MusicAndHistory.com

 

2012

600 years ago, in June or July 1412, Johannes Ciconia dies in Padua, aged approximately 40 years.

450 years ago, in 1562, Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck was born in Deventer.

200 years ago, on 1 January 1812, John Adams wrote to Thomas Jefferson for the first time in eleven years.  Their correspondence over their waning years was among the most important in American political history.

100 years ago, on 1 January 1912, Sun Yat-sen (Sun Yixian) entered upon duties as provisional President of the Chinese Republic, in Nanking (Nanjing).

100 years ago, on 1 January 1912, new laws went into effect in Massachusetts limiting women and children to work no more than 54 hours per week.  A minimum wage went into effect as well.  Capitalists retaliated by cutting salaries.

50 years ago, on 1 January 1962, the Independent State of Western Samoa, under joint heads of state Tupua Tamasese Meaole and Malietoa Tanumafili II and Prime Minister Fiame Mata’afa Faumuina Mulin’u II, was proclaimed independent of New Zealand.

250 years ago, on 4 January 1762 , Great Britain declared war on Spain, Naples, and Parma during the Seven Years War.

250 years ago, on 5 January 1762, Empress Yelizaveta of Russia died in St. Petersburg.  She was succeeded by her nephew, Pyotr III.

100 years ago, on 6 January 1912, speaking before the Geology Society in Frankfurt-am-Main, meteorologist Alfred Wegener first publicly proposed the idea of continental drift.

100 years ago, on 6 January 1912, New Mexico became the 47th state of the United States.

200 years ago, on 8 January 1812, the Spanish defenders of Valencia surrendered to the surrounding French.

200 years ago, on 8 January 1812, Sigismond Fortuné François Thalberg was born in Pâquis near Geneva, the son of Joseph Thalberg and Fortunée Stein.  It is possible that his parents were married to others at the time.

100 years ago, on 9 January 1912, US troops landed in Honduras to combat unrest against American involvement in the country.

100 years ago, on 11 January 1912, wildcat strikes broke out among female textile workers in Lawrence, Massachusetts against pay cuts.  The IWW began to organize the strikers.  Within a week, the men joined them and 25,000 workers from 40 nationalities were on strike.  Most of the mills in Lawrence were closed.  It became known as the Bread and Roses Strike.

150 years ago, on 13 January 1862, Scenes from Goethe’s Faust for solo voices, chorus, and orchestra by Robert Schumann (†5) to words of Goethe was performed completely for the first time, in Cologne.

50 years ago, on 14 January 1962, the Council of Ministers of the European Economic Community, meeting in Brussels, announced agreement to start the second stage of economic integration, retroactive to 1 January.

200 years ago, on 15 January 1812, Johannes Herbst died in Salem, North Carolina aged 76 years, five months and 23 days.

300 years ago, on 17 January 1712, John Stanley was born in London

150 years ago, on 17 January 1862, Concerto for piano and orchestra no.1 op.17 by Camille Saint-Saëns (26) was performed for the first time, in Salle Pleyel, Paris, the composer at the keyboard.

150 years ago, on 18 January 1862, Bishop Laurence of Tarbes, on authority of Pope Pius IX, proclaimed that the visions recently reported by Bernadette Soubirous at Lourdes were in fact the Virgin Mary.

100 years ago, on 18 January 1912, Captain Robert F. Scott and four others, part of a British expedition, reached the South Pole, a month behind the Amundsen expedition.

50 years ago, on 18 January 1962, over the next week, 35 bombs set by conservative extremists went off in and around Paris.  They opposed President de Gaulle’s less than hard line policies in Algeria.

250 years ago, on 19 January 1762, the Kingdoms of K’art’li and Kakhet’i were joined in personal union under King Irakli II and called the Kingdom of Georgia.

250 years ago, on 20 January 1762, two works by Johann Christian Bach (26) were performed for the first time, at Teatro San Carlo, Naples to honor the birthday of King Carlos III of Spain:  the opera Alessandro nell’Indie to words after Metastasio, and the Cantata a 3 voci per festiggiare il felicissimo giorno natalizio di sua Maesta cattolica, to words possibly by Passeri.

200 years ago, on 22 January 1812, a third regency was set up in Spain to rule for King Fernando VII in opposition to the French.

50 years ago, on 22 January 1962, French authorities instituted strong security measures in major Algerian cities.  Algiers, Oran, and Bône (Annaba) were sealed off.  Civilian traffic was banned after 21:00.  The military surrounded all districts prone to terrorism.  Searches and seizure took place without warrant.  A general strike paralyzed Bône.

50 years ago, on 23 January 1962, Jules et Jim, a film by François Truffaut, was shown for the first time, in Paris.

150 years ago, on 29 January 1862, Fritz (Frederick) Theodor Albert Delius was born in Bradford, England, fourth of 14 children born to Julius Friedrich Wilhelm Delius, a wool merchant, and Elise Krönig, a descendant of Swedish royalty.

100 years ago, on 29 January 1912, after a young Italian woman was shot by police, strike leaders in Lawrence, Massachusetts were arrested.  Their places were taken by members of the IWW.  Far from quelling the violence, the arrests brought more notoriety to the cause of the strikers.

100 years ago, on 29 January 1912, Ma mère l’oye, a ballet by Maurice Ravel (36) to his own scenario, was performed for the first time, at the Théâtre des Arts, Paris.

150 years ago, on 30 January 1862, the Federal ironclad USS Monitor was launched at Greenpoint, Long Island.

50 years ago, on 30 January 1962, Les Paul received a US patent for a solid body electric guitar.

150 years ago, on 31 January 1862, the British government created Lower Burma through the joining together of Arakan, Tenasserim, and Pegu.  It was subject to India.

150 years ago, on 31 January 1862, lens grinder and amateur astronomer Alvan Graham Clark of Cambridge, Massachusetts tested a new 46 cm lens by pointing it towards Sirius.  He noticed a tiny spot of light near Sirius and thus discovered a new class of heavenly body, the white dwarf.

50 years ago, on 1 February 1962, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey was published in the US by Viking Press.

250 years ago, on 3 February 1762, two Paris institutions, the Opéra-Comique and the Comédie-Italienne, merged by order of King Louis XV.

50 years ago, on 3 February 1962, US President Kennedy imposed an almost total embargo on trade with Cuba to take effect 7 February.

100 years ago, on 4 February 1912, Arnold Schoenberg’s (37) Six Little Piano Pieces op.19 were performed for the first time, in Berlin.

50 years ago, on 6 February 1962, by agreement with local blacks, 29 stores and ten other businesses in Memphis peacefully desegregated their dining facilities.

200 years ago, on 7 February 1812, George Gordon, Lord Byron made his maiden speech before the House of Lords.  He denounced a bill providing for the death penalty in the case of rebellious workers.

200 years ago, on 7 February 1812, after three major earthquakes and numerous aftershocks in the last two months, a fourth earthquake, estimated at 8.0 on the Richter scale, hit New Madrid, Missouri and destroyed most of the town.

50 years ago, on 7 February 1962, ten bombs exploded in Paris, set by the OAS.

250 years ago, on 10 February 1762, during the Seven Years War, the French garrison of Ft. Royal, Martinique surrendered to the British, thus breaking French power in the eastern Caribbean.

50 years ago, on 10 February 1962, American spy pilot Francis Gary Powers was exchanged for Soviet spy Rudolf Ivanovich Abel on the Glienicker Bridge between West Berlin and Potsdam.

100 years ago, on 12 February 1912, negotiations between the imperial (Peking) and revolutionary (Nanking) Chinese governments resulted in the abdication of the emperor, six-year-old Hsüan-T’ung (Xuantong) (P’u-i) and the establishment of the Republic of China.  The abdication marked the end of imperial Chinese government dating from prehistory.  Power to form a government was granted to Yüan Shih-k’ai (Yuan Shikai).

100 years ago, on 13 February 1912, Sun Yat-sen (Sun Yixian) gave up all claim to the presidency of the Chinese Republic.

50 years ago, on 13 February 1962, 500,000 people participated in a funeral procession through Paris for four of those recently killed by police.  A general strike during the ceremonies closed down transportation, schools, communications, public schools, and other businesses.

50 years ago, on 13 February 1962, a general strike called by the OAS paralyzed Algiers.  25 people were killed.

50 years ago, on 13 February 1962, the Paris premiere of Olivier Messiaen’s (53) Chronochromie for orchestra at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées caused violent disagreement in the audience.  The composer himself was almost accosted by a furious music lover.

100 years ago, on 14 February 1912, the National Council of the Nanking (Nanjing) government elects Yüan Shih-k’ai (Yuan Shikai) as president.

100 years ago, on 14 February 1912, Arizona became the 48th state of the United States.

150 years ago, on 16 February 1862, 12,000 Confederates in Fort Donelson on the Cumberland River surrendered after fighting which costs 4,300 total casualties.

50 years ago, on 17 February 1962, Bruno Walter died in Beverly Hills at the age of 85.

150 years ago, on 18 February 1862, the First Congress of the Confederate States of America met in Richmond.

150 years ago, on 19 February 1862, in the Soledad Agreement, signed in Veracruz, France, Great Britain, and Spain agreed to recognize the Mexican government of Benito Juárez, discuss debts owed to them by Mexico, and to limit their troops to Tehuacán, Córdoba, and Orizaba.  France never ratified the agreement.

