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Though it is today one of the most popular operas ever written, Carmen was initially met with such scathing reviews that the opera house had to give away tickets to get people to see it. Shortly after its disastrous premiere, its author, Bizet, died of a heart attack and the director of the struggling opera house resigned. Later that year, however, Carmen opened in Venna to wide acclaim. Why did critics initially hate Bizet's story of a soldier's doomed love for a wild Gypsy girl? More...
1991 - Footage of Los Angeles police officers severely beating Rodney King causes a global outcry
The acquittal of the police officers involved sparked the Los Angeles riots in 1992.
1985 - The U.K. miners' strike ends
The year-long dispute was the country's longest-running industrial dispute and a defining issue of Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government.
1974 - All 345 people on board a Turkish Airlines jet die as it plunges to the ground near Paris, France
The crash of the DC-10 aircraft has the 4th highest death toll of any aviation accident in history.
1938 - The world's fastest steam locomotive is built
The Mallard could reach a speed of over 100 miles per hour (160 km/h).
1924 - The last remnant of the Ottoman empire in Turkey is abolished
The end of the Islamic caliphate marked the demise of the 600-year old empire and gave way to the formation of a reformed Turkey under Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
Historic Trivia pick - The history of Shrove Tuesday
Why is it called ‘Shrove’ Tuesday?
It comes from the word ‘shrive’, which means to give absolution after hearing confession. So Shrove Tuesday is the day when people went to confession to prepare themselves for Lent, which begins on the following day, Ash Wednesday.
Why eat pancakes?
It was the last chance for a spot of indulgence before 40 days of fasting, and also an opportunity to use up food that couldn’t be eaten during Lent. This included eggs, fat and milk, which were made into pancakes and eaten on that day. The earliest known English recipe dates from the 15th century, although pancakes had been eaten in other countries for centuries before that. In the French-speaking world, the day is known as ‘Mardi Gras’ or ‘Fat Tuesday’.
How long have we been having pancake races?
A pancake race has been held in Olney in Buckinghamshire since 1445. It supposedly originated when a local woman heard the church bell while she was making pancakes and ran there, frying pan in hand. Another tradition is Westminster School’s annual Pancake Grease where students compete to grab the biggest portion of a pancake tossed over a 5 metre bar. In parts of Britain children went ‘shroving’ – singing songs or reciting poetry in exchange for gifts of food.
Are there any other Shrove Tuesday traditions?
Two popular Shrove Tuesday activities that are mercifully no longer in vogue were cock-fighting and ‘cock-throwing’. The latter involved tethering a cockerel to a stake and pelting it to death with cudgels. Samuel Pepys describes watching it on Shrove Tuesday 1661 after eating pancakes (which he calls “fritters”), while William Hogarth illustrated it in his First Stage of Cruelty.
Wasn’t football played on Shrove Tuesday?
After a fashion. The 12th-century writer William FitzStephen described a “Shrovetide” ballgame near London, and many communities held traditional Shrove Tuesday games when huge crowds would battle to carry a ball from one end of a village or town to the other. Some places still do it – notably Ashbourne in Derbyshire – where the ‘goals’ are three miles apart. The game is played over two days, involves hundreds of players – and rules are minimal.
George Bizet's Carmen Premieres in Paris
Carmen sings the habanera, act 1
Though it is today one of the most popular operas ever written, Carmen was initially met with such scathing reviews that the opera house had to give away tickets to get people to see it. Shortly after its disastrous premiere, its author, Bizet, died of a heart attack and the director of the struggling opera house resigned. Later that year, however, Carmen opened in Venna to wide acclaim. Why did critics initially hate Bizet's story of a soldier's doomed love for a wild Gypsy girl? More...
1991 - Footage of Los Angeles police officers severely beating Rodney King causes a global outcry
The acquittal of the police officers involved sparked the Los Angeles riots in 1992.
1985 - The U.K. miners' strike ends
The year-long dispute was the country's longest-running industrial dispute and a defining issue of Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government.
1974 - All 345 people on board a Turkish Airlines jet die as it plunges to the ground near Paris, France
The crash of the DC-10 aircraft has the 4th highest death toll of any aviation accident in history.
1938 - The world's fastest steam locomotive is built
The Mallard could reach a speed of over 100 miles per hour (160 km/h).
1924 - The last remnant of the Ottoman empire in Turkey is abolished
The end of the Islamic caliphate marked the demise of the 600-year old empire and gave way to the formation of a reformed Turkey under Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
Historic Trivia pick - The history of Shrove TuesdayWhy is it called ‘Shrove’ Tuesday?
It comes from the word ‘shrive’, which means to give absolution after hearing confession. So Shrove Tuesday is the day when people went to confession to prepare themselves for Lent, which begins on the following day, Ash Wednesday.
Why eat pancakes?
It was the last chance for a spot of indulgence before 40 days of fasting, and also an opportunity to use up food that couldn’t be eaten during Lent. This included eggs, fat and milk, which were made into pancakes and eaten on that day. The earliest known English recipe dates from the 15th century, although pancakes had been eaten in other countries for centuries before that. In the French-speaking world, the day is known as ‘Mardi Gras’ or ‘Fat Tuesday’.
How long have we been having pancake races?
A pancake race has been held in Olney in Buckinghamshire since 1445. It supposedly originated when a local woman heard the church bell while she was making pancakes and ran there, frying pan in hand. Another tradition is Westminster School’s annual Pancake Grease where students compete to grab the biggest portion of a pancake tossed over a 5 metre bar. In parts of Britain children went ‘shroving’ – singing songs or reciting poetry in exchange for gifts of food.
Are there any other Shrove Tuesday traditions?
Two popular Shrove Tuesday activities that are mercifully no longer in vogue were cock-fighting and ‘cock-throwing’. The latter involved tethering a cockerel to a stake and pelting it to death with cudgels. Samuel Pepys describes watching it on Shrove Tuesday 1661 after eating pancakes (which he calls “fritters”), while William Hogarth illustrated it in his First Stage of Cruelty.
Wasn’t football played on Shrove Tuesday?
After a fashion. The 12th-century writer William FitzStephen described a “Shrovetide” ballgame near London, and many communities held traditional Shrove Tuesday games when huge crowds would battle to carry a ball from one end of a village or town to the other. Some places still do it – notably Ashbourne in Derbyshire – where the ‘goals’ are three miles apart. The game is played over two days, involves hundreds of players – and rules are minimal.
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61-BLUES
