December 22, 1723:
Carl Friedrich Abel is born in Cöthen, in the Principality of Anhalt-Cöthen, the son of Christian Ferdinand Abel, a viola da gamba and cello player, and Anna Christina Holm.
April 5, 1759:
Carl Friedrich Abel (35) gives his first public concert in London, not long after arriving there from the continent.
March 5, 1762:
The Sacrifice, or The Death of Abel, an oratorio by Thomas Augustine Arne (51) to his own words, is performed for the first time, in Drury Lane Theatre, London. The work is actually a revival of Arne’s The Death of Abel of 1744.
December 8, 1762:
Thomas Augustine Arne’s (52) pasticcio comic opera Love in a Village to words of Bickerstaff after Johnson, is performed for the first time, in Covent Garden, London. Included is music by Carl Friedrich Abel (38), Baldassare Galuppi (56), and Felice Giardini. It is very successful.
February 29, 1764:
Johann Christian Bach (28) and Carl Friedrich Abel (40) give a joint concert for the first time at the Great Room in Spring Gardens, London. The many Bach-Abel concerts will have a significant impact on the musical life of London. Bach’s serenata La Galatea for three voices and orchestra to words after Metastasio is performed for the first time.
May 19, 1764:
Wolfgang (8) and Nannerl Mozart perform before King George III and Queen Charlotte in London. The King has Wolfgang play harpsichord music of George Frideric Handel (†5), Georg Christoph Wagenseil (49), Karl Friedrich Abel (40) and Johann Christian Bach (28), which he does at sight.
January 23, 1765:
The first of the Bach-Abel subscription concerts takes place at Carlisle House, London. The performers are Johann Christian Bach (29) and Carl Friedrich Abel (41). They become known as the “Soho Subscription Concerts” and are enormously successful.
December 6, 1765:
The Summer’s Tale, a pasticcio musical comedy with music by Thomas Augustine Arne (55) to words of Cumberland, and an overture by Carl Friedrich Abel (41), is performed for the first time, in Covent Garden, London.
March 5, 1767:
The aria Frena le belle lagrime by Carl Friedrich Abel (43) is performed for the first time, in the pasticcio Sifari, in the King’s Theatre, London.
August 12, 1767:
Johann Christian Bach (43) and Carl Friedrich Abel (43) perform at the English court for the birthday of the Prince of Wales.
January 14, 1769:
The air Where can we run by Carl Friedrich Abel (45) is performed for the first time, in the comic opera Tom Jones, in Covent Garden, London.
May 2, 1772:
The last Bach (36)-Abel (48) concert takes place at Mr. Almack’s Room, King Street. The two split amicably.
June 28, 1774:
Johann Christian Bach (38), Carl Heinrich Abel (50) and Giovanni Andrea Gallini acquire property on the corner of Hanover Street and Hanover Square, London, upon which they will build a concert hall.
February 1, 1775:
The Hanover Square Rooms, the newly renovated London theatre built by Johann Christian Bach (39), Carl Friedrich Abel (51) and Giovanni Andrea Gallini, is inaugurated with the first concert of a new season of the Bach-Abel series. The space will be used by concert-goers for a century.
November 12, 1776:
The syndicate of Johann Christian Bach (41), Carl Friedrich Abel (52) and Giovanni Andrea Gallini dissolves, partly because of a rival concert series. Gallini becomes the sole owner and begins renovations to the Hanover Square Rooms.
May 9, 1781:
Symphony no.53 by Joseph Haydn (49) is performed, perhaps for the first time, at the final Bach (45)-Abel (57) concert, Hanover Square Rooms, London.
January 6, 1782:
The earthly remains of Johann Christian Bach are laid to rest in St. Pancras’ Churchyard, London. Neither Carl Friedrich Abel (58) nor Thomas Gainsborough are present. Only four friends attend, none of them musicians. The funeral is paid for by the Queen, but she refuses to make good Bach’s debts. (The graveyard no longer exists. A tennis court occupies the site.)
May 21, 1787:
Carl Friedrich Abel (63) performs in public for the last time, at a benefit for Mrs. Billington in London.
