title: Cerne Abbas Giant

text: The Giant sports an erection, including its testicles, some long, and nearly the length of its head; it has been called "Britain's most famous phallus". One commentator noted that postcards of the Giant were the only indecent photographs that could be sent through the English Post Office. However, this feature may also have been changed over time. From a review of historical depictions, the Giant's current large erection has been identified as the result of merging a circle representing his navel with a smaller penis during a 1908 re-cut: the navel still appears on a late 1890s picture postcard. Lidar scans conducted as part of the 2020 survey programme have concluded that the phallus was added much later than the bulk of the figure, which was probably originally clothed.


title: Cerne Abbas Giant

text: The hill figure is most commonly known as the "Cerne Abbas Giant" or "Cerne Giant", the latter being preferred by the National Trust, while English Heritage and Dorset County Council call it simply "the Giant". It has also been referred to as the "Old Man", and occasionally in recent years as the "Rude Man" of Cerne.


title: Cerne Abbas Giant

text: Although the best view of the Giant is from the air, most tourist guides recommend a ground view from the "Giant's View" lay-by and car park off the A352. This area was developed in 1979 in a joint project between the Dorset County Planning Department, the National Trust, Nature Conservancy Council (now called English Nature), the Dorset Naturalists Trusts, the Department of the Environment, and local land-owners. The information panel there was devised by the National Trust and Dorset County Council.


title: Cerne Abbas Giant

text: Like several other chalk figures carved into the English countryside, the Cerne Abbas Giant is often thought of as an ancient creation; its written history, however, cannot be traced back further than the late 17th century. Medieval sources refer to the hill on which the giant is located as Trendle Hill, in reference to the nearby Iron Age earthwork known as the Trendle. J. H. Bettey of the University of Bristol noted that none of the earlier sources for the area, including a detailed 1540s survey of the Abbey lands and a 1617 land survey by John Norden, refer to the giant, despite noting the Trendle and other landmarks. In contrast, there are documentary references to the 3,000 year-old Uffington White Horse as far back as the late 11th century.


title: Cerne Abbas Giant

text: The earliest known written reference is a 4November 1694 entry in the Churchwardens' Accounts from St Mary's Church in Cerne Abbas, which reads "for repairing ye Giant, three shillings". In 1734, the Bishop of Bristol noted and inquired about the giant during a Canonical visitation to Cerne Abbas, while in 1738 the antiquarian Francis Wise mentioned the giant in a letter. The bishop's account, as well as subsequent observations such as those of William Stukeley, were discussed at meetings of the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1764.


title: Cerne Abbas Giant

text: Beginning in 1763 descriptions of the giant also began to appear in contemporary magazines, following a general increase in interest in "antiquities". The earliest known survey was published in the "Royal Magazine" in September 1763. Derivative versions subsequently appeared in the October 1763 "St James Chronicle", the July 1764 "Gentleman's Magazine" and the 1764 edition of "The Annual Register". In the early 1770s the antiquarian John Hutchins reviewed various previous accounts in his book "The History and Antiquities of the County of Dorset", published posthumously in 1774. Noting a local tradition the giant had only been cut in the previous century, he described and drew it as then having three roughly-cut letters between its feet, and over them the apparent Arabic numerals "748", features since lost; Hutchins' account was copied by several early 19th century guidebooks.


title: Cerne Abbas Giant

text: A map referred to as the "1768 Survey Map of Cerne Abbas by Benjamin Pryce" is held at the Dorset History Centre, though a record at the National Archives notes there is evidence the map may date to the 1790s. By the following century the phallus was invariably omitted from depictions, either in line with the prevailing views on modesty at the time or as it had become grassed over; the figure seems to have become increasingly neglected and overgrown during the 19th century until in 1868 its owner Lord Rivers arranged to have the Giant restored "as near as possible to his original condition".


title: Cerne Abbas Giant

text: 18th century antiquarians were able to discover little about the figure's origin: Stukeley suggested that local people "know nothing more of [the Giant] than a traditionary account of its being a deity of the ancient Britons". Several other local traditions have, however, been recorded, including that the Giant was cut in 1539 at the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries as a "humiliating caricature" of Cerne Abbey's final abbot Thomas Corton, who amongst other offences was accused of fathering children with a mistress. Hutchins, noting the apparent figure "748" then visible between the Giant's feet, suggested that if this did not refer to the date of an earlier repair such as "1748", it could be a representation of Cenric, the son of Cuthred, King of Wessex, who died in battle in 748: Arabic numerals however did not come widely into use in England until the 15th century. Another 18th century writer dismissed it as "the amusement of idle people, and cut with little meaning, perhaps, as shepherds' boys strip off the turf on the Wiltshire plains."


title: Cerne Abbas Giant

text: Richard Pococke, in a 1754 account, noted the figure was called "the Giant, and Hele", while Richard Gough, editor of the 1789 edition of William Camden's 1637 work "Britannica", linked the Giant with a supposed minor Saxon deity named by Camden as "Hegle"; In the 1760s William Stukeley recorded that locals referred to the giant as "Helis". Stukeley was one of the first to hypothesize that "Helis" was a garbled form of "Hercules", a suggestion that has found more support; Pococke had earlier noted that "[the Giant] seems to be Hercules, or Strength and Fidelity". The close resemblance of the giant's features to the attributes of the classical hero Hercules, usually portrayed naked and with a knotted club, have been strengthened by the more recent discovery of the "cloak", as Hercules was often depicted with the skin of the Nemean lion over his arm.


title: Cerne Abbas Giant

text: Modern histories of the Cerne Giant have been published by Bettey 1981, Legg 1990, and Darvill et al. 1999. In recent times there have been three main theories concerning the age of the Giant, and whom it might represent:


title: Cerne Abbas Giant

text: Proponents of a 17th-century origin suggest that the giant was cut around the time of the English Civil War by servants of Denzil Holles, then Lord of the Manor of Cerne Abbas. This theory originated in the 18th century account of John Hutchins, who noted in a letter of 1751 to the Dean of Exeter that the steward of the manor had told him the figure "was a modern thing, cut out in Lord Hollis' time". In his "History and antiquities of the county of Dorset", first published in 1774, Hutchins also suggested that Holles could perhaps have ordered the recutting of an existing figure dating from "beyond the memory of man".


title: Cerne Abbas Giant

text: It has been speculated that Holles could have intended the figure as a parody of Oliver Cromwell: while Holles, the MP for Dorchester and a leader of the Presbyterian faction in Parliament, had been a key Parliamentarian supporter during the First English Civil War, he grew to personally despise Cromwell and attempted to have him impeached in 1644. Cromwell was sometimes mockingly referred to as "England's Hercules" by his enemies: under this interpretation, the club has been suggested to hint at Cromwell's military rule, and the phallus to mock his Puritanism. In 1967 Kenneth Carrdus proposed that the Holles referred to in Hutchins' account was Denzil Holles' son Francis, MP for Dorchester in 1679-80: he claimed that the figures and letters noted by Hutchins could be made to read "fh 1680", though was unable to find much other evidence to support this.


title: Cerne Abbas Giant

text: The deepest archeological horizon of the Giant is 1 metre. Results of optically stimulated luminescence testing of samples from this deepest level were published in 2021. Some of these samples support a construction date between and , suggesting the Giant was first cut in the late Anglo-Saxon period. As this date coincides with the founding of nearby Cerne Abbey, archaeologist Alison Sheridan speculated that it may have been a challenge to the new religion from the still-pagan local inhabitants, although other scholars have noted that early medieval monks could equally have been responsible for the figure.


title: Cerne Abbas Giant

text: Other samples, however, gave later dates ranging up to 1560; one possible explanation is that the Giant may have first been cut in the late Saxon period, but then abandoned for several centuries. As the survey evidence also suggested that the giant's penis is of much later date than the rest of the figure, the National Trust has proposed that the feature could have been added by Holles as part of his parody of Cromwell when re-cutting the older figure.


title: Cerne Abbas Giant

text: In 1920, the giant and the site where it stands were donated to the National Trust by its then land-owners, Alexander and George Pitt-Rivers, and it is now listed as a Scheduled Monument. During World War II the giant was camouflaged with brushwood by the Home Guard in order to prevent its use as a landmark for enemy aircraft.


title: Cerne Abbas Giant

text: According to the National Trust, the grass is trimmed regularly and the giant is fully re-chalked every 25 years. Traditionally, the National Trust has relied on sheep from surrounding farms to graze the site. However, in 2008 a lack of sheep, coupled with a wet spring causing extra plant growth, forced a re-chalking of the giant, with 17 tonnes of new chalk being poured in and tamped down by hand. In 2006, the National Trust carried out the first wildlife survey of the Cerne Abbas Giant, identifying wild flowers including the green-winged orchid, clustered bellflower and autumn gentian, which are uncommon in England.


title: Cerne Abbas Giant

text: In 1921 Walter Long of Gillingham, Dorset, objected to the giant's nudity and conducted a campaign to either convert it to a simple nude, or to cover its supposed obscenity with a leaf. Long's protest gained some support, including that of two bishops, and eventually reached the Home Office. The Home Office considered the protest to be in humour, though the chief constable responded to say the office could not act against a protected scheduled monument.


title: Cerne Abbas Giant

text: A 1617 land survey of Cerne Abbas makes no mention of the giant, suggesting that it may not have been there at the time or was perhaps overgrown. The first published survey appeared in the September 1763 issue of "Royal Magazine", reprinted in the October 1763 issue of "St James Chronicle", and also in the August 1764 edition of "Gentleman's Magazine" together with the first drawing that included measurements.


title: Cerne Abbas Giant

text: Egyptologist and archaeology pioneer Sir Flinders Petrie surveyed the giant, probably during the First World War, and published his results in a Royal Anthropological Institute paper in 1926. Petrie says he made 220 measurements, and records slight grooves across the neck, and from the shoulders down to the armpits. He also notes a row of pits suggesting the place of the spine. He concludes that the giant is very different from the Long Man of Wilmington, and that minor grooves may have been added from having been repeatedly cleaned.


title: Cerne Abbas Giant

text: In 1764, William Stukeley was one of the first people to suggest that the giant resembled Hercules. In 1938, British archaeologist Stuart Piggott agreed, and suggested that, like Hercules, the giant should also be carrying a lion-skin. In 1979, a resistivity survey was carried out, and together with drill samples, confirmed the presence of the lion-skin. Another resistivity survey in 1995 also found evidence of a cloak and changes to the length of the phallus, but did not find evidence (as rumoured) of a severed head, horns, or symbols between the feet.


