Jacques Offenbach was born on 20 June 1819 in Cologne. A German-born French composer and cellist, Offenbach was the creator of the operetta, a lighter form of comic opera that dominated Parisian entertainment in the Second Empire. Born in Cologne to a Jewish family, he went to Paris as a youth and opened his own theatre, the Bouffes-Parisiens. His operettas, such as Orpheus in the Underworld, which includes the famous can-can, La Belle Helene and La Vie parisienne, satirized contemporary society and politics. His only serious opera, The Tales of Hoffmann, was unfinished at his death and completed by others.
Before and after
- 6 February 1819Founding of modern Singapore
- 24 May 1819Birth of Victoria
- 31 May 1819Birth of Walt Whitman
- 12 June 1819Discovery of 7P/Pons–Winnecke
- 20 June 1819Birth of Jacques Offenbach
- 1 August 1819Birth of Herman Melville
- 25 August 1819Death of James Watt
- 13 September 1819Birth of Clara Schumann
- from 3 November 1819 to 22 December 1819Persian Gulf campaign of 1819
More in Art, literature & culture
- 1830Publication of Book of Mormon
- 1890Rise of Art Nouveau
- 28 December 1895The Lumiere brothers hold the first public film screening
- c. 1900sRise of Expressionism
- 1909Rise of Futurism
- 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.