June 20, 1787:
Carl Friedrich Abel dies in London, United Kingdom, aged 63 years, five months, and 29 days. His mortal remains will be laid to rest in St. Pancras Old Church Churchyard, Camden.
November 1, 1837:
Karl von Abel replaces Georg Friedrich, Baron Zentner as President of the Council of Ministers of Bavaria.
February 28, 1844:
On the Potomac River, the crew of the USS Princeton, demonstrating the ship’s armaments to top government officials, fires a cannon which explodes, killing Secretary of State Abel Upshur, Secretary of the Navy Thomas Gilmer, and several others while causing many injuries. President John Tyler, though on board, is unhurt.
March 1, 1847:
Friedrich August Karl Maria Philipp Joseph, Baron zu Rhein replaces Karl von Abel as President of the Council of Ministers of Bavaria.
January 11, 1871:
Franco-Prussian War: National Guard member Jules Massenet (28) writes to his wife from the Paris front, “Abel and I were sentries on the terrace near the Tuileries’s river banks about five in the morning when we heard the first shells moaning and shrieking. This particular noise is so nerve-wracking, and it was also so new and so strange…I am finishing my second orchestral suite as I sit by the fireplace and hear the boom-boom and bang-crash of 94-kilo shells…” (Massenet, 36)
April 2, 1889:
Frederick Abel and James Dewar receive, on behalf of Her Majesty’s Government, a patent for cordite, a smokeless explosive.
September 4, 1932:
Abelardo Luján Rodríguez replaces Pascual Ortiz Rubio as President of Mexico.
September 29, 1934:
Llamadas for chorus and small orchestra by Carlos Chávez (35) is performed for the first time, under the baton of the composer, at a concert dedicating the new Palace of Fine Arts, Mexico City. In attendance are President Abelardo L. Rodríguez and his cabinet.
December 1, 1934:
Lázaro Cárdenas del Río replaces Abelardo Luján Rodríguez as President of Mexico.
October 21, 1945:
Cain et Abel op.241 for speaker and orchestra by Darius Milhaud (53) to words of the Bible is performed for the first time, in Hollywood.
November 18, 1945:
The biblical cycle Genesis, organized by Nathaniel Shillkret, is performed for the first time, in Los Angeles. The constituent parts and their composers are: 1. Prelude-Arnold Schoenberg (71) 2. Creation-Shillkret 3. Adam and Eve-Alexandre Tansman 4. Cain and Abel-Darius Milhaud (53) 5. Noah’s Ark-Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco 6. The Covenant-Ernst Toch 7. The Tower of Babel-Igor Stravinsky (63).
June 21, 1957:
Rudolf Abel is arrested by immigration officials in a hotel in New York. Agents find a treasure trove of espionage equipment in his hotel room.
August 7, 1957:
Rudolf Abel is indicted by a federal grand jury in New York on three counts of espionage-related activities.
October 25, 1957:
Rudolf Ivanovich Abel is convicted in a federal court in New York on three counts, 1. conspiracy to transmit US defense secrets to the USSR, 2. conspiracy to gather said secrets and 3. failure to register as a foreign agent.
February 10, 1962:
American spy pilot Francis Gary Powers is exchanged for Soviet spy Rudolf Ivanovich Abel on the Glienicker Bridge between West Berlin and Potsdam.
August 22, 1969:
Songs of Abelard for baritone and band by Norman Dello Joio (56) is performed for the first time.
April 24, 1979:
Multi-racial elections are held in Rhodesia for the first time. The United African National Council of Bishop Abel Muzorewa wins a majority of seats.
May 31, 1979:
Bishop Abel Muzorewa takes power as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe-Rhodesia.
August 29, 1980:
Leftist terrorist leader Abelardo Collazo Araújo is shot to death by police in a Madrid subway station. One of his comrades is injured.
April 8, 2009:
Lied der Abelone for voice and piano by Bernd Alois Zimmermann (†38) to words of Rilke, is performed for the first time, in the Großer Saal des Mozarteums, Salzburg, 70 years after it was composed.