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 Phineas Taylor Barnum
began his show business career in 1835, when he
put Joice Heth on exhibit and advertised her to
be over 160 years old and George Washington's
nurse. His Barnum's American Museum in New York
was for several years one of the most popular
destinations in the United States. The
"Greatest Show on Earth" began touring
under that moniker in 1872. |
 Emmett Leo Kelly, Sr.
debuted his "Weary Willie" clown
character in 1933, and appeared as that character
in circuses, plays, and movies for decades
thereafter. The character was based on a sketch
he had done while working as a cartoonist for a
silent film company early in his working career. |
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