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N0KFQ > TODAY 09.01.15 19:00l 67 Lines 3150 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 44311_N0KFQ
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Subj: Today in History - Jan 9
Path: IZ3LSV<I0OJJ<N6RME<N0KFQ
Sent: 150109/1800Z 44311@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQ1.4.62
Jan 9, 1768:
First modern circus is staged
On this day, Englishman Philip Astley stages the first modern
circus in London.
Trick riders, acrobats, clowns, trained animals, and other
familiar components of the circus have existed throughout
recorded history, but it was not until the late 18th century that
the modern spectacle of the circus was born. Astley, a former
cavalry sergeant major, found that if he galloped in a tight
circle, centrifugal force allowed him to perform seemingly
impossible feats on a horse's back. He drew up a ring and on
January 9, 1768, invited the public to see him wave his sword in
the air while he rode with one foot on the saddle and one on the
horse's head.
Astley's trick riding received such a favorable response that he
soon hired other equestrians, a clown, and musicians and in 1770
built a roof over his ring and called the structure Astley's
Amphitheatre. In 1772, Astley went to Versailles to perform his
"daring feats of horsemanship" before King Louis XV, and he found
France ripe for a permanent show of its own, which he founded in
1782. Also in 1782, a competitor in London set up shop just down
the road from Astley's Amphitheatre, calling his show the "Royal
Circus," after the Roman name for the circular theaters where
chariot races were held. In the 19th century, the term "circus"
was adopted as a generic name for this new form of entertainment.
Astley, who lived until 1814, eventually established 18 other
circuses in cities across Europe.
In 1792, English equestrian John Bill Ricketts opened the first
American circus in Philadelphia and later opened others in New
York City and Boston. President George Washington reportedly
attended a Ricketts circus and sold the company a horse. Smaller
traveling circuses arose in Europe in the early 19th century,
visiting towns and cities that lacked elaborate permanent shows.
Larger traveling tent shows evolved in the 1820s. In 1859, the
Cirque Napoleon in Paris offered the first "flying trapeze" act,
which remains a popular component of the modern circus.
In 1871, William Cameron Coup and showman P.T. Barnum opened an
enormous circus in Brooklyn that they dubbed "The Greatest Show
on Earth." Ten years later, Barnum went into business with James
Anthony Bailey; the "Barnum and Bailey" circuses were so large
they required simultaneous performances in three rings.
In 1884, the five Ringling brothers staged their first circus,
and they soon were buying out other circus companies, including
Barnum and Bailey, which they purchased in 1907. During the next
three decades, the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Combined
Shows grew into the largest touring organization in the world,
with hundreds of tents and an army of workers and performers. The
Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey downsized after World War
II but continues to tour today. Canada's Cirque du Soleil, which
gave an artistic sensibility to its acrobatic acts while shunning
the use of animals, was an innovative circus development of the
late 20th century.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
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