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Today's featured article Jacques Offenbach (1819–1880) was a German-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s to the 1870s, and his uncompleted opera The Tales of Hoffmann. Beginning as a cellist and conductor, Offenbach first wrote small-scale one-act pieces, limited by theatrical licensing laws. These eased by 1858 when he premiered his first full-length operetta, Orphée aux enfers (Orpheus in the Underworld). La belle Hélène (1864) and other successes followed. The risqué humour (often about sexual intrigue) and gentle satire in these pieces, together with Offenbach's facility for melody, made them internationally known, and he was a powerful influence on later operetta and musical theatre composers. His best-known works were continually revived during the 20th century, and many of his operettas continue to be staged in the 21st century. The Tales of Hoffmann remains part of the standard opera repertory. (Full article...) Recently featured: UEFA Euro 2004 final Alan Wace Hypericum sechmenii On this day... July 15: Marine Day in Japan (2024) Psy 1799 – French soldiers at Fort Julien, near the Egyptian port city of Rashid, uncovered the Rosetta Stone, which was essential in the decipherment of ancient Egyptian scripts. 1870 – Following the transfer of Rupert's Land from the Hudson's Bay Company, Manitoba was established as a province of Canada. 1943 – The all-female Emilia Plater Independent Women's Battalion was formed in the Soviet Union's First Polish Army. 2009 – Caspian Airlines Flight 7908 crashed in northwestern Iran, killing all 168 people aboard. 2012 – South Korean rapper Psy (pictured) released his hit single "Gangnam Style". Almira Lincoln Phelps (b. 1793; d. 1884) Anton Chekhov (d. 1904) Nigel Williams (b. 1944) Christine Chubbuck (d. 1974) More anniversaries: July 14 July 15 July 16

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