P. T. Barnum and his circus start their first tour of the United States.

P.T. Barnum, whose full name was Phineas Taylor Barnum, was an American showman, entrepreneur, and businessman. He is best known for his creation and management of the Barnum & Bailey Circus, which was often referred to as “The Greatest Show on Earth.” Barnum was born on July 5, 1810, in Bethel, Connecticut, and he passed away on April 7, 1891, in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

Barnum’s career in show business began in the 1830s when he purchased and exhibited a slave woman named Joice Heth, whom he claimed to be the 161-year-old nursemaid of George Washington. Although the authenticity of this claim was dubious, Barnum’s marketing skills and ability to generate public interest helped draw large crowds to see the exhibit.

In 1841, Barnum purchased Scudder’s American Museum in New York City and turned it into a major attraction. The museum showcased a wide array of curiosities, oddities, and live performances, including animal displays, historical exhibits, and theatrical productions. Barnum’s knack for promotion and sensationalism made the museum a popular entertainment destination.

Barnum’s involvement in the circus industry began in 1871 when he partnered with William Cameron Coup to create P.T. Barnum’s Grand Traveling Museum, Menagerie, Caravan, and Hippodrome. The circus featured a mix of exotic animals, sideshow acts, and live performances, including acrobats, clowns, and aerialists. Over time, Barnum expanded the circus, and in 1881, he merged it with James A. Bailey’s circus to form Barnum & Bailey Circus.

The Barnum & Bailey Circus became known as “The Greatest Show on Earth” and grew to become one of the most prominent and well-known circuses in the world. It featured a massive traveling operation that showcased a wide range of acts, including animal performances, trapeze artists, jugglers, tightrope walkers, and more. The circus employed thousands of people, including performers, animal trainers, and support staff, and toured extensively throughout the United States and even internationally.

Barnum’s success was not only attributed to his ability to entertain but also to his skills as a marketer and promoter. He was a master of generating publicity and attracting attention to his shows through various means, including advertising, sensational claims, and engaging stunts.

It’s important to note that while Barnum’s circus brought joy and wonder to many, it also faced criticism for its treatment of animals and the exploitation of human oddities in its sideshows. As societal attitudes changed over time, there was an increasing backlash against the use of animals for entertainment, leading to the decline of traditional circuses.

In 2017, the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, the successor to Barnum’s original circus, closed its doors after 146 years of operation. The decision was partly influenced by changing public perceptions of animal welfare and the decline in attendance.

Despite the controversies surrounding his shows, P.T. Barnum’s legacy as an entertainment pioneer and a master showman endures. His influence on the circus industry and popular entertainment cannot be understated, and he remains an iconic figure in American cultural history.

P. T. Barnum and his circus start their first tour of the United States.

During the FIFA World Cup, police had to intervene multiple times in fights between Chilean and Italian players in one of the most violent games in football history.

Bridget Bishop is the first person to be tried for witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts; she was found guilty and later hanged.

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Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in the killing of demonstrators during the 2011 Egyptian revolution.

On 24 May 2011, Mubarak was ordered to stand trial on charges of premeditated murder of peaceful protesters during the revolution and, if convicted, could face the death penalty. The decision to try Mubarak was made days before a scheduled protest in Tahrir Square. The full list of charges released by the public prosecutor was “intentional murder, attempted killing of some demonstrators … misuse of influence, deliberately wasting public funds and unlawfully making private financial gains and profits”.

On 28 May, a Cairo administrative court found Mubarak guilty of damaging the national economy during the protests by shutting down the Internet and telephone services. He was fined LE200 million—about US$33.6 million—which the court ordered he must pay from his personal assets. This was the first court ruling against Mubarak, who would next have to answer to the murder charges.

The trial of Hosni Mubarak, his sons Ala’a and Gamal, former interior minister Habib el-Adly and six former top police officials began on 3 August 2011 at a temporary criminal court at the Police Academy in north Cairo. They were charged with corruption and the premeditated killing of peaceful protesters during the mass movement to oust the Mubarak government, the latter of which carries the death penalty. The trial was broadcast on Egyptian television; Mubarak made an unexpected appearance—his first since his resignation. He was taken into the court on a hospital bed and held in a cage for the session. Upon hearing the charges against him, Mubarak pleaded not guilty. Judge Ahmed Refaat adjourned the court, ruling that Mubarak be transferred under continued arrest to the military hospital on the outskirts of Cairo. The second court session scheduled for 15 August. On 15 August, the resumed trial lasted three hours. At the end of the session, Rifaat announced that the third session would take place on 5 September and that the remainder of the proceedings would be off-limits to television cameras.

Riot police outside the courthouse where Mubarak was being sentenced on 2 June 2012

The trial resumed in December 2011 and lasted until January 2012. The defense strategy was that Mubarak never actually resigned, was still president, and thus had immunity. On 2 June 2012, Mubarak was found guilty of not halting the killing of protesters by the Egyptian security forces; he was sentenced to life imprisonment. The court found Mubarak not guilty of ordering the crackdown on Egyptian protesters. All other charges against Mubarak, including profiteering and economic fraud, were dismissed. Mubarak’s sons, Habib el-Adly, and six senior police officials were all acquitted for their roles in the killing of demonstrators because of a lack of evidence.^[97] According to The Guardian, the relatives of those killed by Mubarak’s forces were angered by the verdict. Thousands of demonstrators protested the verdict in Tahrir Square, Arbein Square and Al-Qaed Ibrahim Square.

In January 2013, an appeals court overturned Mubarak’s life sentence and ordered a retrial. He remained in custody and returned to court on 11 May 2013 for a retrial on charges of complicity in the murder of protesters. On 21 August 2013, a Cairo court ordered his release. Judicial sources confirmed that the court had upheld a petition from Mubarak’s longtime lawyer that called for his release. A day later, interim prime minister Hazem El Beblawiordered that Mubarak be put under house arrest.

