Tom Thumb

Tom Thumb is the name of a traditional hero in English folklore, who was no bigger than his father's thumb. The name is often adopted for people or objects of small stature.

• Tom Thumb was the name of the first American-built steam locomotive used on a common-carrier railroad. Designed and built by Peter Cooper in 1830, it was designed to convince owners of the newly formed Baltimore and Ohio Railroad to use steam engines. Cooper held a race between Tom Thumb and a horse along Baltimore and Ohio tracks near Baltimore, Maryland. Tom Thumb led until an engine belt slipped. The horse then pulled ahead and won.

• General Tom Thumb was the stage name of Charles Sherwood Stratton (1838-1883), a dwarf who achieved great fame under circus pioneer P.T. Barnum. Stratton was 4 years old, the son of a Bridgeport, Connecticut carpenter, when Barnum met him. He was 25 inches tall (his final height would be 33 inches) and weighed just 15 pounds at the time Barnum taught him to sing, dance and perform and made him an international celebrity with a tour of Europe. Stratton's marriage in February, 1863, to another midget, Lavinia Warren, was front-page news. They stood atop a grand piano in New York City's Grace Episcopal Church to greet some 2,000 guests.

External link

• History Of Tom Thumb, The; to which are added the stories of The Cat And The Mouse and Fire! Fire! Burn stick!; Editor Henry Altemus, Project Gutenberg edition.