Giacomo Puccini was born on 22 December 1858 in Lucca. An Italian opera composer born in Lucca, Puccini was the leading figure of Italian opera after Verdi. His works combine soaring melody, vivid orchestration and emotionally direct drama, and they include La bohème, Tosca and Madama Butterfly, which remain among the most frequently performed operas in the world. Later works include La fanciulla del West and Il trittico. Turandot, with its famous aria Nessun dorma, was left unfinished when he died in Brussels after treatment for throat cancer; it was completed by Franco Alfano and premiered at La Scala in 1926 under Toscanini.
Before and after
- 1 July 1858Darwin and Wallace present natural selection to the Linnean Society
- from 1 September 1858 to 5 June 1862Cochinchina campaign
- 27 October 1858Birth of Theodore Roosevelt
- 20 November 1858Birth of Selma Lagerlöf
- 22 December 1858Birth of Giacomo Puccini
- 1859Publication of Ja, vi elsker dette landet
- 1859Construction of Neues Museum
- 1859Publication of A Tale of Two Cities
- 1859John Tyndall measures how gases trap heat
More in Art, literature & culture
- from 18th century to 19th centuryRomanticism
- 1 November 1800Construction of White House
- 1830Publication of Book of Mormon
- c. 1900sRise of Expressionism
- 1907Rise of cubism
- c. 1910sRise of Dada
The era
This moment belongs to the Industrial era (1760 CE to 1914 CE), steam, factories and revolutions. You can also browse everything in the 19th century.