1597

Birth of opera: Premiere of Dafne (Jacopo Peri).

1643

Premiere of L'Incoronazione di Poppea (The Coronation of Poppea) (Claudio Monteverdi), one of the earliest operas still performed

1714

1714 Birth of Christoph Willibald Gluck

1724

Premiere of George Frideric Handel's Giolio Cesare (Julius Caesar)

1728

John Gay's The Beggar's Opera premieres. One of the first important "popular" operas, a work seen as a precursor to operetta and musical comedy

1742

Premiere of George Frideric Handel's Messiah

1756

January 27 - Birth of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, in Salzburg, Austria

1762

Premiere of Orfeo ed Euridice (Christoph Willibald Gluck)

1767

Premiere of Alceste (Christoph Willibald Gluck)

1779

Premiere of Iphigénie en Tauride (Christoph Willibald Gluck)

1786

(May 1) - Premiere of Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro) (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)

1787

(October 29) – Premiere of Don Giovanni (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)

Isabel Bayrakdarian as Zerlina and Bryn Terfel as Don Giovanni in Lyric Opera of Chicago's 2004 production of Mozart's Don Giovanni. Photo by Dan Rest and courtesy of Lyric Opera of Chicago.

1791

September 30 - Premiere of Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)

1792

February 29 - Birth of Gioacchino Rossini in Pesaro, Italy

1797

November 29 - Birth of Gaetano Donizetti in Bergamo, Italy

1813

May 22 - Birth of Richard Wagner in Leipzig, Germany
October 9 - Birth of Giuseppe Verdi in Roncole, Italy

1816

February 20 - Premiere of Il barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville) (Gioacchino Rossini)

1818

June 17 - Birth of Charles Francois Gounod in Paris, France

1825

October 25 - Birth of Johann Strauss in Vienna, Austria

1835

September 26 - Premiere of Lucia di Lammermoor (Gaetano Donizetti)

1838

October 25 - Birth of Georges Bizet in Paris, France

1845

Premiere of Tannhäuser (Richard Wagner)

1850

September 11 - Jenny Lind, known as "The Swedish Nightingale," makes her American debut

1851

March 11 - Premiere of Rigoletto (Giuseppe Verdi)

1853

January 19 - Premiere of Il trovatore (The Troubador) (Giuseppe Verdi)
March 6 - Premiere of La traviata (Giuseppe Verdi)

1858

December 22 - Birth of Giacomo Puccini in Lucca, Italy

1859

March 19 - Premiere of Faust (Charles Francois Gounod)

1864

June 11 - Birth of Richard Strauss in Munich, Germany

1865

Premiere of Tristan und Isolde (Richard Wagner)

1871

December 24 - Premiere of Aida (Giuseppe Verdi)

1875

March 3 - Premiere of Carmen (Georges Bizet)

The Minnesota Opera's 2005 production of Bizet's Carmen. Photo courtesy of The Minnesota Opera.

1876

Premiere of Der Ring des Nibelungen (known as The Ring Cycle) (Richard Wagner)

1883

October 22 - The Metropolitan Opera opens in New York City, New York

1893

August 10 - Birth of Douglas Moore in Cutchogue, New York

1896

February 1 - Premiere of La bohème (Giacomo Puccini)

1898

September 26 - Birth of George Gershwin in Brooklyn, New York

1900

January 14 - Premiere of Tosca (Giacomo Puccini)
November 14 - Birth of Aaron Copland in New York City, New York

1902

June 28 - Birth of Richard Rodgers in New York City, New York

1903

November 23 - Enrico Caruso makes his Metropolitan Opera debut as the Duke in Rigoletto

1904

February 17 - Premiere of Madama Butterfly (Giacomo Puccini)

1910

March 9 - Birth of Samuel Barber in West Chester, Pennsylvania

1911

January 26– Premiere of Der Rosenkavalier (Richard Strauss)

1918

August 25– Birth of Leonard Bernstein in Lawrence, Massachusetts

1926

April 2 - Premiere of Turandot (Giacomo Puccini)
June 11 - Birth of Carlisle Floyd in Latta, South Carolina

1930

March 22– Birth of Stephen Sondheim in New York City, New York

1935

September 30 - Premiere of Porgy and Bess (George Gershwin)

1939

1939 (Easter Sunday) - Marian Anderson sings at the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

Marian Anderson was barred from performing at Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. by the Daughters of the American Revolution (D.A.R.) because she was African-American. In protest, Eleanor Roosevelt resigned her D.A.R. membership and sponsored Ms. Anderson's concert at the Lincoln Memorial. An audience of 75,000 heard the great contralto perform, which was one of the largest crowds ever to gather on the Mall at that time.

