Photo Credit: Commons under Creative Commons License
A painting of Ringmaster Philip Astley in Astley’s Amphitheatre
On January 9, 1768, Philip Astley staged the world’s first modern circus in London.Trick riders, acrobats, clowns, trained animals, and other familiar components of the circus have existed throughout recorded history, but it was not until the late 18th century that the modern spectacle of the circus was born.
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