title: Cerne Abbas Giant

text: In July 2020, preliminary results of a National Trust survey of snail shells unearthed at the site suggested the hill figure is "medieval or later". Snails dating only from the Roman period (brought from France as food) were not found at the site, while species first found in England from the 13th and 14th centuries were found in soil samples examined. In 2020 the National Trust commissioned a further survey, using optically stimulated luminescence, and the results contradicted earlier research and theories. Samples from inside the deepest layers of the monument yielded a date range for construction of early medieval late Anglo-Saxon period.


title: Cerne Abbas Giant

text: North-east of the head of the giant is an escarpment called Trendle Hill, on which are some earthworks now called The Trendle or Frying Pan. It is a scheduled monument in its own right. Antiquarian John Hutchins wrote in 1872 that "These remains are of very interesting character, and of considerable extent. They consist of circular and other earthworks, lines of defensive ramparts, an avenue, shallow excavations, and other indications of a British settlement."


title: Cerne Abbas Giant

text: Unlike the giant, the earthworks belong to Lord Digby, rather than the National Trust. Its purpose is unknown; the claim that it was the site of maypole dancing, made by the former village sexton in the late 19th century, was disputed by other villagers who located the maypole site elsewhere. It has been considered to be Roman, or perhaps an Iron-Age burial mound containing the tomb of the person represented by the giant.


title: Cerne Abbas Giant

text: Whatever its origin, the giant has become an important part of the culture and folklore of Dorset. Some folk stories indicate that the image is an outline of the corpse of a real giant. One story says the giant came from Denmark leading an invasion of the coast, and was beheaded by the people of Cerne Abbas while he slept on the hillside.


title: Cerne Abbas Giant

text: Other folklore, first recorded in the Victorian era, associates the figure with fertility. According to folk belief, a woman who sleeps on the figure will be blessed with fecundity, and infertility may be cured through sexual intercourse on top of the figure, especially the phallus.


title: Cerne Abbas Giant

text: In 1808, Dorset poet William Holloway published his poem "The Giant of Trendle Hill", in which the Giant is killed by the locals by piercing its heart.


title: Cerne Abbas Giant

text: In modern times the giant has been used for several publicity stunts and as an advertisement. For example, Ann Bryn-Evans of the Pagan Federation recalls that the Giant has been used to promote "condoms, jeans and bicycles".


title: Cerne Abbas Giant

text: In 1998, pranksters made a pair of jeans out of plastic mesh with a inside leg, and fitted them to the giant to publicise American jeans manufacturer Big Smith. In August 2002, the BLAC advertising agency, on behalf of the Family Planning Association, rolled a large latex sheet down the Giant's phallus to promote condom use.


title: Cerne Abbas Giant

text: As a publicity stunt for the opening of "The Simpsons Movie" on 16 July 2007, a figure of Homer Simpson clad in y-front underpants and brandishing a doughnut was outlined in water-based biodegradable paint to the left of the Cerne Abbas Giant. This act displeased local neopagans, who pledged to perform rain magic to wash the figure away.


title: Cerne Abbas Giant

text: An August 2007 report, in the "Dorset Echo" said a man claiming to be the "Purple Phantom" had painted the Giant's penis purple. It was reported that the man was from Fathers 4 Justice, but the group denied any involvement and said they did not know who did it.


title: Cerne Abbas Giant

text: In 2012, pupils and members of the local community recreated the Olympic torch on the Giant, to mark the passing of the official torch in the run-up to the 2012 London Olympics.


title: Cerne Abbas Giant

text: In November 2013, the National Trust supported Movember, which raises awareness of prostate and testicular cancer. It authorised the temporary placement of a huge grass moustache on the giant. The moustache was wide and deep according to the designer but both the National Trust and the BBC reported it as being .


title: Cerne Abbas Giant

text: In October 2020, to promote the release of "Borat Subsequent Moviefilm" people added a 'mankini' and banners stating "Wear Mask." and "Save Live." on the site.


title: Cerne Abbas Giant

text: The Cerne Abbas Giant has appeared in several films and TV programmes, including the title sequence of the 1986 British historical drama film "Comrades", a 1996 episode of the "Erotic Tales" series "The Insatiable Mrs Kirsch", directed by Ken Russell (featuring a replica of the Giant), in 1997, the series6 finale "Sofa" of the comedy series "Men Behaving Badly", and the 2000 film "Maybe Baby" directed by Ben Elton. and even appeared in one of BBC One 'Balloon' idents between 1997-2002.


title: Cerne Abbas Giant

text: In 1980, Devon artist Kenneth Evans-Loud planned to produce a companion female figure on the opposite hill, featuring Marilyn Monroe in her iconic pose from the film "The Seven Year Itch" where her dress is blown by a subway grating.


title: Cerne Abbas Giant

text: In 1989, Turner Prize-winning artist Grayson Perry designed a set of motorbike leathers inspired by the Cerne Abbas Giant. In 1994, girls from Roedean School painted a replica of the Giant on their playing field, the day before sports day.


title: Cerne Abbas Giant

text: In 2003, pranksters created their own version of the Giant on a hill in English Bicknor, but "wearing wellies, an ear of corn hanging from its mouth and a tankard of ale in its hand". In 2005, the makers of Lynx deodorant created a advert on a field near Gatwick, featuring a copy of the Giant wearing underpants, frolicking with two scantily clad women. In 2006, artist Peter John Hardwick produced a painting "The Two Dancers with the Cerne Abbas Giant, with Apologies to Picasso" which is on display at Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. In 2009, the Giant was given a red nose, to publicize the BBC's Comic Relief charity event. In 2011, English animators The Brothers McLeod produced a 15-second cartoon giving their take on what the Giant does when no one is watching.


title: Cerne Abbas Giant

text: In 2015, the giant was used as a character in an online comic book published by Eco Comics; the giant's character appeared in various adventures accompanying a character based on St George, though his erect penis was removed from the artwork as many "outlets, particularly in the US, refuse any form of nudity in comic books".


title: Cerne Abbas Giant

text: The giant's image has been reproduced on various souvenirs and local food produce labels, including for a range of beers made by the Cerne Abbas Brewery. In 2016, the BBC reported that the beer company's logo had been censored in the Houses of Parliament.


title: Charley Boorman

text: Charley Boorman (born 23 August 1966) is a British TV presenter, travel writer and actor. A motorbike enthusiast, Boorman has made three long-distance motorcycle rides with his friend Ewan McGregor, documented in "Long Way Round" (2004), "Long Way Down" (2007), and "Long Way Up" (2020).


title: Charley Boorman

text: Born in Wimbledon, London, Boorman spent much of his formative years in County Wicklow, Ireland. Boorman is the son of German costume designer Christel Kruse and film director Sir John Boorman. Lee Marvin, a lifelong friend of his father, was Charley's godfather.


title: Charley Boorman

text: Boorman attended three schools in Ireland: St Gerard's School (Bray, County Wicklow) and St Oliver Plunkett Primary School (Monkstown, County Dublin), both Roman Catholic schools, the latter a school dedicated to teaching children with dyslexia. He also attended the German-language medium school, St Kilians Deutsche Schule (Dublin). In England, he went on to attend Sibford School, a Quaker school near Banbury, Oxfordshire (from 1980 to 1983).


title: Charley Boorman

text: At an early age, Boorman started appearing in films directed by his father. His first role was in "Deliverance" (1972).


title: Charley Boorman

text: Boorman played a young Mordred in "Excalibur" (1981) (joined by his older sister Katrine Boorman who played Ygraine, Mordred's grandmother), then in 1985 played a leading role in "The Emerald Forest". In 1987 he had a non-speaking role in "Hope and Glory" as a young German Luftwaffe pilot parachuting into wartime London, having been shot down; his sister Katrine also appeared in that film.


title: Charley Boorman

text: His further acting appearances include "The Serpent's Kiss" (1997), on which he met Ewan McGregor, and "The Bunker" (2001).


title: Charley Boorman

text: In 2007, Boorman appeared on stage in Newcastle upon Tyne at the Tyne Theatre. The 'evening with' style show then went on a tour around the UK and Ireland in 2010. Around this time Boorman revealed he had testicular cancer. Caught early, he had a testicle removed and has since been a supporter of Movember. Boorman was given the all-clear, but continued telling audiences across the country about his ordeal, encouraging more men to be aware and get checked out early if there was any concern. In 2011, the Charley Boorman Live show toured the UK and Ireland again, following a similar format to the first tour but without support acts.


title: Charley Boorman

text: Boorman also began promoting African Adventures, which are commercial 17-day BMW motorcycle trips across Africa. Taking 50 riders from Cape Town to Victoria Falls, Boorman used various technologies to help promote the trip, including a GPS satellite tracking device allowing people to follow the trip day by day.


title: Charley Boorman

text: Boorman has supported the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) since 2004, carrying out a number of visits to UNICEF projects, which have been noted in his television programmes "Long Way Round", "Long Way Down" and "By Any Means". In 2009, Boorman was made president of Dyslexia Action; he is dyslexic. Boorman has been on many visits to Dyslexia Action's regional centres and was involved in the charity's appeal "It's ME!". He also supported its school initiative "P4L" (Partnership for Literacy). Boorman recently participated in a live web chat for the charity where he answered questions about his dyslexia and his various adventures.


title: Charley Boorman

text: In 2009, Boorman went to Helmand Province, Afghanistan and visited troops. Kandahar and Bastion were the two key camps he visited, just before Christmas.


title: Charley Boorman

text: In February 2014 and November 2016 Boorman presented Gold Duke of Edinburgh's Awards at St James's Palace, on behalf of The Duke of Edinburgh.


title: Charley Boorman

text: Boorman was involved in a serious accident whilst test riding a motorbike with journalists in Portugal in 2016. Boorman broke both legs after colliding with a wall whilst avoiding a car that pulled out in front of him. He then broke his hip riding a Vespa whilst still in recovery. After a period reliant on a wheelchair, Boorman is back riding, but now walks with a limp as his left leg is 1 cm shorter than his right after operations to repair the breaks.


title: Charley Boorman

text: In 2004, Ewan McGregor and Boorman undertook an international motorcycle journey from London to New York, riding east across Europe, Asia, and North America. This was recorded for a popular television series and book.


