March 28 - Barnum and Bailey Day

On this day in history in 1881, James Anthony Bailey and P.T. Barnum combined their two circuses, becoming "The Greatest Show on Earth". They ran the circus together until 1891, when Barnum died. Bailey purchased the circus from Barnum's widow. Bailey toured the eastern United States before taking the show to Europe from 1897-1902.
The Ringling Brothers had started touring their circus at that time, forcing Bailey to take the show west of the Rocky Mountains for the first time in 1905. He died the following year, and the circus was sold to the Ringling Brothers.

Check out their site here: http://www.ringling.com/

If you like circuses, check out these books at the library:

"Water for Elephants", by Sara Gruen

 

"The Night Circus", by Erin Morgenstern

 

Today is also Weed Appreciation Day!

Here are some interesting things that happened on this day in history:

- Though officially opened since August, the Louvre opened to the public in 1794
- Nathaniel Briggs patented the washing machine in 1997
- The capital of the North-West Territories (the future Alberta and Saskatchewan) shifted from Battleford to Pile O' Bones (Regina) in 1883
- The US Salvation Army was officially organized in 1885
- Hus Nelson was installed as BC's 4th lieutenant-governor in 1887
- Anti-conscription riots began in Quebec City in 1918
- Francis M. Rattenbury, architect of BC's provincial parliament and the Empress Hotel, was murdered in Bournemouth, England, by his wife and her lover in 1935
- Astrid Lindgren sprained her ankle and began writing Pippy Longstocking in 1944
- Dancer Karen Kain was born in Hamilton, Ontario in 1951
- The Canadian Council was established by the government of Louis St-Laurent as an independent body to encourage the development of the arts and social sciences in Canada in 1957
- Gilles Lamontagne was appointed Quebec’s 24th lieutenant-governor in 1984, serving until Aug 9, 1990.
- The North American Soccer League suspended operations in 1985
- At least 1 million union members, students and unemployed take to the streets in France in protest at the government's proposed First Employment Contract law in 2006

Stay tuned for the next "On This Day in History"!