title: Bog

text: A "quaking bog", "schwingmoor", or "swingmoor" is a form of floating bog occurring in wetter parts of valley bogs and raised bogs and sometimes around the edges of acidic lakes. The bog vegetation, mostly sphagnum moss anchored by sedges (such as "Carex lasiocarpa"), forms a floating mat approximately half a meter thick on the surface of water or above very wet peat. White spruce ("Picea pungens") may grow in this bog regime. Walking on the surface causes it to move – larger movements may cause visible ripples on the surface, or they may even make trees sway. The bog mat may eventually spread across the water surface to cover bays or even entire small lakes. Bogs at the edges of lakes may become detached and form floating islands.


title: Bog

text: A cataract bog is a rare ecological community formed where a permanent stream flows over a granite outcropping. The sheeting of water keeps the edges of the rock wet without eroding the soil, but in this precarious location, no tree or large shrub can maintain a roothold. The result is a narrow, permanently wet habitat.


title: Bog

text: After drying, peat is used as a fuel, and it has been used that way for centuries. More than 20% of home heat in Ireland comes from peat, and it is also used for fuel in Finland, Scotland, Germany, and Russia. Russia is the leading exporter of peat for fuel, at more than 90 million metric tons per year. Ireland's "Bord na Móna" ("peat board") was one of the first companies to mechanically harvest peat, which is being phased out.


title: Bog

text: The other major use of dried peat is as a soil amendment (sold as "moss peat" or "sphagnum peat") to increase the soil's capacity to retain moisture and enrich the soil. It is also used as a mulch. Some distilleries, notably in the Islay whisky-producing region, use the smoke from peat fires to dry the barley used in making Scotch whisky.


title: Bog

text: Once the peat has been extracted it can be difficult to restore the wetland, since peat accumulation is a slow process. More than 90% of the bogs in England have been damaged or destroyed. In 2011 plans for the elimination of peat in gardening products were announced by the UK government.


title: Bog

text: The peat in bogs is an important place for the storage of carbon. If the peat decays, carbon dioxide would be released to the atmosphere, contributing to global warming. Undisturbed, bogs function as a carbon sink. As one example, the peatlands of the former Soviet Union were calculated to be removing 52 Tg of carbon per year from the atmosphere. Therefore, the rewetting of drained peatlands may be one of the most cost-effective ways to mitigate climate change.


title: Bog

text: Peat bogs are also important in storing fresh water, particularly in the headwaters of large rivers. Even the enormous Yangtze River arises in the Ruoergai peatland near its headwaters in Tibet.


title: Bog

text: Blueberries, cranberries, cloudberries, huckleberries, and lingonberries are harvested from the wild in bogs. Bog oak, wood that has been partially preserved by bogs, has been used in the manufacture of furniture.


title: Bog

text: Sphagnum bogs are also used for outdoor recreation, with activities including ecotourism and hunting. For example, many popular canoe routes in northern Canada include areas of peatland. Some other activities, such as all-terrain vehicle use, are especially damaging to bogs.


title: Bog

text: The anaerobic environment and presence of tannic acids within bogs can result in the remarkable preservation of organic material. Finds of such material have been made in Slovenia, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Russia, and the United Kingdom. Some bogs have preserved bog-wood such as ancient oak logs useful in dendrochronology, and they have yielded extremely well-preserved bog bodies, with hair, organs, and skin intact, buried there thousands of years ago after apparent Germanic and Celtic human sacrifice. Excellent examples of such human specimens include the Haraldskær Woman and Tollund Man in Denmark, and Lindow man found at Lindow Common in England. At Céide Fields in County Mayo in Ireland, a 5,000-year-old neolithic farming landscape has been found preserved under a blanket bog, complete with field walls and hut sites. One ancient artifact found in various bogs is bog butter, large masses of fat, usually in wooden containers. These are thought to have been food stores, of both butter and tallow.


title: .45 Colt

text: The .45 Colt (11.43×33mmR), is a rimmed, straight-walled, handgun cartridge dating to 1872. It was originally a black-powder revolver round developed for the Colt Single Action Army revolver. This cartridge was adopted by the U.S. Army in 1873 and served as an official US military handgun cartridge for 14 years.


title: .45 Colt

text: The .45 Colt was a joint development between Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company, of Hartford, Connecticut, and the Union Metallic Cartridge Company of Bridgeport, Conn. Colt began work on the revolver in 1871, and submitted a sample to the U.S. Army in late 1872. The revolver was accepted for purchase in 1873.


title: .45 Colt

text: The cartridge is an inside lubricated type. The rebated heel type bullet design of its predecessor, the .44 Colt (.452–.454" diameter bullet), was eliminated, since it was an outside lubricated type, which would pick up dirt and grit during handling. The .45 Colt replaced the .50 caliber Model 1871 Remington single shot pistol and the various cap-and-ball revolvers converted to take metallic cartridges in use at the time. While the Colt remained popular, the Smith & Wesson M1875 Army Schofield Revolver was approved as an alternate, which created a logistical problem for the Army. The S&W revolver used the .45 S&W Schofield, a shorter cartridge, which would also work in the Colt, however the Army's S&W Schofield revolvers could not chamber the longer .45 Colt, so in 1874 Frankford Arsenal, then almost exclusive supplier of small arms ammunition to the U.S. Army, dropped production of the .45 Colt cartridge in favor of the .45 S&W round. This resolved the Army's ammunition logistics problems, but there were still plenty of the longer Colt-length cartridges in circulation once production ceased. The Benet primed .45 Revolver cartridges were subsequently replaced by the 'Model of 1882 Ball Cartridge for Cal. .45 Revolver' which used an external Boxer primer and could be reloaded at the unit level. The .45 caliber M1882 cartridge would be officially replaced by the .38 Long Colt in 1892 but would remain in production until 1896. In 1901-1902 it would once again be loaded by Frankford Arsenal for use in the Philippines.


title: .45 Colt

text: In 1909, the .45 M1909 round was issued along with the .45 Colt New Service revolver. This round was never loaded commercially, and is almost identical to the original .45 Colt round, except having a larger diameter rim (.540 in (13.7mm)). The rim is large enough that it cannot be loaded in adjacent chambers in the rod-ejector Colt model.


title: .45 Colt

text: The .45 Colt remains popular with renewed interest in Cowboy Action Shooting. Additionally, the round has seen resurgence as a cartridge in handgun hunting and Metallic Silhouette Shooting competitions beginning in the 1950s with the introduction of stronger, heavier framed handguns. The cartridge's popularity has also increased with the increased marketing of handguns that can also fire the .410 bore shotgun shell, such as the Taurus Judge and the S&W Governor, though first seen decades earlier in the MIL Thunder 5. The modern .45 Colt bullet has changed as well, and it is now .451 inches in diameter for jacketed bullets, and .452 for lead bullets. The .45 Colt became the basis for other rounds, such as the .454 Casull.


title: .45 Colt

text: The .45 Colt originally was a black-powder cartridge, but modern loadings use smokeless powder. The original black-powder loads called for of black powder behind an Ogival & flat nosed lead bullet. These loads developed muzzle velocities of . However, this load generated too much recoil for the average soldier and was, after a few years, reduced to only 28 grains of black powder yielding 855 ft/s in Army tests. Then the introduction of the S&W Schofield revolver with its shorter cylinder and quick loading "Top-Break" frame caused a problem for the Supply Corps in that they now had to supply two different types of .45 Caliber pistol ammunition. Further troubles were caused by the fact that the Schofield cartridge rim was too wide to load into adjacent chambers in the colt cylinder, turning the Colt into a three shooter, if the wrong ammunition was sent to that particular outpost. So, the Army came up with a short case narrow rim cartridge that only held 26 grains of black powder that could be used in both revolvers. That load gave about 760 Feet per Second with a 250-grain bullet out of the Schofield revolver with its shorter Barrel. Because of the power of the 40 grains of black powder and its excellent accuracy, the .45 Colt was known as a sure man stopper and horse killer. It became the most-used cartridge at the time of its introduction, succeeding the .44-40 Winchester.


title: .45 Colt

text: The .45 Colt at that time did not enjoy the .44-40's advantage of a Winchester rifle chambered for it being available, thus allowing the use of the same cartridge in both a pistol and a rifle. According to rumor at the time, this was owing to early .45 Colt cartridges having a very narrow rim and causing ejection issues from a rifle chamber. Today, modern Winchesters, Marlins, and other replicas have remedied this omission almost 50 years after the fact, and the .45 Colt is now available in modern lever-action rifles.


title: .45 Colt

text: While this aforementioned rumor has been one of the numerous arguments used to explain the lack of a rifle chambered in .45 Colt, it may have simply been a case of Colt refusing to authorize the use of their patented .45 Colt cartridge in other manufacturers’ arms. Only after the expiration of Colt‘s original patents for the .45 Colt did it become available in a rifle. This, however, does not explain the absence of a .45 Colt chambering (or indeed any of Colt's own cartridges) in the Colt-Burgess lever-action or Colt Lightning slide-action rifles. Thus lending more credence to the rumored basic problem with Colt's revolver cartridges when used in rifles. (The modern .45 Colt cartridge rim is still narrow, but features an extractor groove cut into the base of the case, a feature common to most modern cartridges but not at all common in the late 19th century.)


title: .45 Colt

text: The U.S. Army's .45 Colt round used in its M1909 revolver, which had a barrel of , fired a bullet at a muzzle velocity of , giving a muzzle energy of . Today's standard factory loads develop around of muzzle energy at about , making it roughly equivalent to modern .45 ACP loads. There are Cowboy Action Shooting loads which develop muzzle velocities of around .


title: .45 Colt

text: Some handloads and factory-manufactured cartridges put this round in the same class as the .44 Magnum, using specially made revolvers. These loads cannot be used in any original Colt Single Action Army or replica thereof, such as those produced by Uberti, Beretta, the Taurus Gaucho, or the Ruger New Vaquero, as these guns are built on the smaller frame with thinner cylinder walls. These loads should be used only in modern large-frame revolvers such as the Ruger Blackhawk, Ruger Redhawk, and the original large frame Ruger Vaquero (sometimes referred to as the "Old Model" to differentiate it from the small frame "New Vaquero.")


