Barnum invested two years in training Tom to sing, dance and mime, then embarked on a world tour with his tiny friend who performed for fascinated domestic and European audiences, including royalty and Abraham Lincoln. Tom Thumb became a "must see" in the American Museum.

Jenny Lind, whom Barnum called "The Swedish Nightingale" was a musical prodigy. She could play the piano at age four and developed an extraordinary singing voice, which she amply demonstrated to the influential and political, including President Millard Fillmore, General Winfield Scott, Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Washington Irving and others.

The Barnum & Bailey Circus, which he dubbed "The greatest show on earth" is his most enduring legacy.

Mixing politics with his passion for the bizarre enabled Barnum to serve a one-year term as mayor of Bridgeport, Connecticut, and he served two terms in the Connecticut legislature.

The Barnum Museum is an excellent chronicle of the life and times of Phineas Taylor Barnum and very much worth a visit.