World Book Trivia Quiz For Kids--12/31-circus

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Circuses are colourful and exciting shows. Acrobats do daring gymnastic stunts. The ringmaster, who is the circus leader, and the band, and the dancers add to the excitement

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The first modern circus was put on in England in 1768. It featured trick horseback riding and lots of music.

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Barnum also helped start the most famous circus in history. He opened the circus in 1871. He later called it The Greatest Show on Earth. Today, that circus is called the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. He often made up stories about his shows in order to get people to come to see them.

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Clowns have been making people laugh for hundreds of years. They have been called such names as jester, fool, and buffoon. The word clown became more common in the early 1800's.

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Wild elephants spend most of the day eating. They eat about 300 pounds (140 kilograms) of plants a day.

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Other kinds of museums display only one kind of object or subject. For example, the Circus World Museum in Baraboo, Wisconsin, has the world's largest collection of circus wagons.

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The circus usually opens and closes with a colorful parade. The band plays, and the ringmaster sings. Performers dressed in fancy costumes walk around the circus. Animals also join in—bears, camels, elephants, and horses. The parade usually ends with a trick called a long mount. In this trick, elephants stand in a row with their front legs resting on each other's backs.

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Cirque du Soleil originated in Quebec City, Canada, in 1984, and now has headquarters in Montreal. Beginning as a single touring company, today Cirque du Soleil produces numerous traveling shows that perform throughout the world.

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Ringling brothers were five brothers who founded the most famous circus in American entertainment history. The brothers were Albert (1852-1916), Otto (1858-1911), Alfred (1861-1919), Charles (1864-1926), and John (1866-1936). Their dedication and organizational skills helped build a small group of performers into one of the greatest circuses in the world.

Explanation
The International Circus Festival of Monte Carlo in Monaco ranks as perhaps the most important circus festival in the world. The festival presents awards to outstanding circus acts that are considered the Academy Awards of circus performance. The highest award is the Gold Clown.