The circus strongman is one of many acts found in a modern circus

Circus

A circus is commonly a travelling company of performers that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, unicyclists and other stunt-oriented artists...

. The strongman demonstrates great strength, power and agility to the audience. The strongman and strongwomen were very popular attractions in the circus in the 19th century.

Early strongmen would usually exhibit their awesome strength by lifting or moving objects which the audience would believe impossible to move. They would lift anvils, have anvils placed on their chest, bend metal bars and some were even reported to hold cannons on their shoulders while an assistant lit and fired the cannon

Cannon

A cannon is any piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellents to launch a projectile. Cannon vary in caliber, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees,...

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Famous circus strongmen

• Charles Bronson
  Charles Bronson (prisoner)
  Charles Bronson is a Welsh criminal often referred to in the British press as the "most violent prisoner in Britain"....
  
  
• Giovanni Battista Belzoni
  Giovanni Battista Belzoni
  Giovanni Battista Belzoni , sometimes known as The Great Belzoni, was a prolific Venetian explorer of Egyptian antiquities.-Early life:...
  
  
• Valentin Dikul
• Hugh David Evans (Signor Lawanda)