125 YEARS AGO

November 23, 1887
The main building of Barnum & Bailey’s great circus and menagerie winter quarters at Bridgeport, Conn., was destroyed by fire Sunday. Some of the animals – including 30 elephants, a lion and a hippopotamus – escaped, but most of them have been recaptured.

The star of Bethlehem, which is now visible to the naked eye directly in the eastern sky, is an unusually large and brilliant twinkler. It will be visible from 3 to 5 a.m. for some time, and then will not be seen again for 849 years.