title: .45 Colt

text: Thompson Center Contender "Magnum" .45 Colt loadings can also be safely fired from any gun chambered in either the .454 Casull or .460 S&W Magnum cartridges, though proper feeding may be an issue in repeating rifles chambered for either the .454 or .460 as the OAL is significantly shorter. Modern rifles with strong actions (such as the Winchester Model 1894, Marlin Model 1894, and new clones of the Winchester Model 1892) chambered for the cartridge can safely handle the heavier loadings.


title: .45 Colt

text: Colt .45 revolvers made until early WWII had barrels with .454" groove diameters. After this diameters of .451–.452" were produced. Using .454" diameter bullets in the smaller barrels will work but will generate higher pressures. Cases used with .454" bullets may have to be full-length resized to work in newer guns. Speer handloading guidance states that the loads they show should be used only in handguns made specifically for modern smokeless powder. The loads mentioned in No. 10 reloading manual state that they do not exceed 15,000 psi. This is the equivalent of +P loading as normal pressure for the .45 Colt is 14,000 psi.


title: .45 Colt

text: In a section specifically titled "45 Colt for Ruger or Contender only" Speer makes reference to velocities up to 1300 feet per second with 200-grain bullets. They also state that pressures do not exceed 25,000 psi (CUP). This is well beyond a pressure that can destroy even modern guns chambered in .45 Colt with the exception of the large frame Ruger Blackhawk, Ruger Redhawk, Freedom Arms Models 83 and 97, and the Dan Wesson.


title: .45 Colt

text: Colt began work on their 1873 Single Action Army Model in 1871. Sample cartridges submitted for Army tests were made by UMC, using the Benet cup primers; commercial ammunition used the Berdan-type primer, followed by the more common Boxer priming. Original UMC loads used a powder charge and bullet. This was reduced to of powder, and later, by the Army, to .


title: .45 Colt

text: The .45 Colt cartridge remains in use years after its introduction. It is used as a hunting load on animals the size of deer and black bear. Heavier handloads will take the same range of big game animals as the .44 Magnum. Several two-barrel derringers are sold that are chambered in .45 Colt, and some of these derringers can chamber a .410 bore shotgun shell without any modifications being required. Revolvers chambered in .410 shotgun, such as the Taurus Judge and the Smith & Wesson Governor, are usually chambered for the .45 Colt as well. A popular use for the .45 Colt today is in Cowboy Action Shooting, where the round is often fired from either original or replicas of the 1873 Colt Single-Action Army.


title: .45 Colt

text: Winchester, Marlin Firearms, Henry Repeating Arms, Chiappa Firearms, Rossi, Uberti, Cimarron Firearms and other manufacturers produce lever-action rifles chambered in .45 Colt. Colt has resumed production of the Single-Action Army, and many SAA replicas and near-replicas as well as modern-design single-actions by Ruger are chambered for this cartridge.


title: .45 Colt

text: The .45 Colt became the basis for the much more powerful .454 Casull cartridge, with the .454 Casull having a slightly longer case utilizing a small rifle primer in place of the large pistol primer. Any .454 Casull revolver will chamber and fire .45 Colt and .45 Schofield, but not the inverse due to the Casull's longer case. The .460 S&W Magnum is a longer version of the .454 Casull and the .45 Colt. Likewise, .460 Magnum revolvers can chamber and fire the three shorter cartridges, but again, not the reverse.


title: Simone Inzaghi

text: Simone Inzaghi (; born 5 April 1976) is an Italian professional football manager and former player. He is the head coach of Serie A club Inter Milan.


title: Simone Inzaghi

text: The younger brother of Filippo Inzaghi, Simone played as a striker for a host of clubs during his professional career, including Piacenza and Lazio. He remained for more than a decade at the Roman club, winning major honours including a scudetto in the 1999–2000 season, a European Super Cup, three Coppa Italias and two Supercoppa Italianas. He earned three caps for Italy in as many years.


title: Simone Inzaghi

text: Following his retirement from playing, he embarked on a managerial career, initially in Lazio's youth teams before taking charge of the senior side in 2016 and guiding them to the Coppa Italia and the Supercoppa Italiana twice. As a manager, Inzaghi is known for employing the 3–5–2 formation, being one of several Italian coaches that have led a notable revival of this tactical system. In 2021, he was appointed as manager of Inter Milan.


title: Simone Inzaghi

text: Inzaghi started playing professionally in 1993 with hometown club Piacenza, although he did not get to feature in any matches with the first team in that season. The following year, he was loaned out to third division side Carpi; his first goal arrived in 1995–96, whilst at the service of Novara in the fourth level. After two more loan stints, at Lumezzane and U.S. Brescello, Inzaghi returned to Piacenza for the 1998–99 Serie A season, which would be his first in the top-flight of Italian football. He scored 15 goals in 30 matches and secured a transfer to powerhouses Lazio.


title: Simone Inzaghi

text: Despite stiff competition within a Lazio side packed with quality strikers such as Marcelo Salas and Alen Bokšić, the rotation policy of manager Sven-Göran Eriksson ensured that Inzaghi would get playing time; he appeared in 22 out of 34 Serie A matches in Lazio's highly successful 1999–2000 season scoring 7 goals, as his team went on to complete the domestic Double by winning both the "Scudetto" and the Coppa Italia. In the Champions League, as Lazio progressed from both the first and the second group stages to reach the quarter-finals, Inzaghi scored 9 goals in 11 games (including four in a single game against Marseille on 14 March 2000, equalling the competition record held by Marco van Basten since 1992).


title: Simone Inzaghi

text: The following seasons were not so successful, but Inzaghi did help Lazio conquer another Coppa Italia, in 2003–04; in September of that year, he extended his contract until June 2009. Inzaghi spent the latter half of the 2004–05 season with Sampdoria, as part of a six-month player exchange with Fabio Bazzani. He returned to Lazio for the 2005–06 campaign and stayed for the following, with only 12 appearances combined. The following season, Inzaghi joined Atalanta on loan. Although he struggled to find his form early on, he managed to play in 19 league matches, mostly as a second-half substitute, but did not find the net.


title: Simone Inzaghi

text: Inzaghi returned to Lazio in 2008–09, despite not being in the plans of manager Delio Rossi. A move away did not materialise and Inzaghi made his comeback in a 2–0 Cup win over former team Atalanta; the season would end with Lazio winning the Coppa Italia, Inzaghi's third triumph in this competition, although he did not get to play in the final. In the Serie A, Inzaghi made his first league appearance of the season in October, coming from the bench and scoring an equaliser two minutes from time to rescue a point against Lecce, in a 1–1 home draw; it was his first Serie A goal since September 2004, but he would only appear in 12 games over two years, choosing to retire in the summer of 2010 at the age of 34.


title: Simone Inzaghi

text: Inzaghi played 3 times for Italy, in friendly matches. His first appearance came under Dino Zoff on 29 March 2000, in a 0–2 away loss against Spain in Barcelona. He came on in the 60th minute for Stefano Fiore, partnering his older brother Filippo upfront; he made two more appearances for his country under Giovanni Trapattoni, in a 1–0 win over England in Turin on 15 November later the same year and in another 1–0 win against Romania in Ancona, on 16 November 2003.


title: Simone Inzaghi

text: Throughout his career, Inzaghi's playing style was compared to that of his older brother Filippo and Paolo Rossi. Although he was not particularly skilful from a technical standpoint, he was a tall and fast striker with a slender physique, who was mainly known for his eye for goal, ability to play on the edge of the offside trap and clinical finishing inside the penalty area, in particular from close range, due to his opportunism and positional sense.


title: Simone Inzaghi

text: Following his retirement, Inzaghi remained with Lazio, managing its "Allievi" and Primavera sides. On 3 April 2016, he was appointed at the senior team on an interim basis following the sacking of Stefano Pioli.


title: Simone Inzaghi

text: For the 2016–17 season, Inzaghi was originally replaced by Marcelo Bielsa. However, as the Argentine left his post after less than one week due to undisclosed reasons, he was named as permanent manager. He guided the team to fifth place in the domestic league as well as the final of the Italian Cup, lost to Juventus; on 7 June 2017, he renewed his contract until 2020.


title: Simone Inzaghi

text: The 2017–18 campaign started with a high note, as Lazio defeated Juventus in the Supercoppa Italiana with a 3–2 result. They again finished fifth in Serie A, missing out on Champions League qualification on the final matchday after a 2–3 home loss to Inter Milan.


title: Simone Inzaghi

text: The 2018–19 season saw the side win the domestic cup 2–0 over Atalanta, conquering their seventh title overall and automatically qualifying for the group stage of the UEFA Europa League.


title: Simone Inzaghi

text: On 22 December 2019, Inzaghi captured his second Supercoppa Italiana title with Lazio, following a 3–1 victory over Juventus.


title: Simone Inzaghi

text: In the 2019–20 Serie A season, he led Lazio to finish fourth, which earned them the right to play in the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League, for the first time since 2007–08. Lazio managed to reach the round of 16 in the 2020–21 Champions League.


title: Simone Inzaghi

text: On 27 May 2021, following reports linking him as the next manager of Inter Milan, Lazio confirmed that Inzaghi had officially left the club. On 3 June 2021, Inzaghi signed a two-year contract as coach of Inter Milan.


title: Simone Inzaghi

text: In his first season as Inter manager, Inzaghi won the Supercoppa Italiana on 12 January 2022 and the Coppa Italia on 11 May 2022, defeating Juventus F.C. at the end of extra-time in both cases, respectively 2-1 at San Siro and 4-2 at Stadio Olimpico. He finished the Serie A championship in second place, being the most prolific attacking side with 84 goals, and the Champions League campaign in the round of sixteen, being eliminated by Liverpool with a 1-2 on aggregate (2-0 defeat at San Siro and 1-0 win at Anfield).


title: Simone Inzaghi

text: Inzaghi has built a reputation for getting the most out of his players. He is known for deploying a 3-5-2 formation with wingbacks that like to get forward and join in the attacking play. In his preferred formation, two central strikers are supported by an attacking midfielder who sits just in front of the other two players in midfield. It is a tactically fluid system which appears like a 5-3-2 out of possession as the wingbacks drop back into defence. Inzaghi is also known for his versatility in how he sets his team up to defend. During his spell at Lazio, he implemented both a high press and a mid-block to win the ball back when their opponents were in possession.


title: Simone Inzaghi

text: Born in Piacenza, Emilia-Romagna, Simone Inzaghi is the younger brother of Filippo Inzaghi, who also became a footballer and striker. A world-class forward, Filippo had very successful spells with Juventus and A.C. Milan, winning all domestic Italian titles as well as the UEFA Champions League twice, while also helping the Italy national team win the 2006 FIFA World Cup.


title: Simone Inzaghi

text: Simone Inzaghi has three sons, Tommaso (born 29 April 2001), with actress and television presenter Alessia Marcuzzi (relationship ended in 2004), Lorenzo (born 14 April 2013) and Andrea (born 8 August 2020), with wife Gaia Lucariello (whom he married on 3 June 2018).


