Big Top - The Day the Clowns Cried

One of the May treasure hunt words is circus. This word has proven to be one of the more difficult words of the month. I have stopped on I95 to take a picture of Ringling Bros train sitting in one of the train yards outside of Providence RI. I rode to the Dunkin Donuts Center to get a picture of circus. Now one would think the GREATEST SHOW on EARTH (their words not mine) would contain the word circus. Nothing, zilch, nada. Thru my Googling efforts I came across this place in Hartford, CT that has a relationship to Ringling Bros Barnum and Bailey show.

On July 6, 1944, a crowd of 6,800 gathered to see the trapeze guys flying thru the air, the clowns running around with 20 of them pouring out a that minature car, the three rings of animal acts and maybe even the bearded lady. On that day, about 20 minutes into the show, a small fire started which spread very quickly. It was a common practice in those days to coat the tent with melted paraffin dissolved in gasoline or kerosene as a waterproofing method. The tent burned down in less than 10 minutes, killing 168 persons. You can read about it here.





This is one of those hidden treasures that pop up from time to time in this game.

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