title: Charley Boorman

text: Along with producer Russ Malkin (from "Long Way Round") and a motorbike team, Boorman competed in the 2006 Dakar Rally in January 2006. The event was filmed and the series "Race to Dakar" began on Sky2 in the United Kingdom in October 2006. During the rally Boorman injured himself and was forced to retire from the race after five days.


title: Charley Boorman

text: In 2007, he took another journey with McGregor: "Long Way Down", a trip from John o' Groats in Scotland, to Cape Town, South Africa. This was televised on BBC2 starting in October 2007. During this initial programme, it became public knowledge that Boorman's wife was undergoing treatment for pneumonia, but had insisted that he complete the trip.


title: Charley Boorman

text: In 2008, Boorman produced "By Any Means", which started in his hometown in County Wicklow, ending in Sydney. He set out to complete the journey "by any means", using local transport appropriate to the area being travelled, and using air travel only when necessary.


title: Charley Boorman

text: In 2009, Boorman undertook a journey titled "Right to the Edge: Sydney to Tokyo By Any Means", travelling from Sydney to Tokyo via the Pacific Rim. The programme documenting this trip has been shown on BBC2 in the UK.


title: Charley Boorman

text: Boorman appeared with Sue Perkins in Series 1 of the BBC TV series "World's Most Dangerous Roads: Alaska", shown in 2011, in which they drove the Dalton Highway.


title: Charley Boorman

text: In 2011, Boorman presented a prime-time adventure series for Channel 5, "Charley Boorman's Extreme Frontiers". This show was another collaboration between Boorman and producer-director Russ Malkin, who made frequent on-screen appearances. "Extreme Frontiers" claimed to 'take in all four extremities of Canada'. Accompanying the show was book and DVD.


title: Charley Boorman

text: In 2012, Boorman continued the series in a South African setting. From 9 June to 22 July 2012, Boorman and his team journeyed around South Africa on two motorbikes and a 4-wheel vehicle.


title: Charley Boorman

text: Boorman and Malkin returned on Channel 5 at the end of 2013 for his next trip, which was in the US. Starting in Hawaii, he moves to Alaska, then to the Eastern seaboard and down to the Southern states, inland to the Gulf of Mexico, up again to the Rockies and finishing on the Pacific Coast at Los Angeles


title: Charley Boorman

text: Boorman and McGregor traveled in 2019 from the southernmost tip of South America up to Los Angeles, on electric Harley-Davidson LiveWire motorbikes.


title: Charley Boorman

text: In 2022 Boorman began presenting Motorbike TV, a motorcycle magazine entertainment show for Motorsport.TV.


title: Dreyse needle gun

text: The Dreyse needle-gun was a ground-breaking 19th-century military breechloading rifle. The gun, which was the first breech-loading rifle to use a bolt action to open and close the chamber, was the main infantry weapon of the Prussians in the Wars of German Unification. It was invented in 1836 by the German gunsmith Johann Nikolaus von Dreyse (1787–1867) who had been conducting numerous design experiments since 1824.


title: Dreyse needle gun

text: The name "ignition needle rifle" () was taken from its firing pin because it passed like a needle through the paper cartridge to strike a percussion cap at the base of the bullet. However, to disguise its innovative design, the rifle entered military service in 1841 as the ""leichtes Perkussionsgewehr Modell 1841"" (). It had a rate of fire of about six rounds per minute.


title: Dreyse needle gun

text: The first types of needle-gun made by Johann Nikolaus von Dreyse were muzzle-loading, with the novelty of the weapon lying in the long needle driven by a coiled conchoidal spring which fired the internal percussion cap on the base of the sabot. It was his adoption of the bolt-action breechloading principle combined with this igniter system which gave the rifle its military potential, allowing, as it did, a much faster rate of fire.


title: Dreyse needle gun

text: After successful testing in 1840, the Prussian king Friedrich Wilhelm IV ordered 60,000 of the new rifles. Dreyse set up the Dreyse-Zündnadel factory in Sömmerda with the help of state loans to ramp up production. It was accepted for service in 1841 as the "leichtes Perkussionsgewehr Model 1841", but only 45,000 had been produced by 1848. It was used in combat for the first time during the German revolutions of 1848–49 and proved its combat superiority in street fighting during the May Uprising in Dresden in 1849. Many German states subsequently adopted the weapon. The Sömmerda factory could not meet demand and produced only 30,000 rifles a year. Most of the Prussian infantry in the 1850s were still equipped with the obsolete 1839 Model caplock Potsdam musket, whose ballistic performance was clearly inferior to the French Minié rifle and the Austrian Lorenz rifle. The Prussian Army's low level of funding resulted in just 90 battalions being equipped with the weapon in 1855. Dreyse consented to state manufacture of the rifle to increase production. The Royal Prussian Rifle Factory at the Spandau Arsenal began production in 1853, followed by Danzig, Saarn and Erfurt. At first, the Spandau factory produced 12,000 Dreyse needle guns a year, rising to 48,000 in 1867.


title: Dreyse needle gun

text: The British Army evaluated the Dreyse needle gun in 1849–51. In the British trials, the Dreyse was shown to be capable of six rounds per minute, and to maintain accuracy to . The trials suggested that the Dreyse was "too complicated and delicate" for service use. The French carabine à tige muzzle-loading rifle was judged to be a better weapon, and an improved version was adopted as the Pattern 1851 Minié-type muzzle-loading rifle.


title: Dreyse needle gun

text: After the Prussian army received a 25% increase in funding and was reformed by Wilhelm I, Albrecht von Roon and Helmuth von Moltke the Elder from 1859 to 1863, the Dreyse needle gun played an important role in the Austro-Prussian victory in the Second Schleswig War against Denmark in 1864. The introduction of cast steel barrels made industrial mass production of the weapon a reality in the early 1860s. The new 1862 model and the enhanced M/55 ammunition type expedited the use and widespread adoption of the weapon in the 1860s. The success of German private industry in delivering the necessary amount of armaments for the army marked the definite end of government-owned army workshops. The Prussian Army infantry had 270,000 Dreyse needle guns by the outbreak of the decisive Austro-Prussian War in 1866. The employment of the needle-gun changed military tactics in the 19th century, as a Prussian soldier could fire five (or more) shots, even while lying on the ground, in the time that it took his Austrian muzzle-loading counterpart to reload while standing. Production was ramped up after the war against Austria and when the Franco-Prussian War broke out in 1870, the Prussian Army had 1,150,000 needle guns in its inventory. The success of the design spurred subsequent developments in firearms technology and, before the start of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French introduced the Chassepot rifle. The Prussians and their allies won the war, but the Chassepot proved superior to the needle-gun in every way.


title: Dreyse needle gun

text: In 1867, Romania purchased 20,000 rifles and 11,000 carbines from the Prussian government. These were used to great effect in the Romanian War of Independence.


title: Dreyse needle gun

text: Sometime in the late 1860s, Japan acquired an unknown number of Model 1862 rifles and bayonets. These were marked with the imperial chrysanthemum stamp. China also acquired Dreyse rifles for the modernisation of their armed forces.


title: Dreyse needle gun

text: The cartridge used with this rifle consisted of the paper case, the bullet, the percussion cap and the black powder charge. The 15.4 mm (0.61 in) bullet was shaped like an acorn, with the broader end forming a point, and the primer attached to its base. The bullet was held in a paper case known as a sabot, which separated from the bullet as it exited the muzzle. Between this inner lining and the outer case was the powder charge, consisting of 4.8 g (74 grains) of black powder.


title: Dreyse needle gun

text: The upper end of the paper case is rolled up and tied. Upon release of the trigger, the point of the needle pierces the rear of the cartridge, passes through the powder and hits the primer fixed to the base of the sabot. Thus the burn-front in the black powder charge passes from the front to the rear. This front-to-rear burn pattern minimizes the effect seen in rear-igniting cartridges where a portion of the powder at the front of the charge is forced down and out of the barrel to burn wastefully in the air as muzzle flash. It also ensures that the whole charge burns under the highest possible pressure, theoretically minimising unburnt residues. Consequently, a smaller charge can be used to obtain the same velocity as a rear-ignited charge of the same bullet calibre and weight. It also increases the handling security of the cartridge, since it is virtually impossible to set the primer off accidentally.


title: Dreyse needle gun

text: There was also a blank cartridge developed for the needle-gun. It was shorter and lighter than the live round, since it lacked the projectile, but was otherwise similar in construction and powder load.


title: Dreyse needle gun

text: Its effective range was not as great as that of the "Chassepot", against which it was fielded during the Franco-Prussian War. The main reason for this was that a sizable amount of gas escaped at the breech when the rifle was fired with a paper cartridge. An improved model, giving greater muzzle velocity and increased speed in loading, was introduced later, but it was replaced shortly thereafter by the Mauser Model 1871 rifle.


title: Dreyse needle gun

text: The placement of the primer directly behind the bullet meant the firing needle was enclosed in black powder when the gun was fired, causing stress to the pin, which could break over time and render the rifle useless until it could be replaced. Soldiers were provided with two replacement needles for that purpose. The needle could be replaced quite easily, even in the field, in under 30 seconds. Because the rifle used black powder, residue accumulated at the back of the barrel, making cleaning necessary after about 60–80 shots. This was not a large problem because the individual soldier carried fewer cartridges than that and Dreyse created an "air chamber" by having a protruding needle tube (the Chassepot also had this, but it was more likely to jam after fewer shots because of its smaller-diameter chamber). A soldier trained well before the war of 1866 had to finish field cleaning in less than 10 minutes.


title: Dreyse needle gun

text: The Prussian Needle gun appears in Ensemble Studio's "Age of Empires III" in the hands of "Needle Gunners", who act as German skirmisher units.


title: Dreyse needle gun

text: Prominent Austrians frequently betray a subtle and often humorous obsession with the Prussian needle gun in Robert Musil's "The Man Without Qualities".


title: Haunted house

text: A haunted house, spook house or ghost house in ghostlore is a house or other building often perceived as being inhabited by disembodied spirits of the deceased who may have been former residents or were otherwise connected with the property. Parapsychologists often attribute haunting to the spirits of the dead who have suffered from violent or tragic events in the building's past such as murder, accidental death, or suicide.


