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 1912, the Deutsche Opernhaus (now Deutsche Oper Berlin) opens with a production of Beethoven’s Fidelio.
On this day in 1913 Mohandas K Gandhi was arrested for leading an Indian miners march in South Africa.
On this day in 1872, suffragist Susan B. Anthony voted in defiance of the law, and was later fined $100.
On this day in 1890 Alexander Borodin‘s opera Prince Igor premiered in St. Petersburg.
On this day in 1333, the River Arno flooded.
On this day in 1894, Thomas Edison filmed American sharpshooter Annie Oakley, leading to her hiring by Buffalo Bill for his Wild West Show.
On this day in 1517, Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg.
On this day in 1952 Clarence Birdseye sold the first frozen peas.
On this day in 1787, Mozart’s opera Don Giovanni received its first performance in Prague.
On this day in 1886, President Grover Cleveland dedicated the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor.
On this day in 312, Constantine the Great is said to have received his famous Vision of the Cross.
On this day in 1520, Charles V, later Holy Roman Emperor, was crowned King of Germany.
On this day in 1938, the Archbishop of Dubuque, Francis J. L. Beckman, denounced swing music.
On this day in 1947 American actor Kevin Kline was born.
On this day in 1967, the musical Henry, Sweet Henry opened at the Palace Theater.
On this day in 1883, the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City opened with a performance of Gounod’s Faust.
On this day in 1803 the United States Senate ratified the Louisiana Purchase.
On this day in 1845, Richard Wagner’s opera Tannhäuser premiered in Dresden.
On this day in 1902 American actress Miriam Hopkins was born.
On this day in 529 BC, King Cyrus the Great of Persia marched into the city of Babylon.
On this day in 1925 English-American actress Angela Lansbury was born.
On this day in 1793, Queen Marie-Antoinette of France was tried and convicted in a swift, pre-determined trial in the Palais de Justice, Paris, and condemned to death the following day.
On this day in 1930, Ethel Merman debuted on Broadway in Girl Crazy.
On this day in 1917 American puppeteer Burr Tillstrom was born.