115 Years Ago (1898)
Cyrano de Bergerac, written by Frenchman Edmond Rostand, has its American premiere at the Garden Theater in New York City. Richard Mansfield stars in the title role.

80 Years Ago (1933)
Ah, Wilderness! by Eugene O’Neill premieres on Broadway at the Guild Theatre. Directed by Philip Moeller, it features the likes of George M. Cohan, Elisha Cook Jr., Marjorie Marquis, Gene Lockhart and Eda Heinemann. The production will run for two years, and the play will be adapted into a movie by the same name in 1935.

45 Years Ago (1968)
The Alley Theatre company dedicates its new two-theatre, $3.5-million playhouse, ending more than two decades of nomadic existence performing at various spaces in Houston.

20 Years Ago (1993)
American actor and film director Sam Wanamaker receives an honorary CBE (Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) from the Queen, after tirelessly advocating that an exact replica of the Globe Theatre be built in London. The theatre will be completed in June 1997.