Lori Ann Dalton, age 13, of Billings, Mt., for her question:
WHEN WAS THE FIRST CIRCUS HELD?
A former sergeant major in the English cavalry staged the first modern circus in London in 1768. His name was Philip Astley and he performed as a trick horseback rider in that first show.
Then beginning with a visit to Paris in 1772, Astley introduced the circus in cities throughout continental Europe and was responsible for establishing permanent circuses in a number of European countries as well as in England.
A circus was first presented in Russia in 1793 at the Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg, which is now Leningrad. And by the early 19th century several permanently based circuses were located in many of the larger European cities. In addition, small traveling shows moved from town to town in caravans of roofed over wagons in which the performers lived.
The early traveling shows were usually very simple affairs. They featured a fiddler or two, a juggler, a rope dancer and a few acrobats. Such performers gave their shows in open spaces and took up a collection at the conclusion.
After a time the circuses moved to enclosed areas and an admission was charged.
The circus was introduced in the United States by an English equestrian named John Ricketts. He opened a show in Philadeipia in 1792 and later also staged circuses in New York City and Boston. President George Washington reportedly attended a Ricketts circus and sold the company a horse in 1795.
The Ricketts circus remained in existence with several name changes through the first decade of the 19th century.
Throughout the 19th century the circus evolved in programming and management. From the beginning trained horses and equestrian performances dominated the show, but rope dancing, juggling, acrobatic acts, wild animal acts and clowns were all introduced.
The flying trapeze, which is so much a part of the modern circus, was not invented until 1859, and the street parade and sideshow did not become standard circus events until the latter part of the 19th century.
Tents seem to have come into use in the 1820s but it is uncertain whether they appeared first in Europe or in the U.S.
The huge multi ring circus set up to accommodate thousands of spectators is.peculiarly an American development. In 1869 a circus owner named William Coup organized a show of unprecedented size that gave performances simultaneously in two rings. Coup formed a partnership with a showman named P.T. Barnum and in 1871 they opened a huge circus in Brooklyn, N.Y. This circus was advertised as "The Greatest show on Earth."
Ten years later Barnum went into partnership with an American showman named James Bailey, one of the best organizers in the business, and two other impresarios. The new circus, in which Barnum and Bailey eventually became sole partners, was so huge that it staged simultaneous shows in three rings.