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Highlights for January 9
1768 - Englishman Philip Astley stages the 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. Astley, a former cavalry sergeant major, found that if he galloped in a tight circle, centrifugal force allowed him to perform seemingly impossible feats on a horse's back. He drew up a ring and on January 9, 1768, invited the public to see him wave his sword in the air while he rode with one foot on the saddle and one on the horse's head.
Astley's trick riding received such a favorable response that he soon hired other equestrians, a clown, and musicians and in 1770 built a roof over his ring and called the structure Astley's Amphitheatre. In 1772, Astley went to Versailles to perform his "daring feats of horsemanship" before King Louis XV, and he found France ripe for a permanent show of its own, which he founded in 1782. Also in 1782, a competitor in London set up shop just down the road from Astley's Amphitheatre, calling his show the "Royal Circus," after the Roman name for the circular theaters where chariot races were held. In the 19th century, the term "circus" was adopted as a generic name for this new form of entertainment. Astley, who lived till 1814, eventually established 18 other circuses in cities across Europe.
In 1792, English equestrian John Bill Ricketts opened the first American circus in Philadelphia and later opened others in New York City and Boston. President George Washington reportedly attended a Ricketts circus and sold the company a horse. Smaller traveling circuses arose in Europe in the early 19th century, visiting towns and cities that lacked elaborate permanent shows. Larger traveling tent shows evolved in the 1820s. In 1859, the Cirque Napoleon in Paris offered the first "flying trapeze" act, which remains a popular component of the modern circus.
In 1871, William Cameron Coup and showman P.T. Barnum opened an enormous circus in Brooklyn that they dubbed "The Greatest Show on Earth." Ten years later, Barnum went into business with James Anthony Bailey; the "Barnum and Bailey" circuses were so large they required simultaneous performances in three rings.
In 1884, the five Ringling brothers staged their first circus, and they soon were buying out other circus companies, including Barnum and Bailey, which they purchased in 1907. During the next three decades, the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Combined Shows grew into the largest touring organization in the world, with hundreds of tents and an army of workers and performers. The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey downsized after World War II but continues to tour today. Canada's Cirque du Soleil, which gave an artistic sensibility to its acrobatic acts while shunning the use of animals, was an innovative circus development of the late 20th century.
1861: "Star of the West" is fired uponA Union merchant ship, the "Star of the West," is fired upon as it tries to bring supplies to Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor. This incident was the first time shots were exchanged between North and South but it not trigger the Civil War.
When it seceded from the Union on December 20, 1860, South Carolina demanded the immediate withdrawal of the Federal garrison at Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor. President James Buchanan refused to do so but was also careful not to make any provocative move. Inside the fort, Major Robert Anderson and his 80 soldiers needed supplies. The Buchanan administration decided to dispatch a civilian ship, the "Star of the West," instead of a military transport, in order to keep tensions from flaring.
The ship left New York on January 5. After it was en route, Secretary of War Joseph Holt received a dispatch from Anderson saying that the garrison was safe and supplies were not needed immediately. Anderson added that the secessionists were building gun emplacements overlooking the main shipping channel into Charleston Harbor. Holt realized that the ship was in great danger and that a war might erupt. He tried in vain to recall the "Star of the West," and Anderson was not aware that the ship continued on its way.
In the morning on January 9, ship captain John McGowan steered the ship into the channel near the fort. Two cannon shots roared from a South Carolina battery on Morris Island. They came from gunner George E. Haynsworth, a cadet at The Citadel in Charleston. They were poor shots, but they represented the opening salvo of the war. More shots were fired, and the ship suffered a minor hit. Anderson watched from Sumter but did not respond in support of the ship. If he had, the war may have started on that day.
The incident resulted in strong talk on both sides, but they stopped short of war. The standoff at Fort Sumter continued until the Confederates attacked in April, triggering the Civil War.
Other highlights from the American Civil War
1952 Truman warns of Cold War dangers
In his 1952 State of the Union address, President Harry S. Truman warns Americans that they are "moving through a perilous time," and calls for vigorous action to meet the communist threat.
Though Truman's popularity had nose-dived during the previous 18 months because of complaints about the way that he handled the Korean War, his speech received a standing ovation from congressmen and special guest Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
Truman spent much of his speech addressing foreign policy concerns. The primary focus was on meeting the communist challenge. The president declared that the United States was confronted with "a terrible threat of aggression." He also pointed with pride to U.S. action in meeting that threat. In Korea, combined U.S. and United Nations forces "turned back the Chinese Communist invasion;" elsewhere in Asia, U.S. assistance to its allies was helping to "hold back the Communist advance;" and in Europe and the Middle East, the fight against Soviet expansion was also ongoing.
Truman was particularly proud of the Point Four program, which provided U.S. scientific and technical assistance (such as in the field of agriculture) to the underdeveloped world, claiming that it helped "feed the whole world so we would not have to stomach communism." There could be no slacking of effort, however, since the Soviet Union was "increasing its armed might," and with the Soviet acquisition of atomic bomb technology, the world was still walking "in the shadow of another world war."
Truman's speech was a stirring rebuttal to domestic critics like Senator Joseph McCarthy, who attacked Truman's "softness" on communism. It was also an effort to recapture political momentum as he prepared for the 1952 presidential election. Perhaps the speech, in which Truman confronted both the successes and failures of his administration, helped swing a few voters his way, but it was too few to help--he lost the election to Dwight D. Eisenhower.
1972 Queen Elizabeth destroyed by fire
In Hong Kong harbor, a fire breaks out aboard the Queen Elizabeth, and by the next morning the famous vessel lies in a wreck on the bottom of the sea floor.
The RMS Queen Elizabeth, boasting a 200,000-horsepower engine and an elegant art deco style, made its public debut in 1946, leaving Southampton, England, on its first luxurious run across the Atlantic. However, before her days as a lavish passenger liner, the Queen Elizabeth steamed across the ocean for another purpose--as a transport vehicle during World War II.
During the late 1930s, workers at a Scottish construction site began building a sea vessel for the Cunard Line ocean liner company that would be larger and more luxurious than anything the world had ever seen. However, the outbreak of World War II in 1939 prevented the completion of the Queen Elizabeth's finer points. The vessel was hastily made seaworthy for wartime service and was used as a transport vessel for the Allies, carrying massive amounts of supplies and several hundred thousand troops around the world until the war's end.
After her retirement from the Cunard Line in 1968, the Queen Elizabeth was auctioned off to the highest bidder, eventually being purchased in 1970 by C.W. Tung, a Taiwanese shipping tycoon. Tung renamed the vessel Seawise University and began work on converting the ship into a learning center that would tour the world. However, in early 1972, as the mobile university neared completion, a fire destroyed the pride of the Cunard Line.
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