On this day in 1938, the Archbishop of Dubuque, Francis J. L. Beckman, denounced swing music as “a degenerated musical system… turned loose to gnaw away at the moral fiber of young people,” warning that it leads down a “primrose path to hell.”

Born on this day in 1824 librettist Antonio Ghislanzoni

Born on this day in 1825 composer Johann Strauss Jr

Born on this day in 1838 composer Georges Bizet

Born on this day in 1891 conductor Karl Elmendorff

Born on this day in 1926 soprano Galina Vishnevskaya

Born on this day in 1926 soprano Anita Välkki

Born on this day in 1940 soprano Hana Janku

Happy 72nd birthday contralto Ortrun Wenkel

Born on this day in 1943 tenor Giuliano Ciannella