The Barnum Museum, One of many New England Galleries

Phineas Taylor Barnum was perhaps the best showman of them all. He had a knack for finding and demonstrating uncommon people, creatures and a selection of oddities, many of them scams, such as the Feejee Mermaid.While the Barnum & Bailey Circus remains as-a living testament to his ability for advertising, he was also a politician and journalist and tremendously important both here in the U.S. and in Europe throughout the 19th-century. He may tomanipulate the press in ways that render today’s spin physicians inefficient hacks.P.T. Barnum, as h-e was most widely known, was born in Bethel, Connecticut on July 5, 1810. After his father’s demise in 1826, rural life faded as his best, and he was driven to the city lights of Brooklyn, Ny, where he worked for-a limited time as a store clerk.His own fascination with curiosities, unusual and weird, persuaded him that his contemporaries of-the time will be likewise fascinated, so he attempt to make collecting and displaying peculiarities his profession. His reading of the sentiments of the times was close to, and people collected in large numbers at the various settings he built, in particular, the American Museum in New York.The first of his efforts included Joice Heth, whom he billed as ‘The Greatest Natural & National Curiosity in the World.’Telling those involved that the story-telling, African American girl was 161 years old, he persuaded his readers that, as a servant, she had tended into a young George Washington.When a distinguished medical practitioner pared back her true age to 80 after her autopsy, Barnum insisted that her human anatomy was a phony and that she was still doing elsewhere.In 1841, Barnum started and built the American Museum in the center of ‘Old New York City.’ It comprised an eclectic mixture of incredible and gaudy attractions, including Tom Thumb and the Feejee Mermaid, all-natural history with exhibits showing taxidermy and menageries, and artwork, wax figures and a Lecture Room and theater by which Shakespeare was performed burton staffordshire.To many historians and social scientists, the American Museum was the bedrock of New York’s urban evolution.Remarkably perceptive of the changing demographics of the town and the confluence of different cultures, Barnum modified the exhibits, shows and educational resources to accommodate different cultures and preferences in addition to each strata of the social lessons of the times. There was literally something for everyone.The public reaction was almost as varied whilst the museum’s diversity. Some liked the museum/theatre and some were appalled by it.The flames of this outrage were fanned by Barnum’s support of temperance, and o-n July 1-3, 1865, the American Museum was burnt to-the floor. It’s never been identified who set the fire. He eventually designed a new public further uptown, which also burned down.He is probably best-known, but, for two particular finds: Tom Thumb and Jenny Lind.It was in 1842 that he identified Charles Sherwood Stratton, whom he dubbed Tom Thumb, a person who stood only 2-5 inches tall and weighed a mere 15 pounds at age 11.Barnum used two years in-training Tom to perform, dance and mime, then embarked on the world tour with his small friend who performed for fascinated domestic and European people, including royalty and Abraham Lincoln. Jeff Thumb became a ‘must see’ inside the American Museum.Jenny Lind, whom Barnum named ‘The Swedish Nightingale’ was a musical prodigy. She can play the guitar at age four and developed an extraordinary singing style, which she amply shown to the important and political, including President Millard Fillmore, General Winfield Scott, Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Washington Irving and others.The Barnum & Bailey Circus, which he called ‘The greatest show on earth’ is his most suffering legacy.Mixing politics together with his love for the unusual allowed Barnum to provide a term as mayor of Bridgeport, Connecticut, and he served two terms in the Connecticut legislature.The Barnum Museum is definitely an excellent share of living and times of Phineas Taylor Barnum and very much worth a trip.

Britain in the First Millennium – Cleanliness, Washing and How to Take Care Of Fleas

