1998
Gold at 15. American figure skater Tara Lipinski won the Olympic title in Nagano at just 15, at the time the youngest person to win an individual Winter Olympic gold.
Wikipedia: Tara LipinskiPhoto: Andy Miah / Wikimedia Commons (CC0)
On this day
20 February in history.
5 moments from 1816 to 1998: discovery, creativity and courage, each with a source to read more.
5 moments
More from 20 February
1816
A rocky start for The Barber of Seville
Rossini's comic opera was jeered on its first night in Rome. It went on to become one of the best-loved comic operas ever written.
Wikipedia: The Barber of SevilleWikipedia: Gioachino Rossini
Photo: uncredited / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
1872
The Met opens in New York
The Metropolitan Museum of Art opened in New York. Today it is the biggest art museum in the country, holding over two million works.
Wikipedia: Metropolitan Museum of Art
Photo: Hugo Schneider / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
1877
Swan Lake's first performance
Tchaikovsky's ballet opened at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. Early reviews were mixed, but it became one of the most performed ballets of all.
Wikipedia: Swan LakeWikipedia: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Photo: Atelier E. Bieber, Hamburg (probably by Leonard Berlin (1841-1931)) / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
1943
A volcano born in a cornfield
A farmer in Michoacán, Mexico, saw the ground crack open in his field. The crack grew into a new volcano, Parícutin, which kept erupting for nine years.
Photo: Karla Yannín Alcázar Quintero (photographer) / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
Moments chosen for discovery, creativity and courage. Each one links to a source where you can read more; photos are credited to their owners.