170 Fun Facts About Circus

Who is regarded as the 'father of the modern circus'?

The English cavalryman began trick-riding shows in a London field in 1768 and added acrobats and a clown two years later.

In what year and city did Astley put on his first public show?

He and his wife Patty performed on Easter Monday, 4 April 1768, at Ha'penny Hatch in Lambeth, near today's Waterloo station.

What is the standard diameter of a circus ring, fixed by Astley?

It was the minimum size that let a rider stand upright on a cantering horse; his first ring had been 65 feet.

Where does the word 'circus' come from?

Astley called his ring 'the Circle'; the term 'circus' was coined by his rival Charles Dibdin for the Royal Circus in 1782.

Who coined the term 'circus' when he opened the Royal Circus in London in 1782?

He was a writer of pantomimes, working with the equestrian Charles Hughes.

What was Astley's job before he became a showman?

He was apprenticed to his cabinetmaker father at nine but joined the 15th Light Dragoons at 17.

Who brought the first modern circus to the United States, opening in Philadelphia in 1793?

The Englishman had trained at Hughes's Royal Circus in London.

What could the final stone version of Rome's Circus Maximus seat?

Roman circuses were rectangular arenas for chariot racing, not the round tents we know; historians argue about how much they have to do with the modern circus.

In what decade was the first circus held under a canvas big top?

Joshuah Purdy Brown used a large canvas tent in 1825; touring tents overtook wooden circus buildings by the mid-19th century.

Who is generally considered the first mainstream clown, so dominant that clowns became known as 'Joeys'?

His whiteface make-up design is still used; he was the most popular English entertainer of the Regency era.

Which pre-Civil War American clown popularised the phrases 'The One-Horse Show' and 'Hey, Rube!'?

He was the most famous circus clown of his era.

Who performed the first flying trapeze routine, at the Cirque Napoléon in Paris in 1859?

He also invented the one-piece garment named after him and inspired 'The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze'.

What one-piece garment takes its name from the French trapeze pioneer who invented it?

He designed the knitted one-piece for safety and agility on the trapeze.

Which tightrope walker crossed the Niagara Gorge in 1859, later blindfolded, on stilts and cooking an omelette?

Born Jean François Gravelet, he also carried his manager Harry Colcord across on his back.

What was the name of the elephant Barnum bought from London Zoo in 1882 for £2,000?

He was an African bush elephant born in Sudan; the sale caused a national outcry in Britain.

What lasting effect did Barnum's famous elephant have on the English language?

He also became the mascot of Tufts University, to which Barnum gave his stuffed hide.

How did Jumbo die in 1885?

Barnum claimed Jumbo died saving the smaller elephant Tom Thumb from the train.

Which university's sports teams are nicknamed the Jumbos, after Barnum's elephant?

Barnum was one of the university's first trustees; the taxidermied Jumbo was destroyed in a 1975 fire.

Who persuaded P. T. Barnum out of retirement in 1871 to lend his name to their circus?

Coup also pioneered multiple rings and moving the circus by train.

Where and when did five of the seven Ringling brothers start their circus?

Baraboo is now home to the Circus World museum; the brothers bought Barnum & Bailey in 1907 after Bailey's death.

In what year were the Ringling and Barnum & Bailey circuses combined into one show?

Wartime labour shortages and rail complications made running two separate circuses impossible.

Which US city became Ringling's winter headquarters in 1927?

John Ringling moved it there; the company is now based in Ellenton, Florida.

What was the billing slogan of Barnum's, and later Ringling's, circus?

Barnum used it for the show Castello and Coup built in Delavan, Wisconsin.

On what date did the Hartford circus fire, one of the worst fire disasters in US history, occur?

At least 167 people died in a Ringling big top attended by 6,000 to 8,000.

Why did the Hartford big top burn so fast?

Melting wax rained down on the crowd, and big-cat chutes blocked two exits.

A photo of which sad-faced tramp clown with a water bucket named the Hartford fire 'the day the clowns cried'?

The Flying Wallendas and a 13-year-old Charles Nelson Reilly were among the survivors.

Which family bought Ringling from the Ringlings in 1967?

Irvin Feld sold it to Mattel in 1971 and bought it back a decade later; his son Kenneth later took over Feld Entertainment.

What did Irvin Feld found in 1968 to revive a neglected craft?

