P.T. Barnum
Phineas Taylor Barnum
July 5, 1810 – April 7, 1891
Was an American showman, businessman, scam artist and entertainer, remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and for founding
the circus that became the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.   Although Barnum was also an author, publisher,
philanthropist, and for some time a politician, he said of himself, "I am a showman by profession...and all the gilding shall make
nothing else of me," and his personal aims were "to put money in his own coffers." Barnum is widely but erroneously credited with
coining the phrase "There's a sucker born every minute."
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Photo Antiquities Museum of Pittsburg
531 East Ohio Street
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(412) 231-7881
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See photos like this in their original form!
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Benedict Arnold
January 14, 1741 – June 14, 1801
Was a general during the American Revolutionary War who originally fought for the American Continental Army but defected to the
British Army. While a general on the American side, he obtained command of the fort at West Point,
New York, and planned to surrender it to the British forces. After the plan was exposed in September 1780, he was commissioned into
the British Army as a brigadier general.
Ethel Barrymore
August 15, 1879 – June 18, 1959
Was an American actress and a member of the Barrymore family of actors.  Born Ethel Mae Blythe in Philadelphia, the second child of
the actors Maurice Barrymore (whose real name was Herbert Blythe) and Georgiana Drew. Named after her father’s favorite
character—Ethel in William Makepeace Thackeray’s The Newcomes—she was one of the twentieth century’s most elegant,
beautiful and gifted actresses.
She was the sister of actors John Barrymore and Lionel Barrymore, the aunt of actor John Drew Barrymore, and the grand-aunt of
actress Drew Barrymore. She was also the niece of Broadway matinée idol John Drew, Jr. and early Vitagraph movie star Sidney Drew.
Irving Berlin
May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989
Was an American composer and lyricist of Belarusian Jewish origin (born near Mogilev in Russian Empire, nowadays Belarus), widely
considered one of the greatest songwriters in American history. He published his first song, "Marie from Sunny Italy", in 1907 and had
his first major international hit, "Alexander's Ragtime Band" in 1911.  "Alexander's Ragtime Band" sparked an international dance craze
in places as far away as Berlin's native Russia, which also "flung itself into the ragtime beat with an abandon bordering on mania." Over
the years he was known for writing music and lyrics in the American vernacular: uncomplicated, simple and direct, with his aim being
to "reach the heart of the average American" whom he saw as the "real soul of the country."
Nellie Bly
May 5, 1864 – January 27, 1922
Was the pen name of American journalist Elizabeth Jane Cochrane. She remains notable for two feats: a record-breaking trip around
the world in emulation of Jules Verne's character Phileas Fogg, and an exposé in which she faked insanity to study a mental
institution from within. In addition to her writing, she was also an industrialist and charity worker.  Nellie was born in "Cochran Mills",
today part of the Pittsburgh suburb of Burrell Township, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania.