William Leonard Hunt
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William Leonard Hunt, also known by the stage name The Great Farini, was a well-known nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Canadian funambulist, entertainment promoter and inventor, as well as the
Hunt with Krao Farini, 1883
Rossa Matilda Richter
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Rossa Matilda Richter, who used the stage name Zazel, was an English aerialist and actress who became known as the first human cannonball at the age of 17. She began performing at a very young age, pr
William Leonard Hunt
…act. Although Hunt's son "Lulu" first used it for an act called "Lulu's Leap" since 1873, the performance in London in 1877 by 14-year-old "Zazel" (Rossa Matilda Richter) credited her as being the first "human cannonball". In 1871, he married an English woman named Alice Carpenter. They had two children together. The…
Zazel posing with her cannon at the Royal Aquarium, in 1877
An early poster advertising Zazel's performances at the Royal Aquarium
A poster by Alfred Concanen advertising "The New Zazel" waltz composed by Charles Dubois
Richter in 1879, depicted in a London travel guide