Editing Circus (section)

====Ricketts and the first American circus====
The Englishman [[John Bill Ricketts]] brought the first modern circus to the United States. He began his theatrical career with Hughes Royal Circus in London in the 1780s, and travelled from England in 1792 to establish his first circus in [[Philadelphia]]. The first circus building in the US opened on 3 April 1793 in Philadelphia, where Ricketts gave America's first complete circus performance.<ref name=BGH>{{cite web| url= http://explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=815 |title= Historical Markers |publisher=Explore PA History |access-date=20 April 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.circusinamerica.org/public/people/public_show/67|title=Person: Ricketts, John Bill|work=The Circus in America, 1793 – 1940|access-date=20 April 2012|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120503230859/http://www.circusinamerica.org/public/people/public_show/67|archive-date=3 May 2012}}</ref> [[George Washington]] attended a performance there later that season.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/bah/DOH/markerresults.asp?secid=31&namesearch=Ricketts%27+Circus&Submit=Search+by+Marker+Title|title=PHMC: Historical Markers Program: Ricketts' Circus|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071219024702/http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/bah/DOH/markerresults.asp?secid=31&namesearch=Ricketts%27+Circus&Submit=Search+by+Marker+Title|archive-date=19 December 2007}}</ref>
[[File:Paolo Monti - Serie fotografica - BEIC 6342935.jpg|thumb|Circus tent, Italy (1951)]]