1814, Elizabeth Hervey, Amabel; or, Memoirs of a Woman of Fashion, London: H. Colburn, Volume II, Part VIII, p. 287,
I saw, though he tried to conceal it, that he was very much hurt at your behaviour, and I was sure, by his looks, that he did not think my jealous apprehension groundless; however, he protested he did, and persuaded me not to make a scene by arriving her in the middle of the night […]

The next time I saw Miss Churm after this incident she surprised me greatly by making a scene about it—she accused me of having wished to humiliate her.

She snuggled against me, while from the other side a boy was amateurishly trying to pick my pocket. I opened my mouth to protest, but thought better of it. Why make a scene at the end of such an enjoyable evening?

2003, Michael Berry (translator), To Live (1993) by Yu Hua, New York: Knopf Doubleday, 2007, p. 125,
This time I had really hurt my son. Youqing wasn’t upset because I had hit him, but because I had made a scene in front of so many of his teachers and classmates.

Make a scene

Meaning

Verb