• Freak shows were popular in the United States from around 1840 to the 1970s, and were often, but not always, associated with circuses and carnivals. Some shows also exhibited deformed animals (such as two-headed cows, one-eyed pigs, and four-horned goats) and famous hoaxes, or simply "science gone wrong" exhibits (such as deformed babies).

• Changes in popular culture and entertainment led to the decline of the freak show as a form entertainment. As previously mysterious anomalies were scientifically explained as genetic mutations or diseases, freaks became the objects of sympathy rather than fear or disdain.

• Today, Michigan law forbids the "exhibition [of] any deformed human being or human monstrosity, except as used for scientific purposes".[1] However, in many states in the USA and in other countries abroad one can still see freak shows at carnivals and state fairs, in bars and nightclubs, and on daytime television talk shows.

• Freak shows were popular in the United States from around 1840 to the 1970s, and were often, but not always, associated with circuses and carnivals. Some shows also exhibited deformed animals (such as two-headed cows, one-eyed pigs, and four-horned goats) and famous hoaxes, or simply "science gone wrong" exhibits (such as deformed babies).

• Changes in popular culture and entertainment led to the decline of the freak show as a form entertainment. As previously mysterious anomalies were scientifically explained as genetic mutations or diseases, freaks became the objects of sympathy rather than fear or disdain.

• Today, Michigan law forbids the "exhibition [of] any deformed human being or human monstrosity, except as used for scientific purposes".[1] However, in many states in the USA and in other countries abroad one can still see freak shows at carnivals and state fairs, in bars and nightclubs, and on daytime television talk shows.

• Barnum, P(hineas) T(aylor)

• (1810-91), American showman, born in Bethel, Conn. His career in the amusement field began in 1835 in New York City, where he purchased Joyce Heth (1674?-1836), a black slave, reputedly 161 years old, and alleged to have been George Washington's nurse. Barnum exhibited her profitably throughout the country until her death. In 1841 he purchased Scudder's American Museum, in New York City, where in 1842 he placed on exhibition the midget Gen. Tom Thumb. Also in his show were the original Siamese twins, Chang and Eng (1811-74). In 1850 he arranged an American concert tour for Jenny Lind, the famous Swedish soprano, which was a great financial success. After several terms as a Connecticut state legislator, he launched, in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1871, his greatest undertaking as a showman, a mobile circus. The circus included a menagerie, which exhibited Jumbo the elephant, and a museum containing many freaks; it was publicized as "The Greatest Show on Earth." The organization merged in 1881 with the circus of another American showman, James Anthony Bailey (1847-1906); as Barnum and Bailey's Circus it became internationally famous. Barnum wrote several books, notably his Autobiography (1855), The Humbugs of the World (1865), and Moneygetting (1883).

•"Barnum, P(hineas) T(aylor)." Encyclopedia. Issues & Controversies in American History. Facts On File News Services, n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2009. <http://www.2facts.com/article/xba031500a>.

General Tom Thumb• Born: Charles Sherwood

StrattonJanuary 4, 1838)Bridgeport, Connecticut USA

• Died: July 15, 1883 (aged 45)Bridgeport, Connecticut USA

• Cause of death: Stroke• Resting place: Mountain

Grove Cemetery, Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA

• Nationality: American• Height: 102 centimeters

(3.3 ft)• Weight: 32 kilograms

(71 lb)• Known for: Celebrity midget,

circus performer• Spouse: Lavinia Warren

(1863-1883, his death)

Little People Big World• …from the first season of

Little People, Big World.Get an inside look at the lives of the Roloffs as they face the pressures of being little in an average-sized world. Witness the everyday successes and struggles of being little with a family determined to succeed in a world that isn't always accepting…

Eng and Chang Bunker

• original twins from Siam (present-day Thailand) • Born on May 11, 1811 in a tiny village along the

Mekong river • At age 17, the boys were brought back to America

by the showman Abel Coffin • toured with P.T. Barnum until their retirement in

1839.• married Adelaide and Sarah Ann (or Sally) Yates,

respectively • spent alternating nights with their wives • together fathered 22 children (10 were Chang's, 12

were Eng's). However, several of the children died in infancy or early childhood.

