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 1908, Maurice Maeterlinck‘s play L’Oiseau bleu premiered in Moscow.
Born on this day in 1904 Greer Garson, English-American actress.
On this day in 1836, Thomas Crapper, English plumber, was born.
Born on this day in 1898 composer Vincent Youmans.
On this day in 46 BC, Julius Caesar dedicated a temple to his mythical ancestor Venus Genetrix in accordance with a vow he made at the battle of Pharsalus.
On this day in 1979, the musical Evita opened at the Broadway Theater in New York City.
On this day in 1180, Manuel I Komnenos, last Emperor of the Komnenian restoration, died, and the Byzantine Empire slipped into terminal decline.
On this day in 1962, Philharmonic Hall (since renamed Avery Fisher Hall) opened as the first unit of Lincoln Center for Performing Arts.
On this day in 1869, Richard Wagner‘s opera Das Rheingold premiered in Munich.
Born on this day in 1912 Chuck Jones, American animator, screenwriter, and producer.
On this day in 451 AD, Roman General Flavius Aetius defeated Attila the Hun at The Battle of the Catalaunian Plains, halting the Hun invasion of Roman Gaul.
On this day in 14 AD, Tiberius was confirmed as Roman Emperor by the Roman Senate, following the death of Augustus.
On this day in 1964, the sitcom Bewitched premiered on ABC television.
On this day in 1966, the Metropolitan Opera House opened at Lincoln Center in New York City with the world premiere of Samuel Barber‘s opera Antony and Cleopatra.
On this day in 1923 Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin.
On this day in 1968, the television newsmagazine program 60 Minutes premiered on CBS-TV.
On this day in 1814, Francis Scott Key composed the poem “Defence of Fort McHenry,” which was later set to music and became the United States’ national anthem.
On this day in 1846, Elizabeth Barrett eloped with Robert Browning.
On this day in 1609, Henry Hudson discovered Manhattan Island and the indigenous people living there.
On this day in 1846, Elias Howe was granted a patent for the sewing machine.
Born on this dayin 1905: film producer Joseph E. Levine (not pictured).
On this day in 1966, the television series Star Trek premiered.
On this day in 1921, the first Miss America Pageant was held in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
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.
