List of circus accidents

Last updated

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

This list of circus accidents includes deaths and injuries that resulted from circus acts that occurred live or during practice. It includes damage to personnel, animals, and the venue.

Contents

1800s

Massarti the Lion-Tamer

Thomas Macarte, also known as Massarti the Lion-Tamer, was attacked and killed by lions during a performance in Bolton, England on January 3, 1872. He had lost an arm to his profession the decade prior. When trying to drive the five lions from one end of the ring to the other, they attacked him. Despite others attempting to intervene, the pride would continue to maul him undeterred. He died on the way to the hospital, age 34. [1]

St. Louis Trapeze Accident

In 1872, well-known trapeze artists Fred Lazelle and Billy Millson fell to the ground after their trapeze mechanism failed, with Millson sustaining probable injuries to his ribs. George North was beneath the trapeze when it collapsed on him, causing internal injuries. None of the three men performed again. [2]

1900s

Great “Wallace Brothers” Circus Train Disaster

On August 8, 1903, one train of the Wallace Brothers, part of the Hagenbeck–Wallace Circus, was idle in the yard of Grand Trunk Railway in Durand, Michigan when a second train drove into it. The air brakes failed, causing the train's front to crash into the rear of the first at 15 miles per hour. 23 people were killed and dozens were injured. [3] Several animals died as well. [4]

Otto Kline

During a Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey show at Madison Square Garden on April 21, 1915, champion trick rider Otto Kline attempted his famous leaping act, which involved vaulting over a horse and back again while it ran at top speed, when he lost his grip on his horse's saddle and struck his skull against a box, fracturing it. Otto was rushed to Bellvue Hospital where he died that evening from his injuries. [5]

Red Eldridge and Mary the Elephant

During the Sparks World Famous Show, Walter "Red" Eldridge was tasked with riding an elephant, Big Mary, to a pond where she could drink. When Mary reached to get a watermelon rind, Eldridge smacked her with a hooked whip. [6] In reaction, Mary curled her trunk around Eldridge's body, slammed him to the ground, and trampled the body. [7] After the incident occurred on September 12, 1916, the town of Kingsport, Tennessee publicly hung the elephant by a crane. [8]

Hammond Circus Train Wreck

On June 22, 1918, the famous Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus suffered a deadly train accident while traveling to a show in Hammond, Indiana. While the second of the team's trains had pulled off to the side to fix an engineering issue, an empty train used to transport soldiers crashed into five wooden sleeping cars, which ignited a quickly-spreading fire. [9] 86 people died and over 100 were injured, making it one of the worst train wrecks in United States history. [10]

Cleveland Circus Fire

On August 4, 1942, a fire of unclear origins began in a tent where animals were housed at a Barnum and Bailey Circus performance in Cleveland, Ohio. Over 60 animals were killed or badly burned. [11] [12]

Aloys Peters

On October 22, 1943, German-American circus performer Aloysius Peters, billed as "The Great Peters" and "The Man With the Iron Neck", was killed when his signature stunt went wrong at the Fireman's Wild West Rodeo and Thrill Circus in St. Louis, Missouri. Peters' act involved leaping from a trapeze bar with a noose around his neck made from an elastic rope. The rope Peters used at his final performance was of inferior wartime quality, affecting his timing, and his neck was broken. [13] [14]

Hartford Circus Fire

Known as one of the worst disasters in the history of Hartford, Connecticut, a fire of unknown cause would erupt during a Barnum & Bailey Circus performance. Unable to get the fire under control and with animal cages blocking the exits, the thousands of attendees panicked and stampeded. [15] In the end, several staff members were convicted for negligence, many survivors suffered physical and mental trauma, and 167 people died. [16]

Niterói circus fire

The worst fire disaster in Brazilian history occurred in Niterói on December 17, 1961. The flames consumed the nylon tent during a trapeze act and sent the crowd into a panic. [17] Police suspected arson. [18] 503 people died while more than 800 were injured. [19]

