Jumbo the Elephant Killed by Train…..
September 15, 1885…….
Jumbo the Giant African Circus Elephant is killed when he is hit by an oncoming train while being loaded into a boxcar in St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada. In those days, circuses traveled cross country by trains. Jumbo had finished his performance that night and was being led back to his boxcar when he was hit by an oncoming train. He died within minutes. According to P. T. Barnum, who owned Jumbo, a young circus elephant named Tom Thumb was walking on the railroad tracks and Jumbo was attempting to lead him to safety when the train hit Tom Thumb and then derailed and hit Jumbo.