50 years ago, on 19 February 1962, nine days of secret meetings between French officials and the Algerian provisional government ended in agreement.  They agree on a cease-fire, a referendum on Algerian independence, and agreement on an administration for the province until the referendum.

50 years ago, on 19 February 1962, The Dove Descending Breaks the Air, an anthem for chorus by Igor Stravinsky (79) to words of Eliot, is performed for the first time, in Los Angeles.

50 years ago, on 20 February 1962, John H. Glenn Jr. blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida.  Five minutes later he became the third man to orbit the Earth as his Mercury-Atlas 6 spacecraft makes three revolutions in four hours, 55 minutes, and 23 seconds.  The capsule hit the Atlantic near Grand Turk Island in the Bahamas.

150 years ago, on 22 February 1862, Jefferson Davis was inaugurated as the permanent President of the Confederate States of America.

150 years ago, on 22 February 1862, L’Union op.48, a fantasy on Yankee Doodle, Hail Columbia and The Star-Spangled Banner for piano by Louis Moreau Gottschalk (32), was performed for the first time, in New York by the composer.  The work stirs the crowd into a patriotic frenzy.

350 years ago, on 23 February 1662, Johannes Crüger died in Berlin, aged 63 years, ten months and 14 days.

150 years ago, on 23 February 1862, Franz Schubert’s (†33) String Quartet D.112 was performed for the first time, by the Vienna Musikverein, 48 years after it was composed.

50 years ago, on 23 February 1962, Time magazine reported the findings of Dr. Widukind Lenz of Hamburg University that thalidomide causes birth defects.

50 years ago, on 23 February 1962, Igor Stravinsky’s (79) cantata A Sermon, a Narrative, and a Prayer to words of Dekker and the Bible, was performed for the first time, in Basel.

100 years ago, on 24 February 1912, 150 children, accompanied by their mothers, went to the Lawrence, Massachusetts train station to be put on trains for safety in New York and Philadelphia during the Bread and Roses Strike.  They were surrounded by 200 militia, some on horseback who then charged with weapons raised.  Hundreds were beaten with clubs and trampled by horses.

250 years ago, on 25 February 1762, during the Seven Years War, the British took possession of St. Lucia from the French.

50 years ago, on 26 February 1962, the United States Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation in all transportation is unconstitutional.

100 years ago, on 28 February 1912, two works by Carl Nielsen (46) were premiered in Copenhagen, the Symphony no.3 “Sinfonia espansiva” and the Violin Concerto op.33, both conducted by the composer.

100 years ago, on 1 March 1912, suffragists began unexpectedly to attack buildings throughout London with stones, hammers, and other projectiles, breaking as many windows as possible.  Emmeline Pankhurst and two others attacked 10 Downing Street with stones.  She and scores of other women were arrested.

100 years ago, on 1 March 1912, Capt. Albert Berry, US Army, jumped from a Benoit biplane and floated to the ground at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri.  He was the first person to parachute from a moving airplane.

100 years ago, on 4 March 1912, a suffragist rally at the London Pavilion was addressed by Ethel Smyth (53) among others.  This preceded a massive demonstration in Parliament Square.  They then moved on to Knightsbridge and Kensington to do damage.  Ethel Smyth was arrested after hurling a projectile at the home of Colonial Secretary Lewis Harcourt.  She was sentenced to two months with hard labor, later reduced to one month.

100 years ago, on 5 March 1912, Alyeksandr Skryabin’s (40) Piano Sonata no.7 op.64 was performed for the first time, in the Great Noblemen’s Hall, Moscow by the composer.

100 years ago, on 6 March 1912, a rail link between Arica, Chile and La Paz, Bolivia opened crossing the Andes.  At its highest point, the railroad reached 3,600 meters.

100 years ago, on 6 March 1912, the National Biscuit Company began selling the Oreo.

150 years ago, on 8 March 1862, the confederate ironclad CSS Virginia steamed out of Hampton Roads, Virginia, sank two Federal warships and ran three others aground.

150 years ago, on 9 March 1862, the Confederate ironclad Virginia met the Federal ironclad Monitor off Hampton Roads, Virginia.  Neither gained an advantage but the Virginia was badly damaged and the face of naval warfare was changed forever.

200 years ago, on 10 March 1812, Lord Byron published the first two cantos of his Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage. The sensation was immediate and widespread and established Byron in the mind of the public.  “I awoke one morning and found myself famous.”

100 years ago, on 10 March 1912, Yüan Shih-k’ai (Yuan Shikai) was inaugurated in Peking as the first president of the Republic of China.  The Chinese government officially dropped the lunar calendar in favor of the western style solar calendar.

200 years ago, on 11 March 1812, the following decree was issued in Prussia:  “Jews and their families presently residing in our States and in possession of general privileges, patents of naturalization, letters of protection, and concessions are considered inhabitants and citizens of Prussia.”

100 years ago, on 11 March 1912, a provisional constitution for the Chinese Republic is promulgated by the National Council in Nanking (Nanjing).

100 years ago, on 11 March 1912, Edward Elgar’s (54) imperial masque The Crown of India op.66 to words of Hamilton was performed for the first time, in the London Coliseum, the composer conducting.  It was composed to celebrate the coronation last year of King George V as Emperor of India and the removal of the capital from Calcutta to Delhi.

250 years ago, on 12 March 1762, Swiss physiologist Albrecht von Haller signed the preface to the fourth volume of his Elementa physiologiae corporis humani which showed that muscular action is due to nervous stimulation and that all nerves lead to the brain or spinal cord.

200 years ago, on 12 March 1812, the Spanish Cortes passed a liberal constitution in Cadiz.  This will become the manifesto for Spanish liberals through a great part of the nineteenth century.

100 years ago, on 12 March 1912, in Berlin, Arnold Schoenberg (37) began the composition of Pierrot Lunaire.

100 years ago, on 12 March 1912, striking men and women met on Lawrence (Massachusetts) Common and voted to accept management’s offer:  no pay cut, a two-week pay period for premiums, and no discrimination against any striker.  This effectively ended the Bread and Roses Strike.

50 years ago, on 14 March 1962, India formally annexes Goa, Diu, and Damão.

150 years ago, on 17 March 1862, Jacques-François-Fromental-Elie Halévy died in Nice, aged 62 years, nine months, and 18 days.

150 years ago, on 17 March 1862, Anton Rubinstein (32) was named director of the new St. Petersburg Conservatory.

150 years ago, on 17 March 1862, the faculty of Harvard University voted to hire John Knowles Paine (23) as organist and music instructor.

250 years ago, on 18 March 1762, Prince Paul Anton Esterházy, employer of Joseph Haydn (29), died in Vienna.  He was succeeded by his brother, Nicholas.

50 years ago, on 18 March 1962, a truce between French colonial and Algerian rebel forces was agreed to at Evian-les-Bains.  France retained sovereignty until a popular referendum on the future of the region.  In a nationwide address, President de Gaulle asked his citizens to support the pact.  Prime Minister Benyoussef Ben Khedda of the provisional government of Algeria ordered his troops to stop fighting in a broadcast from Tunis.  Five members of the rebel Algerian cabinet were released by France and flown to Geneva.  The Secret Army Organization (OAS) declared war on the French government and the peace agreement.

200 years ago, on 19 March 1812, the Spanish Constitution of 1812 was proclaimed and published in Cadiz.  It was liberal and supported universal suffrage and a constitutional monarchy under King Fernando VII.

50 years ago, on 19 March 1962, a truce went into effect in Algeria, ending the seven-year war between France and Moslem rebels.

200 years ago, on 20 March 1812, Jan Ladislav Dussek died of gout at either St. Germain-en-Laye or Paris, aged 52 years, one month, and eight days.

50 years ago, on 21 March 1962, the OAS began open warfare against French troops in Algeria.  They battled for two hours in Oran where 14 people were wounded.

150 years ago, on 24 March 1862, a funeral procession in memory of Fromental Halévy traveled from the Institute Palace to the Place de la Concorde to the cemetery of Montmartre.  An estimated 15,000 people attended some part of the proceedings.  Music included the Marche funèbre from La Juive. There are eight funeral orations.

50 years ago, on 24 March 1962, junta leader Maj. Gen. Park Chung Hee became President of South Korea.

100 years ago, on 27 March 1912, US First Lady Helen Taft and Viscountess Chinda, wife of the Japanese ambassador, planted the first two of over 3,000 cherry trees in Washington, a gift of Japan to the United States.

150 years ago, on 28 March 1862, Richard Wagner (48) was pardoned by King Johann of Saxony and allowed to reenter the country after an exile of 13 years.

100 years ago, on 29 March 1912, Antarctic explorer Robert F. Scott made the last entry in his diary, 17 km from his next food depot.

150 years ago, on 30 March 1862, the Free School of Music opened in St. Petersburg in opposition to the official conservatory.  Leaders were Director Gavril Lomakin and Assistant Director Mily Balakirev (25).

100 years ago, on 30 March 1912, France required Sultan Abdul Hamid II of Morocco to accept a French protectorate over his country by signing the Treaty of Fez.

50 years ago, on 3 April 1962, a federal judge in New Orleans struck down a Louisiana pupil-placement law and ordered New Orleans to desegregate the first six grades of its school by the autumn term.

250 years ago, on 5 April 1762, during the Seven Years War, British forces captured Grenada from the French.

150 years ago, on 5 April 1862, a performance of Arthur Sullivan’s (19) incidental music to The Tempest at the Crystal Palace won universal approval and catapulted Sullivan into the public consciousness.  “It is no exaggeration to say that I woke up the next morning and found myself famous.”

