- 1857 Stefano Ronchetti-Monteviti's opera "Pergolese" premieres at La Scala in Milan, Kingdom of Lombardy (now Italy)
Thaïs
1894 Jules Massenet's opera "Thaïs" premieres in Paris, includes piece “Méditation” for violin and orchestra
Songs of a Wayfarer
1896 Gustav Mahler conducts premiere of his "Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen" (Songs of a Wayfarer), leading the Berlin Philharmonic and Dutch baritone Anton Sistermans as soloist
Life Begins at 8:40
1935 Harold Arlen, Ira Gershwin and Yip Harburg's musical "Life Begins at 8:40", starring Ray Bolger and Lulla Gear, closes at the Winter Garden Theatre, NYC, after 237 performances
Operette
1938 Noël Coward's musical "Operette" premieres in London
Shostakovich Honored
1941 Russian composer and pianist Dmitri Shostakovich receives the Stalin Prize
- 1946 "Would-Be Gentleman" closes at Booth Theater NYC after 77 performances
Billie Holiday Released
1948 Jazz musician Billie Holiday is released early from Alderson Federal Prison Camp in West Virginia due to good behavior
Music History
1972 John Lennon and Yoko Ono are served with deportation papers by US Immigration Department
Music History
1972 Singer James Brown performs two shows for over 1,000 detainees awaiting trial at the Adolescent Remand Shelter on Rikers Island, NYC
Music History
1979 CBS-TV airs "Wings Over the World" with Paul McCartney
Plane Crash
1991 Seven members of Reba McEntire's band, and the road manager, are killed in a plane crash; one of two private jets being used by the group clipped a mountain near San Diego, California shortly after take-off, pilot and co-pilot also
Latin Music Legends
2011 U.S. Postal Service issues a set of five "Latin Music Legends" stamps, including one of Carlos Gardel