circus

A photograph of Charles Sherwood Stratton, who was employed by P T Barnum, the US circus proprietor. Stratton was only 64 cm/25 in tall when first found by Barnum, and was exhibited in Europe in 1844 at the age of six years. It was Barnum who gave him the circus name of ‘General Tom Thumb’.

Entertainment, often held in a large tent (‘big top’), involving performing animals, acrobats, and clowns. In 1871 P T Barnum created the ‘Greatest Show on Earth’ in the USA. The popularity of animal acts decreased in the 1980s.

Originally, in Roman times, a circus was an arena for chariot races and gladiatorial combats.