1,100 years ago, on 6 April 912, Notker Balbulus died at St. Gallen (Switzerland), aged approximately 70 years.

200 years ago, on 6 April 1812 British and Portuguese troops captured the fortress and city of Badajoz, in Extremadura, from a combined garrison of French, Spanish and Hessians.

150 years ago, on 6 April 1862, Confederate forces attacked Federals at Shiloh Church near Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee, 150 km east of Memphis, making modest gains.

100 years ago, on 6 April 1912, the most important aviatrix of the day, Harriet Quimby, was killed in a flying accident over Dorchester Bay, Massachusetts.

50 years ago, on 6 April 1962, British and Kenyan leaders signed an interim constitution for the country in London.  It granted Kenya internal self-government.

150 years ago, on 7 April 1862, Federal troops counterattacked at Shiloh Church and the Confederates were forced to withdraw.  The battle cost 23,746 total casualties.

50 years ago, on 8 April 1962, over 90% of French voters endorsed the peace agreement for Algeria.

150 years ago, on 9 April 1862, the final conference of the occupying powers taking place at Orizaba concluded.  Spain and Great Britain decided to end their intervention in Mexico.  Only France remained.

50 years ago, on 13 April 1962, Edmond Jouhaud, second-in-command of the OAS, was sentenced to death for insurrection by a military court in Paris.

100 years ago, on 14 April 1912, the British luxury liner Titanic struck an iceberg off Newfoundland and sank early on the morning of 15 April.  1,595 lives were lost including eight musicians, members of the ship’s band who play Nearer My God to Thee.

50 years ago, on 16 April 1962, Polymorphia for 48 strings by Krzysztof Penderecki (28) was performed for the first time, in Hamburg.

100 years ago, on 17 April 1912, 3,000 Russian miners in the Lena Gold Fields marched to the Nadezhda Mine to ask for the release of their leaders, arrested last night.  The Tsar’s troops opened fire.  270 people are killed, 250 are wounded.

100 years ago, on 17 April 1912, Nadia Boulanger (24) made her conducting debut at La Roche-sur-Yon, directing her own 1908 cantata La Sirène.

150 years ago, on 20 April 1862, Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov (18) graduated from the College of Naval Cadets, St. Petersburg with the rank of midshipman.

150 years ago, on 20 April 1862, at a meeting of the French Academy of Sciences, Louis Pasteur and Claude Bernard opened jars of dog’s blood and urine they kept sealed for 50 days at 30° C.  They found no putrefaction or fermentation, thus proving that heating foods will destroy bacteria.

50 years ago, on 20 April 1962, General Raoul Salan, leader of the OAS, was captured by French agents in Algiers.  He was flown to Paris to face trial.

50 years ago, on 21 April 1962, the 1962 World’s Fair in Seattle officially opened.

50 years ago, on 24 April 1962, MIT scientists bounced television signals off Echo I from Camp Parks, California to Westford, Massachusetts.  It was the first satellite relay of a television signal.

150 years ago, on 25 April 1862, as Federal ships anchored at New Orleans, the population set the waterfront afire.

300 years ago, on 29 April 1712, Juan Bautista José Cabanilles died in Valencia, 67 years, seven months, and 23 days after his baptism.

150 years ago, on 29 April 1862, the city of New Orleans formally surrendered to United States troops.

50 years ago, on 29 April 1962, the last four of the Eight Orchestral Miniatures by Igor Stravinsky (79) were performed for the first time, in Toronto, the composer conducting.

200 years ago, on 30 April 1812, Louisiana became the 18th state of the United States.

50 years ago, on 2 May 1962, a federal judge in Biloxi ruled that nine Mississippi laws were unconstitutional.  They require separate travel accommodations for blacks and whites.

250 years ago, on 5 May 1762, the new Tsar Pyotr III, an ardent admirer of Friedrich the Great, concluded peace between Russia and Prussia at St. Petersburg.  Russia restored all the conquests of the Seven Years War and an alliance between the two nations was formed.

150 years ago, on 5 May 1862, Mexican forces defeated French and Mexican conservatives at Puebla.  The day is today celebrated as a national holiday (Cinco de Mayo).

100 years ago, on 5 May 1912, the Games of the Fifth Olympiad of the modern era opened in Stockholm.

100 years ago, on 5 May 1912, Pravda was first published, under the editorship of Osip Djugashvili, who later gained a name for himself.

150 years ago, on 6 May 1862, Henry David Thoreau died peacefully in Concord, Massachusetts at the age of 44.

50 years ago, on 6 May 1962, the USS Ethan Allen, a nuclear powered submarine, fired a Polaris missile with an atomic warhead which exploded successfully.  It was the first time an atomic warhead was delivered by a long range missile fired from a submarine.  The test took place near Christmas Island in the Pacific.

50 years ago, on 7 May 1962, Robert Ward (44) won the Pulitzer Prize in Music for The Crucible.

50 years ago, on 8 May 1962, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, a musical by Stephen Sondheim, opened in New York.

200 years ago, on 9 May 1812, La scala di seta, a farsa comica by Gioachino Rossini (20) to words of Foppa after Planard, was performed for the first time, in Teatro San Moisè, Venice.

200 years ago, on 11 May 1812, British Prime Minister Spencer Perceval, walking through the lobby of the House of Commons, was confronted by John Bellingham who drew a pistol and shot him point blank through the heart.  Perceval died immediately.  Bellingham blamed the Prime Minister’s policies for his own financial difficulties.

50 years ago, on 12 May 1962, as government troops fled across the Mekong into Thailand, the Pathet Lao took control of all of Laos north of Luang Prabang.  A US carrier task force was ordered into the Gulf of Siam to prepare for any military eventuality.

100 years ago, on 15 May 1912, Arthur Victor Berger was born in New York.

250 years ago, on 18 May 1762, Portugal declares war on Spain during the Seven Years War.

150 years ago, on 20 May 1862, President Lincoln signed the Homestead Act granting 65 hectares of free public land to anyone who works it for five years.

150 years ago, on 21 May 1862, shortly after receiving his diploma from the Leipzig Conservatory, Edvard Grieg (18) gave his first public concert in Norway, at the Labor Union hall in Bergen.  Among other things he played three of his piano pieces op.1.  His String Quartet in d minor was played for the first and last time.

100 years ago, on 21 May 1912, two works by Franz Liszt (†25) were heard for the first time, in a performance at Weimar.  They are Les morts, the first of the Trois ordres funèbres, and Hungaria, a cantata for soprano, tenor, bass, male chorus, and orchestra, to words of Schober.

50 years ago, on 21 May 1962, Momente no.13 for soprano, four choruses, and 13 players by Karlheinz Stockhausen (33), to the words of various authors, was performed for the first time over the airwaves of WDR, originating in Cologne conducted by the composer.

250 years ago, on 22 May 1762, during the Seven Years War, peace was concluded between Sweden and Prussia at Hamburg.  Conquered territories were returned to status quo ante.

50 years ago, on 23 May 1962, General Raoul Salan, leader of the Secret Army Organization opposed to independence for Algeria, was convicted on five counts of insurrection and sentenced to life in prison by a military court in Paris.

50 years ago, on 23 May 1962, the first human limb transplant takes place at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston.  Dr. Donald A. Malt and Dr. J. McKhann replace the entire right arm of a 12-year-old boy.

50 years ago, on 24 May 1962, Scott Carpenter blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida and orbited the Earth three times and returned to Earth in the Caribbean.  He was the fourth human to orbit the Earth.

200 years ago, on 28 May 1812, the Peace of Bucharest ended hostilities between Russia and the Ottoman Empire and set the River Pruth (Prut) as their European boundary.  Russia abandoned claims to Moldavia and Wallachia but annexed Bessarabia.  Amnesty and autonomy are provided for the Serbians but Serbia was still to be occupied by Turkey.  This freed Tsar Alyeksandr to act against Napoléon.

100 years ago, on 29 May 1912, Claude Debussy’s (49) Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune was danced for the first time, in the Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris.  The part of the faun was taken by the choreographer, Vaclav Nizhinsky.  It caused such a scandal that police were called out for the second performance.

50 years ago, on 30 May 1962, War Requiem op.66 for soprano, tenor, baritone, chorus, orchestra, and organ by Benjamin Britten (48) to words of the Latin requiem and Wilfred Owen, was performed for the first time, conducted by the composer, at the reconsecration of Coventry Cathedral, destroyed during World War II.

150 years ago, on 31 May 1862, Confederate forces attacked Federals at Fair Oaks and Seven Pines on the south side of the Chickahominy River just east of Richmond.  The two-day battle ended in a muddled draw with 11,165 total casualties.

50 years ago, on 31 May 1962, Adolf Eichmann was hanged in Israel for crimes against humanity.

50 years ago, on 31 May 1962, Great Britain dissolved the Federation of the West Indies with the constituent entities resuming their former colonial status: Antigua, Barbados, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Christopher-Nevis-Anguilla, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Turks and Caicos Islands.

100 years ago, on 2 June 1912, several motion picture companies in Hollywood merged to become Universal, the first big movie studio.

50 years ago, on 4 June 1962, The Reivers by William Faulkner was published in New York.  It was his last novel.

400 years ago, on 8 June 1612, Hans Leo Hassler died in Frankfurt, 47 years, seven months, and 13 days after his baptism.