title: Haunted house

text: In a majority of cases, upon scientific investigation, alternative causes to supernatural phenomenon are found to be at fault, such as hoaxes, environmental effects, hallucinations or confirmation biases. Common symptoms of hauntings, like cold spots and creaking or knocking sounds, can be found in most homes regardless of suspected paranormal presences. People are more likely to experience a haunting when they are about to fall asleep, when waking, if they are intoxicated or sleep-deprived. Carbon monoxide poisoning has been cited as a cause of suspected hauntings. If there is an expectation of a preternatural encounter, it is more likely that one will be perceived or reported.


title: Haunted house

text: According to Owen Davies, a paranormal historian, hauntings in the British Isles were usually attributed to fairies, but today hauntings are usually associated with ghostly or supernatural encounters. In other cultures around the world, various spirits are said to haunt vacant homes and locations. In Middle Eastern countries, for example, jinn are said to haunt such areas. Historically, since most people died in their homes, whether they were mansions or hovels, these homes became natural places for ghosts to haunt, with bedrooms being the most common rooms to be haunted. Many houses gained a reputation for being haunted after they were empty or derelict. Davies explains that "if people were to fail to occupy a human space, then external forces would move in."


title: Haunted house

text: Haunting is one of the most common paranormal beliefs around the world, according to Benjamin Radford in his book "Investigating Ghosts: The Scientific Search for Spirits". He says that almost every town and city has at least one "haunted" place; and that, despite over 100 years of investigation, there has not been a "single verifiable fact about ghosts having been established."


title: Haunted house

text: In the first century A.D., the great Roman author and statesman Pliny the Younger recorded one of the first notable ghost stories in his letters, which became famous for their vivid account of life during the heyday of the Roman Empire. Pliny reported that the specter of an old man with a long beard, rattling chains, was haunting his house in Athens. The Greek writer Lucian and Pliny’s fellow Roman Plautus also wrote memorable ghost stories.


title: Haunted house

text: In a 2005 Gallup poll, 37% of Americans, 28% of Canadians, and 40% of Britons believed that houses could be haunted. In a 2009 Pew Research Center survey, about 29% of Americans believed they had been in touch with someone who had died. According to a Research Co. poll released in 2020, 40% of Canadian women and 25% of Canadian men stated they believed in haunted houses.


title: Haunted house

text: In Japan, there is a tradition, linked to Buddhism, of creating (ghost houses) in August, when it is believed that ancestral spirits may visit. People go to ghost houses to listen to frightening stories or seek elaborate decorations and costumes to experience shivers as a way to feel cooler in the hot summer temperatures.


title: Haunted house

text: The Shanghai Disneyland Park planners decided against building The Haunted Mansion because of the local cultural beliefs about ghosts and hauntings. Building the house would have been considered a mockery of their fear.


title: Haunted house

text: In Wuhan, China, the police have built a haunted house to train their police force by testing their nerves. They filled a dilapidated house with faked severed limbs, bones, skulls and a frightening atmosphere that includes lightning and rain. The house is also open to the public.


title: Haunted house

text: During the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2020, Indonesian lawmakers of the Sragen region on the island of Java decided to lock people who did not follow quarantine guidelines in abandoned and supposedly haunted houses. It was an attempt to motivate a superstitious population when science failed to do so.


title: Haunted house

text: According to Owen Davies's book, "The Haunted: a Social History of Ghosts", "[e]ven the most devout believers in ghosts over the centuries recognized that many hauntings were frauds." In an interview with "USA Today", Davies states that "[f]or skeptics in the past and present, the house was obviously the center of hauntings because it was where people slept and dreamed of the dead, or where people lay drunk, drugged or hallucinating in their sickbeds." Such basic poltergeist phenomena as rapping or knocking were very easy to orchestrate with the help of accomplices or a variety of ploys. According to science writer Terence Hines, cold spots, creaking sounds, and odd noises are typically present in any home, especially older ones, and "such noises can easily be mistaken for the sound of footsteps by those inclined to imagine the presence of a deceased tenant in their home."


title: Haunted house

text: A sensed-presence effect, the feeling that there is someone else present in a room, is known to happen when people experience monotony, darkness, cold, hunger, fatigue, fear, and sleep deprivation.


title: Haunted house

text: Skeptical investigator Joe Nickell writes that in most cases he investigated, he found plausible explanations for haunting phenomena, such as physical illusions, waking dreams, and the effects of memory. According to Nickell, the power of suggestion along with confirmation bias plays a large role in perceived hauntings. He states that as a house, inn, or other place becomes thought of as haunted, more and more ghostly encounters are reported and that when people expect paranormal events, they tend to notice conditions that would confirm their expectations. Many places deemed to be haunted are purposefully left in a decrepit condition, with wall paper peeling off, old carpeting, and antique decor.


title: Haunted house

text: Toxicologist Albert Donnay believes that chronic exposure to substances such as carbon monoxide, pesticide, and formaldehyde can lead to hallucinations of the type associated with haunted houses. Donnay speculates on the connection between the prevalence of gas lamps, during the Victorian era and start of the twentieth century, as well as stories of ghost sightings and hauntings, describing it as the "Haunted House Syndrome". Donnay says that carbon monoxide poisoning has been linked to haunted houses since at least the 1920s. He cites a 1921 journal article about a family who claimed hauntings because they suffered headaches, auditory hallucinations, fatigue, melancholy, and other symptoms which are also associated with carbon monoxide poisoning. In a modern example, Carrie Poppy, a writer and co-host of the podcast "Oh No, Ross and Carrie!", was convinced she was living in a haunted house. She felt she was being watched by a demon, experienced pressure on her chest and auditory hallucinations. Someone on a forum of skeptical paranormal investigators suggested she look into carbon monoxide poisoning. When the gas company arrived, unsafe levels of carbon monoxide were found.


title: Haunted house

text: Michael Persinger, an American-Canadian professor of psychology, suggested that perceived apparitions, cold spots, and ghostly touches are perceptual anomalies caused by variations in naturally occurring or man-made magnetic fields. However, a study by psychologist Chris French that attempted to replicate Persinger's findings found no link.


title: Haunted house

text: Investigations of supposed hauntings often result in simple explanations. For example, in an apparent haunted house in Somerset, England, in the eighteenth century, a boy would make the house shake by jumping on a beam in an adjoining property that ran through both houses. In 1857, a twelve-year-old girl confessed to tying her long hair around objects to give them the ghostly appearance of moving on their own. Tina Resch, a girl from Columbus, Ohio, who claimed that ghostly and paranormal activity occurred in her home, was photographed throwing a telephone while acting surprised at the sudden poltergeist activity.


title: Haunted house

text: Ben Radford, of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal, performed an investigation in 2003 on an allegedly haunted house in Buffalo, New York. The owner of the home, called Tom in the article (pseudonym), alleged that he felt tapping on his foot at night. As described by Tom, "I get a tapping on my feet, not a repetitive tap, a trying-to-wake-you-up tap… After the tapping, if I don’t pay attention to it, then I feel a kick." Radford suggests the tapping was likely a case of "hypnagogic hallucination (a sensory illusion that occurs in the transition to sleep), a fairly common phenomenon that can easily lead to misperceptions." His wife, called Monica (pseudonym), also claimed to feel tapping similar to Tom. According to Radford, "that can be explained by suggestion and what psychologists term Folie à deux, when one person (often a spouse) takes on the symptoms of another." Tom also describes that "it will kick the bed—it will hit the side of the bed. I feel my whole body move… Then if I go back to sleep, I start to get a sound sleep, that’s when it kicks again." Radford suggests his was likely due to restless leg syndrome in which a leg jerk in the middle of the night caused the bed to shake. Radford suggests that the owner's diagnosis of "sleep apnea is even further evidence for this explanation; restless legs (Restless Leg Syndrome) is actually one of the most common symptoms of apnea." Tom and Monica also heard ghostly music and voices, noises that they recorded from the top of the stairs, causing them to leave their home in fright. Radford conducted an experiment where he set the recording device in the same spot, turned it on, then walked outside with Tom, talking constantly. They returned to the house and listened to the tape. Their conversations could be clearly heard, though muffled. The couple then agreed that what they were hearing in their house previously were outside noises and not noises from the paranormal.


title: Haunted house

text: Another test done by Ben Radford in 2009 was to investigate the claim that batteries are drained by ghosts in haunted locations. He purchased four sets of identical batteries, sealed them in signed, Ziploc bags and wrapped them securely in strong tape to prevent tampering. He placed half of them in the reputed haunted Wolfe Manor, in Clovis, California, and half in a different location. Twenty four hours later he tested the batteries using a meter and discovered that there was no battery drainage in either location. Radford claims that simple, controlled experiments like this are important and should be conducted by ghost hunters to clearly demonstrate if there is a difference between a supposed haunted location and one that is not haunted.


title: Haunted house

text: A house in Amityville, on Long Island, New York, became the subject of books and films after apparent hauntings following the murder of the DeFeo family. The Lutz family purchased the home for a greatly reduced price but shortly after moving in claimed that doors were ripped open, damaging hinges and bending locks, windows were suddenly opened, green slime oozed from the ceiling and cloven-hooved footprints were left in the snow. The Lutzes remained in the home for only 28 days. In a court case where the Lutzes were sued, they admitted that almost everything in "The Amityville Horror" was fictional.


title: Haunted house

text: Borley Rectory, in England, was considered the most haunted house in the world, but its notoriety was deemed to have been created (or at least exaggerated) by Harry Price, an expert magician and proven hoaxer.


title: Haunted house

text: Casa Loma in Toronto, Canada was completed in 1914. There have been rumors of ghosts there for many years. It is now a historic house museum and landmark that is decorated as a haunted house at Halloween.


title: Haunted house

text: Corvin Castle in Romania is considered one of the world's top five haunted places. According to locals, it has been haunted by its former occupant, Vlad the Impaler, ever since he was killed in an ambush. It is also said to be haunted by the spirits of people killed within its walls.


title: Haunted house

text: The Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California is considered one of the most haunted houses in America, although there are no primary sources for the many ghost stories about it. They were most likely inspired by Sarah Winchester, who had her strange, complex, often illogical designs incorporated into the house for almost four decades.


title: Haunted house

text: Wukang Mansion, a historical house in Shanghai, has a reputation for being haunted because of the large number of suicides of celebrities, intellectuals, and state-persecuted people there.