He also bought a whole European circus for $2 million just to get animal trainer Gunther Gebel-Williams.

When did Ringling retire its elephants?

The plan had been 2018; the retirement was accelerated and the whole circus closed eight months later.

Where did Ringling give its final show before its six-year hiatus, on May 21, 2017?

Weak attendance, animal-rights protests and costs were blamed.

How did Ringling return in September 2023?

Feld Entertainment announced the relaunch in 2021 and planned a 50-city tour.

Where and when was Cirque du Soleil founded?

Former street performers Guy Laliberté and Gilles Ste-Croix started it from a stilt-walking troupe.

What was the name of the stilt-walking troupe that became Cirque du Soleil?

A 1983 grant to perform for the 450th anniversary of Jacques Cartier's voyage rescued their finances.

Which feature helps define Cirque du Soleil as 'nouveau cirque'?

Its theatrical, character-driven shows made it profitable by 1990 under director Franco Dragone.

What happened to Cirque du Soleil in 2020?

It was sold that November to a group of creditors led by Catalyst Capital; Laliberté had sold his last 10% in February.

The Moscow Circus School, whose methods came from Soviet gymnastics, was founded in what year?

The Moscow State Circus began touring internationally in the 1950s and its ring building has six rings.

Which high-wire family's seven-person pyramid collapsed in Detroit in 1962, killing two?

John Ringling had hired them after seeing them in Cuba; they debuted at Madison Square Garden in 1928.

Where did patriarch Karl Wallenda fall to his death in 1978?

He was 73 and doing a promotional walk between hotel towers; his great-grandson Nik completed the same walk in 2011.

What did Nik Wallenda become the first person to do on June 15, 2012?

It took a two-year legal battle on both sides of the border; the Grand Canyon crossing followed a year later.

Piccadilly Circus in London is a 'circus' in what sense?

It was built in 1819 to link Regent Street with Piccadilly; the famous statue is actually Anteros, not Eros.

Who plays P. T. Barnum in the 2017 musical film The Greatest Showman?

'This Is Me' won the Golden Globe for Best Original Song and was Oscar-nominated.

Who wrote the nine original songs in The Greatest Showman?

The film is a heavily fictionalised take on Barnum's life; the soundtrack won a Grammy.

Which instrument gives the traditional American circus band its distinctive steam-whistle sound?

Brass, drums and glockenspiel round out the classic line-up.

Who is considered the first wild-animal trainer in American circus history, entering a big-cat cage in 1833?

The earliest animal acts were equestrian; elephants and big cats came later.

What early-19th-century sideshow attraction had insects performing tricks viewed through a Fresnel lens?

Freak shows and sideshows were established alongside travelling circuses from the 1830s.

Minoan art from around 2000 BC depicts acrobatic feats on the backs of which animals?

Chinese acrobatics date to the Tang dynasty.

What is another name for the aerial hoop used by circus aerialists?

It is also called the aerial ring or cerceau.

What do some aerial silks performers put on their hands and feet to improve grip?

They climb the fabric without safety lines.

The Cirque du Soleil show Alegria takes its name from the Spanish word for what?

It was created in 1994 by Franco Dragone.

At what age did Annie Oakley win a shooting contest against her future husband Frank Butler?

They joined Buffalo Bill's Wild West in 1885.

Where in London did Astley's Amphitheatre stand?

It opened in 1773 and burned down more than once.

Who wrote the music for the Broadway musical Barnum?

Michael Stewart wrote the lyrics and Mark Bramble the book.

Barnum created his famous New York attraction in 1841 by buying which existing collection?

It opened on January 1, 1842.

Which condition, restricted to females, most commonly explains a 'bearded lady'?

It is usually caused by polycystic ovary syndrome.

Bertram Mills Circus was famous for Christmas shows at which London venue?

Its shows were televised in 1938, 1946 and 1947.

In which year did the Big Apple Circus open in New York?

It debuted in Battery Park.

What is the name of the Big Apple Circus's hospital outreach programme?

The circus filed for bankruptcy in 2016 and returned in 2017.

Blackpool Tower Circus has run continuously since which year?

Its arena is the oldest permanent circus arena still in use.

What special feature lets Blackpool Tower Circus stage a 'water finale'?

The floor drops 1.37 metres and fills with 42,000 gallons in under a minute.

