The Bartered Bride is a comic opera in three acts by the Czech composer Bedřich Smetana, first performed at the Provisional Theatre, Prague, on 30 May 1866. Set in a country village with realistic characters, it tells the story of how true love prevails over the combined efforts of ambitious parents and a scheming marriage broker. Originally presented in a two-act format with spoken dialogue, the opera was not immediately successful, but it gained rapid popularity after numerous revisions. Smetana's musical treatment made considerable use of traditional Bohemian dance forms such as the polka and furiant, creating music which was accurately folk-like, and considered to be quintessentially Czech in spirit. After a performance in Vienna in 1892 the opera achieved international recognition. It reached Chicago in 1893, London in 1895 and New York in 1909, becoming the first, and for many years the only, Czech opera in the general repertory. Many of these early international performances were in German, under the title Die verkaufte Braut, and the German-language version continues to be played and recorded. (Full article...)
... that Else Seifert worked as an onboard photographer for Hamburg Süd on its shipping routes around Europe, Africa, and the Middle East in the 1930s?
... that when the Archie vs. Predator comic was first announced, many media outlets noted in their headline that the news was not a joke?
1913 – The Treaty of London was signed to deal with territorial adjustments arising out of the conclusion of the First Balkan War, declaring, among other things, an independent Albania.
1963 – Buddhist crisis: A protest against pro-Catholic discrimination was held outside South Vietnam's National Assembly, the first open demonstration against President Ngô Đình Diệm.
1998 – A 6.9 Mw earthquake struck northern Afghanistan, killing at least 4,000 people, destroying more than 30 villages, and leaving 45,000 people homeless in the Afghan provinces of Takhar and Badakhshan.
American singer Katy Perry has released two video albums and has appeared in thirty-three music videos, eight films, twelve television shows, and thirteen television commercials. After appearing in several music videos between 2004 and 2007, a video for "Ur So Gay" was released to introduce her to the music industry. In 2008, she released videos for "I Kissed a Girl" and "Hot n Cold", both taken from her second album One of the Boys. Perry's third album, Teenage Dream (2010), spawned the single "California Gurls", whose music video is set in the fictional land of "Candyfornia" and features rapper Snoop Dogg. The Yoann Lemoine-directed video "Teenage Dream" depicts her as a euphoric teenager. Her "Firework" video is based on self-empowerment, and won the MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year. In 2013, Perry released her fourth studio album Prism, with "Roar" as its lead single, whose music video features her in a jungle after a plane crash. She became the first artist to have multiple videos, "Dark Horse" and "Roar", each gain one billion views. In addition to her music videos, Perry has voiced Smurfette in The Smurfs (2011) and its sequel The Smurfs 2 (2013). (Full list...)
Sam Poo Kong is the oldest Chinese temple in Semarang, Central Java, Indonesia. The complex was first used by the Chinese Muslim explorer Zheng He. Though Zheng's temple collapsed in a 1704 landslide, a new one was built in its place. This temple has seen several restorations, most recently from 2002 to 2005. Sam Poo Kong is now shared by Indonesians of multiple religious denominations, including Muslims and Buddhists, and ethnicities.
Shown here, from right to left, are the Tho Tee Kong Temple (Dewa Bumi Temple), Kyai Juru Mudi Temple, and the main temple.
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