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2

text: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 is an upcoming action role-playing video game published by Paradox Interactive. A sequel to "" (2004), the game is part of the "World of Darkness" series and based on the tabletop role-playing game "". It was originally developed by Hardsuit Labs, but the publisher announced in February 2021 that production had been moved to another, as of yet unnamed, developer.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2

text: The game follows a human in 21st-century Seattle, who is killed and revived as a "thinblood" vampire with relatively weak vampiric abilities. It is mainly played in a first-person perspective, alternating to third-person for contextual activities. The player assigns their character one of three disciplinesunique and upgradable powersbefore joining one of several vampire clans. It is planned to be released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2

text: "Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2" is presented mainly from the first-person perspective, alternating to third-person for contextual activities such as specific attacks. Before the game begins, players create a vampire character, and can select a character background that informs who they were as a human, such as a barista (the default background, with no bonuses), career criminal, coroner, or a police officer, with each offering different dialog and interaction options with the game world. The player character's pronouns are chosen independently from their selected body type.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2

text: After starting the game, the thinblood must choose from one of three upgradable disciplines (vampiric abilities): Chiropteran (gliding and summoning bats), Mentalism (levitating objects and people), and Nebulation (summoning mist to attack, conceal oneself, or transforming into mist to move through small spaces). The thinblood can eventually join one of five vampire clans, after which they have access to its specific disciplines and upgrades in addition to their original disciplines. Although some disciplines overlap clans, no two clans share the same combination. Clan Brujah can enhance their physical strength for high damage (Potence), and their speed (Celerity); Tremere can use blood magic combatively (Thaumaturgy) or enhance their senses (Auspex); Toreador also possesses Celerity, and can command the adoration and devotion of others (Presence); Ventrue can deflect or absorb attacks (Fortitude), and control the will of others (Dominate); and Malkavian also uses Auspex, and can debilitate their victims' minds (Dementation). Further clans are planned for inclusion post-release.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2

text: The player can engage in side missions away from the main story, some of which can be discovered through exploration. The player possesses a mobile phone and can text non-player characters to obtain information leading to other missions. Enemies and opposing forces can be dealt with violently, avoided through stealth or even seduced with sufficient abilities. Additionally, there are five factions with whom the player can ally themselves. Factions are shaped by ideologies instead of abilities and determine who is friend and foe to the player. They can join multiple factions simultaneously, remaining loyal or working against them from within, and some factions will refuse to work with the player depending on their actions.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2

text: As a vampire, the player character needs blood to survive, and can feed on humans, taking some or all of their blood; it can also be obtained from rats and blood bags. Heightened vampiric senses can be used to sense resonances in the blood of human victims, indicating their current emotional state, such as fear, desire, pain, anger, or joy. Feeding on specific resonances grants temporary enhancements to the player, for example increasing their melee strength or seduction ability. Repeatedly feeding on a particular resonance can grant permanent enhancements called merits. Vampires possess an inherent ability called Soak that provides resistance against ranged attacks; they also can absorb some damage before their health starts to deteriorate. Their supernatural physical abilities allow them to inflict greater damage on humans.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2

text: Players are penalized for using certain vampiric abilities in front of witnesses; exposing their existence as a vampire eventually alerts the police. Repeatedly violating the masquerade results in human civilians choosing to avoid the streets entirely, and the player being hunted by other vampires. The player character has points representing their humanity. Some actions cost humanity points such as killing innocents. A lower humanity score brings the player character closer to becoming a mindless beast.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2

text: "Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2" takes place in 21st-century Seattle, during the Christmas season. Set in the World of Darkness, the game depicts a world in which vampires, werewolves, demons, and other creatures shape human history. The vampires are bound by a code to maintain their secrecy (forbidding the use of vampiric abilities in front of humans) and avoid unnecessary killing (to preserve the vampire's last shreds of humanity). The vampires are divided into various clans with distinctive traits and abilities. The Toreadors are the closest to humanity, with a passion for culture; the Ventrue are noble, powerful leaders; the Brujah are idealists who excel at fighting; the Malkavians are cursed with insanity, or blessed with insight; the Gangrel are loners, in sync with their animalistic nature; the secretive, untrustworthy Tremere wield blood magic; and Nosferatu, who are condemned to a life in the shadows due to their monstrous appearance. The clans are loosely governed by the Camarilla, a cabal that enforces the vampire code and maintains the peace. Opposed to the Camarilla are the Sabbat, vampires who revel in their feral instincts and see all humans as prey, and the Anarchs, an idealistic group who disagree with the Camarilla's oligarchic political structure and believe that power should be shared by all vampires.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2

text: Alongside clans, Seattle is broken up by five vampire factions, each bound by their own ideologies. Led by the longest-reigning vampire prince Lou Grand, the Pioneer faction represents some of the oldest vampires of the city; their power has diminished as the other factions have grown. The Camarilla faction, led by Prince Alec Cross, has been in power for two decades. It represents the socially elite and wealthy vampires, wielding power in businesses throughout Seattle. The rarely seen Baron represents the criminal underworld, offering less-than-honest work to vampires, thinbloods, ghouls, and humans. The Tremere-founded Newcomers faction, led by Viktor Goga, is made up of blood mages, scholars, and runaways, and the Unseen faction is exclusive to the Nosferatu, who use hackers, journalists, and outcasts to gather intel.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2

text: The main character of "Bloodlines 2", whom the player controls, is a fledgling thinblood vampire, transformed at the start of the game during a mass attack unto humans by rogue vampires. The thinbloods are a modern, weaker strain of vampires who are typically shunned and treated as lesser than Full-blood vampires. Unlike Full-bloods, thinbloods can consume human food in limited amounts, and are more resistant to sunlight. As Seattle has only relatively recently fallen under control of the Camarilla, vampires there are more tolerant of thinbloods.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2

text: The player character is one of a number of humans turned into vampires during a mass Embrace, an incident in which rogue vampires publicly attacked humans, breaking the Masquerade and causing discord between the city's vampire groups.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2

text: The 2004 release of "Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines" had been a relative failure, selling fewer than 100,000 copies when it was launched in competition against sequels in "Half-Life 2", "Halo 2", and "". "Bloodlines" was the last in a line of games developed by Troika Games that was critically well received but marred by technical issues and low sales, and Troika was shuttered shortly after its release, preventing them from developing a sequel. In 2004, then-director Leonard Boyarsky said that although the team would like to pursue a "Bloodlines" sequel, the decision belonged to then-publisher Activision. Before their closure, Troika had begun development of a workable prototype based on another of White Wolf's tabletop role-playing games, "", set in the same universe as "Vampire: The Masquerade". In the years following "Bloodlines" release, the game became considered a cult classic, receiving over a decade of development by fans to fix technical issues and restore cut or incomplete content.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2

text: Video game publisher Paradox Interactive purchased White Wolf in October 2015, obtaining the "World of Darkness" intellectual property, including "Bloodlines". Following the purchase, Paradox CEO Fredrik Wester confirmed that a sequel was possible, stating "when the time is right I guess a sequel will find its place in the market."


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2

text: Shortly after Paradox Interactive's acquisition of White Wolf, Seattle-based developer Hardsuit Labs' creative director Ka'ai Cluney convinced co-founder Andy Kipling to pitch a "Bloodlines" sequel to Paradox, while Cluney made contact with "Bloodlines" writer Brian Mitsoda. A meeting was arranged soon after, and Mitsoda joined the sequel as narrative lead, bringing in Cara Ellison as senior writer. "Bloodlines" composer Rik Schaffer also returned for the sequel as the main composer. Producer Christian Schlütter said: "When we as Paradox acquired the IP, we saw "Bloodlines" as the crown jewel... then [Hardsuit Labs] come along and have the perfect pitch, with the original writer on-board too. It all happened far faster than we expected." The project's internal code name was "Project Frasier", a reference to the Seattle-based sitcom "Frasier".


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2

text: Coinciding with the game's second publicly announced delay in July 2020, Mitsoda and Cluney were both terminated from their positions, as a joint decision by the leaderships at Hardsuit Labs and Paradox Interactive; no explanation was given. Mitsoda described the situation as unexpected and disappointing, after working on the game for five years. Following this, Alexandre Mandryka took over the role of creative director. In October 2020, Paradox confirmed that Ellison had also left the project. Game designer Chris Avellone served as a writer for the game for some time; following allegations of sexual assault in June 2020, Paradox Interactive confirmed that his contributions to the game would be removed.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2

text: In February 2021, Paradox Interactive announced that Hardsuit Labs no longer was working on the game, and that Paradox Interactive was collaborating with another developer to finish the production. Hardsuit Labs made their narrative team staff redundant shortly afterward. Paradox Interactive had prior to this considered cancelling the project, but decided to continue development with a new partner and to retain much of what had been produced for it until that point.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2

text: Ellison described the story and in-game factions as influenced by the conflicts over Seattle's modern identity, between its traditional music and culture and the modern developments brought by large corporations. Mitsoda said "There's this idea of how much Seattle can change before it's no longer Seattle. So we made the factions aspects of the old and the new." Ellison said that they wanted to move away from what she considered to be the "male power fantasy" of "Bloodlines" to give it a broader appeal. They also wanted to use the mass embrace to explore the transition from human to vampire and how people from different backgrounds react to their transformation, such as still having family members they have to leave behind.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2

text: The game provides the opportunity for the player to make decisions on how their character is played, but Schlütter described these options as "your preferred flavor of evilness," saying that the player is not a hero as vampires are parasites that feed on humanity. Mitsoda noted that they had to modernize the tone for contemporary audiences, but that it would still reflect the original's combination of noir, personal drama, political intrigue, and humor.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2

text: The Malkavians, a popular clan from the previous game, return in "Bloodlines 2". The clan is cursed with insanity which grants them knowledge of future or unseen events and secrets though not necessarily with the context to understand such knowledge, allowing their dialog to reference events in the previous game before they happened. Like in the previous game, Malkavian dialog was written late in production, as Mitsoda said that the script needs to be complete before it can be rewritten for the Malkavian perspective. Due to their popularity, the Malkavians were always planned to be present in "Bloodlines 2", but their mental ailments are represented with less comical effect to reflect changes to real-world societal perspectives on the subject. Mitsoda said that they aimed to show the "darker aspect" of sharing a network of insight and paranoia. Research was done in medical papers and real world sufferers of mental ailments to more fairly represent mental illness.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2

text: Translating the tabletop game to a video game was described as a delicate balance. The developers used the "Investigation" skill in the first "Bloodlines" as an example, an ability which highlights certain objects in the environment, but that rarely had the opportunity for use and meant that players with and without the skill had a similar experience. The developers' goal was to make the individual skills and abilities matter more in "Bloodlines 2" so they did not feel like wasted choices.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2

text: While the player character is partially resistant to sunlight, the developers opted to have the game take place exclusively at night. They experimented with implementing a day and night cycle with sunlight serving as an obstacle, but found it difficult to make the experience fun. Mitsoda said that combat was a main focus that they wished to improve over the previous game, describing it as "not very good".


