Heights. The Ottoman forces initially resisted the Russian assaults, but lacking support they were eventually forced to retreat. When the redoubts fell, the Russian cavalry moved to engage the second defensive line in the South Valley, held by the Ottoman and the British 93rd Highland Regiment in what came to be known as the "Thin Red Line". This line held and repelled the attack; as did General James Scarlett's British Heavy Brigade who charged and defeated the greater proportion of the cavalry advance, forcing the Russians onto the defensive. However, a final Allied cavalry charge, stemming from a misinterpreted order from Raglan, led to one of the most famous and ill-fated events in British military history – the Charge of the Light Brigade.


title: Battle of Balaclava

text: The British and French fleets departed from the Bulgarian port of Varna on 5 September 1854, heading towards Kalamita Bay in the Crimea. By the 14th, the troops began to land; within four days the Allied force of 61,400 infantry, 1,200 cavalry and 137 guns, was ashore. Thirty-three miles (~53 km) to the south of the landing zone, beyond the Bulganak, lma, Katcha and Belbek rivers, lay the Russian naval base and fortress of Sevastopol, the key Allied objective in the Crimea. General Menshikov, aware of the Allied presence, prepared his troops on the banks of the River Alma in an effort to halt the Franco-British advance, but on 20 September he was soundly defeated in what was the first major battle in the Crimea. News of Menshikov's defeat was met with disbelief by Tsar Nicholas I in St. Petersburg – it seemed it would only be a matter of time before Sevastopol fell.


title: Battle of Balaclava

text: But Allied hesitation, first from the French commander-in-chief, Saint-Arnaud, then by Lord Raglan, allowed the dispirited Russians to escape the battlefield in relative order, allowing Menshikov and his army to reach Sevastopol, reorganise and rebuild their morale. "It is frightful to think what might have happened", wrote Vice-Admiral Kornilov, "had it not been for this cardinal error of the enemy's."


title: Battle of Balaclava

text: The Allied march south finally recommenced on the morning of 23 September 1854, but there was as yet no definite plan of action; it was not until they had passed the River Katcha in sight of Sevastopol itself, that the Allied commanders discussed their options. The original plan had envisaged a move across the River Belbek before attacking the north side (the Severnaya) of Sevastopol harbour, defended by the Star Fort; but recent naval intelligence had revealed that the position was much stronger than had first been realised. John Burgoyne, the British Army's most experienced engineer, advocated an attack on Sevastopol from the south which, from all reports, was still an imperfectly entrenched position. This was a view shared by Saint-Arnaud who, having received his own intelligence of Russian reinforcements, had refused to agree to an attack from the north. Burgoyne's proposed 'flank march' required the Allies to go round the city to the east in order to attack the harbour from the south where the defences were weakest. Raglan was inclined to agree, arguing that he had always been disposed to such an operation; he knew, too, that the problem of re-supply would be eased with the seizing of the southern ports on the Chersonese Peninsula.


title: Battle of Balaclava

text: On 24 September, Menshikov began to move his army out of Sevastopol towards Bakchi Serai and Simferopol, leaving Admirals Kornilov and Nakhimov to organise the 18,000-strong garrison (mainly sailors and marines) and prepare the port's defences.


title: Battle of Balaclava

text: By venturing into the interior of the Crimea, Menshikov would not only keep open his communications with Russia, but would also be in touch with reinforcements from Odessa or Kertch; moreover, he would be free to operate in the field and threaten the Allied flank. Whilst Menshikov moved east, the Anglo-French-Turkish army, with the British in the vanguard, continued its march towards the southern coast of the peninsula. The heat was oppressive, the water sparse, and cholera rife, taking a heavy toll on the men including Saint-Arnaud who was already ill with cancer. The march had been a real trial and was not without incident. At one point, on 25 September near MacKenzie's Farm, Raglan and his staff in front of the British column stumbled across the rear of the retreating Russians; with the rest of his army strung out behind in hopeless disorder, Menshikov missed a chance to inflict a major reverse on the British. By the 26th, however, Raglan had reached the village of Kadikoi, and was able to look down on the narrow inlet of Balaclava. That same day Saint-Arnaud, now critically ill, surrendered his command to General Canrobert.


title: Battle of Balaclava

text: The harbor at Balaclava was too small for both Allied armies to use. By rights, the French, who had claimed the honor of holding the right of the line, should have occupied Balaclava whilst the British should have moved west to the ports of Kazatch and Kamiesch. Canrobert offered the British the choice, but badly advised by Admiral Lyons, Raglan chose Balaclava for his base, not realizing that the two western bays offered far better facilities as supply ports. Moreover, Raglan committed the British Army to the defense of the right flank of the Allied operation and would have to ensure the security of both Anglo-French armies against the threat posed by Menshikov's forces to the east. The decision by Raglan was a bad mistake and one for which the British Army was to pay a terrible price.


