On Jan. 8, 1310, near the beginning of the Little Ice Age, when average temperatures around the world dropped by as much as 3.6 F (particularly in Europe and North America), the Thames River in London froze so thickly that bonfires were lit on it.
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On Jan. 9, 1768, British former cavalry Sergeant Major Philip Astley staged the first modern circus after discovering that if he galloped in a tight cir…