In 1949, LIFE magazine sent famed photographer Nina Leen to document the daily life of a sassy troupe of young women who had run off and joined the famous Barnum & Bailey Circus in Sarasota, Fla. What developed was a portrait of a sisterhood formed over acrobatics that mixed high-flying wire acts with fashionable high-waisted shorts. Sarasota was once considered “the home of the American circus”. Here: an aerialist smoking while rehearsing for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus in Sarasota, FL in 1949. (Photo By Nina Leen/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images)

Eurocopter's X³ high-speed hybrid helicopter demonstrator performs, September 6, 2010. The Eurocopter X³ (X-Cubed) is an experimental high-speed compound helicopter developed by Eurocopter (now Airbus Helicopters). A technology demonstration platform for Eurocopter “high-speed, long-range hybrid helicopter” or H³ concept, the X³ achieved 255 knots in level flight on 7 June 2013, setting an unofficial speed record for a helicopter. (Photo by Reuters/HO/Eurocopter/Penna)

A bonnet macaque sits on consecrated idols of snakes as it drinks milk offered by a devotee during the Hindu festival of Nag Panchami, which is celebrated by worshipping snakes to honour the serpent god, inside a temple on the outskirts of Bengaluru, India, July 27, 2017. (Photo by Abhishek N. Chinnappa/Reuters)

Nicolo Martinenghi of Italy competes in the Men's 50m Breaststroke Final on day six of the 2022 FINA World Short Course Swimming Championships at Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre on December 18, 2022 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images)

A picture made available 27 November 2015 shows a handler putting his head between the gaping fangs of a crocodile during a show at the Samutprakarn Crocodile Farm and Zoo, Samutprakarn province, outside Bangkok, Thailand, 26 November 2015. The farm and zoo claims to be the world's largest crocodile farm with more than 80,000 freshwater and marine crocodiles, and offers shows such as crocodile wrestling to attract tourists. (Photo by Diego Azubel/EPA)

A minaret, that was damaged during fighting between Islamic State jihadists and government forces, is seen in Ben Guerdane, near the Libyan border, Tunisia April 10, 2016. After a U.S. air strike killed a Tunisian jihadist commander in western Libya in late February, dozens of Islamic State fighters sneaked across the border into Tunisia and attacked an army barracks and police bases in the town of Ben Guerdane. (Photo by Zohra Bensemra/Reuters)

Portuguese model Sara Sampaio attends the screening of “Elvis” during the 75th annual Cannes film festival at Palais des Festivals on May 25, 2022 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Stephane Cardinale – Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)

A large brawl breaks out as people leave the track after Sydney Racing at Rosehill Gardens on December 07, 2019 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Mark Evans/Getty Images)