100 years ago, on 8 June 1912, Maurice Ravel’s (37) symphonie choreographique Daphnis et Chloè to a scenario by Fokin after Longus, was performed for the first time, at the Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris.

100 years ago, on 10 June 1912, at the home of Louis Laloy in Paris, Igor Stravinsky (29) and Claude Debussy (49) played through a four-hand piano transcription of The Rite of Spring.  Laloy and Debussy are “dumbfounded, thunderstruck as though by a hurricane from the remote past, which had seized our lives by the roots.”  (Stravinsky may have played through some of The Rite of Spring but it seems unlikely he would have had a full four-hand version this early.)

50 years ago, on 11 June 1962, Prince Souphanouvong of the Pathet Lao, Prince Souvanna Phouma of the neutralist faction, and Prince Boun Oum of the royal government announced they had reached agreement on a coalition government for Laos after five days of meetings on the Plaine des Jarres.

50 years ago, on 12 June 1962, John Ireland died of heart failure, in Rock Mill, Washington, Sussex, aged 82 years, nine months, and 30 days.

50 years ago, on 13 June 1962 Lolita, a film by Stanley Kubrick based on the novel by Vladimir Nobokov, was released in the United States.

50 years ago, on 14 June 1962, representatives of ten nations form the European Space Research Organization at a ceremony in Paris.

50 years ago, on 14 June 1962, The Flood, a musical play by Igor Stravinsky (79) to words of Craft after the York and Chester Mystery Plays and the Bible, was performed for the first time, over the airwaves of the commissioner of the work, the CBS television network.

50 years ago, on 15 June 1962, at a convention in Lakeport, Michigan, north of Port Huron, Students for a Democratic Society approved the Port Huron Statement.  It became their manifesto.

200 years ago, on 16 June 1812, Great Britain agreed to revoke the Orders of Council which forbade American trade with European ports.

50 years ago, on 16 June 1962, The New Yorker published the first of three installments of Silent Spring by Rachel Carlson.

50 years ago, on 17 June 1962, Brazil defeated Czechoslovakia 3-1 in Santiago de Chile to win the seventh FIFA World Cup™.

200 years ago, on 18 June 1812, unaware that Great Britain rescinded its offending actions two days ago, the United States declared war on the United Kingdom.

50 years ago, on 18 June 1962, Atlántida, a scenic cantata by Manuel de Falla (†15) to his own words, after Verdaguer, and completed by Halffter, was staged completely for the first time, at Teatro alla Scala, Milan.

50 years ago, on 22 June 1962, the compromise coalition government was installed in Vientiane, Laos by King Savang Vathana.  Prince Souvanna Phouma becomes Prime Minister.

200 years ago, on 24 June 1812, the Grande Armée of 500,000 men begin to cross the River Nieman (Nemunas) into Russia near Kovno (Kaunas).  Nationalities represented include Anhalt, Austria, Baden, Bavaria, Croatia, Dalmatia, Denmark, France, Hesse-Darmstadt, Holland, Illyria, Italy, Lippe, Mecklenburg, Poland, Portugal, Prussia, Saxony, Spain, Switzerland, Westphalia and Württemberg.

150 years ago, on 24 June 1862, newly appointed Confederate commander Robert E. Lee initiated the Seven Days battle at Mechanicsville, Virginia just north of Richmond.

150 years ago, on 25 June 1862, Confederates resumed the attack and broke the Federal line at Mechanicsville but did not exploit the advantage.  Union troops withdrew to the James River.

50 years ago, on 25 June 1962, the Supreme Court of the United States rules in Engel v. Vitale that the State of New York may not compose a prayer and require its recitation in its public schools.

250 years ago, on 27 June 1762, during the Seven Years War, French forces occupied the British port of St. John’s, Newfoundland.

200 years ago, on 27 June 1812, British forces captured Salamanca from the French.

150 years ago, on 27 June 1862, Confederate forces broke through the Union lines at Gaines’ Mills, Virginia, forcing the northerners back to Harrison’s Landing.  The fighting resulted in 15,587 total casualties.  The rebels relieved pressure on Richmond but could not exploit their advantage.

50 years ago, on 27 June 1962, the UN General Assembly voted 93-0 to grant the independence of Ruanda-Urundi as two countries.  Belgian troops were ordered withdrawn by 1 August.

50 years ago, on 29 June 1962, Cornelius Cardew (26) married Stella Sargent Underwood, an artist and mother of two, at the Kensington Registry Office.  It was the second marriage for both.

250 years ago, on 1 July 1762, Jean-Joseph Cassanea de Mondonville (50) ended his seven-year tenure as director and conductor of the Concerts spirituels in Paris.

150 years ago, on 1 July 1862, the series of battles known as the Seven Days concluded as Confederates attacked retreating Federals at Malvern Hill, southeast of Richmond.  They were repulsed at murderous cost.  The week saw 5,212 people killed, 24,323 wounded, 6,928 missing.

150 years ago, on 1 July 1862, President Lincoln signed into law a federal income tax.  He also signed the Pacific Railway Act.  It provided support from the federal government for the building of a transcontinental railroad.

100 years ago, on 1 July 1912, France declared a protectorate over Morocco.

50 years ago, on 1 July 1962, the Kingdom of Burundi, under Mwami Mwambutsa IV and Prime Minister André Muhirwa, and the Republic of Rwanda, under President Grégoire Kayibanda, were proclaimed independent of Belgium.

50 years ago, on 1 July 1962, a plebiscite in Algeria voted 99.72% in favor of independence.

50 years ago, on 1 July 1962, Physical Review Letters reported the discovery of two kinds of neutrinos.

50 years ago, on 3 July 1962, President Charles de Gaulle of France declared the independence of Algeria under the Chairman of the Provisional Executive Abderrahmane Farès. Within hours, the provisional government in Tunis arrived in Algiers, including Prime Minister Ben-Youssef Ben Khedda.

150 years ago, on 4 July 1862, during a picnic along the Thames, Rev. Charles Dodgson first invented a story about a girl named Alice and her adventures down a rabbit hole, for three young girls accompanying him.  He later published Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll.

50 years ago, on 6 July 1962, William Faulkner died in Oxford, Mississippi at the age of 64.

50 years ago, on 8 July 1962, Livres pour quatuor IIIa, IIIb, IIIc for string quartet by Pierre Boulez (37) were performed for the first time, in Darmstadt.

250 years ago, on 9 July 1762 , thanks to plotters in the Russian Guards (her lover and his four brothers), Empress Yekaterina overthrew her husband, Tsar Pyotr III of Russia, to become ruler in her own right.

50 years ago, on 9 July 1962, Andy Warhol gave his first one-man show, in the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles.  Seen for the first time is Campbell’s Soup Cans.

250 years ago, on 10 July 1762, Tsar Pyotr III abdicated his throne and was arrested at Peterhof, the summer palace 30 km west of St. Petersburg.  He asked only that he not be separated from his mistress.

250 years ago, on 10 July 1762, a monument to George Frideric Handel (†3) by Louis François Roubiliac was unveiled in Westminster Abbey.

50 years ago, on 10 July 1962, the first privately-owned Earth satellite, Telstar (owned by American Telephone and Telegraph) was launched from Cape Canaveral.  It relayed live transatlantic television broadcasts from North America to Europe the same day.

200 years ago, on 11 July 1812, United States forces invaded Upper Canada near Detroit.

50 years ago, on 11 July 1962, the first east-west transatlantic television transmission took place via Telstar.  The French broadcasted a speech by the Minister of Communication followed by Yves Montand singing La Chansonette.  The broadcast from Pleumeur-Boudou, Brittany was received at 19:35 New York time.

100 years ago, on 15 July 1912, National Health Insurance went into effect in Great Britain.

100 years ago, on 15 July 1912, the Madeira to Mamoré Railroad was completed in Brazil to remove rubber from distant Acre Province to the Atlantic coast.

250 years ago, on 17 July 1762, former Tsar of Russia, Pyotr III, died in custody at Ropsha, an estate 30 km inland from St. Petersburg.  Empress Yekaterina II issued a statement attributing his death to “hemorrhoidal colic.”  Pyotr was killed by Count Alexei Orlov at the bidding of Yekaterina.  He was succeeded as Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp by his son, eight-year-old Pavel.

100 years ago, on 17 July 1912, representatives of 17 countries met in Stockholm to explore the creation of what became the International Association of Athletics Federations.

50 years ago, on 17 July 1962, Bearbeitungen über das Glogauer Liederbuch for flute, clarinet, violin, and bass by Charles Wuorinen (24) was performed for the first time, at the University of Hartford.

200 years ago, on 19 July 1812, while taking the cure at Teplitz (Teplice), two giants of Romanticism, Ludwig van Beethoven (41) and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, met for the first time.  Of the meeting, Goethe wrote on 2 September, “His talent amazed me; unfortunately he is an utterly untamed personality, who is not altogether in the wrong in holding the world to be detestable but surely does not make it any the more enjoyable for himself or others by his attitude.”  Beethoven wrote on 9 August, “Goethe delights far too much in the court atmosphere.  Far more than is becoming a poet.”

250 years ago, on 21 July 1762, during the Seven Years War, Prussian forces defeated Imperial troops at Burkersdorf in Silesia.  Aiding the Prussian victory is a contingent of troops from their recent enemy, Russia.

200 years ago, on 22 July 1812, French forces were routed by the British and Portuguese south of Salamanca, opening the way to Madrid.