1940

December 7 - Metropolitan Opera / Texaco Radio Broadcasts begin, increasing opera audiences by bringing high quality performances into people's homes.

1941

January 21 - Maria Callas makes her operatic stage debut in the title role of Tosca at Athens Opera

1943

March 31 - Premiere of Oklahoma! (Richard Rodgers)

1949

April 7 - Premiere of South Pacific (Richard Rodgers)
May 2 - Premiere of Susannah (Carlisle Floyd)

1951

March 29 - Premiere of The King and I (Richard Rodgers)
December 24 - Premiere of Gian Carlo Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors, which was a television broadcast

1954

April 1 - Premiere of The Tender Land (Aaron Copland) at New York City Opera

1956

July 7 - Premiere of The Ballad of Baby Doe (Douglas Moore) at Central City Opera
October 29 - Premiere of Candide (Leonard Bernstein)

Des Moines Metro Opera's 2002 Summer Festival production of Bernstein's Candide, featuring Paul Saik, Brian Shadowens, Corey Trahan and Jane Redding. Photo by Davitt Photo Alliance.

1957

September 26 - Premiere of West Side Story (Leonard Bernstein)

1958

January 15 - Premiere of Vanessa (Samuel Barber) at The Metropolitan Opera

1959

October - Premiere of The Sound of Music (Richard Rodgers)

1965

Congress establishes The National Endowment for the Arts

1968

September 28 - Plácido Domingo makes his Metropolitan Opera debut as Maurizio in Adriana Lecouvreur
November 23 - Luciano Pavarotti makes his Metropolitan Opera debut as Rodolfo in Puccini's La bohème

1970

OPERA America is established

1974

José Carreras makes his Metropolitan Opera debut as Cavaradossi in Tosca

1975

July 25 - Premiere of A Chorus Line (Michael Bennett)

1979

March 1 - Premiere of Sweeney Todd (Stephen Sondheim)

1982

October 7– Premiere of Cats (Andrew Lloyd Webber)

1983

New York City Opera introduces projected translation system (called supertitles) - the first of its kind in the United States

1986

September 28 - Premiere of X, or The Life and Times of Malcolm X (Anthony Davis) at New York City Opera

1987

March 12 - Premiere of Les Misérables (Claude-Michel Schönberg)
October 22 - Premiere of Nixon in China (John Adams) at Houston Grand Opera

Robert Orth, Maria Kanyova, Chen-Ye Yuan, and Mark Duffin celebrate in Opera Theatre of Saint Louis' 2004 production of John Adams' Nixon in China. Photo by Ken Howard.

1988

January 26 - Premiere of The Phantom of the Opera (Andrew Lloyd Webber)

1990

July 7 - First Three Tenors concert in Rome, Italy for the World Cup. Featured José Carreras, Plácido Domingo, and Luciano Pavarotti

1991

April 11 - Premiere of Miss Saigon (Claude-Michel Schönberg)
December 1 - Premiere of The Ghosts of Versailles (John Corigliano) at The Metropolitan Opera

1992

October 12 - Premiere of The Voyage (Philip Glass) at The Metropolitan Opera

1993

January - Premiere of The Dream of Valentino (Dominick Argento) at Washington National Opera

1994

September 10 - Premiere of The Dangerous Liaisons (Conrad Susa) at San Francisco Opera

1996

January 27 - Premiere of Rent (Jonathan Larson)
July 27 - Premiere of Emmeline (Tobias Picker) at New York City Opera

1997

November 13 - Premiere of The Lion King (Elton John)

1998

September 19 - Premiere of A Streetcar Named Desire (Andre Previn) at San Francisco
Opera

Sandra Piques Eddy, Benjamin Bunsold, Jennifer Dudley, Coral Owdom, and Tawney Seward perform in Fort Worth Opera's 2005 production of Mark Adamo's Little Women. Photo courtesy of Fort Worth Opera Association.

1999

December 20 - Premiere of The Great Gatsby (John Harbison) at The Metropolitan Opera

2000

October 7 - Premiere of Dead Man Walking (Jake Heggie) at San Francisco Opera

2001

April 19 - Premiere of The Producers (Mel Brooks)

2002

May 31 - Premiere of The Little Prince (Rachel Portman) at Houston Grand Opera
December 8 - Premiere of Puccini's La bohème on Broadway

2004

October 9 - Premiere of A Wedding (William Bolcom) at Lyric Opera of Chicago

Patricia Risley as Diana and Mark S. Doss as Randolph in Lyric Opera of Chicago's 2004 world premiere of William Bolcom's A Wedding. Photo by Dan Rest and courtesy of Lyric Opera of Chicago.

2005

May 7 - Premiere of Margaret Garner (Richard Danielpour) at Michigan Opera Theatre