On This Day in History
Silent Night is first performed
1818The Christmas carol "Silent Night," by Joseph Mohr and Franz Gruber, was first performed in a church in Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria. (Silent Night)
Also on this day
- 1925 Winnie-the-Pooh first appears by that name — Winnie-the-Pooh first appeared by that name in a children's story in the London Evening News.
- 1871 Aida debuts in Cairo — Giuseppe Verdi's opera Aida, later one of his most popular works, made its debut in Cairo.
- 1968 Apollo 8 enters orbit around the Moon — Piloted by Jim Lovell, Apollo 8 became the first human spaceflight to reach and orbit the Moon, the voyage on which the crew photographed Earthrise.