title: Haunted house

text: Halloween themed haunted houses began appearing around the same time as "trick or treat", during the Great Depression, as a way to distract young people whose Halloween pranks had escalated to vandalism and harassment of passersby. These first haunted houses were low quality, being put together by groups of families in their basements. People would travel from home to home to experience a variety of frightening situations, such as hearing weird moans and howls, cardboard cutouts of black cats, damp sponges and hair nets hanging from the ceiling to touch people's faces, hanging fur on the walls of darkened hallways, and having to crawl through long dark tunnels.


title: Haunted house

text: In 1972 Jerry Falwell and Liberty University introduced one of the first "hell houses" as an anti-Halloween attraction. Some Christian churches run these, which while being haunted houses, also promote their interpretation of the Christian gospel message. According to "USA Today", in hell houses, "participants walk through several 'scenes' depicting the consequences of things like abortion, homosexuality and drunkenness."


title: Haunted house

text: The concept of the haunted house was capitalized on as early as 1915 with the Orton and Spooner Haunted House in the Hollycombe Steam Collection (England). The haunted house became a cultural icon when Disneyland's Haunted Mansion was opened in 1969. By the 1970s, commercial haunted houses had sprung up all over the United States in cities like Louisville, Kentucky and Cincinnati, Ohio. These houses are stereotypically Gilded Age homes because changing tastes of the nouveau riche left these homes abandoned or poorly maintained.


title: Haunted house

text: Hollywood slasher films such as "Halloween", "A Nightmare on Elm Street" and "Friday the 13th" had a large influence on commercial haunted houses in the 1980s and 1990s. Many of these houses included characters such as Freddy Krueger and Jason. A less popular film titled "Monster House" suggests the idea of a spirit actually taking control of a house and transforming it into an almost human body. By 2005, an estimated 3,500 to 5,000 professional haunted attractions operated in the United States.


title: Haunted house

text: Japanese commercial haunted houses, or obakeyashiki, are considered to be some of the best in the world. Experiences include being chased by gore-covered zombies, specially themed attractions, such as schools or hospital wards, and houses from which one must escape within 60 minutes or be found by "slaughtering criminals". Claiming to be the world's largest and most frightening haunted house, the Super Scary Labyrinth of Fear at Fuji-Q Highland Amusement Park, in Yamanashi Fujiyoshida-shi Shinnishihara, depicts horrific visual scenes, shrill cries, moans, and smells. It has been visited by over four million people.


title: Haunted house

text: Haunted Attractions come in several different types from hayrides, indoor haunted houses to outdoor screamparks. Many amusement parks now host large Halloween events featuring haunted houses.


title: Haunted house

text: In the case "Stambovsky v. Ackley", the Supreme Court of New York, Appellate Division, ruled in 1991 that a seller must disclose that a house has a reputation for being haunted because such a reputation may impair the value of the house:


title: Haunted house

text: In Hong Kong, where superstition is prevalent, people do not want to buy houses where anything unfortunate, especially a death, has occurred. For homes that are thought to be haunted, the prices are usually 15–20% below market value.


title: Haunted house

text: Legends about haunted houses have long appeared in literature. The earliest surviving report of a haunted house comes from a letter written by Pliny the Younger (61 – c. 112 CE) to his patron Lucias Sura, in which he describes a haunted villa in Athens. Nobody would live in the house until the philosopher Athenodorus (c. 74 BCE – 7 CE) arrived in the city. He was tempted by the low rent and undeterred by the house's reputation so he moved in. The ghost, an old man bound with chains, appeared to Athenodorus during the first night and beckoned to him. The apparition vanished once it reached the courtyard, and Athenodorus carefully marked the spot. The following morning he requested the magistrate to have the spot dug up, where the skeleton of an old man bound with chains was discovered. The ghost never appeared again after the skeleton was given a proper burial.


title: Haunted house

text: Stories of haunted houses are also included in the "Arabian Nights", as in the tale of "Ali the Cairene and the Haunted House in Baghdad".


title: Haunted house

text: The first gothic novel, "The Castle of Otranto" (1764) by Horace Walpole, is set in a haunted castle. One of the most prominent twentieth-century books featuring the classic ideal of a haunted house is Shirley Jackson's "The Haunting of Hill House", which was the finalist for the National Book Award in 1959. Other notable works of fiction featuring haunted houses include Henry James's "The Turn of the Screw", Stephen King's "The Shining" and Anne Rivers Siddons' "The House Next Door".


title: Baked Alaska (livestreamer)

text: Anthime Joseph "Tim" Gionet (born ), more commonly known as Baked Alaska, is an American far-right media personality who gained notoriety through his advocacy on behalf of alt-right and white supremacist ideology. He has also used the alias Tim Treadstone.


title: Baked Alaska (livestreamer)

text: Prior to his 2016 transformation into an alt-right activist, Gionet was initially a rapper and Internet prankster. He later worked as a commentator for "BuzzFeed", where he supported libertarian and progressive political positions and marched in support of Black Lives Matter. In 2016, Gionet turned to the politics of Donald Trump and the alt-right in what he described as a rejection of "political correctness". By 2017, Gionet's political views had radicalized; that year, he began to use his social media platform and Internet activism to promote racist and antisemitic ideologies. He also played a role in the 2017 white supremacist Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.


title: Baked Alaska (livestreamer)

text: At the beginning of 2019, Gionet claimed to have abandoned the alt-right and released videos in which he denounced the alt-right and meme culture as sources of terrorism and violence. As part of an attempt to rebrand himself, he gave a series of interviews condemning the alt-right and expressed plans to establish a non-profit organization in order to teach anti-racism to white supremacists. However, in November of the same year, Gionet reverted to his earlier politics, professing far-right ideology and collaborating with the white nationalist Groyper movement. He then began to earn notoriety for his livestreams, in which he would antagonize or harass bystanders, resulting in an assault charge in December 2020.


title: Baked Alaska (livestreamer)

text: Originally known as an Extremely Online personality, Baked Alaska was gradually banned from most mainstream social media platforms. In January 2021, Gionet livestreamed the U.S. Capitol building breach by a pro-Trump mob, which was found to be a violation of his release. It was later reported that Gionet's footage was used by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to identify other tresspassers. Gionet was later arrested by federal agents that month in connection with his activities at the Capitol. , Gionet remains out of custody and has continued livestreaming while facing federal charges.


title: Baked Alaska (livestreamer)

text: Gionet was born in Anchorage, Alaska, to a family of eight. His father is a pharmacist and his mother is a nurse. Both his parents are devout Christians who operate a non-profit organization aimed at promoting Christianity and providing medical supplies to orphanages in eastern Russia. During his formative years, Gionet was actively involved in his parents' charity and went to Russia with them numerous times. Five of his siblings were adopted from Russia. As an adolescent, Gionet spent a year and a half in the Russian city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. He later said that part of his "chaotic nature" may have stemmed from this experience.


title: Baked Alaska (livestreamer)

text: In 2006, Gionet left Alaska for Los Angeles and attended Azusa Pacific University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in marketing.


title: Baked Alaska (livestreamer)

text: While working at Warner Records, Gionet was a social media and marketing intern for Warped Tour. Kevin Lyman gave him the nickname "Alaska" in reference to where he grew up. In order to make it more "unique", Gionet changed the nickname to "Baked Alaska", a reference to him being a marijuana user at the time and a play on the dessert of the same name.


title: Baked Alaska (livestreamer)

text: In 2011, Gionet worked for Capitol Records for a short time, before pursuing his own career in rap music with a "wild, redneck, kick-ass" persona. He kept his nickname Baked Alaska as a stage name. His rap songs used a satirical tone and traded on his Alaskan roots, with titles like "I Live on Glaciers" or "I Climb Mountains". In 2013, the "Anchorage Daily News" published a profile of Baked Alaska, describing him as a "comedy/music video artist".


title: Baked Alaska (livestreamer)

text: Gionet also posted many humorous videos on Vine where he became known as a prankster, achieving some online popularity. A video of him pouring a gallon of milk on his face attracted several millions of views. He called himself at the time a "cross between Weird Al, Lonely Island, Borat and Jackass".


title: Baked Alaska (livestreamer)

text: Gionet attempted to promote his rap career by producing several professionally-made videos, which failed to become viral. While in Los Angeles, he was also involved in the party scene and had issues with drugs and alcohol, leading him to seek professional help to get sober. Unhappy with his life in Los Angeles and the lack of progress of his musical career, Gionet was planning to return to Alaska when his social media skills and popularity on Vine led him to be hired by "BuzzFeed".


title: Baked Alaska (livestreamer)

text: From 2015 to 2016, Gionet worked for "BuzzFeed" as a social media strategist, and later commentator. He first managed "BuzzFeed"'s Vine account, then took over one of its Twitter accounts. As he had done during his rap career, Gionet was protective of his real name while he worked at "BuzzFeed"; most of his colleagues knew him only as "Alaska" and some of his employers believed his family name was "Treadstone", after another of his aliases. At the time he identified politically as a libertarian, supporting Rand Paul's White House bid and the legalization of marijuana, and participating in Black Lives Matter street demonstrations. For a time, he kept a Bernie Sanders poster at his desk, but later started wearing MAGA hats around the office. Gionet claims to have left "BuzzFeed" and turned to the politics of Donald Trump and the alt-right in rejection of "political correctness". He commented in 2017, ""BuzzFeed" turned me into a monster".


title: Baked Alaska (livestreamer)

text: After leaving "BuzzFeed" in 2016, Gionet traveled as Milo Yiannopoulos' "Dangerous Faggot" Tour manager. He later stopped working for Yiannopoulos, who reportedly found his views too extreme.


title: Baked Alaska (livestreamer)

text: In May 2016, Gionet was introduced to then-candidate Donald Trump, and Trump signed Gionet's arm next to where he had Trump's face tattooed. Later that month, Gionet released the song "MAGA Anthem", which featured pro-Trump lyrics and amassed more than 100,000 views on YouTube. Mike Cernovich then hired Gionet to work on a project dedicated to gathering Trump supporters. Following the 2016 presidential election, Gionet continued his pro-Trump activism, delivering speeches and participating in multiple rallies.


