P. T. Barnum timeline
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P. T. Barnum Is Born
Barnum was born in Bethel, Connecticut, the son of inn keeper, tailor and store-keeper Philo Barnum (1778-1826) and second wife Irene Taylor, who... Read more
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P. T. Barnum Begins Career As Showman
In 1835 P. T. Barnum began as a showman with his purchase and exhibition of a blind and almost completely paralyzed slave woman, Joice Heth,... Read more
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P. T. Barnum Purchases Scudder's American Museum
In 1841 Barnum bought Scudder’s American Museum located across from St. Paul’s on the southeast corner of Broadway and Ann Street. He transformed... Read more
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Charles Sherwood Stratton, aka 'General Tom Thumb' Performs at Barnum's American Museum
Visiting his home state of Connecticut on a cold November night in 1842, the great showman Phineas T. Barnum thought to track down an amazingly... Read more
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P. T. Barnum and General Tom Thumb Tour Europe
They passed through a long corridor to a broad flight of marble steps, which led to the picture gallery, and there the Queen and Prince Albert, the... Read more
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P. T. Barnum Arranges American Tour of Swedish Opera Star, Jenny Lind
By 1849, when Lind was in the midst of her third triumphant London season, P. T. Barnum had become aware of her success and the large audiences she... Read more
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Josephine Clofullia (The Bearded Lady) Begins Performing at Barnum's American Museum
Madame Clofullia was born Josephine Boisdechene in Switzerland. She was born hairy and reputedly had a two-inch beard at the age of eight. At the... Read more
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Elisah Graves Otis Sells His First Elevator
On September 20, 1853, Elisah Graves Otis sold his first "hoist machines," or elevators, featuring an automatic safety brake that he had recently... Read more
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Conjoined Twins Chang And Eng Bunker Appear At Barnum's American Museum
Chang and Eng Bunker, conjoined twins from Siam (now Thailand), came to the U.S. in 1829 and toured the nation and the world over the next four... Read more
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William Henry Johnson, aka 'Zip the Pinhead' Begins Performing at Barnum's American Museum
William Henry Johnson was born to a very poor African-American family. His parents were William and Mahalia Johnson, former slaves. As he grew his... Read more
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George Washington Morrison Nutt, aka 'Commodore Nutt' Appears at Barnum's American Museum
When Nutt was 17 years old he was brought to New York City to be exhibited at Barnum's American Museum that stood at the corner of Broadway and Ann... Read more
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Anna Haining Swan Appears at Barnum's American Museum
Anna Haining Bates, born Anna Haining Swan (August 6, 1846 – August 5, 1888), was a Canadian from Mill Brook, New Annan, (near present-day... Read more
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Isaac W. Sprague, aka 'The Original Living Skeleton' Begins Performing at Barnum's American Museum
Isaac W. Sprague (May 21, 1841, in East Bridgewater, Massachusetts - January 5, 1887, in Chicago, Illinois) was a famous "human... Read more
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P. T. Barnum Elected To Connecticut Legislature
Though a Democrat for years, Barnum eventually broke from his party -- and declined its invitation to run for the state's governor -- because of... Read more
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Barnum's American Museum Destroyed In Massive Fire
Music has ceased forever in Scudder's balcony, not because of rain but of fire. When Barnum's Museum burned, a few days since, one of the few... Read more
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P. T. Barnum Begins Displaying Cardiff Giant
The Giant was the creation of a New York tobacconist named George Hull. Hull, an atheist, decided to create the giant after an argument with a... Read more
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P. T. Barnum Establishes Traveling Circus
Barnum did not enter the circus business until late in his career (he was 61). In Delavan, Wisconsin in 1871 with William Cameron Coup, he... Read more
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Arthur James Caley, aka 'The Middlebush Giant' Begins Performing at Barnum's American Museum
Arthur James Caley or Routh Goshen (May 5, 1837 - February 12, 1889) was most commonly known as Colonel Routh Goshen, but this was a stage name... Read more
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Hiram and Barney Davis, aka 'The Wild Men of Borneo' Begin Performing at Barnum's American Museum
The Wild Men of Borneo, Waino and Plutano, were a pair of exceptionally strong dwarf brothers who were most famously associated with P. T. Barnum... Read more
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Fedor Jeftichew, aka Jo-Jo the Dog-Faced Boy, Begins Performing With P. T. Barnum
Born in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1868, Fedor Jeftichew suffered from the medical condition hypertrichosis. He toured with his father, Adrian, who... Read more
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Jumbo the Elephant is Killed by a Locomotive
Jumbo's private car was some distance down the main line, and it was while walking to this that a shrill whistle signaled the approach of an... Read more
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P. T. Barnum Dies
One of the requests made by Mr. Barnum was that, when all hope was gone, sedatives which would make his passage to the next world more peaceful be... Read more
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Barnum and Bailey Circus Merges With Ringling Brothers Circus
The Ringlings purchased the Barnum & Bailey Circus in 1907 and ran the circuses separately until 1919. By that time, Charles Edward Ringling and... Read more