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This Day in History: April 7th-Great American Actor
Today in history::1891April 7,

"Everyone has a good side"-barnum

The great American performer P.T. barnum died on April 7th, 189 1. Considered as one of the most important figures in American entertainment history, Life magazine also called him "the patron saint of sponsors". He has always been a perfect businessman. It is said that his last thought was about "barnum and Bailey's greatest performance in the world". The performance appeared in Madison Square Garden in new york, and barnum asked someone to "ask Bailey how the box office in the garden was last night."

P.T. barnum, 18 10 was born in Bethel, Connecticut on July 5th. He started "the greatest performance in the world" at the age of 6 12, but he started selling lottery tickets and tickets very successfully at the age of 12. (Note: Colonel Sanders of KFC was over 60 years old before he founded the Chicken Empire. In Saunders' case, he is broke and lives in a car. Look: Is Colonel Sanders really a colonel? "Anyway, before 1835' s The Greatest Performance, barnum spent 1000 dollars (about $2,260 today) to buy an old slave named Joyce Hurt, who claimed to be 16 1 year old and used to be George Washington. In view of Washington's death in 1799, this woman is indeed his nurse to some extent, which is not completely impossible, although the part of 16 1 year-old looks a bit suspicious.

But the most important thing here is that he really looks 16 1 years old and has a wide understanding of Washington, its life and times. At its peak, barnum managed to get an average of $65,438+0,500 a week from Joyce Hurt, the elder in new york. When her interest began to wane, she hired a spinning acrobat named "Mr. Viola", cornered him and went on the road with two people who made money-one was a slave and the other was an employee. Barnum bought the American Museum in Scudder and renamed it. The following year, he met Charles Sherwood stratton, a 4-year-old boy who weighed 65,438+05 pounds and was 25 inches tall. Barnum saw signs dancing around the children, taught them to sing and dance, and appeared in public as "General Tom Thumb". Traveling around Europe and watching it with Queen Victoria is even more icing on the cake.

Barnum's reputation is always centered on vulgar scenic spots, but when he presented the Swedish opera star Jenny Linde to the American public at 1850, the situation changed. After hearing the rumor that her performances in Europe were sold out, barnum signed 65,438+050 performances of Invisible Linde in the United States and Canada for $65,438+0000. In the end, he earned about $500,000 (about $65,438+0,400 today) in this transaction. 1868, American Museum

It was burnt down, but he gathered many old employees and opened a large tourist museum, zoo, caravan and circus in P.T. barnum. /kloc-in 0/874, he found a permanent home in new york Arena (later Madison Square Garden) for his "greatest performance on earth". This is the biggest circus in American history.

At 188 1, barnum established a cooperative relationship with circus managers james bailey and James Hutchinson. The next year, the circus bought a 1 1.5 foot elephant "treasure" weighing 6.5 tons. This is the supreme monarch of his powerful race, which the world will never see again. "Until his unfortunate death three years later, the treasure has always been the great attraction of this performance. Please see: For more information about mammoths and their premature death, where did the word "Jumbo" come from? )

The living legend agreed to hand over the daily control of the circus at 1887. It was renamed barnum and Bailey, the greatest performance on earth.

P T barnum noticed that the media praised people after they died, so The New York Sun made a mock obituary for barnum a few weeks before his death. The headline on their front page is:

Very good, Le barnum. -He wants to read his obituary. -Here it is.

Page (abbreviation of page) T. barnum died in his sleep on April 7th, 189 1 and was buried in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

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