The Royal Opera is based at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London. Founded in 1946 as the Covent Garden Opera Company, it was known by that title until 1968. It brought a long annual season and consistent management to a house that had previously operated under a series of impresarios. When the company was formed, its policy was to perform all works in English, but since the late 1950s most operas have been given in the original language. From the outset, performers have comprised a mixture of British and Commonwealth singers and international guest stars. Among the many guest performers have been Maria Callas, Plácido Domingo, Kirsten Flagstad, Hans Hotter, Birgit Nilsson, Luciano Pavarotti and Elisabeth Schwarzkopf. Among those who have risen to international prominence from the ranks of the company are Geraint Evans, Joan Sutherland, Kiri Te Kanawa and Jon Vickers. The company's growth from modest beginnings to parity with the world's greatest opera houses was recognised by the grant of the title "The Royal Opera" in 1968. The company has had six music directors since its inception: Karl Rankl, Rafael Kubelík, Georg Solti, Colin Davis, Bernard Haitink and Antonio Pappano.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Royal_Opera

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

490 BC:

Greco-Persian Wars: Athenians and their Plataean allies turned back the first Persian invasion of Greece in the Battle of Marathon. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Marathon

1683:

Great Turkish War: Polish troops led by John III Sobieski joined forces with a Habsburg army to defeat the Ottoman Empire at the Battle of Vienna. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Vienna

1848:

Switzerland became a federal state with the adoption of a new constitution. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switzerland

1910:

Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 8, one of the largest-scale choral works in the classical concert repertoire, was first performed in Munich. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphony_No._8_(Mahler)

1977:

South African anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko was killed in police custody. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Biko

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

wedge: One of the simple machines; a piece of material, such as metal or wood, thick at one edge and tapered to a thin edge at the other for insertion in a narrow crevice, used for splitting, tightening, securing, or levering. […] https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/wedge

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Why assume so glibly that the God who presumably created the universe is still running it? It is certainly perfectly conceivable that He may have finished it and then turned it over to lesser gods to operate. In the same way many human institutions are turned over to grossly inferior men. This is true, for example, of most universities, and of all great newspapers.   --H. L. Mencken https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/H._L._Mencken