Flying Wallendas

During a performance of the Great Flying Wallendas in Detroit, Michigan on January 30, 1962, two of the seven Wallendas, who were performing a pyramid formation on a high wire, fell to their deaths. The others survived by hanging onto a wire, albeit suffering injuries. [20]

Bangalore circus fire

The tent of Venus Circus in Bangalore, India caught fire on February 8, 1981. [21] The cause remains unknown, but the fire quickly swept across the tent which then came crashing down onto the crowd of about 4,000. Those who didn't survive were either burned or trampled to death. [22] The disaster claimed 92 lives and injured 300. [23]

Oscar Garcia

On June 11, 1989, Oscar Garcia was performing on a revolving wheel at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri when he lost his balance and fell 25 feet (7.6 m) to the ground, dislocating his left wrist and breaking his right elbow. [24]

2000s

Eva Garcia

During a performance at the Hippodrome Circus in Great Yarmouth, England, 38-year-old aerial performer Eva Garcia lost her grip and fell 30 feet (9.1 m) to the ground after starting her act, dying on August 8, 2003. [25]

Dessi España

In Saint Paul, Minnesota, 32-year-old Barnum and Bailey Circus performer Dessi España fell 30 feet (9.1 m) to her death when a scarf loosened as she was twirling on aerial silks. The show, which took place on May 22, 2004, continued despite her accident. [26]

Sarah Guyard-Guillot

During a Las Vegas, Nevada, performance of Cirque du Soleil's "Kà" on the night of June 29, 2013, 31-year-old Sarah Guyard-Guillot fell 94 feet (29 m) headfirst to her death after she was hoisted up too quickly, causing the safety wire to detach. The company's investigation found that this was due to insufficient training on the equipment. [27] [28]

Providence Hair Hangers

During an act where performers hang by their hair in a formation like a "human chandelier". The metal frame from which there were hanging detached and the performers fell 25 to 40 feet. They fell onto at least one performer below, causing eleven people in total to be rushed to the hospital. All survived. [29] The Occupational Safety and Health Administration conducted an investigation into the incident. They found the carabiner was in fine condition, but failed due to overloading. [30]

Related Research Articles

<i>The Greatest Show on Earth</i> (film) 1952 film by Cecil B. DeMille

The Greatest Show on Earth is a 1952 American drama film produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille, shot in Technicolor and released by Paramount Pictures. Set in the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, the film stars Betty Hutton and Cornel Wilde as trapeze artists competing for the center ring and Charlton Heston as the circus manager. James Stewart also stars as a mysterious clown who never removes his makeup, and Dorothy Lamour and Gloria Grahame also play supporting roles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emmett Kelly</span> American clown (1898–1979)

Emmett Leo Kelly was an American circus performer, who created the clown character "Weary Willie", based on the hobos of the Great Depression in the 1930s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Circus</span> Group of entertainers performing circus skills

A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclists as well as other object manipulation and stunt-oriented artists. The term circus also describes the field of performance, training and community which has followed various formats through its 250-year modern history. Although not the inventor of the medium, Newcastle-under-Lyme born Philip Astley is credited as the father of the modern circus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus</span> Traveling circus company

The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, also known as the Ringling Bros. Circus, Ringling Bros., the Barnum & Bailey Circus, Barnum & Bailey, or simply Ringling, is an American traveling circus company billed as The Greatest Show on Earth. It and its predecessor have run shows from 1871, with a hiatus from 2017 to 2023. They operate as Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey. The circus started in 1919 when the Barnum & Bailey's Greatest Show on Earth, a circus created by P. T. Barnum and James Anthony Bailey, was merged with the Ringling Bros. World's Greatest Shows. The Ringling brothers purchased Barnum & Bailey Ltd. in 1907 following Bailey's death in 1906, but ran the circuses separately until they were merged in 1919.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ringling Brothers Circus</span> Traveling circus company (1884–1919)

