Don’t send in the clowns

What sounds like the setup for a slapstick comedy was a violent, pivotal moment in Canadian history.

On July 12, 1855, a group of American clowns from the S.B. Howes’ Star Troupe Menagerie & Circus visited a popular brothel on King Street in Toronto. Also in attendance were off-duty members of Toronto’s Union Hook & Ladder firefighting company.

Tensions flared when a firefighter named Fraser knocked the hat off a clown named Meyers. A full-scale fistfight erupted, but the firefighters severely underestimated their opponents. The athletic circus performers soundly thrashed the firefighters and sent them fleeing into the night.

Humiliated, the firefighters sought revenge. The following day, an angry mob — bolstered by members of the Orange Order, a powerful Protestant political society that held enormous influence over city politics — attacked the circus grounds at Fair Green. The mob overturned wagons, tore down the big top and set the encampment ablaze.

Local police, almost all of whom belonged to the Orange Order, stood by and watched the destruction unfold. The violence only ceased when the Mayor, George William Allan, called in the armed militia. At one point, he personally snatched an axe from a rioter’s hand to save a clown from being killed.

Public outrage over the police department’s blatant corruption and inaction forced Toronto to dismantle its volunteer-based law enforcement and establish its first professional police force.

In a similar vein…

• The Straw Hat Riot (New York City, 1922): In 1920s America, wearing a straw hat past the unwritten deadline of September 15 was considered a major fashion faux pas. In 1922, young gang members began snatching and stomping on men’s hats a few days early. The pranks spiralled into an eight-day brawl involving thousands of factory workers, dockworkers and youths, requiring police intervention to quell the chaos.

• The Leicester Balloon Riot (England, 1864): When 50,000 spectators gathered to watch famed aeronaut Henry Coxwell launch his hot-air balloon, rumours spread that he had brought a smaller balloon than advertised. Enraged by the perceived insult, the mob stormed the launch site, ripped the aircraft to shreds and paraded the burning remnants through the streets.

Yes, sometimes real life truly is stranger than fiction.

Sources: Wikipedia, Reddit, Mental Floss