title: Baked Alaska (livestreamer)

text: Gionet was also known for spearheading the #DumpKelloggs and #TrumpCup hashtag campaigns. #TrumpCup was a Twitter trend in November 2016; following allegations that a Starbucks employee refused to write "Trump" on a cup, Gionet began a campaign instructing patrons to claim their name was "Trump", forcing baristas to write it. The hashtag trended with more than 27,000 tweets in the span of two days. #DumpKelloggs was an attempted boycott in response to Kellogg pulling ads from "Breitbart".


title: Baked Alaska (livestreamer)

text: In late 2016, conflict arose between Cernovich and Gionet when Gionet made antisemitic remarks on Twitter, claiming the media was "run in majority by Jewish people". Gionet was disinvited from DeploraBall, an unofficial inaugural ball for the alt-right. Gionet later mended his relationship with Cernovich, saying that he had been "heated" when he made those posts, and that he had misspoken.


title: Baked Alaska (livestreamer)

text: In February 2017, Gionet called for a boycott of Netflix in response to the announcement of "Dear White People". He claimed that the show was "anti-white" and promoted "white genocide". In July 2017, Gionet wrote and self-published a book, "Meme Magic Secrets Revealed", through Amazon. The book was removed as a copyright violation due to its use of Pepe the Frog on the cover. Also that year, Gionet participated in an alt-right rally outside the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., and later addressed participants at the white nationalist Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, on August 11, 2017. At the Unite the Right rally, he marched and chanted, "You will not replace us", "White Lives Matter", and "I'm proud to be white". Gionet was maced by unknown assailants during the rally; a video which showed him pouring milk on his face to try to neutralize the chemical went viral in September 2017.


title: Baked Alaska (livestreamer)

text: On social media, Gionet has frequently promoted the Fourteen Words, a white supremacist slogan. He has also hosted an online talk show in which he interviewed far right personalities such as neo-Nazi Richard B. Spencer. He was permanently banned from Twitter after posting a photoshopped image of Laura Loomer, a Jewish far-right activist, inside a gas chamber. In December 2022, Gionet had his original Twitter account reinstated.


title: Baked Alaska (livestreamer)

text: Since 2016, Gionet has frequently changed his political ideology, and has on various occasions oscillated between far-right ideology and anti-racist progressivism. After years of promoting white nationalist and alt-right politics, in March 2019, Gionet attempted to rebrand himself as a reformed ex-racist, who had come to recognize that the alt-right and meme culture were hateful and led to terrorism and violence. He released an emotional video apologizing for his past participation in meme culture, and stated: "I was brainwashed, I felt like I was part of a cult". Gionet also alleged a link between meme culture and the Christchurch mosque shootings, and warned of conservatives becoming radicalized to the far-right. In the course of his attempted rebranding, Gionet claimed in an interview with "The Daily Beast" that he was never serious about far-right politics, and thought that the alt-right "was just fun memes and jokes and edgy 4chan posting" until he "got to the end of this rabbit hole and realized these guys are serious". Gionet purportedly abandoned his support for President Trump, and began promoting 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang, such as in his rap music video "Yang Gang Anthem".


title: Baked Alaska (livestreamer)

text: Without finding success in this rebranding, Gionet relocated to Phoenix, Arizona, by July 2019. He livestreamed at a left-wing protest, alternately pretending to be a reporter and protester, antagonizing journalists, and provoking protesters on camera.


title: Baked Alaska (livestreamer)

text: In November 2019, Gionet officially reverted his politics. He deleted his apology videos, and began collaborating with the white nationalist Groyper movement in its "trolling" of Turning Point USA rallies.


title: Baked Alaska (livestreamer)

text: From 2019, Gionet became known for his livestreams in which he often filmed himself variously annoying, harassing, insulting and sometimes pepper spraying bystanders at the whims of his audience.


title: Baked Alaska (livestreamer)

text: During 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Gionet would film himself trespassing on privately owned establishments that require the wearing of face coverings, while refusing to wear one. He would mock and insult employees of these establishments for wearing masks, and refuse to leave when told to do so. He eventually posted on social media that he had contracted COVID-19.


title: Baked Alaska (livestreamer)

text: As he livestreamed, Gionet received donations from his audience. He was reportedly paid tens of thousands of dollars by Internet viewers who found his conduct amusing, or agreed with the political messages. In October 2020, he was banned from YouTube for his repeated illegal behavior. Later on, he used the streaming service IP2Always.Win, which is known for hosting similar videos.


title: Baked Alaska (livestreamer)

text: On January 6, 2021, Gionet participated in the attack on the U.S. Capitol in support of then-President Trump. Due to bans from other platforms, Gionet used the service DLive to livestream his actions outside and inside the building. About 16,000 people watched his Capitol livestream. DLive later suspended several accounts, removed broadcasts, and suspended earnings of those who participated in the Capitol riot, including Gionet's. Gionet was also banned from TikTok following these events. On January 13, it was reported that Gionet's livestream was being used by the FBI to identify and track down suspects who had broken into the Capitol building, some of whom Gionet had interviewed.


title: Baked Alaska (livestreamer)

text: Gionet was arrested in multiple livestreamed instances of trespassing and assault, including pepper spraying a bouncer, in Scottsdale, Arizona, in December 2020. Following this particular incident, Gionet was found guilty of assault, disorderly conduct, and criminal trespass, all misdemeanors. On January 13, 2022, Gionet was sentenced to 30 days in jail.


title: Baked Alaska (livestreamer)

text: On January 14, 2021, Gionet failed to appear at a court hearing in Scottsdale in which prosecutors aimed to revoke his pre-trial release that had been granted after his December 2020 arrest related to the incident with the bouncer. Prosecutors argued that Gionet had violated his bail conditions multiple times in relation to the 2021 Capitol attack: by leaving the state of Arizona, by knowingly entering and remaining on the Capitol grounds without lawful authority, and by violently entering and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. An Arizona judge issued a warrant for Gionet's arrest due to breach of bail conditions. He was apprehended by the FBI in Houston, Texas, on January 15, 2021. , Gionet was still awaiting trial on federal charges, but was not in custody.


title: Baked Alaska (livestreamer)

text: On November 3, 2021, Maricopa County prosecutors charged Gionet with misdemeanor criminal damage and attempted criminal damage over an incident in which Gionet allegedly defaced a Hanukkah display. The charges relate to a livestream from December 19, 2020, during which Gionet recorded himself tearing a "Happy Hanukkah" sign from a menorah in front of the Arizona State Capitol, saying "No more 'Happy Hanukkah', only 'Merry Christmas.


title: Baked Alaska (livestreamer)

text: In February 2022, Gionet was sentenced to 30 days in jail for his assault conviction of macing an Arizona bouncer in Scottsdale.


title: Baked Alaska (livestreamer)

text: In July 2022, Gionet pleaded guilty to parading, demonstrating or picketing inside a Capitol building, a misdemeanor. He faces up to six months in jail.


title: Miriam Rivera

text: Miriam Rivera (1981 – 5 February 2019), known by the mononym Miriam, was a Mexican-born transgender model and TV personality, who resided in New York City, who became known for starring on the British reality television show "There's Something About Miriam" and guesting on "Big Brother Australia 2004". She became recognized as the first openly transgender reality television star. Rivera also modelled and, using the name Victoria, performed in pornography.


title: Miriam Rivera

text: She was found dead in February 2019 at her apartment in Sonora, Mexico. She was deemed to have died by suicide, but her husband believed she had been murdered.


title: Miriam Rivera

text: In 2021, Wondery published an investigative podcast series into Rivera's life and her appearance on the show "There's Something About Miriam" titled "". In June 2022, a similar three-part documentary series, called "Miriam: Death of a Reality Star", was commissioned by Channel 4 from Expectation Entertainment.


title: Miriam Rivera

text: Rivera was born in 1981 in Mexico. She was assigned male at birth and desired a gender confirming surgery at the age of four. She said that while her three brothers liked baseball, she preferred Barbie dolls. Rivera said strangers assumed she was a girl:


title: Miriam Rivera

text: Rivera said she soon started taking hormones. She told reporters she came out after being suspended from school at age 12, and her family was supportive.


title: Miriam Rivera

text: Remy Blumenfeld first saw Rivera participating in a girl band, after which he planned to cast her in a TV show that was later released as "There's Something About Miriam". She was filmed in Ibiza for "There's Something About Miriam" in 2003, but the show's airdate was delayed until out-of-court settlement of litigation by contestants in 2004. It originally aired in the United Kingdom on Sky1 in February 2004. Hosted by Tim Vincent, it featured six men wooing Rivera without revealing that she was transgender until the final episode. Rivera enjoyed the attention she received following the show.


title: Miriam Rivera

text: After the high ratings for the show, she was cast as a guest on "Big Brother Australia 2004", also produced by Endemol. A documentary about her life was commissioned but not aired.


title: Miriam Rivera

text: She stated she never planned to have sex reassignment surgery, citing concerns about complications or loss of sensation. She said, "My mother always says to me, 'Why would you want to be half-and-half? Why don't you want to be a complete woman?' But I just love myself and I'm really enjoying my life."


title: Miriam Rivera

text: The "New York Post" reported that Rivera was seriously injured in 2007 when she was thrown out of a third-story window at her home. Rivera later told reporters she fell out of a fourth-story window while trying to escape a burglar. In 2008, she was a special guest on Ewa Drzyzga's TVN show "Rozmowy w toku" in Poland. In more recent years, Rivera was active in Manhattan's ball culture.


title: Miriam Rivera

text: Rivera was married to Daniel Cuervo, with whom she lived in New York City. She was found dead on 5 February 2019, in her apartment in Mexico. Her death was confirmed by Cuervo in a Facebook post and received news coverage six months later. Her death was classified as suicide by hanging by the police, but Cuervo believes she was murdered. Cuervo received a death threat from someone who told him to "never come back to Mexico" and not to prepare her funeral.


title: Via Rail

text: Via Rail Canada Inc. (), operating as Via Rail or Via, is a Canadian Crown corporation that is mandated to operate intercity passenger rail service in Canada. It receives an annual subsidy from Transport Canada to offset the cost of operating services connecting remote communities.


title: Via Rail

text: Via Rail operates over 500 trains per week across eight Canadian provinces and of track, 97 per cent of which is owned and maintained by other railway companies, mostly by Canadian National Railway (CN). Via Rail carried approximately 4.39 million passengers in 2017, the majority along the "Corridor" routes connecting the major cities of the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor, and had an on-time performance of 73 per cent.


