Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Part of the harmonica and bell set carried by astronauts Walter "Wally" Schirra and Tom Stafford aboard Gemini VI in December 1965.

Long associated with wintry Christmas cheer, “Jingle Bells” was originally written for a Thanksgiving celebration.

In 1857, James Lord Pierpont, an organist at a Unitarian church in Savannah, Georgia, published the music and lyrics to a song he had written, “The One Horse Open Sleigh.” The song was first performed during a Thanksgiving concert at the church—but many maintain that it was written as early as 1850, when Pierpont lived in the village of Medford, Massachusetts. (In fact, a longstanding, and rather civil war, has been waged between these two towns over the “real” birthplace of the song.)

The song was re-published in 1857 and was given the title we all know today. Neither version made any impression on the public—it took several generations for “Jingle Bells” to become a holiday favorite.

BONUS FACTOID: “Jingle Bells” holds the distinction of being the first song broadcast from space. On December 16, 1965, the crew of Gemini 6 reported seeing a “red-suited” astronaut (in “polar orbit”) before serenading Mission Control with a spirited (and charmingly tuneless) performance with bells and a harmonica they smuggled onboard their spacecraft.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmsOmqf7Hso]

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