WindyCityOperaman
Dan Soda (Windy City Operaman) is a Chicago native whose first visit to opera was at age 17 and Massenet’s Werther with Troyanos and Kraus. Nothing was ever the same. Opera and concert performances, recordings and video are an obsession. He prepares Parterre Box’s daily birthday and anniversary tributes. He also enjoys concerts, live theater and movies.
On this day in 1865 Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde premiered at the Königliches Hof- und Nationaltheater in Munich.
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On this day in 68 AD, Roman Emperor Nero committed suicide, imploring his secretary Epaphroditos to slit his throat to evade a Senate-imposed death by flogging.
Born on this day in 1921 actress Alexis Smith.
On this day in 1909 Mary Pickford made her screen debut at the age of 16.
On this day in in 1654 Queen Christina abdicated the throne of Sweden and converted to Catholicism.
On this day in 1954 Your Show Of Shows last aired on NBC-TV.
On this day in 1783 the Montgolfier brothers publicly demonstrated their montgolfière, or hot air balloon.
On this day in 1098, after a five-month siege, Crusaders seized Antioch.
On this day in 1981 Barbara Walters asked Katharine Hepburn what kind of tree she would be.
On this day in 1951 the International Cheese treaty was signed.
On this day in 1893 Whitcomb Judson patented a hookless fastening device later called a “zipper.”
Born in this day in 1899 American screenwriter and producer Irving Thalberg.
On this day in 1453 Constantinople, capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, fell to Muhammad II, ending the Byzantine Empire.
On this day in 1937 the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California, was officially opened by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
On this day in 1944, Jean-Paul Sartre‘s Huis Clos opened (heh) in Paris.
On this day in 1828, the mysterious feral child Kaspar Hauser was discovered wandering the streets of Nuremberg.
On this day in 1430 Joan of Arc was captured by the Burgundians while leading an army to relieve Compiègne.
On this day in 1959 Gypsy opened at the Broadway Theater, to run 702 performances.
On this day in 1347, Cola di Rienzo, a Roman commoner, declared himself Emperor of Rome in response to years of baronial power-struggles.
On this day in 1568 Queen Elizabeth I of England arrested Queen Mary of Scotland.
On this day in 1926, evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson vanished while visiting a beach in Venice, CA. She reappeared a month later with the claim that she had been kidnapped.
On this day in 2015, parterre.com was offline for almost five hours due to a server error.
On this day in 1711 Alexander Pope‘s “An Essay on Criticism” was published anonymously.
Born on this day in 1933 Welsh actress Siân Phillips.
