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 1347, Cola di Rienzo repelled an attack by Roman nobles led by the Orsini and Colonna families.
On this day in 1620 the Mayflower reached Cape Cod.
On this day in 1307, William Tell shot apple off his son’s head, assuming that actually happened.
On this day in 1558 Elizabeth I ascended the English throne.
On this day in 1849, a Russian court sentenced writer Fyodor Dostoevsky to death for anti-government activities linked to a radical intellectual group.
On this day in 1533 Francisco Pizzaro arrived in Cuzco, the capital of the Inca Empire.
On this day in 1905, David Belasco’s The Girl of Golden West premiered in New York City.
On this day in 1918, Allied troops occupued Constantinople, the capital of the Ottoman Empire.
On this day in 1859, Jules Leotard performed the first flying trapeze circus act in Paris.
On this day in 1862 Verdi’s La forza del destino premiered in St. Petersburg.
On this day in 1983 Bill Gates introduced Windows 1.0.
On this day in 1939 Ninotchka, starring Greta Garbo, premiered.
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.
Tell us: What was the best of 2025?
Parterre Box concludes the thrilling first year of Talk of the Town by inviting your lightning rod opinions on several more categories of operatic argumentation.