title: Battle of Balaclava

text: For many, the only justification for the 'flank march' was an immediate assault upon Sevastopol. George Cathcart, commander of the British 4th Division, pleaded with Raglan for instant action. "I am sure I could walk into it, with scarcely the loss of a man," wrote Cathcart to Raglan on 28 September from the heights above the eastern approach to the city. "We could leave our packs, and run into it even in open day … We see people walking about the streets in great consternation ..." But caution prevailed, and plans by Burgoyne for a formal siege, backed by Canrobert, were prepared. When Raglan told Cathcart that nothing would happen until the Allied siege trains had been landed, Cathcart could not hide his irritation, "Land the siege trains! But my dear Lord Raglan, what the devil is there to knock down?"


title: Battle of Balaclava

text: Having decided upon which port they would occupy the Allies set about deploying their forces on the Chersonese Peninsula. The peninsula is bounded to the north by Sevastopol Harbour, at the head of which the River Chernaya flows from the south-east. The eastern boundary is formed by a long escarpment, the Sapouné Heights, averaging 600 feet high, and pierced by two passes only: the metalled Worontsov road, and, at the southern end of the heights, the Col, through which ran a steeper and more difficult road leading from the west end of Sevastopol to Balaclava. Sevastopol itself was divided in two by the Dockyard Creek. Two of Canrobert's four divisions, supervised by General Forey, were allotted the western siege operations around the city, from the Black Sea to the Dockyard Creek; the other two divisions, under General Bosquet, would act as a covering force along the Sapouné Heights. To Bosquet's north lay the camp of the British 1st Division, and beyond this De Lacy Evans' 2nd Division guarding the extreme right of the Allied line with the Inkerman Heights to its front and the Chernaya Valley to its right.


title: Battle of Balaclava

text: The port of Balaclava lay outside the main Allied perimeter and had to be provided with a defensive system of its own. The Vorontsov Road ran down from the Sapouné Heights along a ridge, running east-west, known as the Causeway Heights, dividing the plain into two sections – the North Valley and the South Valley. Redoubts upon the Causeway Heights offered Balaclava its first line of defense: five were built upon the heights – approximately 500 yards (~450 m) apart – and one upon what came to be known as Canrobert's Hill, slightly to the south and covering the extreme right of the British defenses (see map below). The redoubts housed a total of nine naval guns, all 12-pounders from HMS "Diamond": three in No.1 redoubt on Canrobert's Hill; two each in redoubts 2, 3, and 4. Redoubts 5 and 6 (the two at the western end of the Causeway Heights), were still unfinished and without any guns. These defenses were hastily constructed, but they were not small works: No.1 redoubt held a garrison of 600 Turks, whilst redoubts 2, 3, and 4 each held 300; all were accompanied by one British artillery NCO. The inner line of defense of the British base was supplied by the 93rd Highlanders and a Royal Artillery field battery stationed at the village of Kadikoi to the north of Balaclava. These were supported by Royal Marines and artillery positioned along the heights above the port, as well as additional Ottoman troops. In addition to these defenses, Raglan could call upon the 1,500 men of Lord Lucan's Cavalry Division camped on the western end of the South Valley, along with a troop of Royal Horse Artillery. The total force available for the immediate defense of the British base at Balaclava numbered around 4,500 men, supported by 26 guns.


title: Battle of Balaclava

text: As the Allied siege guns bombarded Sevastopol the Russian reserves were moving to the Crimea. The Russians sought to relieve Sevastopol from bombardment by marching newly arrived reinforcements from the Danubian front. This force of Russian reinforcements would strike at the allies' main port of supply—Balaclava. At the forefront of these reinforcements was the 12th Infantry Division – part of the Russian 4th Corps – under General Pavel Liprandi. This division, consisting of the Azovsky, Dnieper, Ukraine and Odessa regiments, along with four batteries of artillery, had arrived from Bessarabia; by the time the division had reached the Crimea, Menshikov had decided on the plan to use them to attack the Allied rear from Chorgun, and march on Balaclava.


