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)

Viktoriia Onopriienko, of Ukraine, performs during the rhythmic gymnastics individual all-around qualifier at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Friday, August 6, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Ashley Landis/AP Photo)

A local miner wades through water as he walks down from a mountain in Benguet a day after Typhoon Haima struck northern Philippines, October 21, 2016. Super Typhoon Haima slammed into the northeastern Philippine coast late Wednesday with ferocious winds and rain that rekindled fears and memories from the catastrophe wrought by Typhoon Haiyan in 2013. (Photo by Erik De Castro/Reuters)

A handout photo made available by the World Press Photo (WPP) organization on 13 February 2017 shows a picture by Rossiya Segodnya photographer Valery Melnikov that won the Long-Term Projects – First Prize award of the 60th annual World Press Photo Contest, it was announced by the WPP Foundation in Amsterdam, The Netherlands on 13 February 2017. Caption: Civilians escape from a fire at a house destroyed by an air attack in the Luhanskaya village. (Photo by Valery Melnikov/EPA/Rossiya Segodnya/World Press Photo)

A woman receives a bouquet made of vegetables and flowers, priced at 238RMB, from a delivery staff of a florist outside an office building on Valentine's Day in Beijing, China, February 14, 2017. (Photo by Jason Lee/Reuters)

A woman drives a scooter with her dog in Hanoi on December 10, 2021, as Vietnamese officials in the central city of Hoi An announced it was set to be the country's first dog and cat meat free city. (Photo by Nhac Nguyen/AFP Photo)

Japan's Naomi Osaka sits with her towel over her head during a break in her third round loss to Coco Gauff of the U.S. at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, January 24, 2020. (Photo by Lee Jin-man/AP Photo)

Picks him up at 25 miles an hour! If the modern auto or truck hits you don't worry. Equipped with this device you are simply given a free ride. This man even came from behind another car, was struck but not even scratched. The demonstration was given recently in Washington, D.C. (1924 December 17). (Photo by Library of Congress)