From the Archives of the Day

In 1906, Ota Benga, a member of the Mbuti pygmy tribe, was displayed at the Bronx Zoo's Monkey House alongside an orangutan. "Exhibited each afternoon during September," read the sign outside his enclosure.

Benga, who spoke no English, was convinced to rush the bars of his cage and bare his teeth at visitors. Soon, the zoo was attracting 40,000 visitors a day; they laughed and jeered at him. After a threat of legal action by a group of black clergymen, Benga was released. He committed suicide by shooting himself with a pistol in 1916.

[mentalfloss]