When Audrey Mendez-Hayes competed in the Mrs. Colorado beauty pageant this year, she wanted to try something radical. Instead of wearing a long, flowing evening gown — pretty much the standard ...

But the American beauty pageant dates back more than 150 years. Photograph by Ivan Vejar, courtesy Miss Universe L.P., LLLP. 1854: A Pageant Is Born The circus magnate P.T. Barnum founded the ...