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Phineas Taylor Barnum

Phineas Taylor Barnum (July 5, 1810 - April 7, 1891) was an American showman who is best remembered for his entertaining hoaxes and for founding the circus that eventually became the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Barnum never flinched from his stated goal "to put money in his own coffers." He was a businessman above all else, his profession was pure entertainment, and he was perhaps the first "show business" millionaire. He never said "There's a sucker born every minute" as is famously ascribed, but his rebuttal to his critics was often "I am a showman by profession...and all the gilding shall make nothing else of me." Although famous for his brazen self-promotion and blatant puffery, he understood his times and profited from them brilliantly.