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2

text: Similarly, in the tabletop game combat skills may affect the success of striking an opponent, but in "Bloodlines 2", the developers wanted the attack to hit if you are aiming in the right direction. Instead, experience in a particular combat style such as melee or ranged gradually unlocks relevant passive abilities. The original "Bloodlines" offered various overlapping systems that allowed for stealth, melee and ranged combat, and a feeding system in both first- and third-person. In attempting to cover so many gameplay styles, the Troika team had struggled, contributing to the negative critical reception of those systems. Hardsuit Labs decided on a first-person experience to focus their resources. The developers wanted to avoid players using a common first-person RPG strategy where they could run and attack simultaneously. They were inspired by the 2012 video game "Dishonored"'s fast-paced combat systems, offering attacks that moves the player character body in the direction of their attack. As the "Vampire: The Masquerade" tabletop game's fifth edition was in development alongside "Bloodlines 2", some of Hardsuit Labs' ideas were adopted into the board game, including the concept of Resonances serving to provide enhancements.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2

text: "Bloodlines 2" was first teased in February 2019 with the release of the dating app "Tender", created by Paradox and Alice & Smith. The app offered to use a "soulmate algorithm" and asks for the user's blood type before offering to match them with sick people nearby. A Twitch livestream, and later Paradox's own official Twitter account also displayed a memo from fictional Tender CEO Malcolm Chandler noting the need to be prepared for March 21, 2019 in San Francisco, the date the game was publicly revealed.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2

text: The game is planned for release for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. Three different pre-order versions have been made available: Standard, Unsanctioned, and Blood Moon, which will include two story-based downloadable content packs, and the werewolf-themed expansion "Season of the Wolf". Additionally, pre-orders of the Unsanctioned version or above include in-game items referencing "Bloodlines" characters such as Jeanette Voerman and Damsel. The Collector's Edition includes a steelbook case for the game, a map of Seattle, a 7-inch vinyl soundtrack, a digital edition of the "Vampire: The Masquerade" fifth edition core book, and a 28 cm statue of the character Elif. It also includes three DLC packs that include additional outfits, and "Season of the Wolf".


title: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2

text: Initially scheduled for release in March 2020, the game was pushed back in late 2019 to an unspecified 2020 release date, and further delayed in late 2020 to an unspecified 2021 release date. Paradox CEO Ebba Ljungerud explained the delay as caused by the staff changes, the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, and a delay in receiving development kits for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S consoles. Along with the announcement of the change in developers in February 2021, the game was delayed past 2021; in November 2021, Paradox Interactive said that they were happy with the progress, but that they needed more time before revealing a new release date. In July 2022, Paradox Interactive CEO Fredrik Wester said on Twitter that "Bloodlines is still in development and we will let you know more when we are ready."


Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Leopold Charles Edward George Albert, ; 19 July 1884 – 6 March 1954) was the last sovereign duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, from 30 July 1900 until 1918. A male-line grandson of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, he was also until 1919 a Prince of the United Kingdom and from birth held the British titles of Duke of Albany, Earl of Clarence and Baron Arklow.


title: Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

text: Charles Edward spent his childhood years in the United Kingdom but was sent to Germany in his mid-teens, and received the final years of his education there, after in 1900 unexpectedly inheriting the throne of the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in the German Empire, due to the early deaths of his cousin Alfred, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and his uncle Duke Alfred. He took full responsibility for the role in 1905. His style of governance was considered to be loyal to the emperor and somewhat autocratic. He also supported art, science and local industry.


text: During the First World War, Charles Edward's support for his adoptive country led to him being viewed with increased hostility in Britain and ultimately losing his British titles, while in Germany, the end of the Empire led to the loss of his constitutional position. After this, he drifted towards far-right politics, and later became involved in the Nazi regime. After World War II, fined by a Denazification court, losing ownership of land in the Soviet occupation zone of Germany (later East Germany), Charles Edward died in poverty in Coburg, which by then was part of Bavaria in West Germany, in 1954.


text: Prince Charles Edward was born at Claremont House near Esher, Surrey. His father was Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, the eighth child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. His mother was Princess Helen of Waldeck and Pyrmont, the fourth daughter of George Victor of Waldeck and Pyrmont and of his first wife Princess Helena of Nassau. As his father had died before his birth, Prince Charles Edward succeeded to his titles at birth and was styled "His Royal Highness the Duke of Albany".


text: After falling ill, the young Royal duke was baptised privately at Claremont on 4 August 1884, two weeks after his birth, and publicly in Esher Parish Church on 4 December 1884 four months later. His godparents were Queen Victoria (his paternal grandmother), the Prince of Wales (his paternal uncle), Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein and the Marchioness of Lorne (his paternal aunts), Princess Frederica of Hanover (his father's second cousin), Alexis, Prince of Bentheim and Steinfurt (his uncle, who was unable to attend the event) and George Victor, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont (his maternal grandfather, who also could not attend).


text: Charles Edward was educated as a Prince of the United Kingdom for his first 15 years. As a grandson of Queen Victoria, the Duke was a first cousin of George V and of several European royal figures: Queen Maud of Norway, Grand Duke Ernest Louis of Hesse, Empress Alexandra of Russia, Queen Marie of Romania, Crown Princess Margaret of Sweden, Queen Victoria Eugenia of Spain, Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany, Queen Sophia of the Hellenes, Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, and Josias, Hereditary Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont (the last two through his mother). Such was the interest Wilhelm II showed in his young cousin's upbringing that Charles Edward was known among the Imperial Court as "the Emperor's seventh son". His mother frequently reminded him of the importance of "becoming a good man, so you bring no shame on Papa's name".


text: His education began under the tutelage of Miss Potts at Claremont; he then went to two prep schools, firstly at Sandroyd School, and then "at Lyndhurst under the care of Mr W. F. Rawnsley, which was a very happy period of Charlie's life." After Lyndhurst, he went to Eton, where he was in Arthur Benson's House.


text: In 1899, the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, urged by Kaiser Wilhelm II, decided on how to deal with the succession of Duke Alfred, who was in ill health. His only son, Prince Alfred ("Young Affie"), had died in February 1899. Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, the Queen's third son, was serving in the British army, causing Wilhelm II to oppose him as a ruling prince of Germany. His son, Prince Arthur of Connaught, had been at Eton with Charles Edward. Wilhelm II demanded a German education for the boy, but this was unacceptable to the Duke of Connaught. Thus young Arthur also renounced his claims to the Duchy. Next in line was Charles Edward, who consequently inherited the ducal throne of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha at the age of sixteen when his uncle Alfred died at the age of 55 in July 1900.


text: His sister Alice wrote: "It was a very great heartbreak for my mother that my brother had to succeed to Coburg. 'I have always tried to bring Charlie up as a good Englishman,' she once said, 'and now I have to turn him into a good German.'" Though she had previously hoped he would have an Oxford education, the Dowager Duchess of Albany "reluctantly" decided that "Charlie should accept – and he was too young to resist."


text: With his mother and sister, Charles Edward moved to Germany when he was fifteen, although he spoke no German. Duke Alfred (who was then still alive) wanted to separate the boy from his mother so she took him to stay with her brother-in-law Wilhelm of Württemberg and found him a tutor. He later followed an education plan by Wilhelm II, attending the "Preußische Hauptkadettenanstalt" (Prussian Central Cadet Institute) at Lichterfelde, studied at Bonn University and became a member of Corps Borussia Bonn. He also joined the 1st "Garderegiment zu Fuß" at Potsdam and spent some time at the German court in Berlin. His uncle, King Edward VII, made him a Knight of the Garter on 15 July 1902, just prior to his 18th birthday. Charles Edward became popular in Coburg but didn't enjoy his time in Berlin where the emperor seemed to have become resentful of him and frequently bullied him.


text: From 1900 to 1905, Charles Edward reigned through the regency of Ernst, Hereditary Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, the husband of Duke Alfred's third daughter Alexandra. The regent acted under the strict guidance of Emperor Wilhelm II. Upon coming of age on 19 July 1905, Charles Edward assumed full constitutional powers. He proved loyal to the Emperor and was deemed a constitutionally-minded prince. However, he soon deviated from his early liberal views and gave in to autocratic impulses, also becoming dependent on advisers at his two courts at Gotha and Coburg, between which political differences and rivalries had developed. He liberally supported the court theatres in both towns. Taking an interest in Zeppelin and aeroplane technology, Charles Edward supported the newly created aircraft industry at Gotha (see "Gothaer Waggonfabrik"). Like all Dukes of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, he divided his time between the two towns. Among his Schloss Friedenstein, Ehrenburg Palace, and Schloss Callenberg residences, he favoured the last. He also took great interest in the renovation of Veste Coburg, which had been abandoned as a ducal residence in the 17th century. This work, which strained the ducal finances, lasted from 1908 until 1924.


text: The Duke was not without sympathy for his native United Kingdom, visiting often and remaining on good terms with the British royal family. World War I caused a conflict of loyalties for Charles Edward, but he finally decided to support the German Empire. On holiday in England when the war started, he told his sister that he wanted to fight for Great Britain but felt obligated to return his duchies where public opinion was turning against the Duke due to his English origins. He broke off relations with his family at the British and Belgian courts; this did not suffice to overcome doubts about his loyalties in Germany. Uncapable of active combat due to a lame leg, Charles Edward served on the staff of an infantry division of the German army at the beginning of the war, fighting Russians in East Prussia. In 1915, he had to stop due to rheumatism. Although he never held a command, he visited both the western and eastern fronts numerous times. Soldiers from his duchies were awarded the "Carl-Eduard-Kriegskreuz". He was always supportive of soldiers from those territories and his attitudes would become in general more sincerely pro-German as the war years progressed. In 1917, a law change in Coburg effectively banned Charles Edward's British relatives from succeeding him and that same year the Gotha G.V bomber which had been built in Gotha was used to attack London. In Britain, he was denounced as a traitor. In 1915, King George V, his cousin, ordered his name removed from the register of the Most Noble Order of the Garter. The Titles Deprivation Act 1917 began the process of removing his British titles.


text: The Russian Revolution of 1917 caused Charles much concern, and he watched anxiously during the ensuing power struggles between the left- and right-wing parties in Germany. On the morning of 9 November 1918, during the German Revolution, the Workers' and Soldiers' Council of Gotha declared him deposed. On 11 November, his abdication was demanded in Coburg. Only on 14 November, later than most other ruling princes, did he formally announce that he had "ceased to rule" in both Gotha and Coburg. He did not explicitly renounce his throne, but no longer had a right to rule. The following year, he also lost his British titles, though some personal sympathy remained for him among the political establishment in the United Kingdom, due to the way German nationality had been forced on him as a teenager.


text: Effectively exiled from the UK, and fearful of the communist threat, Charles Edward started looking for a new political home. He also worked towards the restoration of the monarchy, thus supporting the nationalistic-conservative and "völkisch" right.


text: In 1919, his properties and collections in Coburg were transferred to the "", a foundation that still exists today. A similar solution for Gotha took longer, and only after legal struggles with the Free State of Thuringia was it set up in 1928–34. The Gotha foundation was expropriated by the Soviet authorities after 1945. After 1919, the family retained Schloss Callenberg, some other properties (including those in Austria), and a right to live at Veste Coburg. It also received substantial financial compensation for lost possessions. Some additional real estate in Thuringia was restored to the ducal family in 1925.


text: Now a private citizen, Charles Edward became associated with various right-wing paramilitary and political organisations. He supported Hermann Ehrhardt, both morally and financially, after the Freikorps' commander's participation in the failed Kapp Putsch.


text: Charles Edward met Adolf Hitler for the first time on 14 October 1922, at the Nazis' second ' held at Coburg. In 1923, he joined the ' as "Oberbereichsleiter" in Thuringia. When the Wiking joined "Der Stahlhelm", Charles Edward became a member of the Stahlhelm's national board.


text: In 1932, Charles Edward's daughter Sibylla married Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten, the eldest son of the Crown Prince of Sweden and second-in-line to the Swedish throne. The marriage meant that Sibylla would, in the normal course, become Queen of Sweden. The engagement was announced on 16 June 1932 and the wedding was celebrated on 19 October 1932. That same year, Charles Edward took part in the creation of the Harzburg Front, through which the German National People's Party became associated with the Nazi Party. He also publicly called on voters to support Hitler in the presidential election of 1932.


text: Charles Edward formally joined the Nazi Party in March 1933, and that same year, became a member of the SA (Brownshirts), rising to the rank of Obergruppenführer by 1936. From 1936 to 1945, he served as a member of the Reichstag, representing the Nazi Party, and was president of the German Red Cross from December 1933 to 1945. By the time he took over the position, the German Red Cross had already been placed under the Nazis' control. Under Charles Edward's leadership, the German Red Cross reduced its interest in improving the welfare of the civilian population in order to focus on military matters and introduced various displays of allegiance towards the regime. His deputy Ernst Robert Grawitz was involved in human experimentation in the Concentration Camps.


text: In 1934, Charles Edward visited Japan, where he attended a conference on the protection of civilians during war, and delivered Hitler's birthday greeting to Emperor Hirohito. By 1936, he had agreed to be a spy for Hitler while attending the funeral of his first cousin George V at Sandringham, but he was unreliable, according to a historian, "telling them what they wanted to hear". Records indicate that Charles Edward received a monthly payment from the Führer of 4,000 Reichsmark (worth about £16,000 in 2015). Hitler sent Charles Edward to Britain as president of the Anglo-German Friendship Society. His mission was to improve Anglo-German relations and explore the possibility of a pact between the two countries. He attended George V's funeral as Hitler's representative, in an SA uniform, complete with metal helmet, his British uniforms having been taken away when he was stripped of his British titles.


text: The Prince sent Hitler encouraging reports about the strength of pro-German sentiment among the British aristocracy and about the possibility of a Britain-Germany pact. Hitler also used him to encourage the pro-Nazi sentiments of the Duke of Windsor and his wife. "Carl Edward's British network was very useful for Hitler," according to the German historian Karina Urbach. However, other academics have argued that Charles Edward's advocacy had little success, and that he failed to understand the degree to which the people he had grown up around now saw him as a foreigner.


text: Urbach also said she found evidence of Charles Edward donating generously to the Nazi party for years, financing political murders and being aware of the death camps in Buchenwald. In 1945, the Führer ordered that he not be allowed to be captured because of the great deal of inside information that he possessed. According to "The Guardian", he was aware of the death camps' work, and the programme that killed more than 100,000 disabled people in Germany, Austria, and other German-occupied territories from 1940 onwards.


text: In 1940, Charles Edward travelled via Moscow and Japan to the US, where he met President Roosevelt at the White House. In 1943, at Hitler's behest, Charles Edward asked the International Red Cross to investigate the Katyn massacre. Although Charles Edward was too old for active service during World War II, his three sons served in the "Wehrmacht". His second son, Hubertus, was killed in action in 1943 in a plane crash on the Eastern Front near Mosty.


text: When World War II ended, the American Military Government in Bavaria, under the command of General George S. Patton, placed Charles Edward under house arrest at his family's vast "Veste Coburg", because of his Nazi sympathies.


text: Charles Edward was later imprisoned with other Nazi officials. His sister, Princess Alice, learning of his incarceration, came to Germany with her husband, the Earl of Athlone (then Governor General of Canada), to plead with his American captors for his release. They dined with the American generals holding her brother, who declined to release him.


text: Charles Edward was imprisoned until 1946, and was originally charged with crimes against humanity. Although exonerated of complicity in war crimes, he was judged to have been "an important Nazi". In 1950 (or August 1949, according to his "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography" entry), and after several appeals, Charles Edward was found by a denazification court to be a "Mitläufer" and "Minderbelasteter" (roughly translated as: follower and follower of lesser guilt).


text: Charles Edward also lost significant property as a result of his participation in World War II. Gotha was part of Thuringia, and therefore situated in the Soviet occupation zone. The Soviet Army confiscated much of the family's property in Gotha. However, Coburg had become part of Bavaria in 1920, and was occupied by American forces. As such the family was able to retain property in what would become West Germany.


text: In April 1946, his daughter Sibylla gave birth to a son, the future Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, who became, upon birth, third in the line of succession to the Swedish throne. In January 1947, Sybilla's husband died in a plane crash, and in October 1950, Gustaf V of Sweden died, at which point Charles Edward's grandson became the Crown Prince of Sweden, who later became King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden.


text: Charles Edward spent the last years of his life in seclusion, forced into poverty by the fines he had been required to pay by the denazification tribunal, and the seizure of much of his property by the Soviets. In 1953, he viewed the coronation of his cousin's granddaughter, Elizabeth II, in a local cinema.


text: Charles Edward died of cancer in his flat in Elsässer Straße, Coburg, on 6 March 1954, at the age of 69, a "penniless criminal", according to one report. He was the penultimate ruling prince of the German Empire to die; only Ernst II of Saxe-Altenburg outlived him – see (in German) . He is buried at the Waldfriedhof Cemetery (Waldfriedhof Beiersdorf) near Schloss Callenberg, in Beiersdorf near Coburg.


text: Wilhelm II chose Princess Victoria Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein, the niece of his wife, Empress Augusta Victoria, as the bride of Charles Edward, who was her first cousin. She was the eldest daughter of Friedrich Ferdinand, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein, and Princess Karoline Mathilde of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg. They married on 11 October 1905, at Glücksburg Castle, Schleswig-Holstein, and had five children, including Sibylla, the mother of Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden.


text: The family mainly spoke English at home, though the children learnt to speak German fluently, Hubertus, Charles Edward's second son, was the favourite child. The children lived in fear of their father, who ran his family "like a military unit". Charles Edward's younger daughter, Princess Caroline Mathilde, claimed that her father had sexually abused her. The allegation was backed by one of her brothers.


text: Charles Edward was never granted arms in the United Kingdom. In addition, he did not inherit the arms of his father, since royal arms, as a differenced version of Arms of a Dominion, are granted individually and not inherited. On his accession as Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, he used the arms of that duchy, both the greater and lesser versions.


text: One variant that he used was a shield of the arms of Saxony, with a differenced version of the arms of the United Kingdom, charged with the label borne by his father on his father's arms (essentially, the arms of his father in reverse). This was similar to the arms borne by his uncle, Alfred, as Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, which can be seen on his stall plate as a Knight of the Swedish Order of the Seraphim.


text: In December 2007, Britain's Channel 4 aired an hour-length documentary about Charles Edward called "Hitler's Favourite Royal", including re-coloured original footage and photos from all stages of his private and public life, his troubled conversion to the National Socialist regime, and other aspects. Various international historians commented on the events and issues revolving around his life, reminding the public of his existence and reviving public debate. A review in The Guardian described the film as a "A solid documentary on a feeble man and a wretched family." Another review in The Telegraph suggested the documentary had been overly sympathetic to Charles Edward stating that the "story emerged as a tale of pure tragedy. Which it undoubtedly was, in parts." but that he was depicted "As if the trauma of being elevated to a dukedom and losing it had somehow robbed him of his ability to tell right from wrong."