100 years ago, on 23 July 1912, Ralph Vaughan Williams’ (39) suite from his incidental music to The Wasps was performed for the first time, in Queen’s Hall, London, the composer conducting.

200 years ago, on 26 July 1812, Franz Schubert (15) sang as chorister in the Imperial Chapel for the last time.  His voice has broken.

50 years ago, on 26 July 1962, the US Public Health Service announced its scientists have isolated the virus responsible for rubella.

100 years ago, on 27 July 1912, the Games of the Fifth Olympiad of the modern era close in Stockholm.  2,407 athletes from 28 nations took part over two months and 22 days.

100 years ago, on 29 July 1912, Emperor Mutsuhito of Japan died in Tokyo after a reign of 45 years.  He was succeeded by his son, Yoshihito.

100 years ago, on 29 July 1912, fighting began between Liberals and disaffected Conservatives on one side against the Conservative government of Nicaraguan President Adolfo Díaz.  The US Minister to the country, George Weitzel, personally lead a reorganization of the Managua police force to help meet the threat.

150 years ago, on 30 July 1862, Fünf Gedichte für eine Frauenstimme WWV 91 by Richard Wagner (49) to words of Mathilde Wesendonck were performed for the first time, at Laubenheim near Mainz.  The songs were composed in 1857-1858 during Wagner’s liaison with Frau Wesendonck.

400 years ago, in August 1612, Giovanni Gabrieli died in Venice, aged approximately 55 years.

50 years ago, on 5 August 1962, one of the leaders of the African National Congress, Nelson Mandela, was arrested in Johannesburg by South African agents, assisted by the United States Central Intelligence Agency.  He was later sentenced to five years imprisonment.  A aubsequent trial sentenced him to life imprisonment.

50 years ago, on 5 August 1962, Marilyn Monroe was found dead in her Los Angeles home from an overdose of sleeping pills.  She was 36.

250 years ago, on 6 August 1762, the Paris Parlement, after a financial scandal and investigations of immorality, found the Society of Jesus a threat to France, orders it suppressed and its members expelled from the country.

50 years ago, on 6 August 1962, Jamaica, under Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister W. Alexander Bustamente, was declared independent of Great Britain.

300 years ago, on 7 August 1712, Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow died in Halle, 48 years, eight months, and 24 days after his baptism.

100 years ago, on 7 August 1912, Austrian physicist Victor Hess ascended in a hydrogen balloon from Prague with an electroscope.  Landing in Berlin six hours later he had discovered plentiful gamma rays several kilometers into the atmosphere.  He was roundly ridiculed.

100 years ago, on 7 August 1912, the Piano Concerto no.1 op.10 by Sergey Prokofiev (21) is performed for the first time, in Sokolniki Park, Moscow, the composer at the keyboard.

200 years ago, on 8 August 1812, the 30 ton paddle steamer Comet began the first commercial steamboat service in Europe when it plied 39 km of the River Clyde between Glasgow, Greenock, and Helensburgh.  It was built by Henry Bell and John Wood.

150 years ago, on 9 August 1862, Béatrice et Bénédict, an opera comique by Hector Berlioz (58) to his own words after Shakespeare, was performed for the first time, in the New Theatre, Baden-Baden.  Berlioz conducted in such pain that he could hardly stand.

50 years ago, on 9 August 1962, Hermann Hesse died in Montagnola, Switzerland at the age of 85.

150 years ago, on 11 August 1862, Sarah Bernhardt made her debut at the Comédie Française in Paris in Racine’s Iphegenie en Aulide.

50 years ago, on 11 August 1962, Andrian Grigoryevich Nikolayev was launched into orbit aboard Vostok 3.

200 years ago, on 12 August 1812, British, Portuguese, and Spanish troops under Viscount Wellington entered Madrid.

50 years ago, on 12 August 1962, Pavel Romanovich Popovich was launched into orbit aboard Vostok 4. It was the first time that two humans were in space simultaneously.

150 years ago, on 13 August 1862, China agreed, in a treaty with Portugal signed in Tientsin, that Macao was Portuguese territory.

100 years ago, on 13 August 1912, Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet died at a hospital in the Rue de la Chaise, Paris, aged 70 years, three months, and one day.  Since he abhorred the idea of dying in a hospital, the body was immediately removed to his home in the Rue de Vaugirard, arriving there at 06:00 in an ambulance, complete with his nurse pretending to administer oxygen.  Ten hours after his death, the fact was registered as having occurred at his home in the Sixth Arrondissement.

50 years ago, on 13 August 1962, on the first anniversary of the Berlin Wall, West Berliners gathered for three minutes of silence and then began throwing insults at the East Berlin guards, followed by rocks and other missiles.  The East Germans responded with water cannon and tear gas.  West Berlin police responded with their own tear gas.  Rioting continued well after dark.  Three attempts to escape were made.  One is successful but two people are killed.

250 years ago, on 14 August 1762, British invaders captured Havana from the Spanish during the Seven Years War.

100 years ago, on 14 August 1912, 350 United States Marines arrived in Nicaragua to prop up the Conservative government of Adolfo Díaz.

50 years ago, on 14 August 1962, French and Italian workers met midway under Mont Blanc, thus connecting an 11.6 km tunnel connecting Chamonix and Courmayeur.

50 years ago, on 15 August 1962, the Netherlands agreed to transfer sovereignty of West Irian to an interim United Nations administration.

50 years ago, on 15 August 1962, Andrian Grigoryevich Nikolayev, aboard Vostok 3, returned to Earth after a record 94 hours and 22 minutes in space.  Pavel Romanovich Popovich also returned safely to Earth.  Both landed in Kazakhstan six minutes apart.

200 years ago, on 16 August 1812, United States forces surrendered Detroit to the British.

200 years ago, on 17 August 1812, two days of fighting between Russian and Allied forces conclude near Smolensk.  The battle caused approximately 23,000 total casualties but no strategic result.  That night the Russians evacuated the city.

200 years ago, on 19 August 1812, USS Constitution destroyed HMS Guerriere 2,000 km east of Boston.

200 years ago, on 22 August 1812 Swiss adventurer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt “discovered” the ancient city of Petra near Wadi Musa (Jordan).

150 years ago, on 22 August 1862, Achille-Claude Debussy was born in St. Germain-en-Laye, first of five children born to Manuel-Achille Debussy, proprietor of a china shop and Victorine Joséphine Sophie Manoury, daughter of a wheelwright.

50 years ago, on 22 August 1962, OAS gunmen fired automatic weapons at a car carrying President Charles de Gaulle, his wife and son-in-law near Petit-Clamart south of Paris.  No one in the car or accompanying security detail was injured.

50 years ago, on 23 August 1962, Irving Gifford Fine died of a heart attack at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston, aged 47 years, eight months, and 20 days.

100 years ago, on 24 August 1912, with the passage of the Townsend Amendment, US copyright law covered motion pictures.

200 years ago, on 25 August 1812, following the reverses in western Spain, the French lifted the siege of Cádiz and moved north.

200 years ago, on 27 August 1812 French forces abandoned Seville and moved north.

150 years ago, on 27 August 1862, Johann Strauss (36) married Henriette Carolina Josepha Chalupetzky (Jetty Treffz), a singer and mistress to Baron Moritz Tedesco (and mother of the Baron’s two daughters), in St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Vienna.  The ceremony was witnessed only by the groom’s mother and his publisher, Carl Haslinger.

150 years ago, on 29 August 1862, after the Italian government secretly urged Garibaldi to raise an army and march on Rome, the Royal Italian Army found the Garibaldists on Aspromonte in Calabria and fired on them.  Twelve people died and Garibaldi was wounded twice.

50 years ago, on 29 August 1962, the West German government estimated that 10,000 birth defects were caused by thalidomide.

150 years ago, on 30 August 1862, Union troops attacked for a second time at Manassas and again were repulsed.  They retreated towards Washington.  The fighting saw 25,000 total casualties.

50 years ago, on 31 August 1962, Trinidad and Tobago, under Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Eric Eustace Williams, was proclaimed independent of Great Britain.

150 years ago, on 2 September 1862, Alphons Johannes Maria Diepenbrock was born in Amsterdam.

100 years ago, on 3 September 1912, the Five Orchestral Pieces op.16 by Arnold Schoenberg (37) were performed for the first time in their orchestral setting, in Queen’s Hall, London.

50 years ago, on 3 September 1962, Piano Sonata no.2 by Michael Tippett (57) was performed for the first time, in Freemasons’ Hall, Edinburgh.

50 years ago, on 3 September 1962, the Parliament of India created Nagaland as the country’s 15^th state effective 1 December.

50 years ago, on 3 September 1962, ee cummings died in North Conway, New Hampshire at the age of 67.

100 years ago, on 5 September 1912, John Milton Cage, Jr. was born in Good Samaritan Hospital, Los Angeles, the third and only surviving child of John Milton Cage, an inventor, and Lucretia Harvey, an amateur pianist.

200 years ago, on 7 September 1812, twelve hours of fighting between Russian and Allied troops at Borodino, west of Moscow, ended in complete stalemate, both sides too exhausted to continue.  The day produced somewhere between 70,000 and 90,000 total casualties.  More men were killed at Borodino than in any battle before World War I.

50 years ago, on 7 September 1962, five OAS men were convicted in a court in Troyes of the assassination attempt of 8 September 1961.  They received sentences of from 10-20 years.  A sixth defendant was tried in absentia and sentenced to life in prison.

50 years ago, on 10 September 1962, at the end of a long legal battle, US Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black ordered that James Meredith, a black man, be admitted to the University of Mississippi.