title: Battle of Balaclava

text: The vulnerability of Balaclava was well known to both sides. Undertaking the siege operations around Sevastopol whilst securing the Allies' eastern flank was stretching the resources of Raglan's dwindling forces – British casualties at the Alma had been high, and many were still suffering from the cholera epidemic; others simply fell sick from exhaustion. With the arrival of further Russian reinforcements, Menshikov's total force in theatre (including 12 Division) numbered around 65,000. The remainder of 4th Corps – 10 and 11 Divisions – were also heading towards the Crimea, but Menshikov, under pressure from Nicholas I to strike back at the Allies, decided not to wait for these troops before beginning the attack.


title: Battle of Balaclava

text: The first move by the Russians came on the early morning of 18 October 1854, when Lieutenant Colonel Rakovitch moved against the village of Chorgun with three infantry battalions, 200 Cossacks and four guns. From here, Liprandi, Rakovitch and Major General Semyakin were able to reconnoitre the Allied redoubts along the Causeway Heights. To the Russian commanders, and, belatedly, to the Royal Engineers, the redoubts were recognised to be too far forward of the inner defensive line of Balaclava to be adequately defended and supported by the British. Russian reconnaissance reports had also indicated that these outer defences were occupied by a mixture of Tunisians, raw recruits and militia, and not of the same calibre of men that had defeated them on the Danube at the beginning of the war. To Liprandi and his generals it seemed a swift strike against the redoubts was certain of success.


title: Battle of Balaclava

text: By 23 October Liprandi had gathered 16,000 men, known as the 'Detachment of Chorgun', comprising 17 battalions, 30 squadrons and 64 guns. The left column, commanded by Major General Gribbe, was to advance across the Chernaya River and towards the village of Kamara. The centre column, under Major General Semyakin, was divided into two wings: Semyakin himself, commanding the left wing, was to lead his troops south from Chorgun before moving against Canrobert's Hill and No.1 redoubt; Major General Levutsky, commanding the right wing of the centre column, was tasked to assault No.2 redoubt farther to the west. Meanwhile, the right column, under Colonel Skyuderi, was to advance across the Chernaya via the Tractir Bridge before moving south through the Fedyukhin Heights and across the North Valley to attack No.3 redoubt. The attacks were to be supported by Lieutenant General Ryzhov's cavalry. A further force, numbering 4,500 men and 14 guns under Major General Zhabokritsky, protected Liprandi's right from Allied interference. Once the redoubts had been captured, Zhabokritsky was to occupy the Fedioukine Heights. In total (including Zhabokritsky's force and a reserve held back at the Tractir Bridge) Liprandi had at his disposal around 25,000 men and 78 guns – not enough to threaten the siege lines, but more than enough to compromise the defences at Balaclava whose loss to the Allies would be tremendous. (See map below).


title: Battle of Balaclava

text: Recent intelligence received by the British had indicated a major Russian attack was imminent. After a considerable number of false alarms the previous week, however, Raglan failed to act, believing that they were needlessly exhausting his men who were turned out on every report. But this latest intelligence proved accurate, and early on 25 October, just before 05:00, Liprandi's troops of the 'Chorgun Detachment' left their camp and marched off in silence towards the Balaclava valleys.


title: Battle of Balaclava

text: The village of Kamara was the most easterly picket for Allied soldiers, providing a useful observation point for Lucan's vedettes. In the dark dawn, a squadron of Russian Cossacks, followed by a host of uhlans, rode slowly towards the village. These troops were the leading elements of Gribbe's force. First to discover that the Russians had moved up under cover of dark was the duty field officer of the day, Captain Alexander Low of the 4th Light Dragoons. The picket in Kamara had not seen the advancing Cossacks (there is some suggestion that they were sleeping), and it was only through Low's timely arrival and his shouts that they managed to escape and make their way to the nearest redoubt on the Causeway Heights. Behind the Cossacks and uhlans came the Dnieper Regiment along with the artillery. Immediately, Gribbe positioned his ten guns on the slopes to the west of Kamara, leaving his gunners with a clear view of No.1 redoubt on Canrobert's Hill.


title: Battle of Balaclava

text: In accordance with his usual practice Lucan had gone forward at daybreak to inspect the redoubts and outposts, accompanied by his staff: Lord George Paget, Lord William Paulet, and Major Thomas McMahon. As they approached Canrobert's Hill, two signal flags were observed, signifying the approach of the Russians. Paget, commanding officer of the 4th Light Dragoons (and commanding officer of the Light Brigade in Cardigan's absence), later recalled the moment when they realized something was wrong:


title: Battle of Balaclava

text: "Hello," said Lord William, "there are two flags flying; what does it mean?" "Why, that surely is the signal that the enemy is approaching," said Major McMahon. "Are you quite sure?" we replied. Hardly were the words out of McMahon's mouth, when bang went a cannon from the redoubt in question, fired on the advancing masses of the enemy.


