May 5, 1891 - Carnegie Hall officially opened

Carnegie Hall became the second largest concert hall in New York after the Metropolitan Opera. The hall was named after the American steel industrialist, multimillionaire and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie.

At the opening concert, the orchestra played under the baton of Walter Damrosch (American conductor) and Pyotr Tchaikovsky.

Seeing how many people crowded the upper tiers, the architect of the hall, William Tuthill, left the auditorium right during the performance to double-check his drawings. He was not sure that the supporting columns would withstand the weight of the crowd, but, fortunately, all the calculations turned out to be correct.

Tchaikovsky described Carnegie Hall well, calling the auditorium "extraordinarily impressive and majestic" when it was "illuminated and filled with the public."