text: Karina Urbach's 2015 book "Go Betweens for Hitler" discusses how various aristocrats including Charles Edward acted as informal diplomats for Nazi Germany. A review in The Times commented on Charles Edward that "For many years thereafter [the German Revolution], Carl Eduard was regarded as a mere footnote in history; a harmless, potty old aristocrat, washed up by the seismic upheavals of the early 20th century. However, that benign interpretation has been recently revised. We now know that Carl Eduard was a member of the Nazi party, a sponsor of paramilitary terrorism and — as Karina Urbach’s excellent book demonstrates — an important “go-between” for Hitler."


title: M83 (band)

text: M83 are a French electronic music group formed in Antibes in 1999 and currently based in Los Angeles. Initially a duo of multi-instrumentalists Nicolas Fromageau and Anthony Gonzalez, Fromageau parted ways shortly after touring for their second album "Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts". Gonzalez remains the sole constant member of the project, serving as the primary songwriter and lead vocalist. The band has released eight studio albums, including the Grammy Award-nominated "Hurry Up, We're Dreaming", and two soundtracks. Gonzalez records primarily on his own, with numerous guest musicians. The band is signed to Mute Records and found breakout success in 2011 with the single "Midnight City". Their sound has been described as synthpop, new wave, shoegaze, and ambient.


title: M83 (band)

text: Anthony Gerard Gonzalez (born 13 March 1980) grew up in Antibes, France together with his brother Yann. His family had a great interest in football and Gonzalez had trials with AS Cannes, while his maternal grandfather is the French international Laurent Robuschi. At the age of 14 he got injured and turned to music instead after his parents bought him a guitar. Gonzalez developed his interest in music and American culture while at secondary school. Together with Fromageau he formed a post-rock outfit called My Violent Wish.


title: M83 (band)

text: At the age of 17, Gonzalez bought a synth to record a demo, which he sent to a number of French labels. When the Paris-based Gooom Records appeared interested, he recruited Nicolas Fromageau to "help me because I didn't feel like I had the shoulders to carry the project on my own". The band is named after the galaxy of the same name.


title: M83 (band)

text: In spring 2001, M83 released its self-titled debut album recorded on an 8-track while Gonzalez was still in college. The release did not attract much attention outside Europe until September 2005, when Mute Records reissued the album for a worldwide release. M83's second album "Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts" followed in spring 2003 (and summer 2004 in North America) to widespread critical acclaim. After worldwide touring for "Dead Cities" resumed, Fromageau left the band; he later formed the band Team Ghost in 2009.


title: M83 (band)

text: Gonzalez returned to the studio to record the group's third studio album, "Before the Dawn Heals Us", which was released in January 2005. The same year, M83 provided a remix of "The Pioneers" by Bloc Party, which was also included on Bloc Party's remix album "Silent Alarm Remixed". M83 also remixed Placebo's "Protège-Moi", Goldfrapp's "Black Cherry", Depeche Mode's "Suffer Well", Van She's "Kelly", and The Bumblebeez's "Vila Attack". Similarly, M83's songs have been remixed by Gooom labelmates Montag and Cyann & Ben.


title: M83 (band)

text: In 2006, after the "Before the Dawn Heals Us" US tour, Anthony Gonzalez continued to explore a musical direction already heard on earlier M83 tracks and began writing and recording a collection of ambient works. The album was recorded primarily at his home studio with the assistance of Antoine Gaillet. The resulting project was called "Digital Shades Vol. 1", and was released in September 2007 with a sleeve illustrated by Laurent Fetis (known for his work with DJ Hell, Beck, and Tahiti 80). It is intended to be part of an ongoing series of ambient works.


title: M83 (band)

text: "Saturdays = Youth", M83's fifth studio album, was released in April 2008. It was recorded with Ken Thomas (known for his work with Sigur Rós, The Sugarcubes, Boys in a Band, Cocteau Twins, and Suede), Ewan Pearson (who has also produced for Tracey Thorn, The Rapture and Ladytron) and Morgan Kibby (of The Romanovs). The album features a more focused approach to song structure and form, and Gonzalez stated that the main influence of the album came from music of the 1980s: "I think that '80s music is such a brilliant period for music history. It was the occasion for me to do a tribute to this '80s music, but [it was] also a tribute to my teenage years because the main theme of the album is being a teenager, and being a teenager means a lot to me." Four singles were released from the album: "Couleurs" in February 2008, "Graveyard Girl" in April, "Kim & Jessie" in July, and "We Own the Sky" in December. Redbull and Snowboarder Travis Rice used "We Own the Sky" as the opening song in the 2008 snowboard film "That's It That's All". M83 also appeared on a limited edition split 7-inch single with Maps in 2008; M83 remixed Maps' "To the Sky", while Maps provided a remix of M83's "We Own the Sky".


title: M83 (band)

text: In December 2008, M83 supported Kings of Leon on its UK tour. In January and February 2009, M83 supported The Killers across United States tour dates and toured with Depeche Mode on its "Tour of the Universe" in Italy, Germany, and France. In July, M83 appeared at the Fuji Rock Festival in Japan. In July 2009, M83 appeared at the Wexner Center in Columbus, Ohio. Gonzalez, unprovoked, physically assaulted an elderly security guard when Gonzalez attempted to have members of the crowd join him on an unreinforced stage platform. The band later apologized to its fans for the incident. In 2010, on the eve of turning 30, Gonzalez moved to Los Angeles.


title: M83 (band)

text: In Spring 2010, M83 composed the score of French director Gilles Marchand's film "Black Heaven". On 5 July 2010, the "Black Heaven" Soundtrack was released, which included two new songs by M83 called "Black Hole" and "Marion's Theme", along with five tracks from his back catalog. The soundtrack also includes songs from the score by Emmanuel D'Orlando, Moon Dailly and John & Jehn. However, his feelings towards the record were largely negative, leaving him depressed.


title: M83 (band)

text: In 2011, Gonzalez started working on a new batch of songs for an album slated for release later in the year. He described the tracks as darker and "very, very, very epic". Speaking with "Spin", he said of the new album "It's a double album. It's mainly about dreams, how every one is different, how you dream differently when you're a kid, a teenager, or an adult. I'm really proud of it. If you're doing a very long album, all the songs need to be different and I think I've done that with this one." He recorded again with Morgan Kibby as well as others, including Medicine's mastermind Brad Laner, Nine Inch Nails bassist Justin Meldal-Johnsen and Zola Jesus.


title: M83 (band)

text: "Hurry Up, We're Dreaming" is Gonzalez's first double album, something he had dreamed of making ever since hearing The Smashing Pumpkins' "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness". "I wanted to make a very eclectic album but also something not too long. Making a double album was a dream of mine for a long, long time and I felt ready to make this move," he explains. Discussing the sound and process of creating this album, Gonzalez says it was "written like a soundtrack to an imaginary movie with different ambiances, different atmospheres, different tempos, different orchestrations and different instrumentation... When I make an album it's always about nostalgia, melancholy in the past and memories."


title: M83 (band)

text: On 19 July 2011, the breakthrough single "Midnight City", the first from "Hurry Up, We're Dreaming", was released for streaming and free download on the band's official website. Beginning in October, they toured North America and Europe to promote the album; Active Child supported the US leg of the tour. The album placed 3rd in Pitchfork's Top 50 Albums of 2011 list; the single "Midnight City" was placed 1st on the Top 100 Tracks list. On 26 January 2012, M83 came in at number 5 on the Triple J Hottest 100 with the single "Midnight City". The track received further exposure in 2013 as the remixed soundtrack to the Gucci Premier fragrance television advert featuring Blake Lively. It was also used in the 2013 film "Warm Bodies".


title: M83 (band)

text: On 28 June 2012, it was announced that M83 would compose the soundtrack for the 2013 movie "Oblivion", directed by Joseph Kosinski and starring Tom Cruise. The score was co-written with Joseph Trapanese. The soundtrack album was released on 9 April 2013 by Back Lot Music featuring Susanne Sundfor on vocals. On 26 February 2014, a new song titled "I Need You" was included on the "Divergent" soundtrack. The song "Wait" was featured in the 2014 film "The Fault in our Stars". It was also featured in the "Perception" episode of "Revenge" in 2012, "The Backup Dan" episode of "Gossip Girl" in 2012, "Imperfect Circles" episode of "Under the Dome" in 2013 and "The World Has Turned and Left Me Here" episode of "The Vampire Diaries" in 2014. More recently, "Wait" was used as part of the documentary "The Day We Walked On The Moon" commemorating the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing and screened in the UK by ITV in July 2019. Also from "Hurry Up, We're Dreaming", two tracks, "Another Wave from You" and "Outro", featured in the 2014 remake of "The Gambler". In 2015 and 2016, British-Franco-Canadian drama "Versailles", uses "Outro" as the theme title. "Outro" was also featured in the popular snowboarding documentary "The Art of Flight", in the reveal trailer for the games "Paragon" and "Kerbal Space Program 2", in a Mazda commercial entitled "Feel Alive" in 2018, and as the final song in the finale of the "USA Networks" TV show "Mr. Robot". Moonchild was featured in Top Gear's McLaren Mercedes SLR Oslo challenge. The Italian-French film "Suburra" from 2015 features music by M83 extensively.


title: M83 (band)

text: In August 2014, the first three albums produced by the band were re-released by Mute Records with additional material available separately for download. Gonzalez justified the reissues by noting that physical copies of the albums were hard to find and sold for "a ridiculous amount of money". On 2 March 2015, M83, with indie pop group Haim, released the song "Holes in the Sky" from "" soundtrack. He also participated in Jean-Michel Jarre's album "".


title: M83 (band)

text: On 1 March 2016, M83's seventh studio album "Junk" was announced along with its lead single, "Do It, Try It". The album was released on 8 April 2016. The band then embarked on a tour across North America and Europe during the first half of 2016.


title: M83 (band)

text: On 5 December 2016, it was announced that Gonzalez of M83 would be the composer and musical director for Cirque du Soleil's touring show, Volta.


title: M83 (band)

text: In July 2019, Gonzalez announced M83's eighth studio album, "DSVII" (standing for "Digital Shades, Vol. II"). It was released on 20 September 2019.


title: M83 (band)

text: In December 2021, Gonzalez announced a re-release of Hurry Up We're Dreaming for its 10th anniversary.


