On this date in...

1642...The city's first tavern opens, on Pearl Street in Lower Manhattan.

1903...Italian tenor Enrico Caruso makes his American debut, appearing in "Rigoletto" at the Metropolitan Opera House on Manhattan's 39th Street.

1959...The musical "Fiorello!" – based on the life of New York Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia and starring Tom Bosley – opens on Broadway at the Broadhurst Theater.

1971...A delegation from the People's Republic of China is seated at the United Nations for the first time.