title: Via Rail

text: Yearly passenger levels on Canada's passenger trains peaked at 60 million during World War II. Following the war the growth of air travel and the personal automobile caused significant loss of mode share for Canada's passenger train operators. By the 1960s it was obvious to both Canadian National Railway (CN) and the Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) that passenger trains were no longer economically viable. CP sought to divest itself of its passenger trains, but federal government regulators and politicians balked, forcing them to maintain a minimal service through the 1970s, with the government subsidizing up to 80 percent of losses. CN, being a Crown corporation at that time, was encouraged by the federal government and political interests to invest in passenger trains. Innovative marketing schemes such as "Red, White, and Blue" fares, new equipment such as scenic dome cars and rail diesel cars, and services such as Rapido and the UAC TurboTrain trains temporarily increased numbers of passengers, reversing previous declines.


title: Via Rail

text: These increases proved temporary; by 1977, total passenger numbers had dropped below five million. The decline of passenger rail became a federal election issue in 1974 when the government of Pierre Trudeau promised to implement a nationwide carrier similar to Amtrak in the United States. Starting in 1976, CN began branding its passenger services with the bilingual name Via or Via CN. The Via logo began to appear on CN passenger locomotives and cars, while still carrying CN logos as well. That September, Via published a single timetable with information on both CN and CP trains, marking the first time that Canadians could find all major passenger trains in one publication. In 1977, CN underwent a dramatic restructuring when it placed various non-core freight railway activities into separate subsidiaries, such as ferries under CN Marine, and passenger trains under Via Rail which was subsequently renamed Via Rail Canada.


title: Via Rail

text: On 12 January 1977, CN spun off its passenger services as a separate Crown corporation, Via Rail Canada. At its inception, Via acquired all CN passenger cars and locomotives. Following several months of negotiation, on 29 October 1978, Via assumed all CP passenger train operations and took possession of cars and locomotives. Passenger train services which were not included in the creation of Via Rail included those offered by BC Rail, Algoma Central Railway, Ontario Northland Railway, Quebec North Shore & Labrador Railway, various urban commuter train services operated by CN and CP, and remaining CN passenger services in Newfoundland. At this time, Via did not own any trackage and had to pay right-of-way fees to CN and CP, sometimes being the only user of rural branch lines.


title: Via Rail

text: Via initially had a tremendous variety of equipment — much of it in need of replacement — and operated routes stretching from Sydney, Nova Scotia to Prince Rupert, British Columbia and north to Churchill, Manitoba. Over 150 scheduled trains per week were in operation, including transcontinental services, regional trains, and corridor services.


title: Via Rail

text: While Via remains an independent federal Crown corporation mandated to operate as a business, it is hindered by the fact that it was created by an Order in Council and not from legislation passed by Parliament. Had Via been enabled by legislation, the company would be permitted to seek funding on the open money markets as other Crown corporations such as CN have done in the past. It is largely for this reason that critics say Via—like Amtrak in the United States—is vulnerable to federal budget cuts and continues to answer first to its political masters, as opposed to the business decisions needed to ensure the viability of intercity passenger rail service.


title: Via Rail

text: Greater numbers of passengers would not be Via's saviour. In 1981, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau's government endorsed Minister of Transport Jean-Luc Pépin's plan which slashed Via's budget, leading to a 40 percent reduction in the company's operations. Frequently sold-out trains such as the "Super Continental" (which reduced Via to operating only one transcontinental train, "The Canadian") and the popular "Atlantic" were discontinued.


title: Via Rail

text: Via also sought to reduce its reliance on over 30-year-old second-hand equipment and placed a significant order with Bombardier Transportation for new high-speed locomotives and cars which would be used in its corridor trains. The LRC (Light, Rapid, Comfortable) locomotives and cars used advanced technology such as active tilt to increase speed, but proved troublesome and took several years to work out problems (by 1990 only a handful of LRC locomotives remained in service which were subsequently retired by the arrival of the GE Genesis locomotives in 2001).


title: Via Rail

text: The election of Brian Mulroney's Progressive Conservative government in 1984 brought an initial friend to Via, when several of Mulroney's commitments included rescinding the Via cuts of 1981 by restoring the "Super Continental" (under pressure from his western caucus), and the "Atlantic" (under pressure from his eastern caucus and then-Saint John mayor Elsie Wayne). Prime Minister Mulroney's government gave Via funding to refurbish some of its cars, and purchase new locomotives, this time a more reliable model from General Motors diesel division.


title: Via Rail

text: It was during this time on 8 February 1986, that Via's eastbound "Super Continental" collided with a CN freight train near Hinton, Alberta, as a result of the freight train crew missing a signal light, resulting in 23 deaths.


title: Via Rail

text: By the late 1980s, inflation and other rising costs were taking their toll on federal budgets and in the Mulroney government's 1989 budget, Via again saw its budget slashed, surpassing even the 1981 cuts under Trudeau.


title: Via Rail

text: Minister of Transport Benoît Bouchard oversaw the reduction in service on 15 January 1990, when Via's operations were reduced by 55 percent. Services such as the "Super Continental" were again discontinued, along with numerous disparate rural services such as in Nova Scotia's Annapolis Valley and Cape Breton Island, western Canada, and in the corridor. "The Canadian" was also moved from its home rails on CP to the northerly CN route (previously plied by the "Super Continental"). The shift to the less populated (and less scenic) route between Toronto and Vancouver severed major western cities such as Regina and Calgary from the passenger rail network and flared western bitterness toward the Government of Canada.


title: Via Rail

text: The official justification for the rerouting was that the trains would serve more remote communities, but the concentration of ridings held by the Progressive Conservatives along the CN route attracted the charge that the move was chiefly political. Harvie André, one of Alberta's federal cabinet ministers who represented Calgary, stated publicly that he did not care if he never saw a passenger train again in his life.


title: Via Rail

text: The Mulroney cuts allowed Via to consolidate its fleet of cars and locomotives, resulting in a fleet of refurbished stainless steel (HEP-1 and HEP-2 rebuilds) and LRC cars, as well as rationalizing its locomotive fleet with GM and Bombardier (LRC) units.


title: Via Rail

text: Via was not spared from further cutbacks in Jean Chrétien's Liberal government elected in 1993. Minister of Finance Paul Martin's first budget in 1994 saw further Via cuts which saw the popular "Atlantic" dropped from the schedule, focusing the eastern transcontinental service on the "Ocean". CP had sold off a large portion of track the "Atlantic" had operated on and, as Via at that time was only mandated to provide passenger services on tracks belonging to CN or CP, the route was discontinued. This move was seen as somewhat controversial and politically motivated as the principal cities benefiting from the "Atlantic's" service were Sherbrooke, Quebec and Saint John, New Brunswick, where the only two Progressive Conservative Party Members of Parliament in Canada were elected in the 1993 federal election in which Chrétien's Liberal Party took power. The "Ocean" service which was preserved currently operates on track between Montreal and Halifax running through the lower St. Lawrence River valley and northern New Brunswick. The Minister of Transport in Chrétien's government at the time, Douglas Young, was elected from a district that included Bathurst, New Brunswick, on the "Ocean's" route. A remote Via service to Quebec's Gaspé Peninsula, the "Chaleur" was also spared from being cut at this time, despite carrying fewer passengers than the "Atlantic".


title: Via Rail

text: By the late 1990s, with a rail-friendly Minister of Transport, David Collenette, in office, there were modest funding increases to Via. Corridor services were improved with new and faster trains, a weekly tourist train, the "Bras d'Or", returned Via service to Cape Breton Island for the first time since the 1990 cuts, and a commitment was made to continue operating on Vancouver Island, but western Canada continued to languish with the only service provided by the "Canadian" and a few remote service trains in northern BC and Manitoba.


title: Via Rail

text: In a significant new funding program dubbed "Renaissance", a fleet of unused passenger cars which had been built for planned "Nightstar" sleeper services between locations in the United Kingdom and Continental Europe via the Channel Tunnel were purchased and adapted following the cancellation of the "Nightstar" project. The new "Renaissance" cars were swiftly nicknamed "déplaisance" ("displeasure") by French-speaking employees and customers, due to early problems adapting the equipment for Canadian use. Doors and toilets froze in cold Atlantic Canada temperatures, resulting in delays and service interruptions. New diesel-electric P42DC locomotives purchased from General Electric (GE) allowed the withdrawal of older locomotives, including remaining LRCs. LRC passenger cars were retained and continued to provide much of the Corridor service. This expansion to Via's fleet has permitted scheduling flexibility. Additionally, many passenger stations have been remodelled into passenger-friendly destinations, with several hosting co-located transit and regional bus hubs for various municipalities.


title: Via Rail

text: On 24 October 2003, federal Minister of Transport David Collenette announced $700 million in new funding over the next five years. This funding was below the $3 billion needed to implement a high-speed rail proposal in the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor nicknamed ViaFast; however, the funding was intended to "provide for faster, more frequent and more reliable passenger service across Canada... [preserving] the option for higher speed rail, such as the Via Fast proposal," said Collenette. This new project was to be called "Renaissance II".


title: Via Rail

text: On 18 December 2003, Liberal Prime Minister (PM) Paul Martin announced a freeze in federal spending on all major capital projects, including Via's five-year $700 million "Renaissance II" program announced just six weeks earlier by outgoing PM Chrétien's administration. Critics of Martin's cuts claimed that he was in a distinct conflict of interest as his family through Canada Steamship Lines and various subsidiary and affiliated companies had once had a significant investment in the Voyageur Colonial Bus Lines, an intercity bus line in Quebec and eastern Ontario that is a key competitor of Via.


title: Via Rail

text: Route cuts under the Martin government included the withdrawal of the seasonal "Bras d'Or" tourist train, which ran for the last time in September 2004, and the Montreal-Toronto overnight "Enterprise", which was discontinued in September 2005. The Sarnia-Chicago "International" was also discontinued in April 2004 by Amtrak. Via's portion of the route from Toronto-Sarnia remained in operation as Via was able to use their own equipment to operate the train.


title: Via Rail

text: The federal Auditor General's report released publicly on 10 February 2004 showed what appeared to be a criminal misdirection of government funds intended for advertising to key Quebec-based supporters of the Liberal Party of Canada. Included in the Auditor General's report was the fact that Via was used as one of several federal government departments, agencies, and Crown corporations to funnel these illicit funds. Forced to act on the Auditor General's report due to its political implications, Martin's government suspended Via President Marc LeFrançois on 24 February 2004, giving him an ultimatum of several days to defend himself against allegations in the report or face further disciplinary action.