title: Battle of Balaclava

text: The Ottoman guns from No.1 redoubt on Canrobert's hill fired on the Russians at around 06:00 – the Battle of Balaclava had begun. Lucan despatched Captain Charteris to inform Raglan that the redoubts were under attack. Charteris arrived at around 07:00, but those at the British headquarters had already heard the sound of the guns. Lucan himself rode quickly back towards Kadikoi to confer with Sir Colin Campbell, commander of the Balaclava defences. The two men agreed that this was not another Russian feint, but an attack in force with the intention of taking the British base. Campbell prepared his 93rd Highlanders to meet the enemy, whilst Lucan returned to the cavalry. Leaving the Light Brigade where it stood, Lucan led the Heavy Brigade towards the redoubts, hoping his presence might discourage any further Russian advance on Balaclava. Realizing his show of strength had little impact, however, Lucan led the Heavies back to their original position alongside the Light Brigade. The Ottoman forces were left to face the full force of the Russian assault almost alone.


title: Battle of Balaclava

text: While Gribbe's artillery continued to shell No.1 redoubt, the Russian columns under Levutsky, Semyakin, and Skyuderi began to move into the North Valley. Although the Heavy Brigade had pulled back, the British did send forward their available artillery to assist the Ottoman forces on the Causeway Heights. Captain George Maude's troop of horse artillery, I Troop, unlimbered its four 6-pounder and two 12-pounder guns between redoubts 2 and 3, whilst Captain Barker's battery, W Battery, of the Royal Artillery, moved out of Balaclava and took its position on Maude's left. However, the artillery duel was a very one sided affair. The heavier Russian guns (some 18-pounders), particularly No.4 battery under Lieutenant Postikov, together with the riflemen of the Ukraine regiment, took their toll on both men and ordnance. Running short of ammunition and taking hits, Maude's troop was forced to retire (Maude himself was severely wounded). Their place taken by two guns from Barker's battery. As the British artillery fire slackened, Semyakin prepared to storm No. 1 redoubt, personally leading the assault together with three battalions of the Azovsky Regiment under Colonel Krudener. "I waved my hat on both sides," recalled Semyakin. "Everybody rushed after me and I was protected by the stern Azovs." The Ottoman forces on Canrobert's Hill resisted stubbornly. Although the attack had begun at 06:00, it was not until 07:30 when No.1 redoubt fell. During that time the 600 Ottoman defenders had suffered from the heavy artillery bombardment; in the ensuing fight in the redoubt and subsequent pursuit by the Cossacks, an estimated 170 Ottomans were killed. In his first report of the action for "The Times", William Russell wrote that the Turks 'received a few shots and then bolted', but afterwards admitted that he had not been a witness to the start of the battle, confessing, 'Our treatment of the Turks was unfair ... ignorant as we were that the Turkish in No.1 redoubt lost more than a fourth of their number ere they abandoned it to the enemy'. Later Lucan and Campbell too acknowledged the firmness with which the assault on No 1 redoubt, which was not visible from their vantage point, had been resisted; it was not until this had been overwhelmed did the defenders abandon redoubts 2, 3 and 4. Of the estimated 2,500 Russians who took part in the assault the Azovsky Regiment lost two officers and 149 men killed.


title: Battle of Balaclava

text: The remaining redoubts were now in danger of falling into the hands of the oncoming Russians. The battalions of the Ukraine Regiment under Colonel Dudnitsky-Lishin, attacked redoubts Nos.2 and 3, while the Odessa Regiment under Skyuderi advanced on redoubt No.4. The Ottoman forces in these positions, having already watched their compatriots flee the first redoubt and realizing that the British were not coming to their aid, retreated towards Balaclava, pursued by the Cossacks who had little trouble dispatching any stray or isolated men. The few British NCOs could do nothing but spike the guns, rendering them unusable. The Ottoman forces had gained some time for the Allies, but in the end the Turks were forced to abandon the redoubts. By 08:00 the Russians had occupied redoubts 1, 2 and 3, and, considering it too close to the enemy, had razed redoubt No.4.