On 21 May 2014, while awaiting retrial, Mubarak and his sons were convicted on charges of embezzlement; Mubarak was sentenced to three years in prison, while his sons received four-year sentences. The three were fined the equivalent of US$2.9 million, and were ordered to repay US$17.6 million.

In November 2014, conspiracy to kill charges were dismissed by the Cairo Criminal Court on a technicality. The court also cleared Mubarak of corruption charges. On 13 January 2015, Egypt’s Court of Cassation overturned Mubarak’s and his sons’ embezzlement charges, the last remaining conviction against him, and ordered a retrial. A retrial on the corruption charges led to a conviction and sentencing to three years in prison in May 2015 for Mubarak, with four-year terms for his sons, Gamal and Alaa. It was not immediately clear whether the sentence would take into account time already served – Mubarak and his sons have already spent more than three years in prison, so potentially will not have to serve any additional time. Supporters of Mubarak jeered the decision when it was announced in a Cairo courtroom on 9 May. The sentence also included a 125 million Egyptian pound fine, and required the return of 21 million embezzled Egyptian pounds. These amounts were previously paid after the first trial.

The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) is formed.

At its first summit meeting in Cairo in 1964, the Arab League initiated the creation of an organization representing the Palestinian people. The Palestinian National Council convened in Jerusalem on 28 May 1964. Concluding this meeting the PLO was founded on 2 June 1964. Its stated goal was the “liberation of Palestine” through armed struggle.

The ideology of the PLO was formulated in the founding year 1964 in the Palestinian National Covenant. The document is a combative anti-Zionist statement dedicated to the “restoration of the Palestinian homeland”. It has no reference to religion. In 1968, the Charter was replaced by a comprehensively revised version.

Until 1993, the only promoted option was armed struggle. From the signing of the Oslo Accords, negotiation and diplomacy became the only official policy. In April 1996, a large number of articles, which were inconsistent with the Oslo Accords, were wholly or partially nullified.

At the core of the PLO’s ideology is the belief that Zionists had unjustly expelled the Palestinians from Palestine and established a Jewish state in place under the pretext of having historic and Jewish ties with Palestine. The PLO demanded that Palestinian refugees be allowed to return to their homes. This is expressed in the National Covenant:

Article 2 of the Charter states that ?Palestine, with the boundaries it had during the British mandate, is an indivisible territorial unit?, meaning that there is no place for a Jewish state. This article was adapted in 1996 to meet the Oslo Accords.

Article 20 states: ?The Balfour Declaration, the Mandate for Palestine, and everything that has been based upon them, are deemed null and void. Claims of historical or religious ties of Jews with Palestine are incompatible with the facts of history and the true conception of what constitutes statehood. Judaism, being a religion, is not an independent nationality. Nor do Jews constitute a single nation with an identity of its own; they are citizens of the states to which they belong?. This article was nullified in 1996.

Article 3 reads: ?The Palestinian Arab people possess the legal right to their homeland and have the right to determine their destiny after achieving the liberation of their country in accordance with their wishes and entirely of their own accord and will?.

The PLO has always labelled the Palestinian people as Arabs. This was a natural consequence of the fact that the PLO was an offshoot of the Arab League. It also has a tactical element, as to keep the backing of Arab states. Over the years, the Arab identity remained the stated nature of the Palestinian State. It is a reference to the ?Arab State? envisioned in the UN Partition Plan.

Secularism versus adherence to Islam
The PLO and its dominating faction Fatah are often contrasted to more religious orientated factions like Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. All, however, represent a predominant Muslim population. Practically the whole population of the Territories is Muslim, most of them Sunni. Only some 50,000 ca 1% of the 4.6 million Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territories are Palestinian Christian.

The National Charter has no reference to religion. Under President Arafat, the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority adopted the 2003 Amended Basic Law, which stipulates Islam as the sole official religion in Palestine and the principles of Islamic sharia as a principal source of legislation. The draft Constitution, which never materialized, contains the same provisions. At the time, the Palestine Legislative Council did not include a single Hamas member. The draft Constitution was formulated by the ?Constitutional Committee?, appointed with the approval of the PLO.

PLO versus PA
The 1993-1995 Oslo Accords deliberately detached the Palestinian population in the Occupied Palestinian Territories from the PLO and the Palestinians in exile by creating a Palestinian Authority for the Territories. A separate parliament and government were established. Mahmoud Abbas was one of the architects of the Oslo Accords.

Although many in the PLO opposed the Oslo Agreements, the Executive Committee and the Central Council approved the Accords. It marked the beginning of the PLO’s decline, as the PA came to replace the PLO as the prime Palestinian political institution. Political factions within the PLO that had opposed the Oslo process were marginalized. Only during the Hamas-led PA Government in 2006-2007, the PLO resurfaced. After Hamas had taken over Gaza in 2007, Abbas issued a decree suspending the PLC and some sections of the Palestinian Basic Law, and appointing Salam Fayyad as Prime Minister.

The PLO managed to overcome the separation by keeping the power in PLO and PA in one hand, upheld by Yasser Arafat. In 2002, Arafat held the functions Chairman of the PLO/Executive Committee and Chairman of Fatah, the dominating faction within the PLO, as well as President of the Palestinian National Authority. He also controlled the Palestinian National Security Forces.

Vandals enter Rome and plunder the city for two weeks

During the 1962 FIFA World Cup, the police had to intervene multiple times in fights between Chilean and Italian players. This was one of the most violent games in the history of football.

The Portland Rum Riots take place in Portland, Maine.