Short answers, pulled from the story.
The word pantomime arrived in English from the Latin term pantomimus, which itself derived from the Greek word pantomimos. This ancient compound combined panto meaning all and mimos meaning a dancer who acted out every role or told the entire story alone.
Pantomime was instituted in Ancient Rome around the end of the first century BC. The art form drew heavily upon Greek tragedy and other classical genres when it became popular throughout the empire until the sixth century AD.
John Rich introduced Harlequin into London theatres under the name Lun starting around 1724 with productions like The Necromancer. These initial shows remained silent dumb show performances consisting only of dancing and gestures until Parliament lifted restrictions on spoken dialogue in 1843.
Pantomime spreads internationally across countries like Australia Canada Jamaica Switzerland Malta Andorra United Arab Emirates and South Africa performing mostly during Christmas and New Year seasons. Hudson Village Theatre in Quebec presents annual Christmas pantomimes alongside Ross Petty Productions staging shows at Toronto Elgin Theatre since 1996.
The 2018, 2019 season marked the first recorded British history moment generating over sixty million pounds revenue from pantomime productions alone. Pantomime generates substantial financial significance annually contributing twenty percent of all live performances in the United Kingdom according to Kitty Gurnos-Davies doctoral dissertation data.