The phrase ‘health’ in the first millennium, certainly among the Anglo-Saxons, was an oxymoron.For case, people would look their latrine leaves outside the shells of their homes, seemingly untroubled by-the odour, which would have mingled pleasantly with-the droppings from their pets and scents of similar pungency.The travels, obviously, should have had a field day burton upon trent. A superb tramp in the latrines, accompanied by a stroll across any food they may find lying about in the home, no doubt created their day.For some reason, the Anglo-Saxon thought it only fair and reasonable that their human anatomy should play host to any parasite that was anxious for protection. The whip-worm, despite its title, was relatively inoffensive. The maw-worm, nevertheless, was not. It preferred people’s liver and lungs, and had one of the most surprising habit of suddenly appearing in the place of someone’s eye.Fleas, on the other hand, weren’t well-tolerated. Since it were, a number of techniques used to be attempted to clear the householder of these bugs, among which was sleeping sheepskins around the bed and waiting for the little brutes to accept the sheepskin and vacate the bed. Since the sheepskin was white, or nearly so, the flea could be discovered as soon as he landed.I assume the bed was lightly tapped to encourage their exodus, but once on the sheepskin, the homeowner might possibly leap from covering, waving a cudgel and lay about him or her, giving as many fleas to the promised land as possible.It practically goes without saying that bathing wasn’t typically the most popular activity around, sometimes. The monks of just one 10th. century European monastery were ordered to wash 5 times per year. Now for your common Anglo-Saxon, this was fanaticism. One per year, good. Twice, in case you were some of those diligent sorts, but five times? Come on!Mind you, it appears that on the other end of the level, the Danes would wash and brush their hair every week. Now while this was frowned upon, (I am astonished the church didn’t issue a sanction on such sweeping behavior), the commentator on this Danish custom was compelled to confess that it appeared to let them have a definite edge when it came to the ladies.So there was simply no idea of hygiene nor hygiene in any kind. But again, god The Father would protect you. If you happened to fall an item of food on the ground, which as you can see right now would be covered in all kinds of excrement, the best assistance was to pick it up, make the unmistakeable sign of the Cross-over it, time it well and place it in your mouth!Allow me to leave you with this thought. Acupuncture. No, maybe not with needles, but with red hot iron pokers. There clearly was a good guide showing the items on the body where in actuality the pokers should be applied.Enjoy your dinner!

A History of James II of England & VII of Scotland, Part Two

In anxiety about the so called Exclusion Bill being passed, Charles II dissolved Parliament in 1679, it was to occur again in 1680 and 1681. That Exclusion Crisis was an important contributor to development of the Whigs who supported the Bill, the English two party system and it was opposed by the Tories who. In 1680, James was appointed as Lord High Commissioner of Scotland to be able to control a growing and inflict elegant government.In 1683, a plot was uncovered that had planned to assassinate Charles and James, the plot back-fired and provoked a wave of concern for Charles and James. Charles died in 1685, after converting to Catholicism on his deathbed, h-e was succeeded by James, who ascended to the throne as James II of burton and Ireland and James VII of Scotland. There was no initial opposition, in-fact there were widespread stories of public rejoicing in the orderly series. Within months, James experienced co-ordinated rebellions from Archibald Campbell, Earl of Argyll in Scotland and from his nephew, the Duke of Monmouth in southern England. He simply killed them equally and Monmouth and Argyll were executed.James chose to setup a standing army to guard herself, since it was against tradition to maintain an army throughout peacetime this worried the general public, also several regiments were under Catholic commanders. Parliament objected but James just halted it, it’d perhaps not sit again during his rule. Wayne began bolstering the liberties of Catholics which had the consequence of disenfranchising Protestants even further. Doubts increased further when Queen Mary gave birth to some Catholic daughter and heir.

A History of John II of England & VII of Scotland, Part Three

Threatened by a Catholic dynasty, a group of Protestant nobles, later called the Immortal Seven, invited the Prince of Orange to come to burton staffordshire having an army. William arrived in burton on 5 November 1688, many Protestant officials defected to his side as did James’ daughter Princess Anne. John bottled it, declining to attack and left to France, seeking refuge in the court of his cousin, Louis XIV.Parliament stated James’ daughter Anne as Queen, she was to rule jointly with her partner, William of Orange, who’d be King. With-the assistance of French soldiers, James arrived in Ireland in March 1689, the Irish Parliament however recognized James as its king. Adam attemptedto use Ireland being a springboard to re-gain the throne and set about raising an army. But, he was fundamentally conquered by William at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690, he once more fled to France, he’d never come back to any of his former kingdoms, dying in France in 1671 of a brain haemorrhage. Wayne’ younger daughter Anne succeeded to-the throne when William III died in 1702.The Act of Settlement provided that, in the event the line of succession established in-the Bill of Rights were to be extinguished then the crown would visit her German cousin, Sophia, Electress of Hanover and her Protestant heirs. Anne died in 1714 and was succeeded by Sophia’s son George I. James son, James Francis Edward was acknowledged by followers as James III of England and VIII of Scotland. He brought a in Scotland in 1715 but was defeated, his son Bonnie Prince Charlie rose again in 1745 but he also was defeated, since that time no serious effort has being designed to restore the Stuart heir.