Happy Birthday to You was written in 1893 by two sisters, Mildred and Patti Smith Hill, in Louisville, Kentucky. It started as a classroom greeting called Good Morning to All, not the birthday song the whole world knows today. James walks through how a simple tune for schoolchildren became the most frequently sung song in the English language.
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Transcripts
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It's American Rewind.
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You've probably heard this song before.
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In fact, I'd bet you just about anything you've sung it, too, whether you wanted to or not.
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Happy birthday to you Happy birthday to you Happy birthday, dear Happy birthday to you Happy birthday to you Has a melody so simple a toddler could sing it.
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And by most measures, it's the most frequently sung song in the English language.
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n in Louisville, Kentucky, in:
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They composed it as Good morning to all as a greeting for Patti's classroom.
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Mildred died in:
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Neither knew that their little tune would still be sung to this day.