We take a trip down memory lane and check out what happened on this day in years gone by by looking back at some Irish Examiner front pages and highlighting other events which went down in history across the world.

FOR many of us, it’s hard to imagine a time when television wasn’t a fixture in our living rooms.

Matthew Bourne’s once-controversial retelling of Swan Lake with a male focus has become an iconic production, writes Ellie O’Byrne

Questions on Brexit, budget airlines, and the environment awaited students who sat the economics Leaving Cert exams yesterday — but thankfully none of the questions proved to be too taxing.

When classical guitarist Susie Butler moved from Limerick city to rural north Cork she discovered, apart from the GAA, there were few activities available for children so she founded an orchestra.

Camille O’Sullivan is looking forward to starring in a piece forged from the works of Schubert and Buchner, writes Padraic Killeen.

Gibert O’Sullivan, Tommy Tiernan, and a wealth of opera, musicals, and theatre are just some of the highlights at Cork Opera House this year.

The season is set to be the most spectacular season in the theatre’s history with 13 brand new shows encompassing musicals, drama and comedy.

Experimental Fun

James Joyce, Seamus Heaney and Thomas McCarthy are among the poets assembled in a wonderful book of writings inspired by music, says Alan O’Riordan

Tasmin Little is looking forward to returning to Cork for a concert at the City Hall, writes Cathy Desmond

After a long day patrolling the demilitarised zone of the Korean peninsula, these South-Korean soldiers trade their military boots for a pair of ballet shoes.

Bringing children to top-class ballet fosters an appreciation that endures into adulthood, writes Colette Keane

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There’s plenty to look forward to for the week ahead.

All the latest news and events from the worlds of music, comedy and film.

Des O’Driscoll reveals what he expects will be the arts and entertainment  highlights of spring 2015.

International ballet star Erina Takahashi is in Cork for The Nutcracker, writes Jo Kerrigan

Elton John spoke out about gay persecution in Russia as he performed a concert in St Petersburg and said the world would lose its "humanity" if people were punished for their sexuality.

I’m a natural risk-taker.

Jo Kerrigan reveals why the pioneering Met: Live in HD has become a global phenomenon since it began back in 2006 and set a template for a whole new way of experiencing live entertainment. 

Ballingarry, Co Limerick

Classical

Classical music:

Aficionados of classical music will be flocking to Cork School of Music this evening where Ukrainian-born pianist, Alexei Grynyuk, will perform Liszt and Schubert pieces, under the auspices of the Cork Orchestral Society.

From pantos to festive markets, Ed Power has the best Christmas events for kids and grown ups.

President Vladimir Putin sought to ease concerns that Russia’s new anti-gay law would be used to punish athletes who display rainbow flags during the Winter Olympics in Sochi, while insisting gays are not discriminated against in Russia.

The last of this year’s Junior Certificate students waved arrivederci to the exams as the Italian papers ended their two-weeks of writing.

She might be just 13 but Amy Dolan is already leader of the band — and not just any band — the County Cork School of Music VEC Senior Youth Orchestra, no less.

The violinist received an OBE, released an album, and performed Delius’s concerto at the Proms, writes Nicki ffrench Davis

My introduction to dancing was following my sister to a class. She fled and I stayed.

The Sleeping Beauty was always Joan Denise Moriarty’s favourite show. As Cork City Ballet prepare to produce it in November, Jo Kerrigan talks to Alan Foley about its particular magic

THE Boss blew into town and left a trail of devastation in his wake,

A young Irish musician who developed a hit fiddle app has won a prestigious international violin competition.

Wexford Festival Opera will mark a significant milestone with a typically elegant programme of events, says Nicki ffrench Davis.

Now All Roads Lead To France: The last years of Edward Thomas

Thirty years previously, the renowned conductor of the Bolshoi Orchestra, Andrei Filipov (Guskov) was denounced and demoted for hiring Jewish musicians and now a broken drunk he haunts the theatre where he once dominated as a cleaner.

The curtain will lift on Dublin's newest theatre next year with one of the best-known ballets.

IT WAS the Czechs’ Kennedy moment as Barack Obama stood high above their city, extolling their brave fight for freedom.

The Pet Shop Boys are heading in a new musical direction - they are composing a stage ballet.

HERE in Seattle we are overdosed with over-the-top stage Irish routines at this time of year, and for most of us real Irish here the cringe factor goes way off the charts.