02/19/1855 Gisuseppe Verdi's opera Rigoletto has its first performance in the United States at the Academy of Music in New York City. (By John Osborne) Source Citation John W. Freeman, The Metropolitan Opera, Stories of the Great Operas (New York, The Metropolitan Opera Guild, 1984) p. 462 Record Data Date Certainty Exact Type Cultural Relevance Personal People Places New York, NY Images Giuseppe Verdi, detail