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P.T. Barnum was an influential 19th century American showman and businessman.

In 2367, while researching the legitimacy of Ardra, Captain Jean-Luc Picard quoted a famous saying attributed to Barnum, "there's a sucker born every minute", after which Lieutenant Commander Data named Barnum as the quote's originator. (TNG: "Devil's Due")

According to the Star Trek Encyclopedia (4th ed., vol. 1, p. 68), the birth and death years of P.T. Barnum (Phineas Tobias Barnum) were 1810 and 1891, respectively. The authors noted that he created "The Greatest Show on Earth".
According to historians, Barnum never said the quote "there's a sucker born every minute", instead it was said by David Hannum, one of Barnum's competitors.

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