Thespis is an operatic extravaganza that was the first collaboration between dramatist W. S. Gilbert and composer Arthur Sullivan. It was never published, and most of the music is now lost. However, Gilbert and Sullivan would go on to become one of the most famous and successful partnerships in Victorian England, creating a string of comic opera hits, including H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado, that continue to be popular. Thespis premièred in London at the Gaiety Theatre on 26 December 1871. Like many productions at that theatre, it was written in a broad, burlesque style, considerably different from Gilbert and Sullivan's later works. It was a modest success—for a Christmas entertainment of the time—and closed on 8 March 1872, after a run of 63 performances. It was advertised as "An entirely original Grotesque Opera in Two Acts". The story follows an acting troupe headed by Thespis, the legendary Greek father of the drama, who temporarily trade places with the gods on Mount Olympus, who have grown elderly and ignored. The actors turn out to be comically inept rulers. Having seen the ensuing mayhem down below, the angry gods return, sending the actors back to Earth as "eminent tragedians, whom no one ever goes to see."

The first recorded performance of William Shakespeare's King Lear, based on the legend of King Lear of Britain, was held.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Lear)

French Revolution: Louis XVI of France gave his Royal Assent to the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, subordinating the Roman Catholic Church in France to the French government.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Constitution_of_the_Clergy)

Physicists Pierre and Marie Curie announced the discovery of a new element, naming it radium.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radium)

Boxer Jack Johnson became the first African American Heavyweight Champion of the World after defeating Canadian Tommy Burns in Sydney.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Johnson_(boxer))

An undersea earthquake in the Indian Ocean off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia generated a series of devastating tsunamis that killed more than 225,000 people in eleven countries.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Indian_Ocean_earthquake)

piecemeal (adv) 1. Piece by piece; in small amounts, stages, or degrees.
2. Into pieces or parts.
(http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/piecemeal)

The responsibility of the great states is to serve and not to dominate the world.