Under the Big Top
Answer each question below
and submit to see if you're right!
Question 1:
What everyday word for "oversized" entered the English language thanks to a circus elephant?
Correct! The answer is Jumbo.
The answer is D. Jumbo.
Did You Know? In 1882, P. T. Barnum purchased Jumbo from the London Zoo and turned him into one of the biggest attractions in circus history. Crowds were so captivated by his enormous size that his name soon entered everyday language as a word for anything unusually large.
Question 2:
What famous circus tune — now forever associated with clowns and comic chaos — was originally written as a military march in 1897?
Correct! The answer is Entrance of The Gladiators.
The answer is B. Entrance of The Gladiators.
Did You Know? Composed in 1897 by Czech composer Julius Fučík, Entrance of the Gladiators was originally written as a military march inspired by Roman soldiers. It wasn't until American circuses sped up the tempo and paired it with clown acts that it became the soundtrack audiences still recognize today.
Question 3:
What circus act gets its name from the Greek word for "little table"?
Correct! The answer is Trapeze.
The answer is A. Trapeze.
Did You Know? The word trapeze comes from the Greek trapezion, meaning "little table," a reference to the bar's four-sided shape. The act was popularized in the 1850s by French aerialist Jules Léotard — the same performer whose costume gave us the word leotard.
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