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.
On this day in 1956, the musical Happy Hunting opened at the Majestic Theater.
On this day in 1890 Hector Berlioz‘s Les Troyens premiered in Karlsruhe.
On this day in 1928 Walter Donaldson and Gus Kahn‘s musical Whoopee premiered at the New Amsterdam Theatre.
On this day in 1993, the first issue of parterre box was published to commemorate the 70th birthday of Maria Callas, and, yes, La Cieca knows she got the date wrong.
On this day in 1933, Fred Astaire‘s first film, Dancing Lady, was released.
On this day in 1956, the musical Candide opened at the Martin Beck Theater for 73 performances.
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.