title: M83 (band)

text: The band's musical aesthetic is characterized by extensive use of reverb effects and lyrics spoken softly over loud instruments. Gonzalez has been inspired by aspects of the American Dream and his songs have been outlined as themed around "adult-scripted teen dreams". Inspiration for the 1980s style found in much of Gonzalez's music includes bands such as My Bloody Valentine, Pink Floyd, and Tangerine Dream. Between various electronic music properties and album artwork, M83's style includes a mix of both contemporary pop and 1980s dream pop.


title: EE Limited

text: EE is a British national mobile network operator and internet service provider, which is a brand within the BT Group. EE is the second-largest mobile network operator in the United Kingdom, with 26.1 million subscribers as of September 2021.


title: EE Limited

text: The company was formed as Everything Everywhere in 2010 as a joint venture between Deutsche Telekom and France Télécom (now Orange S.A.). In October 2012 it was rebranded to EE concurrently while launching the UK's first 4G mobile network. It was acquired by BT in January 2016 and has been part of BT's consumer division since April 2018, operating under three brands: BT, EE, and Plusnet.


title: EE Limited

text: EE had its headquarters in Hatfield, England, and now its main offices are in London, as well as Bristol, Darlington, Sunderland, Greenock, Merthyr Tydfil, North Tyneside, Plymouth and Leeds. As of November 2016, EE's 5G, 4G and 2G networks' combined coverage reaches more than 99% of the UK population, with double speed 4G reaching 80%, while EE's 3G network reaches 98% of the population.


title: EE Limited

text: Deutsche Telekom and France Télécom (now Orange S.A.) announced plans to merge their respective UK ventures – T-Mobile UK and Orange UK – on 8 September 2009. T-Mobile's UK unit had its origins in Mercury Communications, formed in 1989, while Orange had launched its services in 1994.


title: EE Limited

text: The initial planning suggested a joint revenue of around £7.7 billion for 2008, with savings via synergies expected to total around "over £445 million annually from 2014 onwards". The two companies also announced an expected investment of "£600 to £800 million in integration costs". A press release outlined a vision for the two brands, stating that "the T-Mobile UK and Orange UK brands will be maintained separately for 18 months". The merger was cleared by the European Commission on 1 March 2010; no new company was formed, but instead T-Mobile (UK) Limited was renamed to Everything Everywhere Limited in July.


title: EE Limited

text: The 50:50 joint venture was announced as completed on 1 April 2010, and the name Everything Everywhere was announced on 11 May 2010. On the same day the company confirmed that "roaming across both networks [would be] due later in that year, at no additional cost to the customer" and further emphasised the separation of the brands, saying that each brand would maintain "its own shops, marketing campaigns, propositions and service centres".


title: EE Limited

text: The companies' network sharing plans (allowing Orange customers to utilise T-Mobile's 2G signal and vice versa) were released to customers on 11 October 2010. The "switch-on" was rolled out utilising an opt-in page on each brand's website. However, the rollout did not initially include automatic network roaming mid-call or the two brands' 3G services.


title: EE Limited

text: On 18 July 2011, Tom Alexander announced unexpectedly that he would step down as CEO. Alexander had joined Orange in 2008 and had led the company since its formation on 1 July 2010. It was announced that he would leave his post on 31 August 2011 and therefore as from 1 September 2011, he would be replaced by Olaf Swantee, who had held the position of Executive VP of European Activities and Sourcing for France Télécom in addition to being a member of EE's board. Alexander said that he would remain with the company throughout the remainder of 2011 and continue to advise Swantee in his new role. Swantee is seen as having done an exceptional job in leading the group through the challenges of rebranding and the launch of a new technology, and was named the mobile industry's person of the year in 2013 as a result.


title: EE Limited

text: On 2 November 2011 Everything Everywhere announced plans to cut a further 550 back office staff, with its sites in Bristol, Darlington, Hatfield, and Paddington affected.


title: EE Limited

text: In April 2012, the T-Mobile network in Northern Ireland was switched off, meaning that all customers there roam onto Orange. However, later most T-Mobile sites were turned back on as EE has a mast sharing agreement with 3 (MBNL).


title: EE Limited

text: Everything Everywhere announced on 22 August 2012 that it would introduce a third brand as part of a future 4G launch to sit alongside Orange and T-Mobile, and that Everything Everywhere would continue as the company's legal name. Further speculation commenced on 7 September 2012 when the company announced details of a press conference on the morning of 11 September 2012, the earliest date set by Ofcom to launch 4G services. It was also noted that this date was only 24 hours earlier than the expected launch of the latest generation of iPhone (the iPhone 5), thereby arousing suspicion that the new iPhone would support 4G and that Everything Everywhere would launch its service on this widely anticipated handset. Other commentators suggested that the HTC One XL would be the first handset to launch utilising Everything Everywhere's 4G network. The handsets that the company initially launched on EE are the iPhone 5 (iOS), HTC One XL (Android), Samsung Galaxy S III (Android), Samsung Galaxy Note II (Android), Huawei Ascend P1 (Android), Nokia Lumia 920 (Windows Phone), Nokia Lumia 820 (Windows Phone). The company also announced that they would be using two 4G mobile broadband devices manufactured by Huawei - the E589 Mobile Wi-Fi device and E392 mobile broadband dongle.


title: EE Limited

text: The company announced on 11 September 2012 that the EE brand would be used to identify its network on all of the company's devices (EE, Orange and T-Mobile), alongside its 4G service and the company's fibre optic broadband roll-out. The brand was described by EE as "The Super Fast Brand". It was also confirmed that all ex-Orange and ex-T-Mobile shops would be re-branded EE overnight, but that mobile products would continue to be sold under those brands inside the stores. The company's legal name changed to EE Limited on 2 September 2013.


title: EE Limited

text: EE announced on 30 October 2012 that its Orange broadband service would be rebranded as EE, and the company would be launching a new fibre-optic broadband service, using a Bright Box router and Openreach GEA. The change took effect on 5 November 2012 through a firmware upgrade that replaced the Orange branding with EE on customers' router web interface.


title: EE Limited

text: In March 2014, EE began to phase out the Orange and T-Mobile brands in the UK, removing these products from their website and retail stores. However, Orange/T-Mobile plans were still available via telesales and through third-party retail channels. The phase out was completed in March 2015, with new connections and upgrades only available on EE branded services.


title: EE Limited

text: During 2014, Orange S.A. and Deutsche Telekom were reported to be considering options to sell EE or divest it through an initial public offering. On 15 December 2014, BT Group confirmed that it had entered into exclusive talks to buy EE for £12.5 billion. On 5 February 2015, BT confirmed it would be acquiring EE for £12.5 billion; subject to regulatory approval, and received final unconditional approval by the Competition and Markets Authority on 15 January 2016. The deal was completed on 29 January 2016 with Deutsche Telekom now owning 12% of BT, while Orange owns 4%.


title: EE Limited

text: On 1 February 2016, BT Group announced that EE will become a new consumer division within the wider group, alongside BT Consumer. It will serve customers with mobile services, broadband and TV, and also continue to deliver the Emergency Services Network contract which was awarded to EE in late 2015. EE's business division was brought together with BT Business and the UK-focused operations of BT Global Services to form a new BT Business and Public Sector division with around £5bn of revenues. Another new division, BT Wholesale and Ventures, comprised the BT Wholesale division along with EE's MVNO business as well as some specialist businesses such as Fleet, Payphones and Directories. Gerry McQuade, currently Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, Business at EE, will be its CEO.


title: EE Limited

text: On 28 July 2017, BT announced organisational changes to "simplify its operating model, strengthen accountabilities and accelerate its transformation" and brought together its BT Consumer and EE divisions into a new unified BT Consumer division that operates three brands – BT, EE and Plusnet. This took effect on 1 April 2018.


title: EE Limited

text: EE has main offices in BT Centre in London, Hatfield, Bristol, Darlington, Doxford, Greenock, Merthyr Tydfil, North Tyneside, Plymouth and Leeds. EE owns and operates national 2G, 3G and 4G mobile phone networks (and a partial but expanding 5G network) in the UK. It also has around 700 retail outlets across the country.


title: EE Limited

text: On 3 June 2016, it was announced that EE was making preparations to move from its offices in Paddington to BT Centre at the end of year, as part of BT's plans to save £360 million a year following its acquisition of EE. The move was initiated on 28 November 2016.


title: EE Limited

text: Everything Everywhere's request to use its surplus capacity to launch 4G services in the UK was approved by Ofcom on 21 August 2012. As part of Ofcom's approval of the company's roll-out of 4G it was announced on 22 August 2012 that Hutchison 3G had acquired part of Everything Everywhere's 1800 MHz spectrum.


title: EE Limited

text: EE's 4G network, along with its nationwide marketing campaign and store re-branding, was launched on 30 October 2012; it was the UK's first 4G mobile network, while other networks rolled out their 4G networks well into 2013. 4G coverage was initially "switched on" in 11 UK cities; London, Bristol, Birmingham, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield, and Southampton. During the latter part of 2012 and 2013, the company added more cities and towns, and planned to boost speeds in some existing locations by Summer 2013. EE claims 2,000 square miles of 4G network would be added every month from launch and the goal was to cover 70 per cent of the population by the end of 2013, and 90 per cent by the end of 2014.


title: EE Limited

text: EE had early problems and issues of no signal across both its 3G and 4G networks with senior EE staff conceding they were facing 'teething problems'.


title: EE Limited

text: On 20 February 2013, Ofcom announced that EE had been awarded more 4G spectrum in the 800 MHz and 2.6 GHz bands, bidding around £588 million for the spectrum.


title: EE Limited

text: On 5 November 2013, EE began testing LTE Advanced (LTE-A) in East London Tech City. The LTE-A network offered speeds up to 300 Mbit/s when rolled out to the public in 2014. EE's LTE-Advanced was launched at the end of October 2014.


title: EE Limited

text: On 12 February 2016, EE announced that it had reached its 2015 targets to double the number of 4G users on its network to 14 million at the year's end and remains as Europe's largest 4G operator. Its 4G network now reaches more than 95% of the UK population, with double speed 4G reaching 80%. EE's 3G network reaches 98% of the population while its 2G network reaches 99%.


