Moments in Time: Mozart All-Nighter
The History Channel
On Oct. 27, 1873, Joseph Glidden, a farmer in DeKalb, Illinois, submitted an application to the U.S. Patent Office for his new design for a fencing wire with sharp barbs. His version, using two strands of wire twisted together, was an improvement on the single-strand version created by Henry Rose and became the best-selling such wire in the country.
On Oct. 28, 1787, composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart worked all night to complete the overture of his opera "Don Giovanni," which was scheduled to debut in Prague the next day. The orchestra had no time to rehearse, but sight-read it in the concert hall to a most enthusiastic response from the crowd.
On Oct. 29, 1618, Sir Walter Raleigh, an English adventurer, writer and favorite courtier of Queen Elizabeth I, was beheaded in London under a sentence brought against him 15 years earlier for conspiracy against King James I.
On Oct. 30, 1905, George Bernard Shaw's play "Mrs. Warren's Profession," which dealt frankly with prostitution and had already been banned in Britain, was staged at New York's Garrick Theater, but was closed by authorities after a single performance. The next day the producer and players were arrested for obscenity, but no one (including Shaw) was convicted. The play would not be legally performed in Britain for another 21 years.
On Oct. 31, 1950, 21-year-old Earl Lloyd became the first African American to play in an NBA game when he took to the court in the season opener for the Washington Capitols. While he would describe joining an all-white team as "intimidating," his teammates were welcoming, though not all fans approved.
On Nov. 1, 1800, President John Adams moved into the newly constructed President's House, the original name for what we today call the White House.
On Nov. 2, 2000, the first residential crew arrived aboard the International Space Station, marking both the beginning of a new era of international cooperation in space and the longest continuous human habitation in low Earth orbit, which continues to this day.
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