1897 The Music Division of the Library of Congress was founded in Washington, D.C.; its collections began with the 13 books on music literature and theory that were contained in Thomas Jefferson's library, purchased by the Congress in 1815.
1926 Hans Werner Henze – German composer (d. 2012); left Germany for Italy in 1953 because of a perceived intolerance towards his leftist politics and homosexuality; at the 1968 Hamburg premiere of his requiem for Che Guevara, titled Das Floß der Medusa (The Raft of Medusa), the placing of a red flag on the stage sparked a riot and the arrest of several people.
1927 first performance of Bartók's Piano Concerto No. 1 in Frankfurt with Wilhelm Furtwängler conducting and the composer as soloist.
1937 first performance of Milhaud's Scaramouche suite for 2 Pianos in Paris; named not from the fictional character created by Rafael Sabatini, but from the Théâtre Scaramouche which specialized in productions for children; Uncle Dave Lewis at allmusic.com observes, "Programmers of classical radio resort to the charms of the Scaramouche often; it grabs your attention, delivers the goods, and gets out the door -- all in just eight minutes."
1943 Philip Brunelle – American conductor (80 years old); in 1969 he founded VocalEssence in Minneapolis (known before 2002 as the Plymouth Music Series) and remains the artistic director today.
1955 Nikolai Demidenko – Soviet/Russian born pianist (68 years old), British citizen since 1995; a champion of the works of neglected composers such as Clementi, Weber, Vorísek, and Medtner.