Arts in five headlines

1913

The premiere of Igor Stravinsky's ballet The Rite of Spring at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris provoked a near-riot in the audience. The radical score and choreography by Nijinsky divided the audience so violently that fistfights broke out. The work is now considered a landmark of 20th-century music.

1947

Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire opened at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on Broadway on December 3, 1947, starring Marlon Brando as Stanley Kowalski and Jessica Tandy as Blanche DuBois. The production ran for 855 performances and won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play. It launched Brando to stardom and is considered one of the finest American plays ever written.

1963

In 1963, Andy Warhol established his legendary studio known as The Factory on East 47th Street in Manhattan. Covered in silver foil and paint, it became the gathering place for artists, musicians, actors, and socialites, and was central to the 1960s pop art movement. Warhol produced many of his most iconic works there, cementing his status as one of the most influential artists of the twentieth century.

1974

In March 1974, farmers digging a well near Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, China, unearthed fragments of terracotta warriors that proved to be part of the funerary army of China's first emperor, Qin Shi Huang, who died in 210 BCE. Subsequent excavation revealed an army of approximately 8,000 life-size soldiers, 130 chariots and 150 cavalry horses arranged in battle formation. It is considered one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of the twentieth century.

1998

At the 70th Academy Awards ceremony in March 1998, James Cameron's Titanic won 11 Oscars including Best Picture and Best Director, tying the record previously set by Ben-Hur. The film had already become the highest-grossing movie ever made at that point. Cameron's famous 'I'm the king of the world' speech at the podium became one of the most memorable moments in Oscar history.