On this day, November 26, in 1716

A (somewhat sarcastic…) real live Lion was exhibited in the city of Boston; this is the first recorded incident of this kind in colonial America. The next year, a sailor arrived in Philadelphia with yet another lion, and almost 80 years after this, the first elephant was imported from India to America, which was transported around the East Coast as a public spectacle. By 1834, a company known as the New York Menagerie toured New England with a number of "exotic" animals from elephants and rhinoceros' to polar bears and monkeys. Today, zoos and animal featured circuses are extremely popular attractions, despite the persistent accusations of animal brutality. Personally, I've always been curious as to why people find wild animals in small cages so entertaining?