1792 Gioacchino Rossini – Italian composer (d.1868); wrote 39 operas as well as sacred music, chamber music, songs, and some instrumental and piano pieces; his best-known operas include the Italian comedies The Barber of Seville and La Cenerentola, and the French-language epics Mosé and William Tell; until his retirement in 1829, Rossini had been the most popular opera composer in history.
1828 premiere of Daniel Auber's opera La muette de Portici (The Mute Girl of Portici, originally Masaniello) at the Salle Le Peletier of the Paris Opéra; generally regarded at the first French grand opera.