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 1902 American actress Tallulah Bankhead was born.
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On this day in 1809, it became illegal to wear masks at balls held within the City of Boston, as its citizens believed this practice was “detrimental to morals.”
On this day in 1170, Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, was assassinated inside Canterbury Cathedral by followers of King Henry II.
On this day in 1895 the Lumière brothers held the first commercial film screening at Salon Indien du Grand Café, Paris.
On this day in 1927 the musical play Show Boat opened at the Ziegfeld Theatre on Broadway.
On this day in 1898, Pierre and Marie Curie announced the isolation of radium.
On this day in 1931, the Metropolitan Opera offered the first installment of its matinee radio broadcast series.
On this day in 1826, the Eggnog Riot began at the United States Military Academy.
On this day in 1893 the opera Hänsel und Gretel by Engelbert Humperdinck was first performed.
On this day 1894 the “Dreyfus Affair” began in France with Alfred Dreyfus’ wrongful conviction for treason.
On this day in 1914, Tillie’s Punctured Romance, the first feature-length film comedy, was released.
On this day in 1898 American actress and singer Irene Dunne was born.
On this day in 1881, Massenet’s Hérodiade premiered in Brussels.
On this day in 218 BC, in the Battle of the Trebia of the Second Punic War, Hannibal’s Carthaginian forces defeated those of the Roman Republic.
On this day in 1965, the first concert was presented in Houston’s Astrodome.
On this day in 1497 Vasco da Gama rounded the Cape of Good Hope, the point where Bartolomeu Dias had previously turned back to Portugal.
On this day in 1973 the American Psychiatric Association voted 13–0 to remove homosexuality from its official list of psychiatric disorders, the DSM-II.
On this day in 1823 Gioacchino Rossini arrived in London.
On this day in 627, a Byzantine army under Emperor Heraclius defeaeds Emperor Khosrau II’s Persian forces, commanded by General Rhahzadh, in the Battle of Nineveh.
On this day in 1882, Victorien Sardou‘s Fedora premiered in Paris with Sarah Bernhardt in the title role.
On this day 1955, Mighty Mouse Playhouse premiered on American television.
On this day in 1842, Glinka’s opera Ruslan and Lyudmila premiered in St. Petersburg.
On this day in 1949, Jule Styne‘s musical Gentlemen Prefer Blondes opened at the Ziegfeld Theater.
On this day in 1940, sponsorship of the Metropolitan Opera’s Saturday afternoon broadcasts by The Texas Company (Texaco) began with Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro.