Ringling Bros. World's Greatest Shows is a circus founded in Baraboo, Wisconsin, United States in 1884 by five of the seven Ringling brothers: Albert, August, Otto, Alfred T., Charles, John, and Henry. The Ringling brothers were sons of a German immigrant, August Frederick Rüngeling, who changed his name to Ringling once he settled in America. Four brothers were born in McGregor, Iowa: Alf T., Charles, John and Henry. The Ringling family lived in McGregor, Iowa, for twelve years, from 1860 until 1872. The family then lived in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, and moved to Baraboo, Wisconsin, in 1875.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Circus train</span> Method of conveyance for circus troupes

A circus train is a method of conveyance for circus troupes. One of the larger users of circus trains was the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus (RBBX), a famous American circus formed when the Ringling Brothers Circus purchased the Barnum and Bailey Circus in 1907.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Showmen's Rest</span> Circus peoples graveyard

Showmen's Rest in Forest Park, Illinois, is a 750 plot section of Woodlawn Cemetery mostly for circus performers owned by the Showmen's League of America. The first performers and show workers that were buried there are in a mass grave from when between 56 and 61 employees of the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus were interred. They were killed in the Hammond circus train wreck on June 22, 1918, at Hessville, Indiana,, when an empty Michigan Central Railroad troop train from Detroit, Michigan, to Chicago, Illinois, plowed into their circus train. The engineer of the troop train, Alonzo Sargent, had fallen asleep. Among the dead were Arthur Dierckx and Max Nietzborn of the "Great Dierckx Brothers" strong man act and Jennie Ward Todd of "The Flying Wards".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lion taming</span> Training big cats for performance

Lion taming is the taming and training of lions, either for protection or for use in entertainment, such as the circus. The term often applies to the taming and display of lions and other big cats such as tigers, leopards, jaguars, black panthers, cheetahs, and cougars. People often use lion taming as a metaphor for any dangerous activity. Lion taming occurs in zoos around the world to enable the keepers to carry out medical procedures and feedings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hagenbeck–Wallace Circus</span> American circus

The Hagenbeck–Wallace Circus was a circus that traveled across America in the early part of the 20th century. At its peak, it was the second-largest circus in America next to Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus. It was based in Peru, Indiana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Ringling</span> American entrepreneur (1866–1936)

John Nicholas Ringling was an American entrepreneur who is the best known of the seven Ringling brothers, five of whom merged the Barnum & Bailey Circus with their own Ringling Bros. World's Greatest Shows to create a virtual monopoly of traveling circuses and helped shape the modern circus. In addition to owning and managing many of the largest circuses in the United States, he was also a rancher, a real estate developer and art collector. He was inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame in 1987.

The Flying Wallendas is a circus act and group of daredevil stunt performers who perform highwire acts without a safety net. They were first known as The Great Wallendas, but the current name was coined by the press in the 1940s and has stayed since.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tyke (elephant)</span> Female African bush circus elephant killed by police firing

Tyke was a female African bush elephant from Mozambique who performed with Circus International of Honolulu, Hawaii. On August 20, 1994, during a performance at the Neal Blaisdell Center, she killed her trainer, Allen Campbell, and seriously injured her groomer, Dallas Beckwith. Tyke then ran from the arena and through the streets of the Kakaʻako central business district for more than thirty minutes. Unable to calm the elephant, local police opened fire on the animal, who collapsed from the wounds and died. While the majority of the attack in the arena was recorded on home video by several spectators, additional professional video footage captured the attack on local publicist Steve Hirano and the shooting of Tyke herself.