50 years ago, on Sound Patterns by Pauline Oliveros (30) was performed for the first time.

100 years ago, on 11 September 1912, two songs op.60, The Torch and The River by Edward Elgar (55), were performed for the first time in their orchestral setting, along with the premiere of Elgar’s suite from his The Crown of India, in the Shire Hall, Hereford.

100 years ago, on 12 September 1912, Fantasia on Christmas Carols for baritone, chorus, and orchestra by Ralph Vaughan Williams (39) was performed for the first time, in Hereford Cathedral, the composer conducting.  Also premiered was Ode on the Nativity by Hubert Parry (64) for soprano, chorus, and orchestra to words of Dunbar.

50 years ago, on 13 September 1962, Governor Ross Barnett invoked the doctrine of interposition and vowed to bar the admission of James Meredith to the University of Mississppi.

200 years ago, on 14 September 1812, Russian troops and citizenry abandoned Moscow and retreated to the southwest.  The Allied vanguard reached the city around midnight.

50 years ago, on 14 September 1962, 29 men, women, and children escaped to West Berlin through a 120 meter tunnel dug west to east from the French sector.  It was the largest mass escape to that time.  30 others have already come through the tunnel in small groups.

250 years ago, on 15 September 1762, during the Seven Years War, British forces defeated the French on Signal Hill at St. John’s Newfoundland.

250 years ago, on 17 September 1762, Francesco Xaverio Geminiani died in Dublin “at his lodgings on College-Green”, 74 years, nine months, and twelve days after his baptism.

200 years ago, on 17 September 1812, after three days of fire, three-quarters of Moscow lay in ruins as the Allied army loots the city.

150 years ago, on 17 September 1862, Federal forces attacked Confederate positions along the Antietam Creek near Sharpsburg, Maryland, 90 km northwest of Washington.  The fighting causes 26,000 total casualties.  Federals won the day but the Confederates were allowed to escape into Virginia.

250 years ago, on 18 September 1762, after an occupation of almost three months, French forces surrendered St. John’s, Newfoundland to the British during the Seven Years War.

250 years ago, on 19 September 1762, the mortal remains of Francesco Xaverio Geminiani were laid to rest in Dublin, “in the Churchyard of St. Andrew, near College-Green, the Church of the Irish Parliament.”

150 years ago, on 20 September 1862, Imperial Chinese forces decisively defeated Taiping rebels at Tzeki (Cixi) near Ningpo (Ningbo).

150 years ago, on 20 September 1862, the doors of St. Petersburg Conservatory opened for business.  The director was Anton Rubinstein (32).  One of the new part-time students was a civil servant named Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (22).

50 years ago, on 20 September 1962, pursuant to a federal court order, James Meredith attempted to register at the University of Mississippi.  He was denied by Governor Ross Barnett personally.  2,000 jeering white students and 100 policemen are on hand for the event.

50 years ago, on 21 September 1962, Igor Stravinsky (80), his wife and Robert Craft landed at Sheremetievo Airport, Moscow.  It was the composer’s first visit to his homeland in 48 years.

50 years ago, on 21 September 1962, Tony Richardson’s film The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner was released in Great Britain.

50 years ago, on 21 September 1962, Songs for Ariel, excerpts for voice and piano of the incidental music to The Tempest by Michael Tippett (57), was performed for the first time, at Fenton House, London.

150 years ago, on 22 September 1862, US President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing all slaves in territories currently in rebellion, to take effect 1 January.

150 years ago, on 23 September 1862, the last engagement of the Dakota uprising took place in Wood Lake, Minnesota.  In the month-long revolt, 42 Indians and 737 whites were killed.

100 years ago, on 23 September 1912, the first Keystone Cops movie, Cohen Collects a Debt, was released.

50 years ago, on 23 September 1962, Connotations for orchestra by Aaron Copland (61) was performed for the first time, at the inauguration of Lincoln Center, directed by Leonard Bernstein (44).  The concert was televised by the CBS television network.

150 years ago, on 24 September 1862, King Wilhelm of Prussia named Otto von Bismarck-Schönhausen as chief minister in order to break the deadlock between king and lower house of Parliament over military spending.

50 years ago, on 24 September 1962, Piano Concerto op.38 by Samuel Barber (52) was performed for the first time, at Lincoln Center, New York.

100 years ago, on 25 September 1912, the Ford Motor Company instituted a work schedule of eight hours per day, five days per week.

50 years ago, on 25 September 1962, a federal appeals court ordered Governor Ross Barnett to admit James Meredith to the University of Mississippi.  Meredith attempted that day to register at the University trustees’ office in Jackson.  Barnett stood in the door and denied Meredith admittance.  Another federal court issued a contempt citation against Barnett.

50 years ago, on 26 September 1962, James Meredith attempted for a third time to enroll in the University of Mississippi but was stopped at the gate of the Oxford campus by Lt. Governor Paul Johnson and about 35 state security personnel.  US marshal James McShane attempted to push his way through but ended up scuffling with the Lt. Governor and police.  A federal court issued a contempt citation against Johnson and a second citation against Governor Ross Barnett.

50 years ago, on 26 September 1962, Igor Stravinsky (80) made his first appearance in his homeland since the revolution as he conducted a concert of his own music in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory.  The audience was filled with many musicians, including Dmitri Shostakovich (56) and Aram Khachaturian (59).

100 years ago, on 27 September 1912, WC Handy published Memphis Blues.

50 years ago, on 27 September 1962, Silent Spring by Rachel Carlson was published by Houghton, Mifflin in Boston.

50 years ago, on 28 September 1962, a federal court in New Orleans found Governor Ross Barnett of Mississippi guilty of contempt and ordered him to comply with court orders or face a fine of $10,000 per day.

50 years ago, on 28 September 1962, the Canadian satellite Alouette was sent into obit by a US rocket launched from Point Arguello, California.  It was the first artificial satellite designed and built by a country other than the US or the USSR.  It was used in the study of the ionosphere.

150 years ago, on 30 September 1862, speaking to the Prussian Landtag, Prime Minister Otto von Bismarck uttered his most famous phrase, “Not through speeches and majority decisions will the great questions of the day be decided - that was the great mistake of 1848 and 1849 - but by iron and blood.”

50 years ago, on 30 September 1962, by the terms of a federal court order, James Meredith, a black student, took up residence at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, guarded by US marshals.  President Kennedy nationalized the Mississippi National Guard.  At about 20:00, whites went on a riotous rampage at the University and through the town.  At 22:30, President Kennedy broadcasted a televised appeal for calm in the state and asks acceptance of federal court orders, which had no effect on the riots.  French journalist Paul Guihard was shot execution style by rioters behind a dormitory.  His killers were never be brought to justice.

250 years ago, on 1 October 1762 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (6) gave his first known public musical performance, at Trinity Inn, Linz.

100 years ago, on 1 October 1912, The Music Makers op.69, an ode for alto, chorus, and orchestra by Edward Elgar (55) to words of O’Shaughnessy, was performed for the first time, in Birmingham, conducted by the composer.

50 years ago, on 1 October 1962, at an evening reception given by the Soviet Minister of Culture, Igor Stravinsky (80) met with leading Soviet composers including Dmitri Shostakovich (56) and Aram Khachaturian (59).  According to Robert Craft, this was “the most extraordinary event of the trip.”

50 years ago, on 1 October 1962, about 3,000 federal troops and 400 US marshals managed to restore order in Oxford, Mississippi and the University of Mississippi.  James Meredith attended classes guarded by four marshals.  His total security contingent included 75 US marshals.  White students jeered him and hurled racial epithets.

50 years ago, on 3 October 1962, Walter Schirra blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida aboard a Mercury capsule, orbited the Earth almost six times, and returned to Earth nine hours and 13 minutes later, 530 km northeast of Midway.

50 years ago, on 4 October 1962, Symphony no.8 by William Schuman (52) was performed for the first time, at Lincoln Center, New York, conducted by Leonard Bernstein (44).  It was commissioned by the New York Philharmonic for the inauguration of Philharmonic Hall (Avery Fisher Hall).

250 years ago, on 5 October 1762 Orfeo ed Euridice, an azione teatrale by Christoph Willibald Gluck (48) to words of Calzibigi, was performed for the first time, in the Burgtheater, Vienna for the name day of Emperor Franz.  It was a tremendous success and went on to have 19 performances this year alone.

50 years ago, on 5 October 1962 Dr. No, the first film featuring James Bond, was shown for the first time, in London.

250 years ago, on 6 October 1762, after a siege by the Royal Navy, Spanish defenders surrender Manila and all of the Philippines during the Seven Years War.  In fact, British power will not be pressed beyond the capital city.

100 years ago, on 7 October 1912, Igor Stravinsky (30) boarded a train in St. Petersburg for Ustilug (Ustyluh, Ukraine) and thence to Paris and Switzerland.  He was not to see his native city again for 50 years.

100 years ago, on 8 October 1912, Montenegro declared war on Turkey.

50 years ago, on 9 October 1962, Uganda, under Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Milton Obote, was proclaimed independent of Great Britain.

100 years ago, on 10 October 1912, an exhibition entitled Salon de la Section d’Or opened at the Galerie la Boëtie, Paris.  It included the first showing of Marcel Duchamp’s Nude Descending a Staircase no.2.

50 years ago, on 10 October 1962, fighting broke out between Chinese and Indian troops near Dhola, Northeast Frontier Territory.  At least 28 people were killed.

