Today in History and Celebrity Birthdays

Today in Music History for Feb. 1: In 1896, the opera ``La Boheme,'' by Giacomo Puccini, premiered in Turin, Italy. In 1909, gospel singer George Beverly Shea was born in Ottawa.

Today in Music History for Jan. 30: In 1917, the Original Dixieland Jazz Band recorded ``Darktown Strutters' Ball.'' Some historians consider this to be the earliest commercially made jazz record.

Today in Music History for Jan. 26: In 1859, the Victoria Philharmonic Society was founded. It was the first amateur musical organization in what now is British Columbia.

Today in Music History for Jan. 29: In 1925, Lois Marshall, one of Canada's leading sopranos in the 1950s and '60s, was born in Toronto. She died of cancer on Feb. 19, 1997.

Today in Music History for Jan. 31: In 1797, composer Franz Schubert was born in Vienna. He died in 1828 at the age of 31. Schubert's reputation grew after his death, to the point where is now considered one of the greatest composers of his era.

Today in Music History for Jan. 28: In 1834, Sabine Baring-Gould, Anglican clergyman and author, was born. He published numerous books on history, biography, poetry and fiction.

Today in History for Jan. 29: In 993, Ulric, bishop of Augsburg in present-day Germany from 923 to 973, was formally canonized by Pope John XV. It was the first recorded canonization by a Catholic pontiff.

Today in History for Jan. 30: In 1649, King Charles I was beheaded. In 1730, Russian Czar Peter II died of smallpox on his wedding day. In 1868, the Nova Scotia legislature opened its first session.

Today in History for Feb. 1: In 1516, Desiderius Erasmus dedicated his ``amendment'' of Jerome's Latin (Vulgate) translation of the Bible to Pope Leo X. Martin Luther and other Protestants based their vernacular versions on the translations.

Today in History for Jan. 31: In 1561, Menno Simons, whose followers became known as Mennonites, died. Born in the Netherlands in 1496, he started his religious life as a Catholic priest.