This Day in the Arts: August 13
1876:
German composer Richard Wagner’s four-opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen premieres in the new Bayreuth Festspielhaus, which Wagner had built especially for it.
1899:
Motion picture director and producer Alfred Hitchcock, noted for his technically innovative and psychologically complex thrillers, is born in England.
1942:
Bambi, Walt Disney’s fifth animated feature, opens at New York’s Radio City Music Hall.
1986:
One month to the day before his 75th birthday, the U.S. Senate passes a resolution honoring Kentucky native Bill Monroe. Known as the “father of bluegrass,” Monroe wrote songs like “Blue Moon of Kentucky” that have been covered by both rock and bluegrass artists.