title: Via Rail

text: Several days later during LeFrançois's suspension, former Via marketing department employee Myriam Bédard claimed she was fired several years earlier when she questioned company billing practices in dealing with advertising companies. (According to CBC News, an arbitrator's report later concluded that Bédard had voluntarily left Via.) She was publicly belittled by Via CEO Jean Pelletier in national media on 27 February 2004. Pelletier retracted his statements but on 1 March, Pelletier was fired. By 5 March, after failing to defend himself adequately against the allegations in the Auditor General's report, LeFrançois was fired as well.


title: Via Rail

text: The reversal of funding in 2003 led to a backlog of deferred maintenance and left Via unable to replace or refurbish life-expired locomotives and rolling stock. Conversely, Via ridership increased from 3.8 million in 2005 to 4.1 million in 2006. On 11 October 2007, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced federal government funding of $691.9 million over five years (of which $519 million for capital projects), and the remainder additional operating funding. The capital funding was earmarked to refurbish Via's fleet of 54 F40PH-2 locomotives to meet new emissions standards and extend their service lives by 15–20 years, refurbish the interiors of LRC coaches, reduce track capacity bottlenecks and speed restrictions in the Windsor-Quebec City Corridor, and make repairs to a number of stations across the network.


title: Via Rail

text: This announcement was similar in content to the previous "Renaissance II" package, and once again was criticized for not including new equipment or funding for services outside the Windsor-Quebec City Corridor. Shortly afterwards, documents obtained by "The Canadian Press" under the "Access to Information Act" revealed that delays due to equipment failures had risen by 60 percent since the previous year. The company attributed this to problems with the aging F40 locomotive fleet.


title: Via Rail

text: On 27 January 2009, the Government of Canada announced in its 2009 Economic Action Plan that it would increase funding to Via by $407 million to support improvements, including increased train frequencies and enhanced on-time performance and speed, particularly in the Montreal-Ottawa-Toronto corridor.


title: Via Rail

text: On 21 July 2009, Via announced its engineers would go on strike as of 24 July if no deal was reached by then, and began cancelling all trains in anticipation of strike. The strike officially began at midnight on July 24 after it became clear that no deal had been reached. Engineers had been without a contract since 31 December 2006. Full service resumed on 27 July 2009. An additional strike by the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) union, representing around 2,200 employees, was planned to begin on 4 July 2010, but was called off after the union and Via reached a three-year contract.


title: Via Rail

text: Via experienced more service cuts at the dawn of the 2010. In March 2011, the daily Victoria–Courtenay "The Malahat" RDC service on Vancouver Island was suspended indefinitely due to deteriorating track (it has yet to resume). By 27 June 2012, Via announced additional service cuts due to funding issues:


title: Via Rail

text: To address declining on-time performance due to freight train traffic on Via routes, MP Olivia Chow drafted a private member's bill in 2014 that would reorganize the company and allow the government to force freight rail carriers to give scheduling priority to public passenger rail. However, as with most private member's bills, it was not passed.


title: Via Rail

text: The Quebec-Windsor corridor was the focus of service restorations and implements. A direct Ottawa-Quebec City train was restored, with additional trips between Ottawa, Montreal and Toronto being added. In 2016, LRC passenger cars used for the corridor were refurbished; in the Via 1 class, this included single seating.


title: Via Rail

text: In March 2017, Via announced the release of a new category of rail pass valid for the month of July 2017 (corresponding to Canada's sesquicentennial celebrations) for youth aged 18–25, costing $150 (several hundred dollars cheaper than a comparable rail pass would typically cost). A larger than expected response resulted in the temporary loss of functionality for Via's website. Despite plans to cap the number of passes sold at 1867 (the year of Canadian Confederation), over 4,000 passes were ultimately sold. The company received significant backlash, as it initially appeared there was no limit on the number of passes available.


title: Via Rail

text: Extreme winter conditions had always been an operational hazard for Via, with the Ottawa routes and "Canadian" being most vulnerable. Equally, summer repairs and construction often delayed trains systemwide, even though schedules were regularly adjusted in an attempt to minimize delays.


title: Via Rail

text: However, by 2018, freight traffic on the heavily used CN lines had become a significant concern for maintaining on-time service. This issue arose due to typical siding sizes, which were not long enough to accommodate modern freight trains. Passenger trains were consequently placed on sidings whenever two trains passed (rather than freights), which meant that passenger trains did not have priority on CN lines. The issue existed in all parts of the Via network, although it became most extreme on the "Canadian", where delays increased from an average of five hours to as much as 50 over the four-day journey. Via ultimately addressed the issue by eliminating its late policy on its cross-Canada trains but retaining it for the "Corridor" routes. However, Via continues to compensate inconvenienced guests with necessary hotel accommodations prior to the journey, as well as ensuring continued transportation where a connection to a second Via train had been missed. As such, compensation costs were factored into Via's 2018 budget.


title: Via Rail

text: By the end of 2018, the full route time on the "Canadian" had been increased twice to absorb freight delays. The second extension – to five days – has been mostly successful in decreasing delays, and also allowed for a daytime transit of Hells Gate in BC, previously transversed overnight in the dark. The scheduled increased running time actually resulted in the "Canadian" arriving early on several occasions. However, Toronto–Vancouver service frequencies were reduced to only twice weekly during peak summer period, with a third Toronto–Edmonton run suspended entirely.


title: Via Rail

text: On 12 December 2018, Via announced that it had awarded a contract to Siemens Canada for 32 train sets to replace the entire Quebec City-Windsor "Corridor" fleet. This marked the completion of a procurement process launched following the 2018 federal budget, which allocated funding for the fleet replacement. During the request-for-proposals stage, Via had narrowed the potential suppliers down to Siemens, Bombardier, Talgo and Stadler Rail. Siemens was ultimately selected after finishing first on the key criteria, which included the ability to deliver in a timely fashion, the quality of the product offering, and the price. The new fleet will consist of Siemens SC-42 locomotives hauling a combination of coaches, business-class cars, and cab cars from the Siemens Venture series to allow bi-directional operation. The trains will be built at Siemens plant in Sacramento, California, and Siemens committed to including at least 20 percent Canadian content in the final product. The order includes an option for an additional 16 train sets to be exercised if the federal government approves Via's high-frequency dedicated-corridor project. The first train set is to be delivered for testing by winter 2021, with the first sets in service by 2022 and all trains in service by 2024. The delivery of the new trains will allow Via to retire LRC and Renaissance equipment from the corridor, and re-allocate the HEP2 and corridor-based HEP1 cars to other parts of the network.


title: Via Rail

text: On October 30, 2021, Via Rail implemented a mandatory COVID-19 vaccine policy in line with new Transport Canada regulations in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic which requires all Via Rail staff and passengers aged 12 and older to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to travel aboard Via Rail trains. Although up until November 30 a negative COVID test was also considered an alternate to show proof of vaccine prior to boarding.


title: Via Rail

text: On March 9, 2022, Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra announced that the federal government would be seeking private proposals for to cover service on the new High Frenquency Rail corridor. Labor union Unifor has fiercely criticized this move, calling it a first step toward eventual privatization of VIA Rail, and has launched the Get Canada Back on Track campaign to raise awareness and call for "a legislative framework that protects public, accessible, safe passenger rail and directs immediate public investments" to service improvements.


title: Via Rail

text: In addition to using commercial logos, Via Rail is one of several Crown corporations that has been granted heraldic symbols by the Canadian Heraldic Authority.


title: Via Rail

text: An heraldic badge was approved for use at the same time as the coat of arms. The badge design follows the design of a law enforcement agency badge in Canada, denoting the responsibilities of Via Rail police constables. The Royal Crown indicates that Via Rail has police constables appointed for the enforcement of the laws relating to the protection of persons and property.


title: Via Rail

text: A flag was also granted by the Canadian Heraldic Authority. It is black and charged with Via Rail's badge.


title: Via Rail

text: Via is operated as an independent crown corporation and receives a subsidy from the Minister of Transport to provide service to remote communities. Via operates more than 500 trains per week from coast to coast. The sum of $369 million was earned from passenger revenues in 2018. Over 4.74 million passenger voyages were taken in 2018. An on-time ratio of 71 percent was achieved in that year. Over 3,115 persons were employed by Via by the end of 2018.


title: Via Rail

text: Via president Yves Desjardins-Siciliano stated that the subsidy for passenger rail travel in Canada in 2015 was about 200 percent: for every $1 travellers spend on fares, Canada pays $2 in subsidy.


title: Via Rail

text: As of May 2019, the chair of the board of directors is Françoise Bertrand. The Annual accounts of Via are audited to GAAP principles by the Auditor-General of Canada, under the Financial Administration Act. Via Rail Canada Inc. is incorporated under the CBCA and is subject to income taxes, should a profit ever be declared by it. The corporation had $9,300,000 in share capital as of 2018. Via also received $394.4 million of government funding in 2018.


title: Via Rail

text: Via has explored the introduction of daily regional service in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick (connecting Halifax, Moncton, and Campbellton) to complement the thrice-weekly "Ocean" service to Montreal. As of 2017, Via's statement was that it was "exploring an eastern intercity corridor service" and that further developments were dependent on infrastructure upgrades and equipment testing.


title: Via Rail

text: Via has also expressed interest in operating commuter rail service on CN tracks in Halifax that would run from the city's downtown station as far as Windsor Junction. However, in June 2019, Halifax regional council voted unanimously to direct staff "not to pursue commuter rail service further ... due to infrastructure requirements and associated financial implications, as well as operational considerations and restraints".


title: Via Rail

text: Via developed a $4.4 billion high-frequency rail (HFR) service plan as a response to delays faced by sharing tracks with freight trains. The plan opts for a dedicated track between Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, and Quebec City, offering more frequent trains (although running at conventional speeds). In Ontario, Via would run a new rail line on currently underused tracks from Toronto to Ottawa through Peterborough instead of Kingston. In Quebec, corridor trains would travel from Montreal to Quebec City through Trois-Rivières on the north shore of the St. Lawrence River rather than on the south shore through Drummondville. Via claimed this would allow them to run more trains in the corridor, reduce trip times by 25 per cent and improve on-time performance to over 95 per cent.