title: EE Limited

text: On 24 April 2016, it was announced that as part of a new strategy, EE are aiming to extend the geographic reach of its 4G network in the UK from the current 60% to 95% by 2020, which will increase the proportion of the UK's population covered by the 4G network from 95% to 99.8%. In order to achieve this, EE will build more than 750 new sites. Its 4G network was switched on today in Shetland and the Isles of Scilly, enabled by the fibre broadband links deployed by BT. Its 4G network at launch was only used for data connections, with customers moving to 3G while on a call, however EE are now rolling out 4G Calling (VoLTE) across the UK to allow both voice and data over 4G as well as allowing customers to make calls in new areas of the network that are 4G-only. 4G Calling is already live in London, Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Belfast, Leeds and Newcastle, and will be switched on across the rest of the network by July.


title: EE Limited

text: On 13 September 2017, it was announced that EE are upgrading its 4G network by converting airwaves from 2G to 4G. It currently uses frequencies in the 1800 MHz band for both 2G and 4G (its other bands are reserved solely for 3G/4G) and is converting – or 'refarming' 10 MHz of the 2G airwaves and adding that to the existing 20 MHz slice that's already configured for 4G. More than 600 sites across cities including London, Birmingham, Manchester, Edinburgh and Cardiff, will be upgraded with the latest 4G spectrum over the next six months, equipped with 'Cat 12' and 'Cat 16' modems which will provide better speeds and coverage and support next generation 'CAT 12' and 'CAT 16' smartphones. The data upload speeds will also be doubled from the current maximum of 50Mbit/s to up to 100Mbit/s on more than 900 sites across the UK. It is also expanding its UK-wide 4G+ with more than 1,000 sites supporting 'Cat 9' speeds above 400Mbit/s. The geographic reach of its 4G network is now 85%.


title: EE Limited

text: On 19 March 2018, it was announced that EE had filled 12,000 square kilometres (4600 sq. mi.) of mobile not-spots in the last 12 months as part of its 4G geographic reach strategy of 95% by 2020, currently 90%. This involved upgrading more than 4,000 existing sites to provide 4G, and the construction of 105 new sites which are spread across Northern England, North Wales and Scotland and is in the process of building a further 350 new sites to continue filling in mobile not-spots. Many of these new sites are in areas that have previously had no coverage from any operator and have already carried more than 200 emergency 999 calls where people would have previously been unable to call for help. The new sites are being built to provide coverage for EE's customers and for the Emergency Services Network. The geographic reach of its 4G network in Scotland surpassed 75% at the end of 2017.


title: EE Limited

text: On 11 September 2018, it was announced that EE are upgrading its 4G network by converting airwaves from 3G to 4G. It currently uses frequencies in the 2100 MHz band for 3G and is converting – or 'refarming' it for 4G. More than 500 sites will be upgraded in the next six months and are the busiest 'hotspots' in its network where there is the greatest demand for mobile data. These sites are spread across cities including London, Birmingham, Manchester, Bristol, Exeter, Hull, Nottingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Cardiff and Belfast. In addition to providing better speeds and reliability, these sites will provide five 'carriers' of 4G which is more than any other UK operator and accommodate the latest smartphones which can support connections to all five at the same time, with Five Carrier Aggregation (5CA). It also lays the foundation for its 5G network that will be launched in 2019 where it will be built on top of the upgraded sites. The geographic reach of its 4G network is now 91%.


title: EE Limited

text: On 27 January 2011, Everything Everywhere and Barclaycard announced that they would be jointly introducing the UK's first contactless mobile payments system for consumers by early summer 2011. Everything Everywhere expanded its contactless mobile payments arm by announcing a deal with Mastercard on 28 August 2012 that would see the two companies work together on introducing Near field communication (NFC) technology and other mobile payment technologies into the UK. Everything Everywhere sustained its involvement in the future of NFC technology in the UK by announcing a joint venture between itself, Vodafone and O2. The joint venture was designed to be a "single point of contact" for all those involved in increasing the adoption of using NFC for mobile payments in the UK.


title: EE Limited

text: On 6 November 2012 it was announced that EE had exclusively partnered with mobile payments company iZettle. The agreement allowed EE to sell the company's mini debit/credit card readers which allow small business customers to make payments using their mobile phones. The devices initially went on sale in 297 EE stores and via EE's telesales channel.


title: EE Limited

text: On 22 June 2010, Everything Everywhere announced plans to roll out HD voice calling throughout its network by the end of summer. The technology was initially trialled on Orange's network in Bristol, Reading and Southampton, before it was expanded to the rest of the UK by the end of summer.


title: EE Limited

text: On 11 June 2018, EE became the first UK network to launch smart number technology, allowing customers to use the same number across multiple devices in addition to their smartphones including tablets, smartwatches and laptops. It is available at no extra cost to new and existing customers and is part of its strategy to "keep customers connected by bringing together the best of mobile and broadband through first-of-their-kind converged services across the UK". It supports calls and texts across multiple devices and works even when they don't have their smartphone with them. It supports up to 5 other connected devices and will need to be internet connected via Wi-Fi or mobile, with the primary device being connected to the EE network for the service to work. Calls can be made on multiple devices at the same time, or handed off between devices.


title: EE Limited

text: It is available initially on Apple devices, with Android devices coming at a later date. Customers will need to be on an EE pay monthly plan on their smartphone with minimum iOS 11.3 on iPhone 6 or later. Paired iPads and Macs will need to be on minimum iOS 10 and OS X El Capitan respectively, iPod Touch with minimum iOS 10 and Apple Watch with minimum watchOS 2. EE is also the only UK network to support the full connected capability of the Apple Watch Series 3.


title: EE Limited

text: EE inherited the Orange UK broadband service, and as of April 2015 EE had around 900,000 broadband customers.


title: EE Limited

text: EE launched a TV service for broadband customers in November 2014. Using an EE-branded set-top box, it offered standard Freeview channels through an aerial connection along with PVR features and catch-up TV services, competing against YouView. In June 2019 the service was replaced with a new package using an Apple TV box, which also gives access to BT Sport.


title: EE Limited

text: In November 2010, EE announced the opening of six "dual-branded" shops: three were led by T-Mobile and Three by Orange, and each promoted the other brand's products. The company expanded further in early 2011. Five new shops had an Everything Everywhere–branded fascia, although they represented and sold both Orange and T-Mobile. During the same quarter, the company also launched a number of Orange concessions in selected HMV shops. These were designed to operate as normal Orange retail shops, although with an expected lower footfall and designed to cater for HMV's younger consumers. The company removed these concessions from HMV shortly before the re-brand, with their approximately 100 staff transferred to local shops.


title: EE Limited

text: EE had 700 shops in the UK after the re-branding of existing Orange, T-Mobile, and Everything Everywhere shops in October 2012. In January 2013, it was announced that EE would close 78 shops, with no job losses, because in several locations there were two on the same street, often close together. In January 2014, it was announced that EE would close a further 76 duplicated shops and there would be 50 new ones, including 30 franchise outlets, estimated to create 350 jobs. The franchise outlets would grow to 100 by the end of the year, including the transfer of 45 directly managed shops to franchise partners. The move saw its number of shops reduce from 600 to 574 (including the 100 franchise outlets).


title: EE Limited

text: In September 2014, it was announced that following the collapse of Phones 4u in the UK, EE would acquire 58 of its shops for £2.5 million in a deal with its administrators, PricewaterhouseCoopers. The deal safeguarded 359 jobs and the shops would be rebranded to EE.


title: EE Limited

text: In July 2017, EE announced 100 store-within-a-store outlets by the end of 2019 via a partnership with Sainsbury's. This would create 400 jobs in Sainsbury's and Argos stores, and see the number of outlets reach close to 700, as part of its ambition to provide 95% of the population with access to an EE shop within 20 minutes' drive. In addition, pop-up shops and cabins would appear in shopping centres and other locations around the UK, and mobile EE shops in vans would serve customers in the most remote areas.


title: EE Limited

text: Virgin Mobile UK, The Co-operative Mobile operate on the EE network under a MVNO agreement, which was most recently renegotiated in December 2010 for Virgin, and November 2013 for Asda (which had previously operated on the Vodafone network, however the agreement ended in March 2021 where ASDA Mobile returned to using the Vodafone network).


title: EE Limited

text: BT Mobile and EE also have an MVNO agreement, which has allowed BT Mobile to offer packages since March 2014.


title: EE Limited

text: On 3 September 2010, Everything Everywhere announced that Orange would join Mobile Broadband Network Limited (MBNL), the 3G network sharing joint venture formed in December 2007 between T-Mobile UK and Hutchison 3G UK (H3G UK). MBNL would become a 50/50 joint venture between Three UK and Everything Everywhere, with Orange contributing several thousand of its base stations for network sharing purposes. MBNL was created after T-Mobile and Three UK agreed to pool their respective 3G infrastructures in a 50/50 joint venture. By September 2010 MBNL's HSPA-based infrastructure covered more than 90% of the British population, and was expected to rise to more than 98% by the end of 2010.


title: EE Limited

text: EE's mobile network code is 234 30, which is technically EE T-Mobile as it was inherited by EE after the merger of T-Mobile and Orange.


title: EE Limited

text: T-Mobile was decided to be retained in the network PLMN name as T-Mobile retain 12.1% of shares in BT Group.


title: EE Limited

text: EE launched its first television advertisement on 3 November 2012, four days after the company launched its 4G services and new brand. The advertisements featured Kevin Bacon and his related Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon concept. The advert initially aired on ITV during "The X Factor", on its Saturday evening slot on UK television. The adverts were filmed over two days during August 2012 in Lewes.


title: EE Limited

text: EE began sponsoring the British Academy of Film and Television Arts awards in 2013, replacing its Orange brand.


title: EE Limited

text: A six-year agreement to sponsor Wembley Stadium was agreed with The Football Association in February 2014, although was not classed as a naming rights agreement.


title: EE Limited

text: EE had a presence at the Glastonbury Festival 2015, providing reusable chargers for mobile phone users. The "Power Bars" could be exchanged once a day, for a fully charged charger, at two locations around the festival.


title: EE Limited

text: In early 2013, Ipsos MORI signed an agreement with EE, wherein Ipsos MORI would commercialise the data on the company's 23 million subscribers, for example "how many of the phone users checked their Facebook accounts, or the website of their favourite shop". Later that year, "The Sunday Times" revealed that Ipsos MORI had negotiated an agreement to sell this data to the police and other parties. The data included "gender, age, postcode, websites visited, time of day text is sent [and] location of customer when call is made". When confronted by the paper, the police indicated that they would no longer go ahead with the deal. Ipsos MORI defended its actions, while EE refused to comment.