50 years ago, on 10 October 1962, Klavierstück X by Karlheinz Stockhausen (34) was performed for the first time, in Palermo.

50 years ago, on 11 October 1962, Nikita Khrushchev received Igor Stravinsky (80) and his party at the Kremlin for 40 minutes.  A few hours later they boarded a plane for Paris.

50 years ago, on 11 October 1962, 2,500 participants celebrated the opening of the Second Vatican Council in Rome.

450 years ago, on 13 October 1562, Claudin de Sermisy died in Paris, aged approximately 70 years.

250 years ago, on 13 October 1762 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (6) and his sister Nannerl performed at Schönbrunn Palace before Emperor Franz I, Empress Maria Theresia, Archduchess Marie Antoinette and the music teacher to the imperial family, Georg Christoph Wagenseil (47).  Leopold (42) wrote home to Salzburg, “Everyone is amazed, especially at the boy, and everyone whom I have heard says that his genius is incomprehensible.”  (Solomon, 41)

200 years ago, on 13 October 1812, United States forces captured Queenstown Heights, Upper Canada (Ontario) but were forced to retreat.

100 years ago, on 13 October 1912, Hugo David Weisgall was born in Ivancice, near Brünn (Brno), son of Adolph Joseph Weisgal, cantor and composer of Jewish religious music.

100 years ago, on 13 October 1912, former United States President Theodore Roosevelt was shot and wounded by a demented man, while campaigning for the presidency in Milwaukee.  He finished his speech before going to the hospital.

50 years ago, on 13 October 1962, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee opened on Broadway.

100 years ago, on 16 October 1912, after forty rehearsals, the long-awaited public premiere of Arnold Schoenberg’s (38) Pierrot Lunaire op.21, for speaker and chamber group to words of Giraud (tr. Hartleben), took place in the Choralionsaal, Berlin.

50 years ago, on 16 October 1962, US President Kennedy was shown secret aerial photographs of Soviet missile installations in Cuba.

100 years ago, on 17 October 1912, the Ottoman Empire declared war on Bulgaria and Serbia.

200 years ago, on 18 October 1812, the Brothers Grimm dated the preface to the first volume of their Kinder- und Hausmärchen.

100 years ago, on 18 October 1912, a treaty was signed by Italy and the Ottoman Empire at Ouchy, near Lausanne, ending their war.  Italy obtained Tripoli and Cyrenaica and agreed to evacuate the Aegean.

100 years ago, on 18 October 1912, Bulgaria, Greece, and Serbia all declared war on the Ottoman Empire, as forces from all three countries attacked simultaneously.

200 years ago, on 19 October 1812, allied forces began to evacuate Moscow.  Emperor Napoléon was the first to leave.

200 years ago, on 19 October 1812, in two days of fighting, the Russians attacked and drove back the Allies at Polotsk, 218 km northwest of Smolensk.

50 years ago, on 20 October 1962, armed forces of the Peoples Republic of China launched a major offensive into India, in Ladakh and the Northwest Frontier Agency (Arunachal Pradesh), moving 130 km without effective Indian opposition.

350 years ago, on 21 October 1662, Henry Lawes dies in London, 66 years, nine months and 16 days after his baptism.

100 years ago, on 22 October 1912, Bulgarian forces attacked Turks along a line from Lulu Burgas (Lüleburgaz) to Visa (Vize) and after a two-day battle sent them into wholesale flight towards Constantinople, 140 km to the southeast.  Greek forces defeated Turks at Sarandoporus.

150 years ago, on 22 October 1862, while King Othon I of Greece was touring the Peloponnesus, a revolt led by Demitrios Voulgaris overthrew him.

50 years ago, on 22 October 1962, US President John Kennedy announced to the world the presence of Soviet offensive missiles in Cuba and demanded their removal.  He announced a US quarantine of all offensive weapons to Cuba.  Military dependents were evacuated from the US naval base at Guantanamo.

200 years ago, on 23 October 1812, having escaped from a lunatic asylum in Paris where he was held for the last four years, General Claude-François de Malet hatched a plan to seize power.  He announced that Napoléon was dead in Russia and convinced several senior guard officers of this.  Together they arrested the minister of police and other officials.  After personally killing the commander of the Paris garrison, General Pierre-Augustin Hulin, Malet was discovered for who he was and arrested.  The plot collapsed.  84 people were arrested.

150 years ago, on 23 October 1862, in the face of an uprising in Athens, King Othon I of Greece was forced to abdicate.  A regency council was put in place until a new King can be found. The new government announced the convening of a national assembly to elect a new king and create a constitution.  King Othon departed for Venice aboard a ship of the Royal Navy.

100 years ago, on 23 October 1912, Bulgarians defeated Turks in a two-day battle at Kirk Kilissia (Kirklareli), 165 km northwest of Constantinople, as Serbians defeated the Turkish defenders of Kumanovo, 30 km northeast of Skopje.

50 years ago, on 23 October 1962, the Organization of American States voted 19-0-1 to support a quarantine of Cuba to prevent the shipment of offensive ballistic missiles.  US military forces worldwide were put on alert.

200 years ago, on 24 October 1812, after a fierce battle for Maloyaroslavets, during which the town changed hands five times, the Russians were forced to withdraw, although they continued to fire on the Allies in the town.

50 years ago, on 24 October 1962, a quarantine of Cuba goes into effect, conducted by the United States.  20 Soviet ships closest to the quarantine line either stopped dead in the water or reversed direction.

50 years ago, on 24 October 1962, 0’0” for any player by John Cage (50) was performed for the first time, in Tokyo by the composer.  The most important part of the score reads, “IN A SITUATION PROVIDED WITH MAXIMUM AMPLIFICATION (NO FEEDBACK), PERFORM A DISCIPLINED ACTION.”  For this simultaneous composition and first performance, Cage wrote a manuscript.  The work was dedicated to the young Japanese composer Toshi Ichiyanagi and his wife Yoko Ono.

100 years ago, on 25 October 1912, Greek forces captured Kozani in Western Macedonia from the Turks.

100 years ago, on 25 October 1912, Ariadne auf Naxos op.60 by Richard Strauss (48) to words of Hofmannsthal was performed for the first time, in the Stuttgart Court Theatre, the composer conducting.

50 years ago, on 25 October 1962, in the UN Security Council, US Ambassador Adlai Stevenson demanded that Soviet ambassador Valerian A. Zorin admit or deny the presence of Soviet offensive missiles in Cuba.  When Zorin refused to answer Stevenson replied “I am prepared to wait for my answer until Hell freezes over if that is your decision.”  Stevenson then presented photographic evidence to the Council, proving the existence of Soviet offensive missiles in Cuba.

50 years ago, on 25 October 1962, two new works were performed for the first time in the Beethovensaal der Stuttgarter Liederhalle:  Polla ta dhina for children’s chorus, wind and percussion by Iannis Xenakis (40) to words of Sophocles and Nach wie vor der Reihe nach for orchestra by Ernst Krenek (62).

50 years ago, on 26 October 1962, US President Kennedy received a personal message in a conciliatory tone from Soviet Premier Khrushchev.  He told Kennedy that if the US pledged not to invade Cuba and to end the quarantine, the missiles would be removed.

100 years ago, on 27 October 1912, Samuel Conlon Nancarrow was born in Texarkana, Arkansas, first of two children born to Samuel Charles Nancarrow, the manager of a barrel factory for Standard Oil, and Myra Brady.

50 years ago, on 27 October 1962, Indian Prime Minister Nehru rejected Chinese peace feelers until Chinese troops withdraw from Indian territory.  Chinese troops advanced into Ladakh in the area of Damchok.

50 years ago, on 27 October 1962, the US government received a second letter signed by Soviet Premier Khrushchev, but probably not written by him.  It proposed a trade of Soviet missiles in Cuba for US missiles in Turkey and the pledge of no invasion of the two countries.  Meanwhile, a surface-to-air missile from Cuba shot down a United States U2 spy plane.  Kennedy responded to the more conciliatory letter of last night and ignored the letter of this morning.  He agreed that the quarantine of Cuba would end and pledged not to invade Cuba if the missiles were removed.  Attorney General Robert Kennedy met Soviet Ambassador Antoly Dobrynin in Kennedy’s office in Washington.  Kennedy agreed to the removal of US missiles in Turkey as long as there is no appearance of a quid pro quo.  Finally, late in the evening, the US received word that the USSR agreed to remove its offensive missiles in Cuba in return for a US pledge to remove missiles in Turkey within six months, end the quarantine of Cuba, and a promise not to invade Cuba.

100 years ago, on 28 October 1912, Greeks routed Turkish defenders of Veria (Veroia), 65 km west of Thessaloniki, sending them into retreat.

50 years ago, on 28 October 1962, the removal of Soviet missiles from Cuba was publicly announced by Radio Moscow.

250 years ago, on 29 October 1762, at the Battle of Freiburg, southwest of Dresden, Prussian troops defeated the Austrians during the Seven Years War.

200 years ago, on 29 October 1812, General Claude-François de Malet and 13 others were executed by firing squad in the Grenelle Plain for acts of treason committed 23 October.  Most of those killed, including three generals, were unwitting dupes of Malet.

50 years ago, on 29 October 1962, while black student James Meredith ate in the cafeteria, 200 white students at the University of Mississippi hurled bottles and firecrackers at soldiers guarding him.