Elvin Bale is a former circus performer and daredevil with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, among many other international circuses. He performed a single trapeze act which finished with a heel catch. Among his other acts were the "wheel of death", "human space shuttle", "mechanical monster", "motorcycle on the high wire" and human cannonball. His career as a performer ended on January 8, 1987, when, performing the human cannonball, he over-shot his landing cushion, breaking his legs and back and paralyzing him from the waist down.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sells Floto Circus</span> American circus

The Sells Floto Circus was a combination of the Floto Dog & Pony Show and the Sells Brothers Circus that toured with sideshow acts in the United States and Canada during the early 1900s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Circus Hall of Fame</span> United States historic place

The International Circus Hall of Fame is a museum and hall of fame which honors important figures in circus history. It is located in Peru, Indiana, on the former grounds of the Wallace Circus and American Circus Corporation Winter Quarters, also known as the Peru Circus Farm and Valley Farms. The property includes rare surviving circus buildings from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and was designated a National Historic Landmark for its historical importance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Circus Corporation</span> American owner of circuses

The American Circus Corporation consisted of the Sells-Floto Circus, the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus, the John Robinson Circus, the Sparks Circus, and the Al G. Barnes Circus. It was owned by Jerry Mugivan, Bert Bowers and Ed Ballard. They sold the company in 1929 to John Nicholas Ringling for $1.7 million. With that acquisition, Ringling owned virtually every traveling circus in America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Al G. Barnes Circus</span> Early 20th century traveling show

Al G. Barnes Circus was an American circus run by Alpheus George Barnes Stonehouse that operated from 1898 to 1938.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Robinson Circus</span> Former American circus

John H. Robinson created the John Robinson Circus, whose winter quarters were in Terrace Park, Ohio.

Peru, Indiana native Brian Miser, also known as The Human Fuse, is a self-taught human cannonball. Featured on the 14th season of America's Got Talent. and a Guinness World Record holder, Miser is an American circus performer. Most commonly recognised for his headlining act at Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus, during his touring career. Miser has appeared nationally on Conan O'Brien, David Letterman (twice), Huffington Post and CBS radio over the course of his career thus far. His historic Las Vegas stunt closed down the famous strip and catapulted Miser into the spotlight across the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hugo Schmitt</span> German-American circus artist and elephant trainer

Hugo Schmitt, born July 19, 1904, in Bann, Landkreis Kaiserslautern, in Southwestern Rheinland-Pfalz in Germany, dead August 9, 1977, in Sarasota, Florida, United States, was a German-American circus artist, animal trainer and one of the world's most famous elephant trainers with a record of 55 elephants performing in the ring. Starting his career at Carl Hagenbeck Circus-Stellingen in Germany, Schmitt was elephant superintendent at the world's largest circus, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus in the US from 1947 to 1971.

