When Barnum died in 1891, his widow sold her interest in the circus to Bailey, who began a five-year tour of Europe with the circus in 1897.

Who was Bailey in The Greatest Showman?

Bailey, original name James Anthony McGinnes, (born July 4, 1847, Detroit, Michigan, U.S.—died April 11, 1906, Mount Vernon, New York), American impresario credited with the great success of the Barnum & Bailey Circus. As a boy, Bailey traveled with an itinerant circus.

When did Ringling Brothers join Barnum and Bailey?

Once one of the richest families in America, the Ringling Brothers — Albert, Augustus, Otto, Alfred, Charles, John, and Henry — started their circus as a five-cent show in rural Iowa. This soon became a traveling railroad production, and merged with Barnum & Bailey Circus in 1909.