Which record label used Bozo the Clown as its mascot?

Pinto Colvig voiced the character in 1946.

Who bought the creative rights to Bozo the Clown in 1957 and franchised him to local TV?

Chicago's Bozo's Circus premiered in 1960.

In which year did Buffalo Bill found his Wild West show?

He took it to Europe from 1887.

At what age did Buffalo Bill become a rider for the Pony Express?

He started working at 11 after his father's death.

Where did the calliope traditionally appear in a circus parade?

A traction engine often supplied its steam and towed it.

Who created the Cardiff Giant hoax, which P. T. Barnum then copied?

The 10-foot 'petrified man' was dug up in 1869.

Chang and Eng Bunker, the original 'Siamese twins', settled in which US state in 1839?

They married local sisters and fathered 21 children.

During an 1860 Blondin event in which city did the rope break, killing two workers?

Blondin himself was not injured.

What did clown Charlie Cairoli throw into the Irish Sea when war broke out in 1939?

He had received it after a Circus Krone show attended by Hitler.

Which mythical character links the acts of the touring Chinese State show?

The show includes lion dance, plate spinning and diabolo.

What is the most famous vertical-pole trick, where the artist hangs straight out horizontally?

It demands enormous upper-body strength.

Circus Circus in Las Vegas opened in October 1968 without what?

Its first tower was added in 1972.

The Las Vegas resort Circus Circus claims to house the world's largest what?

It also includes the Adventuredome indoor amusement park.

The Circus Krone Building in Munich was infamously used by whom for rallies?

The building was destroyed by bombing in 1944 and rebuilt in 1950.

Between which two hills does the Circus Maximus lie?

It measured 621 metres long.

Circus Oz was founded in which Australian city in 1978?

It merged the New Ensemble Circus and the Soapbox Circus.

Circus Smirkus, an international youth circus, is based in which US state?

It was founded in 1987 by Rob Mermin.

The Baraboo museum devoted to big-top history was the major participant in which event held from 1963 to 2009?

It is owned by the Wisconsin Historical Society.

Which is the oldest of the three traditional circus clown archetypes?

Whitefaces usually lead when performing with other clowns.

The most familiar circus peanut candy is orange-colored with what artificial flavor?

They became available year-round in the 1940s thanks to cellophane.

Which cereal originally used circus peanuts in an early version of its marshmallows?

Melster, Spangler and Brach's are the leading producers.

Which 1869 event enabled Dan Castello to tour his circus by train from Omaha to California?

Castello later partnered with P. T. Barnum.

In what year did Philip Astley add acrobats, tightrope walkers, jugglers and a clown to his horse show?

He thereby chanced on the format later named a circus.

Whose 450th anniversary celebrations gave Cirque du Soleil's founders a crucial 1983 grant?

The Canada Council for the Arts provided the funding.

In which Montreal neighbourhood is Cirque du Soleil headquartered?

Its founders were Guy Laliberte and Gilles Ste-Croix.

Who directed the 2012 3D film Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away?

It weaves together Las Vegas shows including O, Ka and Mystere.

What does 'Eloize', in the name of the Montreal company Cirque Eloize, mean in Acadian French?

Its founders came from the Magdalen Islands.

Which Cirque Eloize co-founder invented the Cyr wheel?

He won a silver medal at the Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain in 2003.

Clyde Beatty was famous for a 'fighting act' in which he entered a cage carrying a whip and what?

He worked 42 uninterrupted seasons in the circus.

What is the name for a well-known scripted joke or routine in commedia dell'arte?

Harlequin's pantomime is another commedia hallmark.

Contortionists are generally categorized as 'frontbenders' or what?

Few performers are equally adept at both.

Which DC Comics villain popularized the modern 'evil clown' archetype from 1940?

Pennywise from Stephen King's It revived it in the 1980s.

Unlike the German wheel, the modern Cyr wheel has how many rings?

It also has no handles.

Clown Dan Rice ran for which office in 1868?

He dropped out of every race he entered.

Devil sticks are believed to have originated as simple wooden juggling sticks in which country?

The 'Devil on Two Sticks' physics was first analysed in 1855.

The diabolo derives from which East Asian toy?

Its Chinese name kong zhong means 'air bell'.

Disney's Dumbo was produced to recoup the losses of which two films?

At 64 minutes it is one of Disney's shortest features.

