On this day in 1974 Verdi’s I Vespri Siciliani had its first staged Metropolitan Opera performance. Montserrat Caballé, Nicolai Gedda, Sherrill Milnes and Justino Diaz conducted by James Levine.

Birthday anniversaries of librettist Felice Romani (1788), composer Franz Schubert (1797) and tenor Mario Lanza and performer Carol Channing (both 1921).