250 years ago, on 1 November 1762, during the Seven Years War, French forces surrendered at Kassel and evacuated the eastern bank of the Rhine.

150 years ago, on 1 November 1862, the Prelude to Die Meistersinger by Richard Wagner (49) was performed for the first time, in the Leipzig Gewandhaus conducted by the composer.

100 years ago, on 1 November 1912, in today’s issue of Physikalische Zeitschrift, Victor Hess made the first report by a professional physicist that Earth is bombarded by radiation from outer space.

250 years ago, on 3 November 1762, preliminary Articles of Peace to end the Seven Years War are signed by British, French, and Spanish ministers at Fontainebleau.

150 years ago, on 3 November 1862, the last 42 of 393 trials took place for the recent Dakota uprising.  323 of the trials resulted in conviction.  303 are sentenced to death by hanging.

100 years ago, on 3 November 1912, Greek forces captured Thessaloniki and Preveza from the Turks.

150 years ago, on 4 November 1862, Richard Jordan Gatling received a US patent for a “revolving gun battery” which shoots 350 rounds per minute.  The United States Army will not accept the gun until 1866.

50 years ago, on 6 November 1962, the first New York solo exhibition of Andy Warhol opened at the Stable Gallery.  If featured the first showing of 210 Coca-Cola Bottles, Red Elvis, the Marilyn Diptych, and several other “Marilyn” works.

50 years ago, on 7 November 1962, the former secretary general of the African National Congress, Nelson Mandela, was sentenced to five years in prison, three years for inciting a strike and two years for leaving the country without a passport.

50 years ago, on 8 November 1962, Thomas Galloway Dunlop Galbraith, Joint Undersecretary for Scotland, tendered his resignation to British Prime Minister Harold MacMillan after publication of letters he wrote to William Vassall, presently imprisoned for espionage.  The letters instructed Vassall to bring secret documents to Galbraith’s home in Scotland and also include “personal requests and comments.”  Vassall was a homosexual.

200 years ago, on 9 November 1812, Napoléon and the Grande Armée reached Smolensk where they proceeded to ransack the city.  At the same time, Allied reinforcements were savagely attacked by Russians southwest of the city and induced to surrender.

150 years ago, on 10 November 1862, La forza del destino, an opera by Giuseppe Verdi (49) to words of Piave after Saavedra, was performed for the first time, at the Imperial Theatre, St. Petersburg.

100 years ago, on 12 November 1912, Liberal Spanish Prime Minister José Canalejas y Mendez was shot to death by an anarchist outside a Madrid bookstore.

100 years ago, on 12 November 1912, Captain Robert F. Scott and two of his party were found dead in Antarctica, approximately 17 km from their next supply station.

250 years ago, on 13 November 1762 Johann Christian Bach (27) appeared professionally in London for the first time.  He directed the pasticcio Il Tutore e la Pupilla, to which he contributed.

100 years ago, on 15 November 1912, Greece annexed Thessaloniki and Epirus.

200 years ago, on 16 November 1812, Russian troops captured Minsk, the main Allied supply point.

150 years ago, on 16 November 1862, Johannes Brahms (29) gave his first concert in Vienna, in the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde Vereinsaal.  He played the piano part in his Quartet for piano and strings no.1 op.25.  It was a great popular and critical success, focusing attention on the newly arrived composer.

100 years ago, on 17 November 1912, Bulgarian attacks on Tchatalja (Çatalca, Turkey), west of Constantinople, were repulsed by Turkish defenders, but Serbian forces crushed the Turks at Monastir (Bitola, Macedonia), 100 km south of Skopje.  The remnants of this Turkish army fled into Albania, where they eventually were evacuated to Constaninople.

150 years ago, on 18 November 1862, the Prague Provisional Theatre opened with the expressed purpose of providing a stage for Czech art free of German domination.  Among the orchestra members was a violist named Antonin Dvorák (21).

50 years ago, on 20 November 1962, US President Kennedy signed an executive order prohibiting racial and religious discrimination in federal and federally funded housing.

50 years ago, on 21 November 1962, the Peoples Republic of China announced a unilateral withdrawal of its forces from India and a cease-fire.

100 years ago, on 27 November 1912, a treaty signed in Fez (Fès) between France and Spain delineated the boundary between territory controlled by the two nations in Morocco, at the expense of Spanish interests.  Spain declared a protectorate over its holdings in Morocco.

50 years ago, on 27 November 1962, Stabat mater for three choruses by Krzysztof Penderecki (29) was performed for the first time, in Warsaw.

100 years ago, on 28 November 1912, delegates to a national congress at Valona (Vlorë) declared the independence of Albania with Ismail Kemal as president of a provisional government.  Kemal declared neutrality in the Balkan War and asked for protection by the great powers.

150 years ago, on 29 November 1862, Quartet for piano and strings no.2 by Johannes Brahms (29) was performed for the first time, in the Musikvereinsaal, Vienna, the composer at the keyboard in his first solo concert in the city.

50 years ago, on 30 November 1962, Coral Island for soprano and orchestra by Toru Takemitsu (32) to words of Ooka, was performed for the first time, in a Japan radio broadcast.

50 years ago, on 1 December 1962, China withdrew its troops in India to a line 20 km behind the 1959 line of control.

100 years ago, on 3 December 1912, after almost two months of war, an armistice was signed between Turkey and the Balkan allies Bulgaria, Serbia, and Montenegro.  The Ottoman Turks were driven from Europe, except for the area directly around Constantinople.  Greece was not a party to the armistice.

50 years ago, on 6 December 1962, the mobile version of Répons for seven musicians by Henri Pousseur (33) was performed for the first time, in Brussels.  The fixed version was premiered in 1960.

450 years ago, on 7 December 1562, Adrian Willaert died in Venice, aged approximately 70 years.

50 years ago, on 8 December 1962, rebellion broke out in Brunei, Sarawak, and Sabah against incorporation into Malaysia.  Rebels attacked the Sultan’s palace and the Brunei Shell Petroleum Company, unsuccessfully.  They managed to capture the Shell International Oil Company fields to the southwest, and some small towns in Sarawak and North Borneo.  The rebels are given covert aid by Indonesia.

200 years ago, on 9 December 1812, the exhausted Allied army reached Vilna (Vilnius) which they proceeded to plunder.

300 years ago, on 11 December 1712, Francesco Algarotti was born in Venice.

200 years ago, on 12 December 1812, remnants of the Grande Armée crossed the Nieman into Prussia at Kovno.  Only 5,000 men remained in recognizable military units.

150 years ago, on 13 December 1862, Federal forces attacked Confederates dug in on Marye’s Heights above Fredricksburg, Virginia, 80 km south of Washington.  They were repulsed with heavy losses.  The day leaves 18,030 total casualties.

50 years ago, on 14 December 1962, Mariner 2, an American space probe, passed within 35,000 km of Venus.

50 years ago, on 15 December 1962, new works for organ were performed for the first time, at the dedication of the Aeolian-Skinner organ in Philharmonic Hall (Avery Fisher Hall), New York:  Pange lingua by Virgil Thomson (66), Hymn and Fuguing Tune no.14 for organ by Henry Cowell (65), and Shimah B’Koli op.89 for organ by Vincent Persichetti (47).

200 years ago, on 17 December 1812, the Piano Concerto no.2 J.155 by Carl Maria von Weber (26) was performed for the first time, in Gotha, the composer at the keyboard.

200 years ago, on 18 December 1812, as Emperor Napoléon arrived in Paris, some of the last remaining members of the Grande Armée reached Bialystok from whence they safely crossed into Austrian territory.  Of the Allied troops who crossed the Vistula during the summer of 1812, only 93,000 remained by New Year, 1813.  Napoléon’s Russian campaign cost roughly 750,000 lives.

50 years ago, on 18 December 1962, Symphony no.13 “Babi Yar” for bass, male chorus, and orchestra by Dmitri Shostakovich (56) to words of Yevtushenko, was performed for the first time, in Moscow Conservatory Bolshoy Hall.  In the afternoon, Party and government officials attended a dress rehearsal.  They applied strong pressure on Shostakovich, Yevtushenko, and the conductor, Kiril Kondrashin to cancel the performance.  All refused.  At the evening concert, the words, some mildly critical of the government, were not printed in the program and television coverage of the event was cancelled.  But there was an overflow crowd which was swept into wild, rhythmic applause at the conclusion of the performance, bringing the composer and poet out for bows several times.  When Shostakovich returned home he found KGB agents outside.

200 years ago, on 19 December 1812, allied forces evacuated Riga.

50 years ago, on 25 December 1962, Richard Mulligan’s film To Kill a Mockingbird was released in the United States.

150 years ago, on 26 December 1862, Richard Wagner (49) conducted music from his unperformed music-dramas Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, and Die Meistersinger in Vienna in a concert attended by Empress Elizabeth of Austria.

50 years ago, on 26 December 1962, the “unofficial” premiere of Katerina Izmailova, the reworking of Dmitri Shostakovich’s (56) controversial opera Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, took place at the Stanislavsky-Nemirovich-Danchenko Theatre, Moscow.  The performance was announced today for the first time, perhaps due to the desire of the government to test audience reaction before allowing an “official” premiere.

200 years ago, on 30 December 1812, Russian troops surrounded Prussian forces who were among the allies evacuating Riga.  The Prussians, in the “Convention of Tauroggen,” declared themselves neutral.  Even though the act was unknown to King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia, it signaled a change of heart among Germans.

©Paul Scharfenberger 2012

2 January 2012