What is the name of Dumbo's mouse friend?

Their friendship parodies the mice-and-elephants stereotype.

Which surgeon befriended Joseph Merrick, the 'Elephant Man', and brought him to the London Hospital?

Merrick was displayed at the Pathological Society of London in 1884.

What was the name of Emmett Kelly's famous hobo clown character?

He first drew the tramp as a cartoon called Old Dubey.

Who composed 'Entry of the Gladiators', the march now synonymous with circuses?

He originally titled it 'Grande Marche Chromatique'.

In which city was 'Entry of the Gladiators' written on October 17, 1897?

Fucik was stationed there as a military bandmaster.

The Feejee mermaid was made from a fish's back half and the torso of what?

Barnum exhibited it in 1842.

For how much did the Feld group buy Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey in 1967?

They sold it to Mattel in 1971 for $50 million in stock.

Which toy company bought Ringling from the Felds in 1971?

Irvin Feld bought it back in 1982 for $22.8 million.

Irvin Feld, later head of Ringling, is credited with discovering which singer?

He also promoted Beatles concerts.

The Flying Karamazov Brothers took their name from a novel by which author?

None of the 'brothers' are actually related.

Where did Jules Leotard first rig a trapeze bar to practice?

His father ran a gymnasium in Toulouse.

In flying trapeze, what is the manoeuvre called when the flyer is thrust back toward the fly bar?

An 'angel' return has the catcher hold the flyer by the feet and one arm.

The Fratellini brothers became the darlings of intellectuals in which city in the 1920s?

Their engagement was at the Cirque Medrano.

Tod Browning's Freaks (1932) was originally intended as a vehicle for which star?

It is based on the short story 'Spurs' by Tod Robbins.

What was General Tom Thumb's real name?

He was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, in 1838.

Swiss clown Grock was once Europe's most highly paid entertainer; what was his real name?

He was called 'the king of clowns'.

Gunther Gebel-Williams trained animals for Ringling from 1968 until which year?

He was primarily a tamer of elephants and tigers.

Which instrument did Guy Laliberte play while busking around Europe at 18?

He also learned fire-eating and stilt-walking.

Harlequin is a comic servant from commedia dell'arte associated with which Italian city?

He pursues Columbine and competes with Pierrot.

At least how many people died in the 1944 Hartford circus fire?

More than 700 were injured.

Who patented the human cannonball launching device in 1871?

His adopted son Samuel Wasgate first performed it as 'Lulu'.

Under what stage name did 17-year-old Rossa Matilda Richter become the first billed 'human cannonball' in 1877?

She later toured with the P.T. Barnum Circus.

James Anthony Bailey, Barnum's partner, was born with what surname?

He adopted the surname of circus advance man F.H. Bailey.

How many concerts did Jenny Lind give for P. T. Barnum on her 1850 US tour?

Barnum paid her an unprecedented $1,000 per night.

What catchphrase did Joseph Grimaldi originate that still features in pantomimes?

His whiteface make-up design is still used by clowns.

The words juggling and juggler derive from a Middle English word meaning what?

The Latin joculari means 'to jest'.

Which 1867 song was inspired by Jules Leotard?

George Leybourne sang it.

What profession did Jules Leotard qualify for before turning to the trapeze?

He passed his law exams before experimenting over the pool at 18.

In which country was Jumbo the elephant born?

He went to Paris, then London Zoo in 1865.

What was Jumbo's estimated shoulder height at his death?

Barnum claimed he stood about 4 metres.

Which truck-racing series does Kenneth Feld's Feld Entertainment also operate?

It also runs Disney on Ice.

Cirque du Soleil's Ka is performed at which Las Vegas resort?

It was the first Cirque show with a cohesive storyline.

Who created and directed Cirque du Soleil's Ka?

Its title comes from an ancient Egyptian belief in a spiritual double.

Ringling star Lillian Leitzel specialized in performing on what apparatus?

She died in 1931 two days after a fall during a performance.

Ringling's Lou Jacobs is credited with popularizing which staple of big-top comedy?

He is also cited as originator of the red rubber ball nose.

Lou Jacobs was the first living person to appear on what?

He performed with Ringling for more than 60 years.

Mabel Stark was renowned in the 1920s as one of the world's first women trainers of what?

She grew up in Princeton, Kentucky, and worked first as a nurse.