title: Battle of Balaclava

text: Canrobert had been informed of the Russian attack at about 07:30, and had immediately ridden off to join Raglan. Bosquet, having been aroused by the sound of the cannon, had ordered the 2nd Brigade of the French 1st Division (under General Vinoy) to march towards Balaclava in support of the British. Additionally, the 1st Brigade under General Espinasse began to move, along with the divisional artillery and the Chasseurs d'Afrique. The French 3rd Division was put on alert, and the horse artillery of the reserve harnessed. Raglan had at first thought the Russian advance a feint, possibly designed to occupy him whilst the enemy stormed out of Sevastopol to attack his army overlooking the heights above the city; but now he saw that he had been wrong. With the first four redoubts on the Causeway Heights either captured or out of action, all that protected Balaclava were Lucan's Cavalry Division, together with the 550 men of the 93 Highlanders, Barker's W Battery, 100 invalids under Colonel Daveney, and some Ottomans, reinforced by their countrymen from the redoubts who had rallied and formed up alongside them. It was only now that Raglan ordered the British 1st Division under the Duke of Cambridge, and Cathcart's 4th Division, to move into the plain. The 1st Division got away promptly, but when Raglan's staff officer informed Cathcart that the Russians were marching on Balaclava, he at first refused to comply, complaining that his men had only just finished their shift in the trenches before Sevastopol. In the end he did move, but the delay brought his division down 40 minutes after the Duke's. It would take a least two hours to march an infantry division down from the heights overlooking Sevastopol into the plain of Balaclava. The Russians appeared to have the intentions and the means to capture the British base in a much shorter time.


title: Battle of Balaclava

text: At approximately 07:45, the commander of the Light Brigade, Lord Cardigan, reached his cavalry, having arrived from his yacht moored in Balaclava harbour. Raglan, meanwhile, had taken up his position on the Sapouné Heights, 650 feet (~200 m) above the plain. Unwilling at this point to risk his cavalry without infantry support (as he had done throughout the whole campaign), Raglan issued his first order to the Cavalry Division at 08:00 – "Cavalry to take ground to the left of the second line of redoubts occupied by the Turks". The order was ambiguous and misleading (there was no 'second line of redoubts' and the word 'left' is dependent on the perspective of the viewer), but on this occasion Lucan had interpreted the order correctly, and moved his cavalry to the west, placing them between No. 6 redoubt and the foot of the Sapouné Heights where they could not be seen by, or engage with, the Russians. The new position placed the Light Brigade near, but to one side, of the mouth of the North Valley; the Heavy Brigade sat on their right. However, 30 minutes after issuing his first order, Raglan now changed his mind and issued his second order at 08:30 – "Eight squadrons of heavy Dragoons to be detached towards Balaclava to support the Turks who are wavering". There was no evidence that the Turks formed up alongside the Highlanders were wavering, but Raglan thought they were, or might soon do so. As each regiment comprised two squadrons, Lucan, with growing frustration, was required to move four of his five Heavy Brigade regiments back onto the open plain and the defensive line of Kadikoi. Although this order meant he had to divide his cavalry – thus reducing the effectiveness of each part – Lucan complied, and ordered General Scarlett to lead four regiments back to where they had just come from.


title: Battle of Balaclava

text: Liprandi now brought forward Ryzhov's cavalry to press home his advantage. Ryzhov's force consisted of eight squadrons of the 11th Kiev Hussars, six of the 12th Ingermanland Hussars, three of the 53rd Don Cossack Regiment, and the 1st Ural Cossacks, totalling between 2,000 and 3,000 men (sources vary), and 16 guns. The Russian cavalry crossed in a south-westerly direction across the Chernaya river and, at about 09:00, streamed into the North Valley. When level with the empty No.4 redoubt, Ryzhov wheeled to the left, crested the Causeway Heights, and came to a halt; before him, he could see the Heavy Brigade moving east across his front, while away to the south he could discern the Highlanders and Turks immediately to the north of Kadikoi. Ryzhov detached 400 men of the Ingermanland Hussars to turn and head straight for the Allied infantry position. Sir Colin Campbell, commander of the Highland Brigade and thus the 93rd Highlanders, brought his men forward from behind the hillock that had sheltered them from the Russian artillery. With only Balaclava and the Black Sea to their backs, he rode quickly along the line expressing his determination to resist – "Men, remember there is no retreat from here. You must die where you stand." Campbell's aide, John Scott, replied "Aye Sir Colin. Needs be we'll do that." Campbell had such a poor opinion of the Russian cavalry that he did not bother telling his men to form square; instead, he lined them up in the normal two-deep firing line. Raglan on the Sapouné Heights had a grandstand view, as did William Russell, who wrote furiously in his notebook:


title: Battle of Balaclava

text: The Russians dash at the Highlanders. The ground flies beneath their horses' feet; gathering speed at every stride, they dash on towards that thin red streak topped with a line of steel.