The month of August in 1613 proved to be an especially eventful one in the life and career of Italian composer Claudio Monteverdi. The previous summer, his old employer, Duke Vincenzo of Mantua, had died, and Monteverdi was laid off by the Duke's successor. The composer cooled his heels in Cremona for a year or so with little to do.

Then, in the summer of 1613, the position of Master of Music for the Republic of Venice opened up, and, on today's date that year, Monteverdi was in all probability busily rehearsing musicians for a trial concert of his music at St. Mark's Cathedral scheduled for the 19th. The concert was a success. Monteverdi got the job, a generous salary, and even a cash advance to cover his move from Cremona.

So much for the good news—on his trip back to Cremona, Monteverdi was robbed by highwaymen armed with muskets. In a surviving letter, Monteverdi described the incident in some detail, noting that the muskets were very long and of the flint-wheel variety, and that he lost more than a hundred Venetian ducats.

Despite the trauma—and the humiliation of being strip-searched for valuables by one of the robbers—Monteverdi recovered his fortunes in Venice. In addition to his duties at St. Mark's, he became famous writing a newfangled sort of commercial entertainment called opera, and lived to the ripe old age of 77.