Australian star May Wirth was famous for doing what on a running horse?

She was billed as the 'greatest bareback riding star'.

Which two Moscow buildings does the touring name 'Moscow State' usually refer to?

Russian circus tradition includes bears that juggle with their feet.

Nik Wallenda's longest walk, in March 2020, crossed which volcano?

He walked 1,800 feet on a steel cable.

How many Guinness World Records does Nik Wallenda hold?

He is a seventh-generation Flying Wallenda.

Cirque du Soleil's water show O has been resident at which Las Vegas hotel since 1998?

Its name sounds like 'eau', French for water.

How much water fills the pool in Cirque du Soleil's O?

Its theatre resembles a 14th-century European opera house.

Soviet clown Oleg Popov worked as an apprentice typographer at which newspaper as a boy?

He was named People's Artist of the USSR in 1969.

How much per night did Barnum pay Jenny Lind for her 1850 tour?

The deal covered 150 nights.

Which adage is often attributed to Barnum although no evidence shows he coined it?

He called himself 'a showman by profession'.

On what date did Philip Astley and his wife Patty put on their first public show?

It took place at Ha'penny Hatch in Lambeth.

The statue atop the Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain in Piccadilly Circus depicts whom?

It is popularly but mistakenly thought to be Eros.

Pierrot, the sad clown of pantomime, pines for which character?

She usually leaves him for Harlequin.

After what year did Ringling stop performing under its own big top tents?

It moved into stadiums and arenas.

Where is Feld Entertainment, Ringling's parent company, headquartered?

Kenneth Feld took over on his father's death in 1984.

Ringling College of Art and Design is located in which Florida city?

John Ringling founded it in 1931 on the grounds of his museum.

What was the Ringling family's original German surname?

Four of the brothers were born in McGregor, Iowa.

What headwear is part of the traditional ringmaster costume?

A bright tailcoat completes the look.

Which Russian artist created the Russian bar act, winning Gold and Silver Clowns at Monte-Carlo?

The bar is a flexible vaulting pole about 4 metres long.

Sara Gruen wrote Water for Elephants as part of what?

Her original publisher Avon turned it down.

In which city was the Shrine Circus founded in 1906?

Its season traditionally opens in Flint, Michigan, each January.

What is the sideshow stunt called in which a performer hammers a nail into their nasal cavity?

It is a stunt that appears painful rather than actually dangerous.

What is the motorcycle sideshow act performed inside a spherical cage called?

It sits at the overlap of sideshow and circus.

The Big Circus (1959) was produced and co-written by which future disaster-film maker?

Victor Mature stars as a struggling circus owner.

Charlie Chaplin's The Circus (1928) entered the public domain on which date?

Its production was the most difficult of Chaplin's career.

The Great Wallendas debuted at Madison Square Garden in 1928 without a net because what?

The crowd gave them a standing ovation.

Which Best Picture winner of 1952 was set in the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus?

James Stewart plays a clown who never removes his makeup.

Where did The Greatest Showman premiere in December 2017?

It grossed $471.9 million worldwide.

Who directed The Greatest Showman?

Zac Efron, Michelle Williams and Zendaya co-star.

What is the technical name for tightrope walking?

A wire over about 20 feet high is regarded as highwire.

The word 'trapeze' reflects the shape formed by the bar, ropes and ceiling support: which shape?

The name appears in books as early as 1832.

What is a tall unicycle nicknamed?

A seatless unicycle is called an 'ultimate wheel'.

The UniverSoul Circus, founded in 1994 by Cedric Walker, is headquartered in which city?

Its first show was in the parking lot of Atlanta Fulton County Stadium.

Which actress plays Marlena in the 2011 film Water for Elephants?

Robert Pattinson and Christoph Waltz co-star.

At which university is Jacob a veterinary student in Water for Elephants?

He joins the Benzini Brothers circus after his parents die.

Zip the Pinhead was billed by Barnum as what?

William Henry Johnson was likely born in Bound Brook, New Jersey.

Which show staged the first clown-car routine, in the 1950s?

Stripped of seats, engine and panels, a car can hold an estimated 14 to 21 clowns and their props.

Where in London was the first recorded flea circus advertised in the early 1820s?

Italian impresario Louis Bertolotto promised card-playing fleas and a flea orchestra; Professor Heckler's later ran in Times Square until 1957.