Ringling Brothers Circus performed for the first time in 1884 in their home town of Baraboo, Wisconsin. They then began to perform in the 
Midwest. After they acquired their first elephant in 1888, business rapidly expanded. More expansion was possible after they used the train system to move from place to place. Ringling Brothers held its final performance on May 21, 2017. Children can learn more at: http://www.ringling.com/.
Hundred Years’ War began in 1369 and ended in 1453. The English and the French actually fought a number of different battles over the control of France. Idea: Children could find out who won the Hundred Years’ War and what part Joan of Arc played in it.
American Red Cross was created by Clara Barton and associates in Washington, DC, in 1881. Today over one million volunteers help in activities ranging from collecting donated blood to providing disaster relief. Children can learn more at: Red Cross. Children could read Clara Barton’s A Story of the Red Cross at: Project Gutenberg.
Michelangelo’s Pieta
Michelangelo’s Pietá was damaged in 1972 in Saint Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City when Lazlo Toth, a geologist, attacked the sculpture. Using a hammer, Toth shattered Mary’s left arm, her nose, her left eye, and her veil. The damage was repaired. Michelangelo had completed the sculpture around 1498 to 1499, and it is the only sculpture that bears his signature.