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The 150-Year-Old Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus Returns Next Year
The circus is coming back to town!
Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus has thrilled “children of all ages” since the days of the original Barnum Circus in 1872. After a contemporary controversy over the treatment of circus animals, however, Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus closed in 2017. Still, some things never die — and apparently the circus is one of them: It’s coming back in 2023.
How the circus began
While circus acts can be traced back thousands of years, equestrian Philip Astley of England is generally regarded as the founder of the modern circus. In 1770, Astley added acrobats, a clown, jugglers and tightrope walkers to his show as filler between equestrian demonstrations.
The first American circus was created in 1867, when Dan Castello and William Cameron Coup teamed up in Wisconsin to form “Dan Castello’s Great Circus & Egyptian Caravan.” The extraordinary showman, P. T. Barnum, joined the duo in 1870. By 1872, Barnum had labeled the circus “The Greatest Show on Earth,” When Castello and Coup left in 1875, he took over the show. At about the same time, James Bailey and James Cooper operated “Cooper, Bailey and Co.’s Great International Circus,” competing with Barnum’s…