References

  1. ↑ "DEATH OF MASSARTI, THE LION TAMER. HORRIBLE SCENE". Queanbeyan Age. 1872-03-21. Retrieved 2024-08-22.
  2. ↑ "Saturday Evening Mail 17 August 1872 — Hoosier State Chronicles: Indiana's Digital Historic Newspaper Program". newspapers.library.in.gov. Retrieved 2024-08-23.
  3. ↑ "23 KILLED IN A WRECK; Two Sections of a Circus Train Crash at Durand, Mich. Many Persons Injured and One Elephant and Two Camels Dead -- Engineer Says Air Brakes Would Not Work". The New York Times. 1903-08-08. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2024-08-22.
  4. ↑ "The Great Wallace Brothers Circus Train Disaster". Shiawassee History. May 26, 1904. Retrieved 2024-08-22.
  5. ↑ "CIRCUS RIDER KILLED IN RING BEFORE 5,000; Otto Kline, Famous for Vaulting Over Back of Running Horse, Thrown Against a Box. LOST GRIP ON SADDLE Suffers Compound Skull Fracture -- Act Repeated at Night with Substitute". The New York Times. 1915-04-22. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2024-08-22.
  6. ↑ Mchardy, Fiona (2005-10-06), "From Treacherous Wives To Murderous Mothers", Lost Dramas of Classical Athens, Liverpool University Press, pp. 129–150, doi:10.5949/liverpool/9780859897525.003.0008, ISBN   978-0-85989-752-5 , retrieved 2024-08-22
  7. ↑ Schroeder, Joan Vannorsdall (2017-06-17). "From The Archive: The Day They Hanged an Elephant in East Tennessee". Blue Ridge Country. Retrieved 2024-08-22.
  8. ↑ "The hanging of Mary the elephant: TN town wrestles with legacy of circus animal's death". wbir.com. 2023-03-27. Retrieved 2024-08-22.
  9. ↑ Magazine, Smithsonian; Boissoneault, Lorraine. "The Hammond Train Wreck of 1918 Killed Scores of Circus Performers". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 2024-08-22.
  10. ↑ IHB (2022-07-06). "Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus / 1918 Circus Train Wreck". IHB. Retrieved 2024-08-22.
  11. ↑ "1942 Cleveland circus fire... Ringling Brothers Circus... - RareNewspapers.com". www.rarenewspapers.com. Retrieved 2024-08-22.
  12. ↑ Cleveland Police Museum (February 28, 2019). "SKIPPY, THE MORGAN HORSE". Facebook. Retrieved 2024-08-22.
  13. ↑ "5,627 See Act No. 13 End in Death for Man 'Who Hangs Himself—'". St. Louis Star and Times . 23 October 1943., cited in Johnson, Rob (9 May 2020). "A Note on "The Great Peters" in Burroughs' World". RealityStudio. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  14. ↑ "Son Born To Widow Of Rodeo 'Hanging' Victim". St. Louis Star and Times. 17 November 1943. p. 5., cited in Seccaspina, Linda Knight (6 July 2020). "Sometimes You Win and Sometimes You Lose –The Great Peters" . Retrieved 20 November 2024.
  15. ↑ "The Hartford Circus Fire - Connecticut History | a CTHumanities Project". Connecticut History | a CTHumanities Project - Stories about the people, traditions, innovations, and events that make up Connecticut's rich history. 2019-07-06. Retrieved 2024-08-22.
  16. ↑ Green, Harvey (June 2001). "The Circus Fire: A True Story". The New England Quarterly; Boston. 74 (2): 335–337. doi:10.2307/3185487. JSTOR   3185487. ProQuest   215191412 – via ProQuest.
  17. ↑ "250 Feared Dead After Circus Fire". Eugene Register-Guard. December 18, 1961. p. 1.
  18. ↑ "323 Dead, 600 Injured Calamity Follows Circus Fire". Desert Sun. 18 December 1961. p. 1.
  19. ↑ "50 anos do incêndio circo Norte Americano". Terra (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2024-08-23.
  20. ↑ Zurowski, Monica (Jan 30, 2024). "Tragic falls and dizzying heights: The Wallenda tragedy, 62 years ago today". Calgary Herald.
  21. ↑ "Venus Circus tragedy and the rings of fire". The Times of India. 2020-02-16. ISSN   0971-8257 . Retrieved 2024-08-23.
  22. ↑ Ap (1981-02-09). "Death Toll Raised to 66 In Fire at Circus in India". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2024-08-23.
  23. ↑ Das, R. A. P. (1983-09-01). "1981 Circus fire disaster in Bangalore, India: Causes, management of burn patients and possible presentation". Burns. 10 (1): 17–29. doi:10.1016/0305-4179(83)90123-7. ISSN   0305-4179. PMID   6640383.
  24. ↑ "Circus performer stable after fall - UPI Archives". UPI. Retrieved 2024-08-22.
  25. ↑ Thompson, Tony (2003-08-09). "Performer dies in circus fall". The Observer. ISSN   0029-7712 . Retrieved 2024-08-22.
  26. ↑ "Circus performer dies after fall during show". NBC News. 2004-05-23. Retrieved 2024-08-22.
  27. ↑ Trueman, Matt (2013-10-31). "Cirque du Soleil fined £15,600 for death of acrobat in Las Vegas". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2024-08-22.
  28. ↑ Gross, Michael Joseph (2015-05-29). "Life and Death at Cirque du Soleil". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 2024-08-22.
  29. ↑ "Several circus acrobats injured during show in Rhode Island - CBS News". www.cbsnews.com. 2014-05-04. Retrieved 2024-08-22.
  30. ↑ Ayub, Mohammad (October 2014). "Investigation of the May 4, 2014 incident at the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey performance in Providence, RI" (PDF). Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.