• In 1874 Chang, the stronger and more stubborn of the twins and a heavy drinker, contracted pneumonia, which was worsened by the carriage trip in the rain between the two farms. He died rather suddenly during the night of January 17. Eng awoke to find his brother dead, and he called for his wife and children to attend to him. According to some stories, the family sent for a doctor to perform an emergency separation, but Eng had died by the time the doctor arrived. By other accounts, Eng refused to be separated from his dead brother. He died three hours later.

• The twins' fused liver - the only organ the twins shared - is still preserved in formalin at the Mutter Museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and is exhibited alongside a plaster death-cast of the twins.

Medical Incredible: Born with Two Heads

• An Egyptian infant is born with two heads, an extremely rare medical condition known as craniopagus parasiticus.

Lobster-Folk

Printed postcard of Bobby Jackson. Circa 1908-1912.

Mermaid Baby

• Medical Incredible follows Milagros Cerron, known as the Mermaid Baby. Milagros has sirenomelia. In Lima, Peru, Dr. Luis Rubio performs a rare operation to separate her fused legs.

Carrie Akers • Height 3’ 1”• Weight 309 pounds• In this spectacular

Cabinet Card, Miss Akers is shown in all her glory.

• As wide as she is tall, Carrie looks to be a formidable presence.

• above, Cabinet Card by photographer Charles Eisenmann of 18 West 14th Street, New York, ca. 1888-1889

BIG MEDICINECurrent TV Show on Discovery Health

• Follow the personal stories of severely obese patients who turn to Houston's Methodist Weight Management Center as a life-changing last resort.

• Jeanie's banner from the 1930's by Nieman Eisman. (Ken Harck

Collection) • Jeanie Tomaini, you

see, once the wife of 8'4" giant Al Tomaini, was known in her day as the "World's Only Living Half Girl." Together, she and Al toured for decades as the "World's Strangest Married Couple"

• Rosemarie Siggins has amazed the medical world her world her whole life---first doctors were amazed at her basic good health despite a severe birth defect that left her with basically half a body. This did not stop Rosemarie, however, from pursuing life with gusto. At age 12, she was running the whole household, cooking and cleaning for her nearly-blind mother, her father and her retarded brother and was named Colorado’s Handicapped Achiever of the Year.

Long ago, Rosemarie put away her prosthesis (consisting of a lower trunk with two legs), because it was too cumbersome. Her new “legs” are actually a beat up skate board on which she whizzes around taking care of her household chores and errands.

Two years ago, Rosemarie met David Siggins in an auto parts store he managed, and they fell in love.  Now, Rosemarie has amazed everyone once again by giving birth to a bouncing baby boy. Luke was 18 1/2 inches long when he was born, just under a foot shorter than his 2 and 1/2 foot mom.

The Happy Giant

• Born: Henry Mullens1915United States

• Died: 1972Los Angeles, California

• Other name(s): Henry HeightHite

Printed, extra tall, advertising card of Henry Hite who was a

spokesman for Wilson Meats in the 1950's and early 1960's.

Giants

• Sandy Allen Sandy Allen, right, poses for a picture with Will Denk, 11, at the library in Shelbyville, Ind., on Saturday, September 2, 1995. Allen, at seven feet, seven and one quarter inches, was listed by Guinness World Records as the world's tallest woman. She was at the library to present her program "I'm Big on Books-You Can Be, Too" to promote literacy. Allen died on Wednesday, August 13, 2008 at the age of 53.(AP Photo/Phil Meyers)

Yao MingBorn: Sep 12, 1980 Height: 7-6 /  2,29

Weight: 310  lbs. / 140,6  kg. From: Shanghai, China

Years Pro: 7

Gigantism is abnormally large growth due to an excess of growth hormone during childhood, before the bone growth plates have closed.